Chicago PD season 5 by character: Adam Ruzek
How was Chicago PD season 5 for your favorite character? In this retrospective profile, we look at how Chicago PD treated Adam Ruzek this season.
As we continue to look back on Chicago PD season 5, we’re breaking down the season for each of the show’s characters.
Did your favorite character have a good season or a bad season? What were their strong points and were there any weaknesses? Was the character affected by the show’s writing, or vice versa? Where could they go from here?
Check out our detailed character breakdown, and let us know your thoughts on how this season was for each character in the comments.
In this profile, we’re looking at Chicago PD‘s resident fearless tough guy Adam Ruzek, played by Patrick John Flueger.
More from One Chicago Center
- Chicago Med star on 2024 cast changes: ‘Nice to have new faces’
- Here’s the perfect Chicago Fire episode to watch on Thanksgiving
- Ranking the 8 NCIS Thanksgiving episodes from worst to best
- Mark Harmon does NOT have plans to reprise Gibbs on NCIS
- One Chicago stars tease new seasons on IG: ‘Here we come’
MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS:
This will be known as the “Ruzek was a mole” season after Adam was forced into acting as an informant for Denny Woods (Mykelti Williamson) when Woods threatened his sister.
It’s also the season where he had a one-night stand with ex-fiancee Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati).
Watch One Chicago on fuboTV: Watch over 67 live sports and entertainment channels with a 7-day FREE trial!
ANALYSIS:
First, the good thing is that after Ruzek was missing from a large portion of Chicago PD season 4, he had more screen time this season—and a significant storyline to go with it. Aside from Alvin Olinsky (Elias Koteas), Ruzek was the only other member of Intelligence to be majorly involved in the whole Woods plotline that dominated the season.
The idea of Ruzek as a mole in his own team had merit, and it was also interesting when Voight tried to spin that the other way and use him as a double agent. But it also felt like after Voight had confronted him, the concept lost steam a little bit.
Aside from Voight, it seemed like everyone else understood that he’d gotten strong-armed into it, and Woods forgot all about threatening to lock up Ruzek’s sister anyway. There were no huge consequences.
That was pretty much all of Adam Ruzek’s character development, except for Chicago PD ending one episode with the implication that he and Burgess went home together. That was good news for Burzek fans, but then what? We never did find out.
PROGNOSIS:
Having survived his brush with Denny Woods, Chicago PD will have to find Ruzek a new path to walk in season 6. While the other characters generally have an arc they can follow next season, he doesn’t have a direction that’s immediately apparent. And maybe that’s his direction—finding out how he fits into the team now.
There’s a lot about Adam Ruzek that feels unfinished. We’ve still never gotten specifics on that undercover operation he ran off for (though that could be because it was meant as an explanation for Patrick John Flueger’s absence, and thus the show never really planned to flesh it out).
And we don’t know what’s going on with Burzek, even though PD continues to tease us with little bits; first there was the kiss last season, now the one night stand this season.
Ruzek deserves a clear storyline to tell next time out. And in the absence of Linstead, it’s also a surprise that the show didn’t do more with Burzek, to fill the shipping void in the series. At the very least, the people who are fans of that ship deserve clarity as to what their status us (unlike, say, Brettonio on Chicago Fire).
There are a lot of questions around Adam Ruzek right now, and the sixth season could be a fine time to answer them. Maybe he steps up and takes a larger role while Intelligence tries to pick up the pieces?
Next: The scenes Chicago PD missed this season
What did you think of Chicago PD season 5 as it relates to Adam Ruzek? Let us know how you’d evaluate his season in the comments.
Chicago PD returns to NBC on Sept. 26.