There are no certainties when it comes to the One Chicago shows, but we’re pretty certain that Chicago PD season 13 is going to feature a major death before the season comes to a close.
Episode 14, “Meant to Be,” welcomed the long-awaited return of Patrick John Flueger’s Officer Adam Ruzek, and with his return, we finally received a bit more information on what he’s been up to in the last several weeks. It had been previously established that there was an emergency with Ruzek’s dad, Bob, and he took some time off directly after to be with his father. Outside of those two quick updates, the show failed to give us too much information about what was going on with Ruzek’s dad. That changed with Ruzek’s return.
As the episode opened, Kim and Ruzek were in bed together as she mentioned that he got in late. Ruzek reveals that Bob was stable, but he didn’t know it due to his Alzheimer's disease, which was brutal to witness. As the conversation continued, Ruzek informed Kim that things were not looking good, as his dad likely had months to live, not years. She suggests that he take some additional time off, but he admits he’s ready to get back to work.
We don’t revisit the conversation after that moment, but it’s clear that Bob’s health has significantly worsened in the recent months. If the doctors have told Ruzek to expect that his father only has a few months to live, this indicates that his Alzheimer’s is progressing faster than they originally thought, and it seems highly likely Bob will succumb to the disease soon.
Knowing that we’ve got seven episodes left this season, it seems incredibly likely that Bob’s death will occur sometime at the end of the season. Given Ruzek just returned, we don’t imagine the writers will have Bob’s death occur right away, but we could see the death occurring in the penultimate or final episode of the season. This would give the writers time to further build to the moment in episodes ahead and make for an emotional closing moment to end the season on.
It would then allow the show to explore how that grief and loss impacts Ruzek, paving the way for the storyline to carry over into season 14. We’ve seen how hard his father’s illness has been on Ruzek, and there is no doubt that the loss of his father will shake him and that loss will be something he’ll struggle with when the day comes.
Now, there is a chance that the writers could choose to drag the storyline out and have Bob’s death come early in season 14 instead. However, if that was their plan, we have to imagine they wouldn’t have been so heavy-handed in foreshadowing Bob’s death by having Ruzek directly reveal that the doctors have given his dad only months to live. They could have easily kept the details more vague in noting he had a health scare and was stable, but they went the extra step of making it known the doctors don’t think he has much longer to live.
With that piece of information worked into the conversation, it seems the writers are preparing the fans for Bob’s death and strategically putting the pieces in place so that it doesn’t feel as unexpected when it happens.