Heading into Chicago PD season 13, episode 15, “Live or Die by Your CI,” we knew to expect a Ruzek-centric episode. If fans had somehow missed the memo about Ruzek getting to step into the spotlight to lead the episode, NBC made it clear that this was his moment to shine with the promo materials for the episode all built around Ruzek.
The promo was almost exclusively Ruzek footage, and the few photos from the episode also featured Ruzek with only a few shots of the show’s other characters. It was exciting to see Ruzek get a big episode after the character was sidelined for the last several months, and the episode quickly reminded us why we had missed Patrick John Flueger so much.
Flueger delivered an amazing performance in the episode that put Ruzek front and center. The episode saw Ruzek pulled into a case revolving around a missing informan and trying to figure out if he could actually trust the DEA agent who reached out for help finding the CI. The episode was full of twists and turns and ended with Ruzek making a major decision in deciding to sell the house he bought from his father to move to a better neighborhood for Makayla.
Among the unexpected twists the episode brought was the absence of Jason Beghe’s Hank Voight, who sat out the case with Burgess stepping in as the de facto head of the Intelligence Unit during the episode.
So where was Voight in Chicago PD season 13, episode 15?
Early on in the episode, the Chicago PD writers helped to explain Voight’s absence via a quick conversation between Ruzek and Burgess. This conversation was less than a minute in length, but it gave fans just enough information to help them understand why Voight was not overseeing the team in this joint investigation.
After DEA agent Alex Cade shows up at Ruzek’s door to enlist him in finding a missing CI, Ruzek helps arrange a meetup to draw the CI out. To his surprise, the meetup was ambushed with a shooter opening fire. This didn’t sit well with Ruzek, and he informed Burgess of his concerns, as well as his hesitation in handing the investigation off to Cade. This led him to mention that they needed to call Voight.
“We gotta call Voight. I don’t feel comfortable handing this off to DEA,” Ruzek told Burgess as they sat together in her car at the scene of the shooting.
Burgess then replied, “We can’t call Voight; he’s in Springfield for mandatory recertification.”
Ruzek then pointed out that this meant Burgess was next in command and put the ball in her court. Unsurprisingly, Burgess trusted Ruzek’s gut, and she informed Cade they’d be running point on the case, and this set the events of the episode into motion.
The conversation moved quickly but did a perfect job in explaining why Voight failed to appear in the episode. He wasn’t around in the episode, as he was out of town taking care of his recertification. It was a simple yet effective way to address Voight’s unexpected absence in the episode and helped to inform the audience as to why we wouldn’t see him appear in the episode.
Of course, we know the real reason Voight was not in the show was due to the fact that series regulars must miss a few episodes each season as a cost-cutting measure. However, it’s always nice when the show actually addresses the absence of a character such as Voight, rather than them just going MIA without any answer as to why they fail to appear in the episode.
