It turns out there was a key reason Marina Squerciati missed the first two episodes of Chicago PD season 12, one that fans likely never saw coming!
As 2024 came to a close, Squerciati took to Instagram to reflect on the year and in doing so shared a major reveal about her personal life by sharing with followers that she had quietly welcomed her second child this year!
“2024 was a BIG year for me, literally. I thought I handled being a pregnant working mom with grace—swipe to see my daughter’s very different take,” Squerciati wrote in the post which included a photo of the Chicago PD actress sporting a baby bump as well as a sweet family photo drawn by her eldest daughter.
Needless to say, the news has been met with a lot of excitement among the One Chicago fandom with fans flooding the comments of Squerciati’s post with messages of congratulations and support. Her One Chicago family has also quickly joined in the celebration with former costar Tracy Spiridakos showing her love with a series of heart emojis, while current costar LaRoyce Hawkins sent his love writing, “The best to do it. Love you Burgess.”
In sharing the news, Squerciati revealed her pregnancy was the real reason Burgess was missing from the first two episodes of Chicago PD season 12.
“PS. THIS was the real reason I wasn't in the first two episodes of Chicago PD,” Squerciati wrote, finally ending months of speculation among fans as to why her character was unexpectedly MIA for the season premiere as well as the second episode of the season.
In the show, it was explained that Burgess was in New Orleans for a conference which we later discovered was part of her efforts to make detective – which she succeeded in achieving this season. However, there was a lot of speculation among fans as to why Squerciati wasn’t in the first two episodes of the show with many speculating that it was perhaps due to rumored cost-cutting means which have led to series regulars not appearing in every episode of the show.
Instead, it seems the reason the show had to come up with a reason for Burgess not to be present was to accommodate Squerciati’s maternity leave, and honestly, we have to tip our hats to both the creative team on the show and to Squerciati for keeping the pregnancy off the radar of eagle-eyed One Chicago fans. At no point was there any speculation among the fandom about the show using camera angles or oversized props to try to hide the pregnancy, which are often tells for a show working around a pregnancy so as not to write it into the show.
And while the show might not have chosen to write in a Burzek baby for season 12, fans still can look forward to a Burzek wedding which is expected to arrive sometime before season 12 comes to a close!
Chicago PD season 12 returns Jan. 8 at 10/9c on NBC.