The crime drama would have resolved a major season 11 cliffhanger.
Deleted scenes are typically relegated to films, but TV shows like Chicago PD are sometimes prone to filming a crucial exchange and cutting it from the final edit. One such cut occurred during season 10’s anxiety-inducing finale.
As you probably recall, season 10 ended with the IU taking out the domestic terrorists led by the Beck family, but Adam Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) got shot in the process. He was rushed to the hospital, but the episode ended with his ultimate fate being unclear. Would the character make it to fight another day, or was he done for?
The final scene of season 10 was cut
Well, due to a series of extenuating circumstances, we had to wait almost eight months to find out. The Hollywood strikes delayed production on Chicago PD season 11 by several months, so what was originally intended to be a standard cliffhanger became a burning questions that fans had to consider for close to a year.
The aforementioned scene got cut from the season 10 finale because it effectively took all of the tension out of Ruzek’s injury. It showed the character waking up in the hospital, and talking to Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati) about what happened.
It was a well-acted scene, and one that evokes some serious emotional relief on Burgess’ part, but it would have meant that season 11 would have been stripped of a life or death cliffhanger. Chicago PD showrunner Gwen Sigan talked about the deleted scene during an interview with Give Me My Remote:
“Aw, yeah, it was a really nice scene; they were really wonderful in it! It was [Ruzek] waking up, basically. It was [Burgess] having to tell him what had happened.”
The scene would’ve spoiled Ruzek’s fate
While we always want to see as much Chicago PD material as possible, we understand the decision to cut it from the final edit. As wonderfully acted as it is, the scene doesn’t tell the audience anything they don’t know about the Becks or the case as a whole, and it strips the tension from what was an otherwise very stressful final ten minutes.
In TV, especially when it comes to season finales, its always better to leave the audience wanting more. Sigan and company knew that leaving Ruzek’s fate would keep us hooked. And you know what? It worked.
We’re just happy the character is back on his feet and solving cases.
