It might have taken Chicago PD’s creative team over five months to get the full Intelligence Unit back together in one episode, but it took only one week to break the band up again.
Chicago PD season 13, episode 16, marked the first time every member of the Intelligence Unit had been reunited and appeared together in a single episode of the show since the third episode of the season aired way back in October. The episode brought Jason Beghe (Voight), Marina Squerciati (Burgess), Patrick John Flueger (Ruzek), LaRoyce Hawkins (Atwater), Benjamin Levy Aguilar (Torres), and Arienne Mandi (Imani) together again for an incredible episode that reminded us just how special it is when the entire team is featured in an episode.
Sadly, the streak of having the full ensemble together didn’t last long as episode 17 quietly sidelined Hawkins. Even worse, there was absolutely no clear explanation provided to explain where Atwater was. He simply failed to appear in the episode to help work the case, which saw the Intelligence Unit racing to find the men behind a string of ATM robberies that resulted in the death of a young mother.
There was no quick throwaway line to provide us with information on where Atwater was in the episode, with the writers choosing to proceed with business as usual. This is always an unfortunate and frustrating occurrence. While we understand that series regulars must miss episodes throughout the season due to cost-cutting, it’s always much better when the show gives us a quick explanation as to what the character is up to rather than simply ignore the fact that they’re not in the episode.
The good news is that Atwater will be back for episode 18, which is set to air on April 22. We get several glimpses of Atwater in the promo, suggesting that he’ll have a larger role in the episode’s central case, which will certainly help to make up for his unexpected absence in episode 17.
The promo opens with Atwater carrying a young woman out of a house in his arms to the stretcher and paramedics waiting outside as he informs them the victim suffered trauma to the head. We learn that this seems to be connected to a robbery gone wrong, and the team quickly hones in on a primary suspect. Unfortunately, when Atwater reaches the suspect while pursuing him in a subway station, the suspect collapses, having been stabbed multiple times.
It promises to be an eventful episode that will more than make up for Atwater’s absence in the previous episode! We just have to wait a bit for the episode, as Chicago PD is taking its final break of the season before season 13 resumes with episode 18's release on April 22.