Chicago PD fans are gearing up to say goodbye to one of the show’s most popular characters, but it seems they might have already said farewell to another character who may play a pivotal role in the exit storyline for LaRoyce Hawkins.
After 14 seasons, Hawkins will be exiting the show with his final episode as officer Kevin Atwater set to come early in the season. It's still unclear how the writers are going to write Atwater out of the show, but a new cast listing from Rotten Tomatoes could hold a major clue while also hinting that one character’s time on the show has already ended.
Ahead of the season 14 premiere, Rotten Tomatoes has rolled out its usual episode guide, which includes the reported cast for the premiere. There aren’t many surprises on the cast listing for episode 1, with all of the core characters present as well as some key guest characters, which include Selin Cuhadaroglu, who will be back as Imani’s sister Shari. One name that does not appear on the premiere cast list is actress Karen Obilom.
Obilom was introduced early in season 13 as officer Tasha Fox, a former police academy acquaintance of Atwater’s who he reconnected with while working in the field. The pair would later become romantically involved, and their one night together led to a surprise pregnancy, which made their relationship even more complicated, considering Tasha had moved to Miami to begin a new job in the Miami Police Department after their night together.
As the season drew to a close, Tasha and Atwater finally had a much-needed hard conversation about their future and their desire to co-parent, which was complicated by the fact that they currently live in two different cities. Following that conversation, the plan seemed to be for Tasha to return to Chicago so that the pair could get to better know one another ahead of the birth of their child and put a real effort into making this relationship work.
The assumption was that Obilom would be back for at least a few episodes in season 14, but with Obilom not appearing on the cast list for the season 14 premiere, we have to wonder if perhaps we’ve seen the last of Tasha already.
We know that the show is going to have to introduce a storyline to explain Hawkins’ sudden departure and that it's starting to look as though that storyline could involve Tasha relocating back to Miami during the forthcoming time jump, resulting in Atwater choosing to leave Chicago to move to Miami.
If Rotten Tomatoes’ cast listings are accurate and we won’t be seeing Obilom back, we have to wonder if perhaps we’ll come to learn after the time jump in the premiere that she moved back to Miami or that she never followed through with the plan to move back to Chicago for one reason or another. This could pave the way for Atwater to leave Chicago to move to Miami in order to give their relationship a fighting chance and be there for not only the birth of his child but also to make sure he has a presence in the child’s life.
While it would be disappointing not to see Tasha in the premiere and possibly in Atwater’s final episode, this storyline would be in character for Atwater in putting his family first. This would also explain his absence from the squad, as we can’t see him simply choosing to leave the CPD if he were to remain in Chicago to raise his child with Tasha.
Chicago PD returns Wednesday, October 7, at 10/9c on NBC.
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