Chicago PD season 7 character preview: Kevin Atwater
By Kari Highman
What will Chicago PD season 7 have in store for Kevin Atwater? Look ahead as we preview Chicago PD’s new season for LaRoyce Hawkins’ character.
With Chicago PD season 7 coming in just a few weeks, it’s time once again to preview the new season for each character and look ahead to fresh episodes.
Where did your favorite character leave off when we saw them last? What are the big facts that fans need to remember before the season premiere? Where should they go next in season 7 for the best outcome? And is that where they’ll actually end up, or what direction is the show likely to take them in based on what we know so far?
Check out our detailed character preview, and let us know your thoughts on where you’d like to see each character go and why in the comments.
In this article, we’re profiling Kevin Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins).
Where we left off
Kevin Atwater actually had a couple of featured episodes during Chicago PD season 6, both of which showcased the talents of LaRoyce Hawkins exceptionally well. The first was “Black and Blue” where Atwater’s personal life was explored in connection to a case. Fans were happy to see a love interest in Kevin’s life, although it did cause some turmoil for his professional life.
The woman he was dating, Laila Davis (guest star Milauna Jemai Jackson), wound up arrested in connection with a murder. Although Kevin and Laila didn’t immediately get involved, their relationship certainly went from zero to 100 in the span of the 45-minute episode.
Things got even more complicated when Laila’s prints were found on the murder weapon, which was also used in another crime ten years earlier. How could she explain that away? It ended up that she didn’t really have to, since Atwater took it upon himself to get rid of the gun altogether. Considering Atwater is always trying to do the right thing, it was kind of out of character for him to make such a sacrifice. Of course, he cares so deeply about everyone in his life, that maybe he did it because that’s how much he already cared for Laila.
Atwater was then featured in one of Chicago PD’s most powerful episodes “Night in Chicago”, where he was arrested by fellow police officers while undercover. His undercover target was also shot by those same officers while they were being questioned during the stop. The raw, honest plot line and heartbreakingly strong performance of LaRoyce Hawkins made this one of the season’s most popular episodes.
We’ve seen Atwater’s race play a part in his profession as a cop before, but never where what happened on screen so reflected concerns in real life. One of the most powerful scenes in “Night in Chicago” came from Kevin’s conversation with co-worker Adam Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger), when they discussed the aftermath of the incident.
While Ruzek couldn’t ever understand what Atwater went through, he was there for his friend. Kevin expressed his concerns surrounding the tragic shooting, and when he went in front of a professional hearing team, he expressed his guilt for “getting an innocent man killed.”
Viewers got to see Atwater dealing with two different priorities: his life as an African-American man in Chicago, and his job as a Chicago police officer. He told Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) that he thought cops were supposed to help change the world, to make it better. Maybe this season will give Atwater the opportunity to do just that.