Spoilers ahead for Episode 17 of Chicago P.D. Season 10, called “Out of the Depths.”
After the return of Jesse Lee Soffer for his directorial debut (and Soffer sharing his thoughts on being asked if he’ll come back as Jay Halstead), Chicago P.D. shifted the focus over to Marina Squerciati’s Kim Burgess in “Out of the Depths.” While the case of the week was pretty dark, the episode ended on about as high of a note as P.D. ever delivers with a long-awaited Burzek breakthrough and hookup! In the aftermath of “Out of the Depths,” there are still some unanswered questions and unfinished business to be addressed.
“Out of the Depths” picked up on Burgess’ plot from the 200th episode that saw her realize that she needs to work on herself to recover from the trauma of being shot, which had begun to seriously affect her on the job. The episode revealed that she's attending regular therapy sessions, even though she was initially hesitant to bring Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) along. By the end of the hour, she finally admitted that she’d never stopped wanting to be with him, but had been too scared.
And with Makayla rather conveniently at a sleepover, the Burzek romantic reunion that has been a long time coming finally happened! It was a cathartic development for the duo, not least because both of them have had a difficult season. Still, I found myself surprised by the time the credits started to roll, because I still had questions about the episode that I’d hoped would be addressed. So, whether or not you’re still basking in the Burzek development, let’s look at what P.D. will hopefully flesh out before the end of Season 10!
Was The DNA Evidence Unethical?
The Intelligence Unit was on the case of a string of robberies and assaults, and not having a ton of luck before a balaclava left behind by one of the criminals turned up some DNA evidence implicating a woman named Ruby. Unfortunately, the DNA match didn’t come up because Ruby had prior convictions that resulted in her sample being in the system, but because of a rape kit four years prior after she reported an assault.
Burgess and Ruzek were initially shocked that their colleague could use DNA from a victim’s rape kit to identify a potential perpetrator, and Burgess insisted to Voight (Jason Beghe) that it would be unethical to use the DNA even if it wasn’t illegal. Voight – in perhaps the most self-aware statement that he’s ever made – said that they weren’t “moral authorities” and it would be unethical of them not to use the evidence.
While Ruzek looked uncomfortable with the situation and Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins) looked unconvinced that Voight was right, Burgess pointed out that it would set a terrible precedent to use a victim’s DNA against them, and would violate the victim’s rights. Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) backed Burgess up, saying that she’d never come forward and report a rape if she knew her DNA could be used in this way. She argued that because Ruby came forward as a victim, the rape kit DNA should only be used for that case.
Ultimately, Voight decided that they would use the DNA evidence, and the most they could do was not include it in the official paperwork. Burgess and Upton felt strongly enough about it that I was sure the episode would swing back and revisit the issue... or at least let the two women of the Intelligence Unit have a conversation about the use of a victim’s DNA in a way that would have infuriated Captain Olivia Benson over on Law & Order: SVU.
I would say that P.D. not touching on this issue again before the end of the episode counts as unfinished business, and I for one would like to see the characters discuss it again. Burgess and Upton are outnumbered by the men in the unit and felt strongly about how a woman’s rape kit was being used against her; that deserves to be revisited… ideally with Platt (Amy Morton) getting to weigh in at well.
Will Burgess Keep Going To Therapy?
The first minutes of “Out of the Depths” showed just how much Burgess is working on herself per her therapist’s instructions, including exercise, breath work, sleep techniques, reading the right books, meditating, and even visiting a firing range for exposure therapy. The one thing she didn’t want to do was bring Ruzek along for a session, and would initially only go so far as to agree to think about it. She seemed frustrated that she wasn’t getting better like she hoped, and floated the idea that her life shouldn’t be defined by something that had happened to her more than a year prior, in the Season 8 finale.
She did eventually come around to asking Ruzek to come to a therapy session with her, and he didn’t even hesitate before agreeing once he realized what she was asking. After some gentle prodding from the therapist, he said that they had been “out of sync” sometimes when he felt more and wanted more than she did. No amount of prodding from the therapist could get Burgess to explain her reaction to what he said.
Burgess did finally admit to him at home that she had pulled away from him despite sharing his feelings because she was scared, and that was all they needed to finally share a kiss and head upstairs to take full advantage of the fact that Makayla was out of the house for the night.
They’ve finally caught a well-deserved break, but I was left wondering if the point of her therapy actually happening on screen was P.D. getting Burzek back together, and it would therefore stop now that they’re on the same page again. If the therapy wasn’t in service of a romantic reunion, will she keep going with it?
What Were Upton And Voight Talking About?
There was a moment that would actually be easy to overlook in the grand scheme of Burzek in “Out of the Depths,” but it was one that stuck out to me. When Burgess and Ruzek arrived in the squad room early in the episode, Voight and Upton were already there, standing close together and evidently finishing a conversation.
Normally, I wouldn’t think anything of this other than Tracy Spiridakos and Jason Beghe needing to look busy as their characters before Burzek arrived, but there was a close-up shot of Upton with an odd expression. There was enough focus on her in a scene that otherwise was about Burgess and Ruzek that it seemed like it was bound to be significant.
But the episode never circled back to what Upton and Voight had been talking about or why she had such a strange look on her face. It’s possible that I’m reading too much into it, and possible that a scene was deleted because it wasn’t essential to the story, but the shot of Upton and Voight talking wasn’t cut, and the camera focused on Tracy Spiridakos’ expression.
Given that episodes that are centered on particular characters don’t usually spare time for other characters to have significant moments, this really stuck out to me, and I’m hoping that there will somehow be payoff in the not-too-distant future. After all, Chicago P.D. may be primarily procedural, but not always!
That said, the promo for the next episode indicates that it will be Ruzek’s time in the spotlight as his undercover operation continues. It looks like he’ll be in more danger than ever, so fans may be in for an even more intense episode than usual right after Ruzek and Burgess finally got a moment together. Check out the preview:
New episodes of Chicago P.D. air on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, following Chicago Fire (which is on the verge of bringing back Casey) at 9 p.m. and Chicago Med (which is developing a duo that I’m very invested in this season) at 8 p.m. If you want to revisit One Chicago days gone by, you can find past seasons of the shows streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription.
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