SPOILER ALERT: The following reveals major plot points from tonight’s episode of NBC’s Chicago P.D.
It’s the end of an era as LaRoyce Hawkins makes his final appearance as Kevin Atwater on NBC’s Chicago P.D. as a series regular. As many of you are fully aware, when people leave any of the One Chicago franchise shows, it’s not beyond belief that they could be back one day.
In fact, tonight’s episode titled “Don’t Blink” was directed by Jesse Lee Soffer, an original cast member who has returned to direct his former castmates, as well as reprise his role of Jay Halstead in last year’s major crossover event.
So how did Atwater ride off into the sunset? In the final moments of the Season 14 premiere, he gets a call learning that Tasha Fox (Karen Obilom) is in labor. He freaked out a bit, but he was ready and excited to welcome their first child together.
Viewers meet the adorable Atwater baby boy, Malcolm Atwater, the little guy whose tough-guy dad misses being with his family when he has to return to work. He got some important advice from Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati), a more experienced parent, who tells him that being away from his family gets easier with time. In another adorable moment, Burgess and Adam Ruzek’s (Patrick Flueger) daughter Makayla sends baby Malcolm a little stuffed toy.
In a scary moment, Atwater is shot while on duty, but he was wearing a bulletproof vest that saved his life. The case helps Atwater realize that being a parent is the most important job there is; he speaks with Voight (Jason Beghe) about a possible career change.
Without confirming a solid plan, he says goodbye to his family, the crew that he’s been with through the good, bad, and worse, with a toast. He reveals he and Tasha will be looking for a new home to get a fresh start. Atwater and Voight spoke about the possibility of him becoming a teacher at the Academy. Voight encouraged him to look into it, saying also that they’ve been looking for good officers in the Atlanta office. No matter what choice they make, the Atwaters get their happy ending.
The story is left open for a potential return should that happen one day, giving the fans their own happy ending for a beloved actor and the character he’s played since Season 1.
“Knowing that we were in this position and trying to figure out in the room what’s the best way we can do this… Like, how can we send him off in a positive way, optimistically?” said showrunner Gwen Sigan about what it was like in the writers’ room planning for Kevin’s exit.
She continued, “Is there a way that we can send him off that feels like it’s his choice, and he’s authoring it, and that feels like a pivotal move for the character? We didn’t want it to be something that comes out of left field. So that’s what we focused on. We wanted it to feel really organic to him, and feel like we were giving him the best send-off we could. So I think we’ve done that. I’m very proud of the episode. I’m proud of his performance in it. I think he killed it.”
Sigan also opened up about Hawkins and Soffer’s reunion.
“It was just really nice that the two of them got to do that together. And I hope you can feel that on screen. I know that they put so much care into it,” she said.
Chicago P.D. returns with new stories from Season 14 on Wednesdays at 10 p.m.