‘Chicago P.D.’: Ruzek Takes the Fall for Officer-Involved Death

Chicago P.D.‘s Adam Ruzek chose to take one for the team after the fall finale’s tense cliffhanger, but the choice might cost him his career.

The winter premiere, titled “Brotherhood,” picked up immediately where the fall finale left off with Antonio (Jon Seda), Voight (Jason Beghe) and Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) deciding what to do after Antonio accidentally pushed the criminal they were chasing to his death while high.

Voight immediately goes into action, telling Antonio to leave and head into detox and promising he will handle their predicament. Voight then tells Ruzek that he has to say that it was Voight who was involved in the incident and that no one else was in the room.

Despite the instructions, however, Ruzek tells police that it was him who was involved in the death, in an effort to protect the Intelligence Unit and Voight from getting into trouble, knowing the higher-ups would use this opportunity to sink Voight for good.

Ruzek claims that he and the criminal fought and, while he wasn’t injured, their confrontation led to the guy falling to his death. He is surprised later on when he is introduced to another offer who has taken over the investigation on the incident and he questions his story after finding the blood of a third party at the scene. Ruzek lies at the time and says he doesn’t know who’s blood it could be.

Later, Upton (Tracey Spiridakos) tries to get Ruzek to tell her what happened but he refuses, also confirming that he is taking responsibility for something he didn’t do. Upton tells him things could go wrong and he is risking his career and his life just to be loyal.

“It’s Antonio. It’s Voight. It’s our unit and I’m going to protect it every time,” he says. “That’s who I am.”

Upton later is seen struggling with Ruzek’s decision and attempts to go behind his back to Voight to bail him out, though Voight shuts her down and tells her there is nothing he can do.

That night, Voight, Trudy (Amy Morton) meets with one of the officers investigating the incident and try to reason with him. He says that if Ruzek were to change his statement and put the blame on Voight in his official interview he would look the other way.

Voight then goes to Ruzek to attempt to convince him to change his story and let Voight take the hit. He struggles with his decision, even asking Trudy for advice but despite knowing that Voight would find his way out of the mess, when it comes to his official interview for the investigation, Ruzek keeps his story as is, putting him in danger for the rest of the season.

How will the unit get Ruzek out of his predicament? Will Antonio get the help he needs? Chicago P.D. airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.