If you are an Adam Ruzek or Burzek fan, you definitely were going to enjoy this episode. In this “Ruzek-centric” episode, we are able to once again see the caring side of Adam for both his family, team and even those he is investigating. In fact, the care and concern he has for Samantha Beck in this episode is reminiscent of Jay Halstead with several women he came in contact with in past cases including the sister of a veteran the team investigated who was dealing drugs and the wife of a man who was left widowed with a son when her husband was innocent, but killed while in custody.
In this episode, Adam is called by a patrol buddy to check out a scene, and he uncovers that there was a meth lab in the building that leaked fumes, and the gas ended up poisoning a family who lived in the building. When examining footage of the area, they find that 5 times in the last month, Samantha Beck was seen in front of the meth lab in a car with dummy plates. The team had met Samantha Beck and father Richard a month ago when Sam abducted, and they are believed to be manufacturing and running massive amounts of meth. Because he did not work the kidnapping case, Ruzek offers to go undercover.
The team helps Ruzek to come to Samantha’s aid one day, and he presses her for a job afterwards. She introduces him to her father Richard, and Adam senses something is wrong in their relationship. Adam has to pass several “tests” and eventually it is time for him to assist with a delivery, but he gets a panicked call from Samantha that her son is missing, and he goes to assist her and the team ends up missing out on the bust. Adam blames himself for making the wrong call but Kim tells him he made the right call and Voight tells him to stick with Samantha and keep getting close to her.
Throughout this episode there are several things that became evident, some of which are certainly things we have come to expect from Adam Ruzek. The first is his love for his family. At the beginning of the episode we see him at the skating rink with Makayla and Kevin and Jordan, and he talks passionately about how he needs to protect Makayla from what has been happening with Kim, and that she has already been through enough. There is also a great scene to pull on our heart strings where he is putting her to bed and holding her hand. He has really proved himself to be a fantastic father figure for her and he is in with his whole heart when it comes to his daughter. That’s our Dadam!
The second is his protective instincts when it comes to those involved in a case. He immediately was able to assess and feel out the tension between Samantha Beck and her father Richard Beck, and immediately moved to protection mode and trying to see what he could do to help her and her son. He also was able to try to flush out what was going on with her son when he disappeared, and told Sam he would help her any way he could, and that he was there to listen and he felt she needed someone to be able to talk to. Even in early seasons, Adam was always very empathetic to victims and those he was working to assist – think back to Season 2 episode 2 Adam, who showed incredible empathy and kindness to the young girl who witnessed her father’s murder while helping her create a sketch of what the shooter looked like. Or Season 7 episode 19 Adam, who confiscated a car to chase after a girl he saw being kidnapped. And what about Season 8, episode 7 Adam, who does what he can to help his informant who has a drug problem and is helping him during a case. If there is one thing that is clear about Adam Ruzek, it is that his protective instincts are well honed and strong. We have seen this time and time again with Kim also, which makes their coupling that much more endearing considering her fierce independence.
Another item of note is how Adam has to deal with the fact that Richard Beck is a white supremacist, and that he has to play along and also pretend that he agrees with this viewpoint. Clearly this is something that bothers Adam to his core which he makes clear in the final scene, and considering that his daughter and best friend are both persons of colour, one can only imagine how difficult it would be to play along. We clearly saw how Adam felt about race issues in Season 8 episode 8, when he and Atwater have to bring in and protect another officer who is involved in a racially motivated shooting at a traffic stop. There have been several occasions where the topic of racial tension has come up over the years in this show, and the writers always do such a wonderful job in addressing very real and tense topics that are affecting police services in today’s society.
A few other items to note in this episode:
- It is wonderful that Kim is seeking therapy now to help with her PTSD and that she has the support of Adam and Kevin while she heals. The love that these two share, unspoken or not, will keep Burzek shippers smiling…and you could not ignore when Kim says to Adam “Let’s go home and see our daughter”!
- With the level of investigative work of this team, it is still baffling how Burgess, Ruzek or Atwater have not yet become detectives. Surely one of them will write the exam and be promoted soon.
- It seems that Torres is fitting in nicely with the team and it is great to see how he is developing within the team and developing a willingness to jump in and provide information and ask questions or propose theories. It is also refreshing to have a new young member of the team again, now that Burgess, Ruzek and Atwater have been there for 10 years.
I for one cannot wait to see what is in store next for the Intelligence Team as they work to take down the Beck drug ring.
What did you think of this episode of Chicago PD? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
