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Patrick John Flueger Says P.D. Newbie Toya Turner Gets Even Better: "a Bad Mama Jama"
Turner officially joins Chicago P.D. as Officer Kiana Cook in Season 12, Episode 2's "Blood Bleeds Blue."
The latest episode of Chicago P.D., "Blood Bleeds Blue" (Season 12, Episode 2), wastes no time jumping right into the action, taking place immediately where the season premiere left off with Detective Martel's tragic shooting.
Though she's clearly dead, as her friend, partner, and witness to the murder, Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) is in shock. He initially appears to be in denial, covered in her blood and encouraging paramedics to "keep working on her" to save her life. We soon learn that Martel and Ruzek were caught in the crossfire of her killer's domestic dispute, with him firing shots at his ex-wife and kidnapping their young son.
The Intelligence Unit spends the entire episode in the midst of a manhunt and doing everything they can to find the offender. This also means that Ruzek has no time to catch his breath as he grapples with what happened to Martel.
"I think they get into dangerous situations so often and it always kind of works out, you know what I mean?" Flueger tells NBC Insider. "People die, but certainly never like that. Not right in front of his face... He likes adrenaline. He was a bit of a junkie for it, I think. And so I think that in that moment, suddenly it's not a game anymore."
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But Ruzek finds an unexpected source of help in the first cop on the scene: Officer Kiana Cook (Toya Turner), marking her first episode of the season as a series regular.
Toya Turner's Chicago P.D. debut as Officer Kiana Cook
Cook's introduction on the series is sudden, to say the least. But Flueger tells NBC Insider that the actress fit in seamlessly, especially considering she's a Chicago native and her father is a police officer.
"Toya's such a bad mama jama," Flueger says. "She came in, she settled in right away... She was a great partner in crime for me. I felt like she took charge when she needed to take charge, and I needed somebody to do that so I could kind of live in his emotions."
He continued, "I feel very lucky. I'm really excited about Toya. I'm really excited for the audience to get to know her."
The actress' character, Cook, comes from a tactical unit. Flueger explained that this means we'll see an added "strength" and "confidence" in the Intelligence Unit.
Toya's such a bad mama jama. She came in, she settled in right away.”
"She doesn't have to play it too hard to make you believe that she knows what the hell she's doing," he says. "I think when we've introduced other characters, maybe they felt more like rookies? They felt maybe less prepared than they needed to be, to be in this kind of elite unit. Toya does not have that for even a second."
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However, Chicago P.D. fans be warned: We won't be seeing Cook again until Episode 5, but her return will be well worth the wait. Flueger explains that we'll see her team up with Torres (Benjamin Levy Aguilar), and the rumor is they're a powerful duo.
"I hear that her and Ben Aguilar just absolutely crush that episode. We're all very proud of our first few [episodes] outta the gate here. We feel like we're cooking with gasoline," he says.
