We’ve had many Adam Ruzek centric episodes this season, and “The Radical Truth” was the most intense yet.
Ruzek’s (Patrick John Flueger) dad, Bob (Jack Coleman), seemed to be doing well as he was about to say goodbye to a 30-year career as a police officer, but it quickly went south.
Ruzek and Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati) were on their way to dinner when they stopped off at Bob’s place to drop of Hank Voight’s (Jason Beghe) retirement gift. There were signs of a struggle right away and then blood on the floor in the kitchen.
Ruzek immediately thought it was something his father had done to get him taken. It was much worse than he thought. First, he found out he had a big gambling bet to a bar owner, then that he had paid the 80k debt off the week before.
The deeper they got to finding Bob, the more they found out about Bob’s dirty past. He’s been working with the gang for years. Not only did Bob try to get Ruzek to find out a CI’s name. He also tried to persuade him not to bring in the guy who kidnapped him so the suspect didn’t ruin their family name.
I’m ashamed to say I even doubted Ruzek after he shot the guy. He was just saying everyone would be better off if the guy was gone. He was so angry that his father had ruined their family name.
The next thing we know is the suspect is on the ground with two shots to the back.
Then, security footage came out proving it was a good shoot, just like he said it was.
Ruzek may have wanted to blur the lines for this father, but in the end, he did his job. Like we all should have known he would have.
It’s hard not to think, while the story was great, that this was all leading to that heated conversation between Kim and Adam at the end. Burgess didn’t trust him when he said it was a good shoot. She doubted him. Which broke Ruzek’s heart. He thought she was the only one who knew him.
The writers are clearly continuing to try to keep them apart. It was heartbreaking to watch. He was going through such a hard time with trying to get his dad back and dealing with his dad’s portrayal and his person let him down.
I don’t like how dark Adam looks. Between him walking out on his dad’s retirement party and sitting in the dark drinking alone, he’s not doing well. But Patrick is doing such a great job diving into this dark place. I want to see more of his internal struggles. It’s really bringing out the best in the actor.
I also liked that we saw a lot more of Voight in this episode. He’s been in the background a lot this season. I’m in need of a Voight-centric episode, but in the meantime, this was good. He was helping Ruzek work through his struggles between family and the badge. Also, he didn’t put Bob’s dirty dealings in the report, saving the Ruzek name.
Though, even if Bob went down for his crimes, Adam has made a name for himself that would have held. The anger would have squarely been placed with Bob.
What did you think of Ruzek’s internal struggles and that heated scene between Burzek at the end? Tweet me @MandyTTCarr or comment below.
