It’s good to have Adam Ruzek back.
With his first centric in quite some time, Chicago PD Season 13 Episode 15 leans into the qualities of Ruzek that work incredibly well: his evolution as a family man, while giving us peeks of the badass who always lies beneath the surface.
Initially, it seemed like the hour would do the same things that it always does.
By now, because of the centric formatting, we can almost always anticipate the types of episodes each character will get.
For Ruzek, we can always expect some domestic Burzek moments, commentary about raising Mack or dealing with Disco Bob, a prickly character who is an acquired taste, usually a dirty cop, and Ruzek’s life almost hanging in the balance because of the actions of someone else.
When Cade came into the picture, it seemed like we’d have yet another dirty-cop plot, which the series has often assigned to Ruzek to the point of redundancy.
For a bit, it felt like Cade would be similar to Sal Ortiz on Chicago PD Season 13 Episode 6.
And Cade was moving so shady that it was easy to believe that he was a dirty cop. But this season has been having a blast with making seemingly shady characters red herrings to throw us off, and that’s exactly what Cade was.
He still was an acquired taste, to say the least, and I didn’t trust or care for him the entire time. But at least we were able to figure out that his efforts with Boogie were to protect everyone and the cases.
Initially, it genuinely seemed like Cade was setting up Boogie to be murdered by whoever was after him. And the idea of him seeking Ruzek to bring Boogie in was a bit weak.
But in the end, it was a good thing that he did. Cade’s biggest issue was trying to play cowboy and playing things too close to the vest. He could’ve avoided a few things if he just communicated with Ruzek outright.
Boogie was switching out drugs and had dealers with cut versions that amounted to nothing to get over, and that’s why he had so many people after him.
But because of his actions, if that came out, it would mean he was a burnt CI, and all the cases ever linked to him would get overturned, too. Cade’s eight-year investigation and case, as well as all the cases Ruzek used Boogie for, too.
Protecting that, preserving those cases was vital for Cade. After all, the job is all he lives for anyway.
He took pride in not having friends and family to tie him down. To Cade, that made him a better agent. But his being all alone at the hospital recovering from surgery with no one to call is just a sad state of existence.
What good is the job when there’s no one to come home to and find comfort in?
Cade certainly brought them into a mess. But some of the strongest parts of the hour were the intensity of the shootout scenes.
With Cade down, it was just Ruzek left to fend for them while they were under gunfire, and it was actually terrifying. It felt like it took them FOREVER to get there to save them!
The guns running out of bullets, the perpetrators busting down the door, all of it was just so stressful, but Ruzek is so quick on his feet with everything, and I was impressed with how he was formulating a plan, running off sheer adrenaline.
The fight sequence was pretty epic, and they legitimately had him feeling like an action hero for most of the hour in that way.
There were definite nods to action movie heroes, and that’s such a suitable role for Flueger.
He held his own while we waited ten years for backup to arrive, and all without a weapon. And Kim gets credit for driving almost as fast as she runs, or at least appearing to — seriously, why did those eight minutes feel like a damn eternity?!
Ruzek’s shining moment was also showcasing that he could easily be a Voight successor.