If you felt short-changed by the Burzek wedding in the Season 12 finale of NBC‘s Chicago P.D., series star Marina Squerciati is addressing your concerns.
After fans waited years to see Kim Burgess (Squerciati) and Adam Ruzek (Patrick Flueger) finally walk down the aisle, keeping the celebration to the final beats of the finale was not how they expected it to play out. But, according to Squerciati, the length of the scene was in line with how the police procedural handles celebrations such as this.
Deadline caught up with Squerciati at the ATX TV Festival on Friday ahead of the One Chicago panel, to discuss Chicago P.D.‘s finale.
For anyone not in Austin, Squerciati addresses many of your burning questions below.
MARINA SQUERCIATI: People definitely wanted more after waiting 12 years, but that’s not our show. Unless there was, like, a bloody gown, then, I don’t know. I think we would be less happy. At least I had a moment to be pretty.
DEADLINE: Your dress was stunning. Tell us a little about it.
SQUERCIATI: The dress was an Eva Lendel dress by Mira Couture. I knew I wanted her to be sexy, and I knew I wanted her to let some skin show, because we don’t do that on PD. And I wanted to be really different.
DEADLINE: How much did you film of the wedding versus what was in the final edit?
SQUERCIATI: We didn’t film vows or anything. I think that was a big thing that people got upset about, that it was never a speaking wedding, which is, I think, how they sort of bridge the gap with not making it too twee. But there were never vows. And I think because it was called “Vows,” people thought [there would be].
DEADLINE: Do you think it was the perfect time for the wedding?
SQUERCIATI: It was totally perfect. I don’t think we could have strung anyone along for another year. I think it was perfect. We’ve been through so much … our characters have grown, both of them. When I meet a fan, generally, the first thing they say is one of the two things. They say that Kim is such a badass, or that they love the evolution of the character. So it’s definitely something that needed to happen for both me and Patty, and also Ruzek and Burgess.
SQUERCIATI: I love Jack. We went out to dinner recently. As an actor, you’re always like, “Can I be in the show still? What’s going on?” Like, even me, I’m like, “Okay, I’m married, can I be in the show still?” I actually don’t know to what extent [Jack will be in next season]. He’s such an amazing actor, and I think some of the best scenes this year have been between Patty and Jack, with Adam helping him through his Alzheimer’s. So I wouldn’t want to lose that, but I’m also not the showrunner.
As far as future storylines, I can’t think of anything, because he does have Alzheimer’s, and there’s no cure for that. So I don’t know how you build a story with that, but I think that a lot of people watching Chicago P.D. have aging parents, and that’s something we’re all going to deal with eventually, if not now, and it’s a really powerful storyline. So I think that dealing with that and being a parent is something that we could all benefit from watching.
DEADLINE: What is going on with Voight? Do you think he learns a lesson from what he’s done, or has he gone too far?
SQUERCIATI: I think he’s either coming to himself, and that’s his new self, or he’s in a bad place. I don’t know which that is.
DEADLINE: He had this great thing going with ASA Nina Chapman (Sara Bues). Do you think it will all come to an end after everything he did in the finale to take down Deputy Chief Reid (Shawn Hatosy)?
SQUERCIATI: I don’t know that he’s ready for love. People want him and Nina to get together, and I love Sarah, so I don’t want her to go, but I don’t see how, after murdering someone, you jump into casual dating, right? I could be wrong.
DEADLINE: But it makes for good TV.
SQUERCIATI: It’s good TV! Just to schedule a little date night between murders.
But I don’t see how Voight can come back from that, in her mind, because then she’s a different person. He ultimately disappoints her and breaks her heart in a way that doesn’t seem like you can come back from. I want Sarah to come back, so maybe she’ll lose her moral compass and love Voight again.
DEADLINE: Do you think the suspicions about Kim and Dante will resurface, or are they dead with Reid?
SQUERCIATI: I think it’s totally over. I think Voight threw himself over a cliff for us because he knew that would end it. He knew that Reid was so corrupt that once that came to light, everyone’s gonna question everything he did.
DEADLINE: There was baby news on Chicago Med and Chicago Fire. Could this be the perfect time for Makayla to welcome a sibling?
SQUERCIATI: I think that’s a nice way to expand the story. How does a blended family with adoption and a biological child operate? We dealt a little with it when she was pregnant, and there was some tension about her running towards danger while she was pregnant. So that could come back. I am also more interested in Kim taking charge. I don’t think she’s a mini Voight, but she’s ready to really run the world.
DEADLINE: Is there anything else you’d love for Kim to explore next season?
SQUERCIATI: I didn’t get a relationship with Tracy [Spiridakos]. I have talked about that in the press. That made me sad. I would love to see a female relationship blossom on this show. I really love Toya [Turner], and she’s a fresh voice on the show. I also feel like [Kim is] a bit of a mentor to Cook (Turner), and I’d love to see that grow as well. I think the relationship with Dante (Benjamin Levy Aguilar) is gonna be a bit damaged. I don’t know that she’s gonna be in the friendship circle for a while, and I’d love to see that and see where it takes us.
