[This story contains spoilers from season 12, episode five of Chicago P.D., “Pawns.”]
When you know you know. And for Chicago P.D. Intelligence Unit Officer Kimberly Burgess, played by Marina Squerciati, it’s time to move to the next level.
Burgess, who has dedicated her life to her profession for 12 seasons on the Dick Wold police procedural, took the detective’s exam in episode five, titled “Pawns.” The job would bring with it a significant pay raise and rank, but moving to detective would also challenge her leadership skills and the investigative aspect of the job.
Things, however, are never as easy as they appear. Burgess seems to ace the exam and, after answering some direct questions by law officers led by Detective Suarez (Elizabeth Rodriguez), the only thing left to do is to shadow a ride-along with a veteran detective. But Burgess notices that Deputy Police Chief Reid (Shawn Hatosy) has taken a suspiciously vested interest in her journey.
When a detective shows up the next day for Burgess to shadow, it ends up being Suarez, ordered by Reid. Both women grow suspicious as Reid orders constant updates on a case where a man was shot dead in his driveway while catching thieves attempting to steal his catalytic converter. Suarez tells Burgess to take charge of the scene and lets her secure evidence and take lead in talking to witnesses, but nerves cause Burgess to make some mistakes and evidence is allowed to leave the crime scene.
The deceased victim managed to shoot and wound one of the three thieves before succumbing to his wounds. That injured suspect runs into a neighbor’s house dripping blood. Burgess and a patrol officer gives chase, but the alleged robber is struck and killed by truck. The rest of the show follows Burgess and Suarez as they get closer to tracking down and arresting the main killer named Octavio, who is a vicious Mexican gang member killing and scoring as much money as he can before leaving the country.
One of the main rules that Burgess learned during the detective’s test is to never split up from your partner. But during a getaway car chase with Octavio, the two officers end up chasing the suspect down an alley and losing him. Suarez orders Burgess to split up, against protocol. Burgess finds Octavio first and, through a life-and-death struggle for her gun, she ends up shooting him in the upper body. He dies at the scene.
The Hollywood Reporter recently caught up with Squerciati to talk about Burgess’ track to becoming a detective, her relationship with Suarez, what’s next for her and Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) and why the deputy police chief is so interested in seeing her succeed or fail.
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First, everyone wants to know what happened to you during the first two episodes of the new season. Can you give us any insight?
Actually, we all have two episodes off. So mine just happened to be the first two episodes. Nothing happened. Everyone had conspiracy theories. I’m fine.
I assumed that all members of the Intelligence Unit were promoted to the rank of detective, but that’s not the case, right?
None of us are detectives.
Did your character always want to be a detective?
Yeah! I think she’s an ambitious woman and she has her family and her husband-to-be [Adam Ruzek played by Patrick Flueger], and I think it was time. She’s a thriver and I don’t think she stops. She had to mother her child, who’s been through a traumatic event, and she thinks everything is in a good place. It was time.
She is not feeling like she has to prove herself in any way.
She doesn’t have to prove it; she knows she’s a badass!
Do you think there was an underlining jealously from Detective Suarez of Burgess? That maybe she feels you are protected from the grime and politics of the department?
My opinion is that she was trying to help her take the next step. Maybe she was jealous that Vought (Jason Beghe) had protected me from all the muck and the scum that sort of shaped who Suarez was, but I think she was also warning me that it exists. And it does find me in the end. So, Suarez was right.
And, what is going on with Deputy Chief Reid? Does Burgess really believe that his special attention to her and the robbery case centers more on Suarez?
I think she felt the Spidey tingles; her Spidey senses were on when Deputy Chief Reid was in the room. But I don’t think she knew what it was. She’s a smart woman, she knows something is going on. I don’t know that she could tell you what it was. I can’t tell you as Marina, because I don’t know what’s happening. Like, what is the long game here? I wish I knew, but I have not been told.
Why do you think Burgess obeyed that order from Suarez for the two of them to split up when the rule is to stay with your partner at all times?
I think it’s easy to play a badass on TV, but you have bosses in real life and you have people that that if you go against, there are consequences. And I like that in Chicago PD I could be like, “I’m not doing this” and then I’d be fired. It’s a realistic situation: Your boss is your superior who is putting you in a bad position and you’re trying to figure out how to survive it, and how to not lose your moral compass.
At the end of the episode, we know Burgess is going to be recommended to become a detective. But Suarez tells her that she is too cuddled under Voight’s unit and should leave. She recommends a transfer, which Burgess is for. Why does Kim want to leave?
I don’t think she wanted to leave, but she didn’t want to play the game. That is who Burgess is; she is not going to play the game. She’s not going to do anything that compromises her, and she felt [staying] compromised her. And so, she was going to leave with her head held high. And that was a cool moment because as an audience member you think, “Oh, this is Burgess’ last episode.”
You’re originally from New York, but you attended Northwestern University. So, you have a familiarity with Chicago before you landed the role on Chicago P.D.
People say that, like, you’re broke, I mean, I was broken college. Occasionally I had enough money, two nickels to rub together to come down to Chicago, but like, you’re trying to go to a frat house and drink for free. So, it wasn’t like [I was] taking a lot of trips to come down to any nice restaurants, but I did in Evanston.
What is it like being the only surviving original female cast member of Chicago P.D.?
No, Amy! Amy Morton [who plays Desk Sergeant Trudy Platt]!
Okay, I’m talking about within the Intelligence Unit.
I don’t view it that way. I think of me, LaRoyce Hawkins and Patty [Flueger] as the OGs. We’ve been here forever. We’ve earned our stripes. I look at us more as a trio.
It’s more like you get to work with three people who are best friends that I probably wouldn’t be friends with if I hadn’t been stuck with them for 12 years (laughs), and now I love them to death and would probably kill for them. I love them so much!
What does the future hold for Burgess and Marina as both continue on this Chicago P.D. journey?
Right now, we’re doing a big Patty two-parter episode and we have “Disco Bob” [played by Jack Coleman], his dad, sort of putting a wedge into our relationship. It is kind of something that every couple deals with, with in-laws. It’s really interesting and I don’t think I can say exactly what’s going on, but it’s going to test us. And I like it, because it’s very much something that everyone is going to go through.
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Chicago P.D. airs new episodes Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on NBC, streaming on Peacock.
English (US) ·