3 Ways ‘Chicago P.D.’ Could Handle Patrick John Flueger’s Leave of Absence
Intelligence is going to be down a member (temporarily) at some point soon in Chicago P.D. Season 13.
Patrick John Flueger has taken “a leave of absence” — meaning he will be back — for personal reasons, Deadline has reported. It has been described as “unexpected,” with scripts being rewritten. That suggests that however his absence is explained will happen with Ruzek already offscreen and likely be something that doesn’t have a set end date when it begins. Below, we’ve come up with three ways for Chicago P.D. to explain where Ruzek is.
Temporary reassignment
Yes, we just saw how hard Sergeant Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) fought to get his unit back together after they were split up at the beginning of Season 13, but he also made an enemy of IA Commander Devlin (Joel Murray) in doing so. Maybe Devlin hits back by pulling Ruzek from Intelligence for an assignment he can’t refuse — or might even be tempting to Ruzek to want to take on.
Undercover gig
It doesn’t seem likely Ruzek would take an undercover assignment, especially since it would have to take his wife, Detective Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati), and their daughter Makayla (Ramona Edith Williams) into consideration. The only way that both Ruzek and Burgess would agree to this would be if it was something personal for him, and the chances of that seem slim.
Something involving his father
This seems the most likely. It was in Season 12 that Ruzek learned his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. The easiest way to explain Ruzek’s absence and have it be something that also takes into account his family would be if something happens with his father that requires him to take a leave from work. He could still be in Chicago and we just don’t see Burgess at home — or it’s said Ruzek’s out of the house when we do — for a while, or it could lead to some time away.
How do you think Chicago P.D. should and will explain Patrick John Flueger’s absence? Let us know in the comments section below.
Chicago P.D., Wednesdays, 10/9c, NBC
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