It’s time for Kim Burgess to shine yet again.
Most fans know there is nothing like a Kim-centric on Chicago P.D. This time, we’re celebrating a milestone.
With Chicago P.D. Season 10 Episode 14, it marks the 200th episode of this series, and they’re utilizing it to bring forth a pulse-pounding case that challenges a beloved character and centers a popular pairing.
One thing we can expect from this momentous hour is that Marina Squerciati will absolutely slay this performance.
As one of the series’ best actors playing a compelling Kim Burgess, we should be prepared for another Squerciati tour de force that will have us on the edge of our seats until the end credits.
The case alone implies that it will be a nail-biter and something different from the usual form.
The synopsis teases that Kim and Adam will find themselves on Chicago’s busy L subway after a shooting. They’ll be racing to collect evidence and get to the bottom of who is behind it, why the victim was shot, and more, with as little evidence as they can access while the rest of the unit is working angles from their end.
Between the synopsis and the promo, it seems like something ripped from an action movie, which makes the anticipation for this one significant and the promise of what’s in store exciting.
In the promo, we see Kim standing outside the subway when she sees a man who has been shot stumbling onboard.
She follows him onto the train, and from then on, it becomes a bit ordeal.
She promises to help the man, but it doesn’t look promising for him.
Whatever the situation is, Kim and Adam may have been separated initially. In the promo, we see him running down the street and calling after Kim as others are racing away from the gunshots.
But we know Adam will stop at nothing to be by her side, and the photos suggest that he’ll be with her sooner rather than later.
It should have Burzek fans in a frenzy, and they’ll get some quality content they’ve been craving.
For Kim fans, we’ll be getting some long-overdue and necessary content for this character.
One of the biggest pitfalls of Chicago PD Season 9 was how it mostly glossed over her trauma and her horrible experience of being shot by Roy.
Instead of focusing on her exclusively and the aftermath of yet another traumatic ordeal for this character, the narrative shifted to Voight, Halstead, and Hailey and the coverup behind what really happened to Roy.
And sadly and frustratingly, Kim was essentially cut out of her own narrative.
But this season has been building to addressing that once and for all.
We’ve seen signs along the way that Kim isn’t handling things well, and she’s still battling some form of PTSD. She tends to space out and dissociate at times.
She’s not always mentally present when she’s at home with Mack. And we see certain impulsive and physical characteristics, like her hands shaking and other bouts of anxiety.
So far, no one has really called her out on it, but we’ve seen characters like Ruzek and Atwater take notice of it.
And it makes sense that Kim may be experiencing these things. Even if we consider the plethora of traumas she has endured and wracked up throughout ten seasons, she’s long overdue for a breaking point.
Breakdowns lead to breakthroughs, and hopefully, as painful as it may be to witness, this installment will provide us that so that Kim can move forward and become healthy, happy, and whole as an individual and within the family she’s formed with Mack and Ruzek.
Something about the nature of this incident appears to set her off and trigger her. The thing about PTSD and triggers is that you have no control over what will cause you to seize up or when it becomes too much.
Something about this man’s shooting prompts Kim to recall her own and how she nearly died at the hands of Roy after she was left for dead.
It seems the Roy shooting was the straw that broke the camel’s back, with Kim processing many near-death incidents, a brutal miscarriage, and so much more.
In the promo, it looks like Kim is having a full-blown panic attack when the train goes haywire and sends everyone careening everywhere.
We can see her flat on her back, gasping for breath and disheveled as she looks up at the ceiling.
We barely see the other characters in the promo video, although a few stills feature them.
It suggests that the hour will heavily focus on Kim and Adam. It fits with their character-centric approach with the formulaic pacing of the installments.
We’re due for some more headway on the Burzek front of things, and hopefully, during this hour, we’ll get that.
The series has always had romance intertwined with the police work, sometimes focusing heavily on it over other aspects of the series.
Sadly, Jesse Soffer’s departure also put an end to Upstead, which has been slowly diminishing over time and after our last check-in on the topic, seems to be over.
With such a disappointing ending for those shippers, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they start going full-force and reuniting Burzek permanently.
We’ve seen that Ruzek had a lot of growing to do before he was in the place for a serious romantic relationship with Burgess. But we’ve also seen that he’s gotten to that point, but she’s spent a long time pushing him away.
They’ve been in this limbo where they haven’t been exclusively dating each other but have been co-parenting together.
Trapped may put the two of them in a position where they’re finally on the same page and can move forward as a legitimate couple and a family.
It would be nice to see some genuine tenderness and love mutually shared between the two. And there’s no better timing for romantic progress for this long-running ship than the milestone 200th episode!
But more than anything, this is a Kim Burgess episode, and we cannot wait to see what’s in store!
Over to you, Chicago PD Fanatics. What are your theories about the milestone episode, and what comes next? What would you like to see? Sound off below with your speculation.
Chicago PD airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on NBC. You can watch Chicago PD online here via TV Fanatic.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
