Officer Adam Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) may still be on leave while he’s recovering after getting shot at the end of last season, but unsurprisingly, he’s still going to end up in the middle of a case.
As the Chicago P.D. Season 11 Episode 2 promo for “Retread” (airing January 24) shows, he’s “going crazy sitting at home” and goes to a late-night poker game. But when it’s raided and two people are shot (one dies), he calls Sergeant Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) to tell him what happened. His boss immediately tells him to get out of there. Watch the video above for a look, then check out the one below for a sweet moment between Ruzek and Officer Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati), finally making a relationship work.
New promo pic.twitter.com/3B8vyNNeAA
— Jessica (@Burzek_DadAdam) January 19, 2024
Ruzek’s not handling making his way back on the job well, executive producer Gwen Sigan told TV Insider. “We tried to keep it pretty realistic. In Chicago, they have this retread process, which is basically if you get shot, if you get injured, it takes a while to get back on the job. You have to pass all the physical tests, you have to pass all of the written tests. You have to get tested again on protocol and how the job goes,” she explained.
This second episode will show what the six months without work have been like him for him. “This is a man that I think needs the job. I think the job actually makes him a better person. It puts a lot of his energy and the adrenaline he needs into something healthy for him, like something a little motivating for him,” Sigan continued. “So to see him without it and spinning out and not knowing where he stands, not knowing if he’s going to be back, not understanding what his life is going to look like, he’s definitely in a shaky place, and we get to see Burgess be there with him through it and try to support him through it and see him go through that journey in Episode 2.”
Yes, Ruzek and Burgess are (very much) together this season. “They’re committed, they are each other’s rocks. They have made this decision to go for it and to really go for it, to be in this space of ‘this is what we want, and we’re going to work at it, and we’ll get through anything together,’” the EP shared. “We will see that. We’ll see them now that they are together in this family unit, what does it look like when someone’s going through something?” Rather than, as they did in the past, pull away from one another, they’ll now work on getting through it together.
Scroll down to check out photos from “Retread.”
Chicago P.D., Wednesdays, 10/9c, NBC