Does Adam die on ‘Chicago P.D.’?

Spoiler warning: This article contains spoilers from the Chicago P.D. season 10 finale.

It seems like a lifetime ago, but it was only in May of 2023 that Chicago P.D. aired its season 10 finale, asking and answering the question “what would undercover hero cop Adam Ruzek look like if he was bleeding to death from a gunshot wound?”

Yes, dodging all of the usual ways that people die in Chicago, like being hit by a fly ball at Wrigley, or getting stomped to death by Benny the Bull, Ruzek found himself at the business end of a dramatic season finale bullet. With so much of the episode’s time dedicated to his story, his survival seemed anything but assured. Even Patrick John Flueger, the actor who plays Ruzek on the series, wasn’t giving fans much hope, with cryptic social media messages seemingly pointing to his character’s tragic end. Now, with Chicago P.D. having returned for season 11, viewers finally have the answers they’ve been craving re: whether or not their favorite fictional deep cover police officer totally ate it.

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What happened to Adam on Chicago P.D.?

Good news, not just for fans of Chicago P.D.’s Adam Ruzek, but for anyone in the show living close to a graveyard who’s tired of having their morning ruined by 21 gun salutes: Ruzek lives.

Set six months after the last season’s finale, the season 11 premiere of Chicago P.D., “Unpacking,” spends a few minutes faking us out before revealing that Ruzek is fine. Well, not “fine.” He’s jogging, and that’s nobody’s idea of a good time. Still, he’s on his feet. 

That’s the good news. The bad news is that Ruzek is still on the mend, having recently failed the physical wellness test that would have meant returning to the field. Despite the kind words of his colleagues, our boy remained frustrated by the snail’s pace at which the human body recovers from having a white supremacist’s grandkid’s bullet rocketed into it in a tragic case of end-of-season drama.

In short, no. Adam Ruzek doesn’t die on Chicago P.D. — or at least, he hasn’t yet. Tomorrow is promised to no man, and we are all just a breath away from choking on a hot dog with a pickle on it, falling off of the Navy Pier and into the waiting jaws of a Lake Michigan tiger shark, collapsing face-first into a deep dish pizza and drowning, or succumbing to any of the thousands of other Chicago-specific deaths that await us around every corner. Hug your loved ones. Go Cubs.

Chicago P.D. and the rest of the One Chicago universe airs Wednesday nights on NBC, and streams the next day on Peacock.