From the moment it was announced that LaRoyce Hawkins would be exiting Chicago PD after 13 seasons as a series regular, there have been a lot of questions on the minds of fans and none more pressing than how the show will write Hawkins’ character out of the show.
Cast exits are nothing new to the One Chicago fans, and Chicago PD has endured several major cast shakeups during its run, especially in recent years. When writing characters out, the show has taken a variety of approaches, carefully crafting unique storylines that have ranged from killing the character off to having them leave town to pursue a new career venture and start fresh. Fans are hoping that when it comes time to write Atwater out of the show, the Chicago PD writers will do so in a way that does not involve killing the character off, and there is one running theory as to how the show might handle his departure.
In season 13, many fans suspected that the show was preparing to write Atwater out of the show when it was revealed that his fling with his former police academy friend, Tasha Fox, had resulted in an unplanned pregnancy. Given Tasha had moved to Miami following their night together, fans anticipated that Atwater might choose to relocate to Miami to raise the baby with Tasha. Instead, the show ended season 13 by revealing the plan was for Tasha to move back to Chicago so that she and Atwater could get to know one another even further and coparent their child together.
Knowing that Atwater will be leaving the show, fans have been wondering if perhaps their plan could change, but that was before a time jump was announced to be coming at the beginning of the season.
After picking up in the immediate fallout of the season 13 finale, the action will jump ahead three months in time, which means Tasha will be much closer to her due date that falls around the time Atwater will be written out of the show. With the time jump, fans might assume that this would guarantee audiences the chance to see Atwater become a dad before Hawkins’ final episode; however, that might not be the case.
While there will be a time jump, Chicago PD showrunner Gwen Sigan is remaining mum on whether fans will actually get to see Atwater become a dad before Hawkins exits the show. The only thing she would tease to TVLine was that Hawkins delivers “beautiful performances” ahead of his departure.
Given the nature of the One Chicago shows and how they bounce around, making it hard to know how much time passed between when Tasha confirmed her pregnancy to Atwater and where we’ll be at in the timeline after the season 14 premiere time jump, it’s hard to know how close to her due date Tasha might be at the beginning of the season. There is a chance that we could end up close to her expected due date, or that there are still weeks or months ahead before she’s due to deliver the baby.
Considering how beloved Atwater is, we would hope that the show might choose to close out his final episode by allowing audiences the chance to see him become a father and share that joy with his longtime colleagues and friends. We could then understand if they made the decision to move back to Miami as a family, rather than remaining in Chicago, as a way to explain why Atwater is leaving the show. It would definitely be beautiful to see Atwater become a dad, and that would undoubtedly pave the way for Hawkins to deliver an emotional performance in welcoming his child before saying goodbye to his friends to relocate.
Of course, there is also the fear that Sigan's dancing around the question hints perhaps fans won’t get to actually see Atwater become a dad before Hawkins’ final episode.
With the time jump, there is a chance that perhaps something happens between Atwater and Tasha that results in her heading back to Miami sometime during the time jump. Perhaps at first, Atwater tries to give her space before realizing that fighting for his family is what he wants most, resulting in his decision to leave Chicago to be with Tasha in Miami. There is definitely a world in which Hawkins’ final episode sees him make this decision, and we end his final scene with him showing up at Tasha’s doorstep, leaving things open-ended.
There is also the possibility that Tasha is simply still months away from her due date and the pair leave town before she gives birth, again, this being contingent on Tasha wanting to return to Miami.
Finally, there is the option we least want to see: the show killing Atwater off before the birth of his child. Knowing that Hawkins’ exit will come just two episodes into the season and that the show has killed off characters before as a means to write them out, we have to worry about whether Atwater could be killed in the line of duty. There is no denying that Hawkins would deliver a beautiful performance in Atwater’s final scene, especially if that moment comes via Burgess being the one there for him during his final moments. Our hearts break just thinking about the possibility of Atwater being injured in the field and giving a dying declaration with his last breaths, thanking her for her friendship and asking her to look out for his child and Tasha.
Hopefully, that is not the storyline the writers have crafted for Atwater, but our anxiety is definitely increasing and we’re eager to see what goes down in the final episodes of Hawkins’ time on the show.
Chicago PD season 14 premieres Wednesday, October 7, at 10/9c on NBC.
Add us as a preferred source on Google