Chicago PD is about to undergo its most shocking departure in the show’s 14-season history. Original cast member LaRoyce Hawkins is exiting NBC’s police procedural after 13 seasons playing Officer Kevin Atwater.
As first reported by Deadline, Hawkins will exit the show in the upcoming season with the current plan being to wrap up his character’s storyline early in the season. Plans are still being finalized, but early reports indicate that the plan is for Hawkins to exit the show after the first two or three episodes of the season.
The news is one that is sure to send shockwaves through the One Chicago fandom, as Hawkins is one of only five original cast members still on the show. Hawkins originated the role of Atwater on Chicago Fire before making the jump to Chicago PD, where he’s been a part of the show’s series regular cast since season 1.
With Hawkins’ departure, this leaves Jason Beghe (Hank Voight), Patrick John Flueger (Adam Ruzek), Marina Squerciati (Kim Burgess), and Amy Morton (Trudy Platt) as the only original cast members still with the show as it heads into season 14. His exit marks the first loss of an original series regular cast member in four seasons, when Jesse Lee Soffer exited the show in a similar fashion, leaving just three episodes into the tenth season after the show wrapped up his character’s storyline.
It is unknown whether Hawkins is exiting the show due to a personal decision or if his departure is connected to a creative decision by the show. As of the publication of this article on July 2, Hawkins has not released a statement addressing his exit, and Wolf Entertainment has declined comment.
Hawkins’ departure continues a concerning trend for Chicago PD, which has said goodbye to at least one series regular nearly every season going all the way back to season 3. We saw Toya Turner (Kiana Cook) exit the show after season 12; Tracy Spiridakos (Hailey Upton) left after season 11; Soffer left at the top of season 10; Lisseth Chavez (Vanessa Rojas) left after season 7; Jon Seda (Antonio Dawson) was written out after season 6; Elisa Koteas (Al Olinsky) departed after season 5; Sophia Bush left the show following season 4; and Brian Geraghty (Sean Roman) stepped away after season 3.
As the show has done in the past following a major cast exit, Chicago PD season 14 will look to add a new series regular to the mix. Casting is currently underway for a Black cop who is an agent of chaos, confirming the show’s new addition will be far different from the calm and by-the-books Atwater.
Chicago PD has the perfect exit storyline for LaRoyce Hawkins
Although it’s not yet clear how the writers will accommodate LaRoyce Hawkins’ exit from Chicago PD, it seems highly likely that his exit storyline will see Atwater leaving Chicago to move to Miami.
Early in season 13, Atwater reconnected with Taysha Fox, who he had known from their days in the police academy. Their reunion ended with a passionate night together before Taysha moved to Miami to take a new job with the Miami Police Department. Shortly after her departure, Taysha returned to town to inform Atwater that she was pregnant and planned on keeping the baby.
As season 13 came to an end, Atwater made it clear he wanted to be in the child’s life and he wanted to get to know Taysha better as they prepared to become parents together. It seemed like the plan was for Taysha to move back to Chicago so the pair would be once again in the same city; however, we now wonder if the writers will have Atwater move to Florida instead.
That would be a natural exit storyline for the character, which wouldn’t be entirely out of left field, and they could always come up with some excuse for why the pair changed their minds about raising the baby in Chicago. While it’s going to hurt to lose Atwater, this storyline would at least leave the door open for him to return in the future.
We’ll find out how the writers choose to write Atwater out of the show after 13 seasons when Chicago PD season 14 premieres on October 7 at 10/9c on NBC.
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