If you were paying close attention to the latest episode of Chicago PD, “A Beautiful Friendship,” you likely picked up on the fact that Patrick John Flueger’s Officer Adam Ruzek was MIA and failed to join the rest of the Intelligence Unit in working the latest case they caught.
Typically when an actor has missed an episode this season across the One Chicago shows, the writers have found a way to quickly inform the viewers at home as to the whereabouts of the character with an explanation of some kind as to why they don’t appear in the episode. One of the best examples of this came in the first two episodes of Chicago PD’s current season in which Marina Squerciati did not appear as Officer Kim Burgess. Early in the premiere, the show explained that Burgess was out of town which at least clued us in on why she did not appear in the episodes.
Perhaps that’s why it is so strange that the show failed to offer up any excuse as to why Ruzek did not appear in Chicago PD season 12 episode 15. There was no mention of him at all within the episode and no quick conversation between other characters in the episode explaining what he was up to. He simply wasn’t present at all with no mention of Ruzek in any way which was a real disappointment.
Why wasn’t Ruzek in Chicago PD season 12 episode 15?
So why wasn’t Ruzek around for “A Beautiful Friendship” with no appearance from Patrick John Flueger? The simple answer is that his absence was related to cost-cutting efforts which has resulted in series regulars no longer appearing in every episode of their respective shows. As part of this, cast members from the One Chicago shows are no longer appearing in every episode of the season and tend to have their characters sidelined for a few episodes each season.
Usually when these moments come about, the writers help give a reason for the character's absence but other times they simply ignore the elephant in the room and fail to address the absence at all. This was the case for Ruzek in episode 15 which is quite puzzling given the smaller ensemble of Chicago PD. So what might have kept him away?
While the show failed to include an excuse as to why Ruzek was not on the job, it seems most likely that his absence could have been connected to the storyline introduced in the previous episode which saw Ruzek making the difficult decision to finally put his father in an assisted living facility as his mental health continued to decline. Episode 14 ended with Ruzek letting his dad know he had found a new place for him to live as we learned just how progressed his dad’s dementia has become with him no longer recognizing his own son.
It makes sense that the show could have explained Ruzek’s absence in the episode as him being away helping his dad settle into his new surroundings, so it’s odd that it failed to use that storyline directly in the episode.
The good news is that Ruzek will be back for episode 16 as confirmed by the promo for the episode which saw Ruzek back on the job lending support to Burgess, who is primed to get a major episode when season 12 resumes on March 26.