Burgess is about to make a big decision on Chicago P.D.
On Wednesday’s episode, titled “Trouble Dolls,” the detective finds herself investigating the murder of a young pregnant woman that leads her and the rest of the P.D. squad on the hunt for the killer. But as Burgess inches closer to officially adopting Makayla, the young orphaned girl she bonded with earlier in the season, she’s faced with a difficult decision to make: Who will look after Makayla if something were to happen to her on the job? That question is at the forefront of Burgess’ mind as she juggles the dangers of her line of work amid a deeply personal case.
“A couple episodes ago, she responded to a call at a house and she found a young girl, Makayla, on the street, went to her house and the whole family had been murdered. Normally that would be the end of it. She’d go to DCFS or whatever family, but this case sort of stuck with Burgess and she ended up fostering and, in this episode, adopting Makayla. Really what it is, what the writers and the show are trying to highlight, is the working mom element, the balancing element of it all, which is great because we haven’t really shown that yet,” P.D. star Marina Squerciati tells ET. “As a working mom myself, there’s a lot to balance. I like being able to dive in and show the audience this side of the job.”
ET exclusively premieres a sneak peek from the episode’s opening scene, where Burgess drives Makayla to school and goes over what to say so she can start meeting classmates and making friends. It’s a simple exchange in the car but Squerciati zeroed in on the scene as one of her favorites.
“There’s a moment where she drops Makayla off at school and the one thing I was really sure about that scene is that I didn’t want to get out of the car, open the door and have the sweet conversation with her face to face. Because when you’re hustling and you’re a mom, you’re like, ‘You got your lunch box? OK, lock the [door]. Go, go, go, go, go! You’re late for school,'” Squerciati explains. There is no getting out of the car and having this sweet Hallmark moment. It’s like, ‘I love you. You have a lunch, you got to get out of this car because I got a job and I’ve got to pay for school.'”
“I really liked how the director and I were able to come to an understanding on that,” she adds. “There are no precious moments except when we’re home and we’re able to be together at night. Other than that it’s go, go, go.”
