Chicago PD's Showrunner Teases Big Changes Finally Coming To The Team's Ranks

As NBC's long-reigning cop drama "Chicago P.D." rolls into its 10th season and accelerates toward its 200th episode, the "One Chicago" series seems to be prepping for some momentous changes for some of the show's team members.

As die-hard fans of any show are likely to do, Chi-Hards have often advocated for a variety of narrative changes and character course corrections for this long-running police procedural. The wished-for adjustments range from adding new characters to the intelligence unit's make-up to asking for specific storylines to be added, modified, or done away with entirely. For example, Redditor u/Full Weird7628 feels the show needs to work on making the episodes flow more smoothly, and wrote "Lack of continuity is a big problem," adding that the series is often "Too incoherent coupled with storylines that go nowhere." Commenting on the same thread, u/genpabloescobar2 said that too many episodes are based only on drug-running and gangs and that the show needs to "Mix up the well a little."

So, with this sort of fan input to consider, what do comments from a certain show exec indicate could be a serious change coming for "Chicago P.D." characters in the future?

The truth is, fans are wondering if it isn't time that "Chicago P.D." officers Adam Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger), Kevin Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins), and Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati) get promoted. After all, Ruzek, Atwater, and Burgess have more than paid their dues when it comes to exemplary policing on Chi-Town's mean streets. In addition to facing physical assault and gunfire on more than one occasion, all three were deeply involved in the department's record-setting drug confiscation in the recent Los Temidos gang bust. TVLine put the question of promotions for the above trio of cops to showrunner Gwen Sigan and she came back with a tantalizing, if exasperatingly vague, answer.

Asked specifically if Ruzek, Atwater, or Burgess are in line for being upped to detective's rank, Sigan replied, "We're definitely playing with" the possibility. But, in typical fashion for execs commenting on this sort of not-yet-finalized narrative detail, she added, "We haven't figured out exactly what we plan on doing with it, but it's something that's been there for years. I would love to see some movement there." So, while it's unclear who, if anyone, will see a title change and a bump in their pay envelope during Season 10, it's not out of the question that somebody new will be pinning on a detective's badge before too much longer on "Chicago P.D."