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Where Was Burgess on Chicago P.D.? What Happened to Her During the Premiere
The veteran cop, played by Marina Squerciati, was the only missing Intelligence Unit member in the Season 12 premiere "Ten Ninety-Nine."
Chicago P.D. Season 12 is officially underway, and the entire Intelligence Unit is back. Well, almost everybody.
While the team has a new addition with Detective Emily Martel (presumably Upton's replacement), we couldn't help but notice that Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati) was missing from the squad during the season premiere, "Ten Ninety-Nine." So where is she — and is she coming back to the show?
Find the simple explanation below.
Where was Burgess on Chicago P.D.?
We get an answer early on in the episode when Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) returns to the Intelligence Unit office after a call with Burgess.
"She said the conference is good, learning a lot," he tells Atwater. "She's disturbed by her case though, thinking about coming home early."
So there you have it. Burgess' absence is only temporary, and she'll return to Chicago P.D. soon. However, her brief hiatus could also hint at who on the team is set to get a promotion to detective this season. The newest addition to the crew, Detective Martel, encouraged Ruzek to tell Burgess to remain at the conference because it could "give her a leg up" with the CPD.
RELATED: Burgess & Ruzek with Their Doppelgangers on Set Will Make You Double-Take (PIC)
"Someone's getting promoted, and it's somebody I think who's wanted it for a while and that it made a lot of sense for us," showrunner Gwen Sigan revealed in a September 18 interview with TV Insider. "In the [writers'] room, we've talked about that storyline for so long, but how do you make it a story? How do you make it interesting? How do you make it something that really reveals something about who this person is and is not just a piece of paper?"
What happened to Burgess last season on Chicago P.D.?
The biggest news for Burgess from Season 11? She's engaged to Ruzek — for the third time! In Episode 3's "Safe Harbor," he popped the question in their bedroom for a super low key engagement.
"The bait and switch for Ruzek and Burgess is over," Squerciati told NBC Insider. "They'll go through stuff, but they're together now. They're the couple that we rely on... They're each going to go through things as one does in life and in marriage. But we're safe. I think we're safe."
She continued, "They're just a cozy, comfortable couple. They've been through everything. There's nothing they haven't been through. I think that we've grown comfortable in our characters, in our skins, and that's really helped. I also think before, it was such a rocky, tumultuous relationship, they never should have gotten engaged. But because they've been through everything and managed to stay together, it does seem like they've proved their mettle. They've been through the fire, they're ready."
Sigan has also confirmed that a wedding is in the near future for the couple, with Amy Morton (Platt) even spilling that "someone might get married" this season.
"I think it’ll be fun [to write],” Sigan told TV Line in May. “There’s definitely a possibility of, ‘Are we going to do the wedding next year? Are we going to do the planning? What are we going to see?’ So, I’m excited to figure out all of that.”
