The third time is certainly the appeal.
Regarding Chicago PD’s Kim Burgess and Adam Ruzek, only a few “ships” stay on tv which have had fairly the journey this pairing has.
And Chicago PD Season 11 Episode 3 marks a pivotal turning level of their relationship, the sequence, and tv historical past pertaining to {couples}.
Burzek has cemented its place amongst a number of the most noteworthy {couples} of tv historical past, and that is not to diminish any of the sequence or the One Chicago universe’s different pairings.
But not like any of the opposite pairings over the span of the franchise, Burzek has such a deep, wealthy historical past that has saved viewers on edge for a full 11 seasons.
When you take into account that, it is no marvel why followers have invested on this pairing. It’s no small feat.
There has been a valley of highs and lows for the 2 since they first crossed paths with each other, and what Chicago PD has delivered, for higher and typically worse, is the kind of (on the danger of being hyperbolic) iconic ship that many sequence haven’t got the pleasure or longevity of getting to pull off.
Despite the occasional grumblings from some followers to the opposite, Chicago PD is not a primetime cleaning soap or akin to it.
It’s a true via procedural.
But the Burzek method is massively profitable at tapping into the extent of cleaning soap opera fervor for this couple. And that is no slight within the least.
There is a motive why folks tune into cleaning soap operas and have a particular degree of dedication to sure pairings that may be years and typically even generations within the making.
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A primetime sequence can hardly ever pull that high quality of a love pairing off as a result of it is rare that you simply get to see many reveals survive lengthy sufficient, particularly with the forged intact, to achieve this.
Admittedly, it was partly why it was irritating when issues shifted throughout the sequence when a staple ship tended to take extra of a backseat and change into secondary.
Burgess and Adam Ruzek have been two characters who had been orbiting each other in some capability for a decade.
Just just like the third time is a appeal for this pairing, precise time has served this couple nicely.
It’s to the pairing’s profit that they’ve had time for his or her relationship to evolve as a lot because the characters have all through 11 seasons; thus, it is a love story that pays off.
What’s refreshing about Burzek is that we have seen them via many lenses and varied levels of their relationship, and it has been a journey.
And the sequence hasn’t shied away from permitting us to observe them on that journey, even when it took some painful and irritating twists and turns alongside the way in which.
Burzek has benefited tremendously from not being a rush job.
While it does not technically qualify as a conventional sluggish burn, the sequence utilized a number of the strategies of a textbook sluggish burn alongside the “second chance at love” mechanism to ship a ship with actual endurance that has saved followers invested for over a decade.
It’s not simple to do, and far of it falls throughout the completely implausible chemistry between Marina Squerciati and Patrick J. Flueger.
The longer the 2 have been ready to play off each other, the extra alluring the ship and the will for it to function an endgame.
With every passing season, it is obvious how shut the 2 have change into, their real friendship and belief, and their deep understanding of and instincts concerning the respective characters, permitting them to work magic with the dynamic.
Related: Chicago PD Season 11 Wishlist: Burzek, Levity, and Promotions
Those instincts and chemistry have carried Burzek as a throughline throughout all of the moments between the writing for them.
And maybe that is why even when the romantic facet of the pairing appeared to have been on ice many instances throughout the sequence, there hasn’t been a second when Burzek hasn’t felt inevitable.
That declaration and common sentiment of the 2 promising one another “forever” throughout “Safe Harbor” felt proper and suited them nicely.
It was an installment that I’m not afraid to admit I had to sit with longer, processing the various elements of it nicely previous the deadline for my overview to respect it much more.
While watching the hour, it was laborious not to have blended emotions about particular parts of it and its execution, because the season to date has been alarmingly underwhelming to a diploma.
Even whereas writing my Safe Harbor Review, I acknowledged how torn I felt and the way blended up my emotions have been concerning sure aspects of the hour and even this long-awaited proposal.
The begrudging romantic in me certainly craved extra concerning the proposal. It was so understated, even for these two.
A second that I envisioned might’ve concerned Makayla in a type of quiet however candy domesticated snippets they’ve gifted us with for the previous two seasons — it did not precisely come to fruition.
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It was such a deceptively informal second amid the entire routine moments they reside collectively.
It would not be stunning if they do not even keep in mind this particular proposal so far as the way it got here to be, solely how they felt when voicing and reaffirming that they’d chosen one another and can proceed to achieve this for the remainder of their lives.
And but, it is one thing that served them nicely, particularly who they’ve change into as life companions.
For the file, there was by no means any doubt in any way that Ruzek would suggest to Burgess in some unspecified time in the future.
He’s all the time been keen to put himself and his coronary heart on the market like that. He’s by no means wavered on instinctively figuring out that he belonged to her and certain all the time would.
The undeniable fact that he nonetheless had the identical ring he used earlier than (one he is held onto for years) and had each intention of presenting it to her but once more is not in the least stunning for a man who has been up to now gone for Kim Burgess for nearly so long as we have identified him.
But after the extra conventional grand gesture and the informal however cautious inquiry after they discovered they have been pregnant throughout Chicago PD Season 7 Episode 11, I questioned and possibly anticipated one thing that may fall sweetly within the center.
Forgive a woman for questioning and making an attempt to envision his preliminary plan.
Kim: Promise me we’ll preserve preventing for this. Because I would like us, Adam. I would like this household.
Adam: Well, you recognize I’ll.
Kim: Yeah?
Adam: Yeah. I’ll preserve preventing for it for the remainder of my life.
Kim: That’s good.
Adam: I used to be going to do a complete factor right here, however this appears higher. Let’s get married. Let’s make it eternally.
Kim: Third time’s a appeal, huh?
Adam: That match okay?
Kim: It’s good.
But what’s abundantly clear with this newest step of their lives is how Burzek is nothing if not well-earned.
These two characters have fought for this — they’ve bled, as Adam succinctly famous. They’ve been via the trenches and walked via fireplace to attain this level. They’ve endured greater than most would ever have to do.
Burzek has put within the work.
In a sea of sequence whose quest can typically be placing characters collectively for fast gratification and payoff, there’s nothing as rewarding as a well-earned ship.
It’s such a rarity to witness what Burzek has pulled off, which is why this second within the sequence’ historical past is so satisfying. It additionally feels solidified, deeply cemented, and for actual this time.
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At this stage within the sequence, each bit as a lot as this level in Adam and Kim’s lives, their “forever” is inevitable.
What’s refreshing about Burzek is that it is comprised of two characters who’ve accomplished the person work and gotten to develop and evolve as characters on their very own earlier than embarking on this journey collectively.
Previous makes an attempt on the two of them coming collectively have been rocky, primarily as a result of one or each weren’t in the most effective place for the connection to thrive.
Yes, it is potential for people to nonetheless flourish as such whereas in a relationship, however in hindsight, it was extra rewarding to see these two characters come into their very own aside earlier than revisiting their romance.
Some of the antics of Chicago PD Season 11 Episode 2 however, we have seen spectacular improvement from Ruzek over time and the way he is change into a secure, extra even-tempered, dependable household man devoted to the folks he cares about most.
And there was nothing extra satisfying than Marina Squerciati’s beautiful work when Kim lastly made this long-awaited breakthrough throughout her remedy session, recognizing a few of her fears and letting down the final of her defenses concerning the person she’s by no means stopped loving.
It was up to Kim to select Ruzek at the moment throughout Chicago PD Season 10 Episode 17, however the truth of the matter is that the 2 of them have been selecting each other for years.
Burzek basically turned life companions nicely earlier than they might even admit or acknowledge it, and it was a number of the most compelling depictions of a relationship that you do not usually see.
I used to be incorrect. You’ve confirmed your self time and time once more. You’re secure along with her. I imagine in you, Adam. I do. And I’m sorry if it hasn’t all the time felt that approach.
Kim
Their affirmation of one another — this promise that they’d give us one another eternally merely put phrases to what we have already seen and identified was true.
Any good derived from the darkness of their miscarriage arc is that no matter their romantic pursuits, they might all the time be eternally household, tied to one another inextricably.
Arguably, a number of the strongest moments that marked the actual shift within the ship got here from that darker arc throughout Chicago PD Season 7 and the moments since.
It’s then that it was apparent that there would by no means be a time after they would not orbit round each other. There was such a distinct magnificence within the indefinable nature of their union then exactly as a result of it transcended labels.
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Burzek is transcendent.
As far as ships go, it does not get significantly better. It’s one thing that may solely be executed as nicely with the kind of historical past to mess around with and the willingness to let the pairing breathe with out restrictions.
We’ve all the time identified that Burzek all the time chooses one another, so nothing is stunning about that coming into play within the quiet second of their proposal.
Because, in a beautiful play of phrases, Burzek really are one another’s “safe harbor.”
Kim: I have not ever not felt, it isn’t that I did not really feel the identical approach that he did. I did, I all the time have. I simply could not, I could not, I used to be simply to…
Therapist: OK, we do not have to preserve pushing that tonight, however that is a good begin.
A protected harbor is a place of refuge and safety, and that is exactly what Burzek have all the time been for each other: a protected area to retreat, a stable basis for which a ship at sea can comfortably and safely land amid the unpredictability of sea and tumultuous storms.
A protected harbor is basically a residence, and for Burzek, their residence is in each other.
It’s one thing each characters have craved all through your complete sequence, subtly referenced and talked about and sprinkled right here and there via time, as they’ve discovered that household and refuge will be energetic decisions, and thus, they reaffirmed that they’ve actively chosen one another.
But what feels monumental and celebratory concerning the proposal is how each characters are lastly within the good, secure, wholesome locations the place they’ll talk nicely.
Related: Budget Cuts, Cast Shifts, & Truncated Seasons – Can One Chicago Survive Its Own Changes?
Kim and Adam are extra mature and seasoned. They are their greatest selves as people; thus, their romance is additionally. It feels grounded and actual, a home with good bones constructed on a stable basis after laborious work.
There’s consolation in figuring out that what comes subsequent for them is actual this time. It has the lasting energy to carry via the rest of the sequence.
They’ve constructed and change into a household, and there is no going backward, which units them up to be probably the most profitable pairing within the One Chicago universe that we’ve got fixed entry to and one of many healthiest.
The prospect of what comes subsequent for them is really thrilling. It’s one of many solely endgames that pays off and rewards loyal viewers.
There aren’t too many, or every other pairings throughout the One Chicago Universe, who possess the storied historical past, longevity, transitions, or Kim and Adam’s fortitude and skill to overcome something.
Burzek has greater than earned its bones.
We have an official engagement, and what’s additionally comforting is figuring out how little this new shift of their relationship will not intrude with the job or detract from something.
With time and a rewatch, I’ve definitely made peace with it and may see the fantastic thing about the way it transpired and the way sensible it feels — how quietly significant and poignant it was.
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But inside a season that takes up a theme of tapping into extra private arcs and peeling extra layers to these characters we have identified for a while, a wedding ceremony feels as inevitable as Burzek itself.
The proposal might have been delicate and tender, however the wedding ceremony rattling certain higher be loud and a true celebration.
It can be the primary of its type for Chicago PD, and Burzek is definitely the pairing that earned it.
These little moments let the sunshine in on a sequence that is change into so darkish.
Let a Burzek wedding ceremony be the sunshine that we want! It’s the much-needed celebration of a ship, Burzek’s household, the characters, and the sequence itself.
Over to you, Chicago PD and Burzek Fanatics. How are you feeling about this hard-fought engagement? Sound off under!
Chicago PD airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on NBC and streams the next day on Peacock.
Jasmine Blu is a senior employees author for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching approach too many reveals and binge-drinking approach an excessive amount of tea. Her eclectic style makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complicated characters, various illustration, dynamic duos, compelling tales, and responsible pleasures. You’ll undoubtedly discover her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
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