I’m not going to lie, Chicago PD Season 10 Episode 8 was probably the creepiest and most disturbing installment to date.
Overall, this season of Chicago PD has been especially dark. Good… but dark and twisted. And maybe that’s because the characters are dealing with such heavy subject matters with every single episode, including the Sean O’Neal plot spanning multiple episodes.
Burgess did not expect to stumble upon a serial killer when she responded to what seemed like a run-of-the-mill call to ID a body possibly connected to Los Temidos. Nor did she expect to have her PTSD from her near-death bubble up to the surface the way it did, though, I am glad that the writers are acknowledging what happened to her and showing that even though she worked through it in her own way, these things can come back to haunt you at any time.
The line of work that she does has the power to take a toll on people. Makayla and her BFF may have been playing monsters, but Burgess deals with them in real life.
Quinn, the suspect that was found brutally stabbed six times in the abdomen, turned out to be the latest victim of a serial killer.
I’m glad Ruzek was also totally spooked by the shrine that they found—and I would never enter an abandoned sewer the way they did without knowing what I was going to find down there— but it was crucial in unearthing the other victims.
The killer seemed to be targeting the elite—very wealthy people who commuted to the city for a job in finance or investment banking. But why? The investigation led Intelligence to question the families of the victims, who all recalled that the killer stalked their loved ones prior to their disappearance while breaking into the house and leaving a window open to alert them of the break-in. At one house, they found a glove, which brought them to Tyler Jerome Hansen.
Voight and Burgess pressed him as hard as they could, but it was clear that Tyler was telling the truth: he was innocent. Plus, he didn’t fit the profile as he had a family, a wife and kids, and a stable job. There was nothing tying him to the victims.
By luck, the killer struck again, and though Intelligence was unable to stop him in the act, they were on his tail and eventually managed to nab facial recognition, which revealed that Tyler’s brother, Mark, was the man responsible for the murders.
Without Tyler, Intelligence would’ve struggled to make their case and likely wouldn’t have arrived at the house in time to save Linda, which would have been Mark’s final victim. And though Tyler didn’t know anything about what Mark was doing and refused to believe that his brother could be responsible for something so deranged, he clued them in as to the “why.” Mark was targeting the one percenters as revenge for the deaths of his parents, who were killed by a CEO drunk driver after a business meeting. Mark’s mother was stabbed in the abdomen, which explained the injuries he’d inflict on his victims, while the number 6 represented the number of drinks the CEO—who used his wealth and power to get off easily with a two-year prison sentence in a cushy prison—had before the accident.
As for the symbols on the shrines, they connected back to the Greek King Lantos, who also targeted the wealthy and built shrines to ask for forgiveness. The whole thing was messed up, but you have to admit that it was one of the more unique cases that Intelligence has ever taken on.
Once they finally got an address for Mark, Burgess realized that while dealing with the trauma of her shooting, she misplaced her service weapon, which only added even more tension to the whole situation. Because her judgment was clouded, she was now naked with no protection leaving her with no choice but to send her partner into danger without backup.
When she heard a gunshot coming from the house, she bolted in without any weapons and was relieved to find Ruzek safe and with Linda, who was, thankfully, still alive. They got there in time. And since Burgess has been in this very situation before, she knew exactly what would be helpful to get Linda to hang in there. The thing that kept Burgess going was the thought of her child and the knowledge that someone was coming for her, so she wanted to be a source of comfort and support for Linda.
It was very clear that she was traumatized by her shooting because the moment she heard another gunshot go off upstairs, she was in fight-or-flight mode. I love that Ruzek picked up on the situation and called out to her immediately to let her know that he was fine.
What I find to be a bummer is that Burgess still doesn’t feel like she can open up to him and simply be. Ruzek clearly saw how affected Burgess was, considering the case hit so close to home, but when he confronted her about it, she put on a brave face and dismissed his concerns. I know this is just Burgess just trying to be ok for her own sake, but it wouldn’t hurt her to break down the barrier and let him in from time to time. It’s ok not to be ok. And honestly, while I love the strong female leads, I wish the series just allowed them to feel the pain occasionally.
Burgess, especially, could benefit from simply being transparent with Ruzek. He’s never going to judge her or think less of her.
Instead, Burgess went to hang with Hailey, who was also ignoring her very real problems and spending time in the safe house, desperately trying to find any dirt on Sean. The Chief obviously gave Intelligence the homicide case as punishment for investigating his son. There are a lot of people in denial here, and the Chief is one of them. I know it’s a parent’s instinct to protect their son, but honestly, you can’t turn a blind eye to human trafficking.
Of course, he was justifying his behavior by the fact that Intelligence didn’t find anything new on Sean since the failed bust nor could they connect him to any crimes as all of the kids they questioned simply called him a saint and raved about how he helped through addiction.
However, the serial killer case gave Burgess some new perspective, as the “why” behind Mark’s actions was crucial. It was deranged, but it made sense considering what he went through in the past. What was Sean’s “why”? That’s when Burgess connected Ruzek’s interview with a kid, who said that Sean took him to Wisconsin on a fishing trip, to Sean’s four stints in rehab that were also in Wisconsin.
Upon arriving at the abandoned house that Sean previously owned, they made their way to the back where they found a shed filled with mushrooms, which inspired them to start digging. And that’s where they unearthed a woman’s skeleton (she was still wearing her bracelet!).
This is what I would call a smoking gun… and going into the fall finale, it’s time that Upton and Burgess burn it all to the ground, the Chief and his son be damned.
A few stray thoughts to lighten up the mood a bit—I love seeing Burgess and Ruzek co-parent. He needed a lot of luck after she left him with two little girls hopped up on ice cream and a bedtime of 9 pm. Torres is also such a fun addition, particularly the fact that his mother drops him off at work where he basically solves the city’s most violent crimes. It’s so wholesome.
What did you think of the episode? Did you like that the storyline connected back to Burgess’s past?
And will they manage to bring down Sean? We’ll meet back here on Dec 7, Cravers!