'Chicago PD' Season 8: Will Kim Burgess' potential adoption story right the wrongs of the past for NBC drama?
'Chicago PD' has been walking a tightrope since it first began airing in 2013. Now in its eighth season, the NBC procedural drama has had many controversial plotlines. One of the most controversial stories revolved around Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati), who became unexpectedly pregnant in the last season, only for her to lose a baby.
On its own, the story would have been fine, but the way it was told was not great. Burgess was shown being doubtful about the pregnancy at first, wondering whether she would be a good mother and whether it would affect her job. Just when she begins to accept her impending motherhood, she gets violently assaulted by a criminal, in scenes that were too violently depicted where the perpetrator not only throws Burgess but also hits her head and kicks her stomach. Even if the purpose was to drive home the point that Burgess would later regret some of her decisions, such brutality was not needed.
Even so, we had a gripe with the fact that such plots are often reserved for female characters, who often are put through whether they want one thing or another. And while many women are faced with such decisions, it is a rarity to see on-screen representations of women who have, in fact, done both. Nevertheless, Burgess was shown being in a lot of pain after and being quite traumatized. We were not happy with what happened, but it already had.
Fast forward to Season 8, fans no wonder remembered the trauma that Burgess and her on-and-off partner, Adam Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger), went through in Season 7. Burgess was able to establish a connection with a little girl, Mikayla, whose family was killed and she and Ruzek looked after the child briefly, which rekindled fans' hopes that the two characters may find a way back together.
Now, it may become a possibility. In the upcoming episode, the promo shows that Burgess is going to take Mikayla in and that she feels some special connection to the kid. Ruzek is worried that Burgess could be trying to replace what she lost, but it does seem like Burgess knows what she is doing. If the unexpected does happen, then by the end of the next episode, Burgess will have a family to look after and Ruzek may just join her.
If this does happen, it could bring about a big change for 'Chicago PD'. We have seen parents in the 'Chicago' franchise before -- Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto) on 'Chicago Med' is a mother, though we rarely see her kids and Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer) and Gabby Dawson (Monica Raymund) briefly fostered a child -- but it's never been seen on 'Chicago PD'.
It was one reason why we are excited about Burgess's pregnancy in the previous season -- there are women on the force who are mothers and we really don't see that kind of representation on procedurals on television, except, of course, Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) on 'Law & Order: SVU'.
It would be interesting to see how Burgess would navigate her growing career. She is relatively the junior-most member on the Intelligence Unit and has yet to write the detective's exam and being a mother. In the previous episode, when she first looked after Mikayla, we saw her admitting that while she doubted if she would be a good mother, her work as a police officer made her realize that she already knows how to be a good mother.
If 'Chicago PD' does not back out of the plotline this time, it would definitely be a welcome and exciting change for the show.
'Chicago PD' airs on NBC on Wednesday nights at 10/9c.
