Why Chicago P.D. Needs To Make A Change After Ruzek’s Latest Undercover Case
Spoilers ahead for Episode 15 of Chicago P.D Season 10 titled “Blood and Honour”.
Chicago P.D brought back a couple of characters from an episode earlier in season 10 that sets Tracy Spiridakos‘ Hailey Upton by the press, but it was Patrick John Flügger‘S Adam Ruzek who this time had to try to understand the case. With intelligence in the case of Richard Beck and daughter samantha, Ruzek went undercover as the member of the team who didn’t interact with either of them the first time. He found he sympathized with Samantha as a parent, even though he knew the Becks were deeply involved in the deadly meth game. And at the end of “Blood and Honor” PD reminded me of a very specific issue that needs changing: the cops covertly using their real names.
once upon a time PD, the Secret Service cops didn’t always use their real names when they went undercover. For example, Halstead was frequently “Ryan” while under it, and Upton starred as “Kelly” for an entire episode in Season 5. .well, write about it on a Wednesday evening before! What got me over the edge in “Blood and Honor” was that Ruzek not only went to Samantha and her son with “Adam,” but also told her that his daughter was being named Makayla.
Call me crazy, but less than a year after her kidnapping, I would have expected more caution! At least he didn’t say he had to go home Kim after hanging out with Kevin, strandHailey and dante. Well, I know that’s not the biggest plot point in Chicago PD, although I thought Samantha double-checked a bit when Ruzek mentioned Makayla. And I admit that I was convinced of it PD had already exposed Makayla’s kidnapper in season 9, only to go in a completely different direction in the next episode. (I stand by the argument that Theo Morris secretly befriending Makayla over the fence of her school was a massive red flag!)
Still, I think it’s a reasonable choice, especially after revisiting the Season 7 episode “Familia” with my Peacock subscription to review a conversation I’ve since remembered rojas (whose departure has yet to be explained) and Flat, and I wasn’t wrong. After Rojas complained that Platt gave her the most stereotypical undercover name for a Latina despite being Afro-Latina, Platt said:
Officer Rojas, if you make it in Intelligence – and that’s a big if – but if you make it, you’re going to be undercover. Well, most of the bad guys in town haven’t had racial sensitivity training, so they’ll assume you’re Latina, and should they google your butt to make sure you’re who you say they are, the fact that there is one A thousand Maria Lopezes in Chicago will be working in your favor, right?
Season 7 Trudy Platt would totally understand my point! I know that anyone who googles “Adam” or “Adam and Makayla” probably wouldn’t find Ruzek and his daughter right away, but the “probably” could be avoided if PD started using fake undercover names again. Does this affect my enjoyment of the show? Not really, but it’s one more thing I have to vent my disbelief at, as is always necessary to some degree with Scripted TV.
“Blood and Honor” was a solid follow-up to PD overall, not least because of the funny scene Jordan Teaching Makayla some hockey moves while Ruzek and Atwater looked on, along with the continuity of Burgess continuing to see a therapist after her ordeal in the 200th episode. The story with Samantha Beck and her family doesn’t seem to be finished yet either, so hopefully we’ll see more of Ruzek in this story as Season 10 continues. What’s next, check out the promo:
Chicago P.D will return on NBC with the next new episode on Wednesday, March 22 at 10 p.m. ET, which will be Jesse Lee Sofferhis directorial debut. His former co-stars hyped his work behind the camera while filming his episode. For some viewing options while waiting for the return of PD (as well as Chicago Med after deepening the season’s “emotional triangle” and Chicago fire after explaining Severid‘s absence), check out our 2023 TV premiere schedule.