Chicago PD Is Down a Member — Can It Make Flueger's Absence Work?

Unfortunately for us, the Intelligence Unit will be down a member.

We’re no strangers to cast shakeups and having to adapt to some of our favorite characters going on hiatus for one reason or another in the Dick Wolf Universe. It’s especially common in One Chicago.

This time around, Chicago PD lovers will have to make do with a brief absence for Adam Ruzek.

Chicago PD Loses Ruzek Temporarily as Actor Takes Personal Leave

According to Deadline, Patrick John Flueger will be taking a leave of absence from the series to deal with a personal matter.

Deadline also shared that the actor has been dealing with some personal matters and is having a difficult time, with a reference to alcohol, so our genuine thoughts and best wishes go out to him as he takes the time that he needs.

Ruzek has been an integral part of the series since Chicago PD Season 1, boasting one of the strongest arcs among the remaining characters on the show.

We’ve seen this character evolve from a newly minted hot-headed officer who jumped into the fray to a loving husband, doting dad, and overall family man who has become seasoned rather than jaded from this job that he loves so much.

And it has truly been a rewarding experience to watch the character evolve onscreen.

Given the abruptness of this brief hiatus, the series will apparently have to reconfigure some scripts to address his absence, which makes me genuinely curious about the impact this will have on some of the storytelling moving forward.

One Chicago’s Character-Centric Formula and Cast-Rotation May Work to PD’s Advantage

One of the best things about Dick Wolf’s Universe is its ability to accommodate the actors’ needs and adapt to just about anything. We’ve seen it before across many shows, including Chicago Fire, when Taylor Kinney took a leave of absence for roughly ten months.

We don’t know how long Ruzek will be off the series, but this may be one of the times that the series’ character-centric arcs may come in handy.

To our frustration, due to budget cuts, we’ve grown accustomed to not every character appearing in every episode of a season. Most of the time, the primary cast has to take roughly two to three episodes off.

It’s the reason we’ve seen such an influx of installments devoted solely to a character or two, as the other members of the team fall into the background or may be missing for whatever reason.

In this case, Ruzek has often had such strong stories interlocked with that of Burgess, too, so it may be a bit trickier as the pair often have a lot of screentime for the sole reason that as a married couple who work together, they end up in one another’s centrics.

There Are Ways Ruzek’s Absence Can Appease Fans and Respect the Character

But it’s not impossible to write Ruzek out for a while, either.

One of the most obvious ways they can do this would be for Ruzek to go on an undercover mission. He’s done it before, particularly when it came to the white supremacist arc from Chicago PD Season 11.

But many fans can also recall that when Flueger had to take time off for a film in Chicago PD’s early days, they made that work by stating that he was undercover at the time.

It’s possible that the series can redo that again, putting him under, which is something that aligns with his character enough even now as a family man.

That way, they could also write a script for a case that coincides with his absence that they can reference or immerse him in when he returns.

Given that the Intelligence Unit seems to be operating on thin ice despite Voight’s strong-arming of the interim commissioner, it would make sense if Ruzek has to do something he doesn’t want to just to get by.

During Chicago PD Season 13 Episode 1, we already saw that he was working with another unit.

At the same time, they were waiting to return to Intelligence, so it’s possible that he had some cases to wrap up with them, or they might be short-staffed and need him for an assignment.

Ruzek’s Previous Arcs Can Be Used to Justify His Absence

The series could also leverage the unique dynamic between Ruzek and Kiana, which developed during their collaboration to capture Martel’s killer.

Essentially, if Kiana reached out to him needing a favor, he’d drop everything and help her out because Ruzek is incredibly loyal, particularly with his “people.”

I can see all of these being the most obvious ways they can write his character out for a few episodes to accommodate the actor’s unexpected absence.

Of course, Ruzek’s most emotional arc from Chicago PD Season 12 was that of dealing with his father’s declining health as he battled early-onset Alzheimer’s.

There’s a perfect opportunity for Ruzek to take some time off to help care for him, address his father’s condition, or assist the family. It’s also something that aligns with who Ruzek is as a person, and it would be a solid follow-up to how he and Burgess struggled with so many family issues last season.

The stressors of that never really go away, and it would add that extra human quality and relatability to his character by continuing that arc in a meaningful way offscreen.

I’m going to miss Ruzek onscreen. He’s one of Chicago PD’s most interesting characters, and he’s definitely a persona favorite. But the series has many ways to address this that will be of benefit to the character, and it’ll make his return all the sweeter.

Over to you, Chicago PD Fanatics. How do you feel about this news?

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