Chicago P.D. returned to NBC in 2021 to raise the emotional stakes in a big way for Kim Burgess, whose major arc last season took a tragic twist and she had to find a way to deal with the trauma of the miscarriage while still doing her job. Season 8 allowed Burgess to connect with a little girl who went through a terrible trauma of her own, which got the Intelligence officer reconsidering what kind of mother she would have been if she hadn't lost that future with Ruzek. Marina Squerciati opened up to CinemaBlend about Burgess in Season 8, including how she continues to deal with her trauma and her new dynamic with Ruzek.
Burgess' arc in Season 7 saw her go from a woman uncertain if she wanted to remain pregnant to an expectant mother happily looking forward to co-parenting with Ruzek to someone who survived a brutal attack but lost something anyway. It was an arc that packed an emotional punch, especially for a show that can be as action-packed as Chicago P.D.. I recently had the chance to speak with Marina Squerciati about Burgess, and she shared how it feels for Chicago P.D. to revisit this emotional arc in Season 8:
Well, I think it's interesting to find Burgess in a sort of state of, I want to call it like a bubble boy state. Like she doesn't want to do anything new. She doesn't want to try anything new. She just wants to sort of maintain stasis. And I think that trauma affects everybody differently. And I'm very interested to see what trauma does to Burgess. Right now, it's like, please don't mess with my world. Just let me let me get up, go to my job, go home, watch a movie with Ruzek, get up, go to my job, go home, watch a movie with Ruzek. And I think that's all she can handle.
Considering how much Burgess shut herself down even from Ruzek in the aftermath of her attack in Season 7, a "bubble boy" stasis situation definitely seems like a step in the right direction, especially with Ruzek by her side. And hey, considering One Chicago is still in the midst of a pandemic, maybe regular movie nights with Ruzek are the best option even without the trauma of what she experienced last season. That said, Makayla definitely shook up her world earlier in Season 8, and Makayla will be back in the February 3 episode of P.D..
With Chicago P.D. showrunner Rick Eid previously saying that motherhood is on Burgess' mind even if she's not sure about how she'll "pursue this desire," Burgess may have to give up her bubble with Ruzek if Makayla's return shakes her out of her stasis somehow. Burgess has a knack for rising above her personal concerns to help others, as viewers saw with her rescue of the young woman that led to her miscarriage last season. Still, viewers also saw last season that trauma doesn't just go away out of sheer determination.
The good news is that the good 'ship Burzek seems to be sailing strong, even if that 'ship is currently friendship rather than what Ruzek seems to want out of their dynamic. Marina Squerciati explained where the relationship between Burgess and Ruzek stands after she had her maternal reawakening with Makayla's first episode:
They're now like an old married couple, right? Like, that's, it's kind of adorable. When we read it, we laughed. Like, wow, what a cool, interesting thing. This couple that I feel has a lot of chemistry sort of fall into this rut where they don't hook up. They just watch movies. They do the same thing every day. I think Ruzek is probably itching a little more to move it along. But not Burgess. It's just funny. I loved it.
Hey, better for Burzek to be stuck in a rut of an old married couple routine than not being able to connect at all, right? After everything they went together together and apart in Season 7, I think they deserve to just hang out and watch some movies if that's what Burgess wants, and Ruzek seems content to not push for anything more for the time being. Of course, that could all change in the next episode, called "In Your Care," which will see Burgess make a discovery about a previous case that will change her life forever. We can only hope that her life changes for the better!
See what the "In Your Care" episode of Chicago P.D. has in store for Burgess and the rest of Intelligence on Wednesday, February 3 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, and be sure to check back with CinemaBlend for more of what Marina Squerciati had to say about Chicago P.D. Season 8.
