Spoilers ahead for Episode 14 of Chicago P.D. Season 9, called “Blood Relation.”
Chicago P.D. got personal for Burgess in “Blood Relation” as she had to fight for custody of Makayla after her paternal uncle Theo Morris emerged from the woodwork. Even Burgess’ lawyer had to admit that the chances of Burgess and Ruzek getting to keep Makayla weren’t great up against a blood relative with financial security and a safe job, but they ultimately won the day… only to go home and discover Makayla’s babysitter brutally attacked, and the little girl herself nowhere to be seen. It was a horrifying twist on what had been a happy ending, and it actually should make a lot of sense, depending on what the next episode does.
The one way that the attack on babysitter Gabby and apparent kidnapping of Makayla 100% makes sense is honestly if her uncle Theo is responsible; if that’s the case, then Chicago P.D. did a pretty stellar job of building up to it without actually giving away the game before the cliffhanger. In fact, P.D. went so far in building Theo up as a fine upstanding candidate to take custody of Makayla in "Blood Relation" that I was about ready to call shenanigans, because I for one could never forget that he initially approached Makayla in just about the sketchiest way possible.
Burgess’ lawyer in “Blood Relation” made the point that he didn’t actually do anything illegal by befriending Makayla over the fence at her school, but approaching her that way just didn’t fit with the polished and almost too convincing exterior he was putting up in court. He even made a speech early in the hour that, at the time, seemed to carefully address and debunk the concerns that he’d follow the murderous footsteps of his brother, saying that he got out of the life that claimed his brother by getting a scholarship and building a career in Germany before coming home six months earlier.
The story fit together so perfectly that it almost seemed miraculous… and it didn’t match the first impression of him. In hindsight, the speech has scary implications about his potential capacity for violence. When a show introduces a grown man who creepily befriends a little girl by giving her stickers without identifying himself as her uncle, it’s hard for me to root for that man to get custody of her, even when Burgess was having doubts about her own abilities to raise Makayla compared to Theo's.
As long as the reveal comes that Theo is connected in some way to Gabby’s attack and Makayla’s disappearance, this could be a standout storyline for P.D. I reserve the right to change my mind if something even more awful happens to Makayla, though, and she doesn’t get a happy ending with Burzek. P.D. may not be the most “happily-ever-after” kind of show in the nine-show Dick Wolf TV universe, but poor Makayla has been through enough!
The good news for Makayla is that she has an adoptive mom, kinda sorta adoptive dad, and elite unit full of cops as a support system who will undoubtedly be on the case immediately, whether or not Theo is involved. Assuming he is, I’m curious to know if he snapped and showed a violent streak like his brother's to do the dirty work himself, commissioned somebody to do it for him, or it was done for him without his knowledge. Whatever the case, I’m crossing my fingers that he had something to do with it so everything can make sense for the story.
The promo for the next episode doesn’t give away many details other than that Burgess will be upset, Voight will have encouraging words, and Ruzek will be by her side, but it’s enough to prove that it’ll be a must-see hour of TV:
See what happens with Burzek and Makayla (and whether or not Theo is indeed involved) with the next new episode of Chicago P.D. on Wednesday, March 9 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, closing out a night of One Chicago action started by Med (which may be saying goodbye to a character) at 8 p.m. and continued by Fire (which just delivered a long-awaited promotion) at 9 p.m. in the 2022 TV schedule.
