After placing the Atwater and Tasha pregnancy story on the back burner for the last six episodes, Chicago PD finally brought the storyline front and center in season 13, episode 18, “The Wicked River.”
The episode opened with Atwater and Tasha enjoying a night out together and finally having some hard conversations about the future. Tasha informs Atwater that she’s found a doctor and that her plan is to have the baby in Miami, where she’s recently bought a place and now calls home. He questions whether Miami truly makes the most sense or if it’s just the easier thing to do, as she admits that she’s used to doing things on her own.
Tasha cuts the conversation off, and the pair head out. As they’re walking along, they see a pair of young men on the street spiraling about an injured woman as another young man comes running out covered in blood, seeking help for his girlfriend. He explains to Atwater that he found her upstairs blindfolded and there were two men wearing masks who attacked him from behind when he came up to check on her. Paramedics arrive, and Tasha rides with the injured young woman as Atwater stays back to speak with the boyfriend.
The boyfriend, Ellis, notes that he realized he hadn’t seen her downstairs at the party, so he went upstairs, which was when he saw two men in all black who jumped him before taking off. Voight arrives, and Atwater brings him up to speed on the events as they check out the scene. All signs point towards a robbery gone wrong as there have been two other robberies in the area. Sadly, Tasha informs Atwater that the young woman died on the ride to the hospital, meaning this robbery just turned into murder.
Ellis’ parents arrive, and his father quickly goes into lawyer mode, questioning whether the police have been following protocol. Back at HQ, Burgess gets a hit on the footprint left at the scene, which matches a rare pair of sneakers that they spot in one of the photos from the party. As Burgess digs further into the lead, she sends Atwater home to get some rest.
In the morning, he hears the coffee maker and goes out to find Tasha looking through the case files. She notices the suspect was wearing a class ring that suggests he’s a long way from home. The pair make their way to the Intelligence Unit bullpen and begin chasing further leads, with Tasha working the case as a confidential source.
She and Burgess head out to chase leads, and Tasha admits that Miami isn’t all it's cracked up to be as she comments about them figuring things out before the baby arrives. The news catches Burgess by surprise as Atwater hadn’t yet told his colleagues about the baby, but the conversation ends as they head up to speak with the last name on their list who pawns merchandise without asking questions. They find the stolen property from the robbery, which points them in the direction of a man by the name of Dwayne Coleman.
Burgess and Tasha head to the subway station where their suspect posted a video, hoping to intercept him when he gets off the subway as Atwater and Torres arrive to provide backup. When Atwater catches up to Dwayne, he finds that someone stabbed him, but the assailant managed to slip away in the crowd.
The last call before Dwayne got on the subway was Ellis, the young girl’s boyfriend who called in the attack. Atwater and Voight go to speak with Ellis and ask him about his connection to Dwayne, who he admits he used to play football with. Ellis admits he and Dwayne talk every once in a while as Atwater asks when he last spoke to him, which is when Ellis’ dad shuts down the interrogation.
After the interrogation is shut down, the team begins working to build a case against Ellis. As they work the leads they have, including one they hope will point them to the third suspect, Tasha questions why Atwater hadn’t told anyone about the baby as he admits he didn’t know what there was to tell. The conversation is cut short when Torres gets a hit on his lead, with Atwater and Ruzek heading out to track down the third suspect.
They track the man down and find an envelope full of cash in his pocket as they bring him in for questioning. Unfortunately, there are no prints on the envelope, and they have nothing to connect him to Ellis. Atwater gets the idea to try to flip the mom by bringing her and Ellis’ dad in for questioning. As Burgess sits down with Ellis’ father, Atwater sits down with his mother, with both presenting the evidence they have against him.
To Burgess’ surprise, the father is confused and begins questioning whether the photo she showed him of the BMW leaving the scene is real. He presses her for the actual footage as he came to realize what had happened, commenting that, “He’s just like her.” Atwater realizes it was his wife who took the car to pay off Watson and that it was her who covered up Ellis’ crime. Atwater tries to get him to cooperate, but he refuses.
Atwater comes up with a plan to try to catch Ellis. They head out to the house and send a text from a burner phone pretending to be his mother telling him to destroy the evidence. Atwater and Tasha watch as Ellis leaves the house and runs towards the park. He gets out of his car to give chase on foot, ordering Tasha to stay behind in the car. Atwater begins walking through the park and comes across the hidden evidence by a tree at the park as Ellis rounds the corner and attacks Atwater. Tasha arrives and helps fend Ellis off, panic setting in for Atwater in the moment when he thought she was injured in the exchange.
After closing the case, Atwater takes Tasha to the playground across from the building where he grew up and recalls coming to the playground when things were good. As time went by, he’d bring his little brother and sister to the swings and try to pretend as if he knew what he was doing when looking out for his siblings. He tells her how he told himself if he ever had a kid, he would do it real and not pretend. He admits she’s not wrong about them not knowing each other that well and lets her know he understands her reservations. She comes clean that she hates Miami: she’s lonely and she misses him. She’s scared out of her mind and needs to know that this is real, that he’s truly all in. He suggests they make a deal, she sticks around in Chicago, they take it day by day and make it real.
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