Chicago PD Season 9 Episode 14 Review: Blood Relation
Jasmine Blu
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What the entire F**K?!!
How can you not be in a state of utter shock after Chicago PD Season 9 Episode 14's cliffhanger? It was yet another great installment following an impressive return with Chicago PD Season 9 Episode 13, with a good balance of a spectacularly creepy case and personal storylines.
We got Burzek family feels, the pair kissed, and they were about to celebrate winning custody of MaKayla and then.... that ENDING. Who took Makayla, and why can't Kim Burgess ever be happy for more than a second?!
My mind is reeling from those final moments of the hour, but let's try to delve into everything as best as possible.
Chicago P.D. continues this streak of getting back to the cases and providing personal arcs for select characters while still giving us that familial team element. It was a strong hour for that, which focused on Kim and provided us with some endearing moments with her and Ruzek and Kevin.
Makayla: What are we going to do?
Kim: We're going to call your Uncle Kevin
Yes, they're giving us that Burgwater content again, and it's an utter blessing. Kim's taking Makayla to "Uncle Kevin," him calling that precious little girl a "queen" while his aunt tells her about how beautiful her hair is and does it will live in my head rent-free.
It takes a village to raise a child on a good day, and one of the best things interracial families like Burgess, Ruzek, and Mac can have for these moments is a loving community of friends and family who can help them out when they feel out of their depth.
You will not ever say that Kim Burgess isn't a great mother, and it speaks volumes about that she was taking in processing what it means for her as a white cop raising as a young Black girl in Chicago of all places. If she weren't a damn good person and mother, she wouldn't fret over that at all.
The second that Theo came into the picture, you could guess that Kim's race, her job, and his blood relation to Makayla would come into play while he fought for custody. And the reality of the matter is that it would in these circumstances like this.
We learned that Theo has the financial means to support a kid, he has a stable life with a wife who couldn't have children of her own, and Makayla is his family. And yes, he shares the same race and culture as Makayla, which counts for something.
But Makayla isn't a baby. As much as Theo had going for him as her financially stable next of kin, Kim has been there for Makayla through the most traumatic points of her life. Theo didn't even know he had a niece in the first place. He's a virtual stranger to Makayla in every sense of the word.
When you have a child who has endured the level of trauma that Makayla has, it's about doing what's best for her and providing her with stability in her life. Shipping Makayla off to a man she's never met to live somewhere else when she's gotten settled and made a life for herself with Kim and Adam isn't good for her in the least.
It would be way too much change and upheaval for her. It was also irritating as hell that they did that thing that always happens with working women when the whole case built against her revolved around her being unfit because of her job.
Thousands of parents are first responders or have hazardous jobs. If it's their child by blood, no one would bat an eye or question their fitness as a parent. No one would consider accusing an active-duty person in the military of being an unfit parent because serving their country pulled them away from their child, right?
Yes, Kim's job is dangerous, but there are all types of dangers out there. A simple trip to the grocery store could still leave Makayla without a parent.
It's disturbing that they accessed her medical records to build their case, too. Doesn't that violate HIPAA? And, of course, they also used Kim and Adam's relationship as a reason to imply that her household is unstable as if we're living in the '50s or something.
Families come in all shapes and sizes, and there's nothing wrong with the modern living arrangement that Kim and Adam have.
Makayla's favorite snack is tortilla chips dipped in whipped cream. It's disgusting, but she'll beg me for it for eating her veggies, so you do what you do. She collects these pieces of sea glass, we go to the beach on Sunday mornings when I'm not working, and she's obsessed with them. My pockets are full of them, sometimes I think they're multiplying. Makayla's discovered that we have a freckle inside of the same toe on the same foot and decided that we can communicate as a result telepathically, so when she's at school in the middle of the day she sends me happy thoughts, and when I come home, I'm supposed to know what those happy thoughts are, which is hard. You were right about everything. I don't have a ton of money. I don't have a big house. Yes, Adam Ruzek, my ex-fiance, is moving in with us. I don't know how to explain that except that we're family, and yes, I almost died and went back to a job before I had to, but it was what I needed then, and it's what I want now. I'm good at my job, I help people, and I'm proud that my kid sees me doing that. I am a mess, and I make mistakes. Makayla, that's something that I've done really right. Theo, I get what you're trying to do, truly, I truly do, but what Makayla and I have you can't just make that up. It's real, she's my family, and I'm hers.
Kim
Sure, it may be frustrating for fans of the pairing that they're in this undefined place. It has its annoying moments (namely when Kim jerks Adam's chain on the issue), but the family they've cultivated outside of labels is beautiful and a rarity on TV.
It's only natural for Theo and his lawyer to attempt weaponizing it somehow. No one else has to understand what Burgess and Ruzek are as long as they do, and it doesn't make them any less of a valid family because theirs is a non-traditional one.
The case should've always worked in Burgess' favor, but it didn't make the process any less nerve-wracking. And moments like Kim getting to show much of a mother she is based on all the essential things she knows about her daughter were poignant and moving.
Of course, Squerciati's performance was excellent, particularly during that scene. Her words were impactful enough to sway anyone if they weren't already in her favor. It provided so much insight into Kim and Makayla's relationship -- from the sea glass to the bit about the shared freckle.
It was such a damn relief when Burgess learned that the judge ruled in their favor, and of course, it led to a moment that many Burzek fans have been waiting on for an eternity. The two of them finally kissed again -- their jubilation overtaking them and bringing them even closer together.
Ruzek has been a rock for Burgess this entire time, and while he was a supportive figure during this installment, no doubt, and we got many Burzek moments, it also didn't feel as if Kim had to share her centric with exclusively him completely.
It was in a similar way that Hailey, for once, didn't have to do the same with Halstead during the previous installment.
As a result, it made those moments -- especially that kiss well worth it. And boy did they earn the hell out of that moment after ages of their back and forth merry-go-round.
It's some much-needed forward movement for their relationship since, by now, we know that it's a certainty. But there was barely enough time to bask in the happiness of the moment for Burzek as a romantic pairing and the trio as a family because we got blindsided by that ending.
The shift from a happy Burzek ready to celebrate to Gabby bleeding out on the floor of their apartment was shocking enough to leave you breathless. It's not something that I can say that I saw coming in the least!
By now, wondering why exactly they refuse to let Burgess be happy at all for any length of time is simply redundant. Squerciati is a fantastic actress, so maybe that's why they adore putting her character through the wringer, but it's absurd.
They got custody of Makayla, but now, she's missing. Whoever took her did it with such violence that this poor, sweet little girl will have more yet to recover from, and it's upsetting that this single child must endure more trauma after everything else she's experienced.
It's an upsetting situation in every conceivable way. If Theo has something to do with it, and he's no different than his brother, then Makayla will have to endure a lot, and it's terrifying to think that he orchestrated or did something so violent to get her after he lost.
For what it's worth, I'd bet on you every time.
Voight [to Kim]
However, if someone else took her, no matter what, whether it's connected to Burgess or not, it'll reflect poorly on her when one of the arguments against her in court was how dangerous her job is. No one wants to revisit this when they find Makayla.
And it would be heartbreaking if Burgess chose to give Makayla up to Theo for her safety and best interest. You can't put it past One Chicago when they refuse to allow any of their female characters across the board to be happy mothers for some gosh damn reason.
One thing is for sure, come hell or high water, they'll find Makayla, and the entire squad will scorch the earth to do it. As Voight said, in a sweet moment between him and Kim, she's one you always bet on, and she'll stop at nothing to get her kid back. Ruzek, Uncle Kev, Voight -- oh, it's a wrap.
It was another hour where the case was utterly riveting, too, albeit dark as hell. Seriously, Chicago P.D. is giving off Criminal Minds vibes, and I love it.
Kim caught a hell of a case. The dismembered body parts and bloody writing on the wall were deliciously gruesome. And then they went and threw a cult into the mix, too.
The case itself was as fascinating as the personal storyline alongside it, and it feels like we see the whole unit in action when they're working them, even though Kim took the lead for most of it.
It felt ambitious to solve a case with a cultish serial killer in a single installment that seemed only to take a couple of days tops. Once they introduced the nature of the case, it served as a reminder that the team should have more cases that require more than one installment to resolve.
Who doesn't enjoy a good old-fashion serial killer, right?
Micah wasn't compelling enough to last beyond this installment, but someday someone else will be. They sort of wrapped the case up quickly with a couple of lines after Kim shot him and told Voight that there was enough evidence at the warehouse.
Is this okay? Black kid, a white cop, this city?
Kim
But it wasn't an annoying thing since everything else happening was intriguing right up until that totally shocking ending. We'll leave things on a happy note with this gif.
Over to you, Chicago PD Fanatics. Are you shocked by that ending?! Who has Makayla? Are you tired of them doing Kim like this? Hit the comments!
You can watch Chicago PD online via TV Fanatic if you missed anything!
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
