I think all of the Burzek fandom can sleep well tonight because FINALLY!

Fina-frickin-ly! 

The Burgess and Ruzek hookup/reunion/romance—call it what you will—has been a long time coming, but the wait only made the moment that much sweeter. 

Adam Ruzek has gone to great lengths for Burgess. His love for her has been clear for many episodes and many seasons, but she needed to do the work and the healing so that she could finally arrive at a place where they could happen. Where a relationship between them was healthy for everyone involved, including Makayla. 

The feelings were always there, on both sides, but the timing was always off, especially after Burgess’ near-fatal accident that shook her to her core. All of the feelings she had for Ruzek were diminished as she felt numb, scared, and terrified of taking another step. 

Once she finally realized that she could no longer go on allowing the PTSD to have such a hold on her life, she broached the topic of therapy, eventually putting in all of the work to start healing the trauma. One of the major steps was to confront the situation with help from her partner. They are living together, working together, and co-parenting, but until this moment, they’ve never sat down and had an honest conversation about their feelings—they’ve just skirted around the topic with Ruzek simply accepting that they weren’t in sync. 

He waited, though. He waited until she was finally ready, championing her every step of the way. When her hand didn’t tremble when she took the shot at Ethan, the suspect who reached for his gun at the train yard, Ruzek noticed, and he felt an immense sense of pride. 

And when she suggested that they do a family therapy session, he didn’t think twice about it, agreeing because he knew it could help her. The real reason it took so long for Burgess to ask Ruzek if he’d go with her had nothing to do with her fear that he wouldn’t want to go. Deep down inside she knew that he would do it for her and that meant being completely transparent and raw. It’s a scary thing, but I’m truly so proud of them. 

We honestly should all be thanking that therapist for the great work she’s been doing. 

Also kudos both Marina Squerciati and Patrick Flueger for keeping Burzek alive all these years and somehow managing to keep the spark ignited through all the pain and hardships. It was evident that we’d always get here—that they would be endgame—but for a moment, it did feel like a lost cause, and yet those two never gave up hope or that thing that made fans year for their reunion. Seeing them light up the screen in a moment of realization was magical. 

The rest of the episode was almost irrelevant because of how powerful and passionate those final moments between the two of them were. I said almost because the case was important as it helped Burgess find the bravery to put herself first. 

There were also so many good moments throughout the hour, including Burgess informing Ruby that Ethan wasn’t a partner because he walked away when a good partner stays with you through the hard times. It was at that moment that there was so much clarity for Burgess about the man who has remained by her side this whole time, always checking in on her and making sure that she feels loved and taken care of. My heart is just bursting. 

Burgess is in this unique position where she asks the victims involved in her cases to be brave, but she of all people knows how incredibly hard that is. It’s something she struggles with quite often because it’s not something you can just do because someone asks you to. Burgess had all the tools to help Ruby, a victim-turned-suspect, and she just needed to establish a connection and get through to her. 

Thanks to her own therapist and the important work she’s been doing, Burgess knew how to handle Ruby, deciding that exposure therapy would be the most effective way of getting her to open up. She brought Ruby to the abandoned bar where the rape happened, which made her open up and agree to help the police find Ethan, the man who raped her and was now forcing her to be an accomplice while robbing mom-and-pop shops.

CHICAGO P.D. — “Out of the Depths” Episode 1017 — Pictured: (l-r) Marina Squerciati as Kim Burgess, Patrick John Flueger as Adam Ruzek — (Photo by: Lori Allen/NBC)

It was truly an unfortunate situation because while Burgess knew that Ruby was a victim, she couldn’t let her off the hook as she was an active participant in six robberies that resulted in someone being beaten within an inch of their life or murdered. Ruby never willingly went to any of these robberies, and that might work in her favor, but the reality is that she’d do some time even with a deal for cooperating with the police. 

Chicago PD loves itself an “it’s not black or white” storyline, so it wasn’t a surprise when Burgess felt conflicted about how they got Ruby’s DNA. While there’s no law prohibiting cops from using a rape kit to match DNA to a crime, it was a huge violation of victim rights. It might not have sat well with Burgess, but at least she made the best of it, vouching for Ruby, helping her through the case, and freeing her from a life of captivity. 

It’s a good thing she was the responding officer on the case because things might not have turned out the same.

And though it was an interesting case that forced some introspection on Burgess’ part, there’s no doubt about it that the episode was A+ because #Burzek is officially an item!

What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments below!