We knew that the case was going to be a creepy and difficult one in Chicago PD season 12, episode 10. The promo made that part clear. What we didn’t fully expect was a case that would haunt Ruzek for a while.
Caution: The post contains SPOILERS for Chicago PD season 12, episode 10
The case opened with Ruzek attending what was supposed to be a rather routine call. He ended up walking in to a house that included a murdered woman and toddler. Patrick John Flueger slayed it with the reaction as Ruzek saw the bodies. No matter how many dead bodies you see, there are always going to be some that make you recoil, and that’s exactly what happened here.
We have to remember that Ruzek is a dad. Makayla calls him Dad before he goes in for the call. This is going to hit him hard—and not just him. Burgess and Voight are also deeply disturbed by the case, but it’s Ruzek that walks in on it all at first. At least he’s able to give the others a warning of what they’re about to see.
In another room, young Zoe sits at her desk. She shares that her dad would want her to wait for him. He comes back; he always does. This is not the first mom and sibling who has been killed.
Zoe isn’t in the foster care system in Chicago PD season 12, episode 10
I fully expected Zoe to be in the foster care system. I expected her biological parents to be following her around and killing her foster moms, or I expected it to be something about Zoe doing something. Well, this case got twistier by the minute.
It turned out that she wasn’t biologically related to anyone in her family. Zoe probably wasn’t even her real name, but she had no idea who her biological parents were. For her whole life, this Peter Cassidy guy has been her friend—and he has gone by many other names in the past. It’s clear to Ruzek that he’s a conman, but why, and what was his end game?
As the case continued, we learned that Peter would go after single moms. They were always the easy targets. He was looking for what seemed to be the perfect, nuclear family. Those families didn’t last long, though. Zoe shared there were many other moms and siblings in the past, and it turned from just a murder investigation to a missing persons investigation.
Annabele Toomey was so wonderful in this episode. She brought the innocence of Zoe, but also added a creepy layer to her, which makes me wonder if she will end up choosing her dad in the end because that's all she's ever known.
Intelligence was not letting this one go. Not only was Ruzek ready to see it through, but Voight also wanted to get to the bottom of it.
What are butterfly clouds in Chicago PD?
Throughout the episode, Zoe shared that her moms and siblings would “eat butterfly clouds and die.” It took a long time to get to the bottom of what this was. In fact, it was only when they learned that Peter’s mom had left a house in a trust for him that Intelligence was able to start piecing some of the puzzle together.
This was toward the end of the episode, as well. You just knew by this point that Zoe’s case wouldn’t wrap up in an episode. This is a case that will take more episodes of Chicago PD season 12. We likely won’t get closure until the season 12 finale.
As for the buttlefly clouds, it turned out that “Butterfly” was the brand of pillow used. Usually, the victims would be suffocated with the pillows, and Zoe saw that as eating “butterfly clouds.” Peter obviously didn’t manage to get his whole plan to play out with the latest mother and child, leading to the stabbing wounds.
The house didn’t bring up any clues as to Peter’s whereabouts, though. Instead, it brought back graves, so in came the cadaver dogs and forensics. Voight knew that this all had to be handled officially. Multiple bodies were pulled out, including one that belonged to Meg, one of the “siblings” Zoe mentioned during the episode. The case no longer involved missing people. They were all murdered, and Intelligence knew they had a serial killer on their hands.
The biggest question was Zoe. She has always been a constant in Peter’s life. Why would he choose to keep her alive and travel with her when he would kill everyone else? What was so special about this young girl? That’s something for Ruzek to figure out another day.
Ruzek’s dad has some heartbreaking news in Chicago PD
The episode also saw Ruzek’s dad show up unexpected. He was early, and it soon became clear that this was partly on purpose but also partly not. Ruzek’s dad had some devastating news.
It turns out that he has Alzheimer’s Disease. It’s at a point where he needs to be in a facility, and that was what he wanted to come see Ruzek about. He needed to do this face to face, rather than have Ruzek find out through others or once he was already in the facility.
Ruzek isn’t having that. He wants his dad to come and live with him and Burgess. He will take care of his dad. This is going to get far more heartbreaking. His dad points out that this disease is awful and that he’ll start to forget who Ruzek even is, but Ruzek doesn’t care. He is going to be here for his dad while his dad needs him. His dad doesn’t get to say no.
I do wonder how Ruzek and Burgess will handle this, especially with Makayla around. Living with someone with Alzheimer’s Disease can be scary, and it could cause a few problems for Ruzek and the family. At the same time, if we can’t do this for our parents, who can we do it for?
Chicago PD airs on Wednesdays at 10/9c on NBC. Catch up the following day on Peacock.
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