Why did Kevin Atwater leave Chicago PD? His newborn son was only half the reason

LaRoyce Hawkins has played Atwater since the show's first season in 2014, which makes him one of the show's last original cast members. His final episode, season 14's "Don't Blink," aired on NBC on October 14. Jesse Lee Soffer, who played Jay Halstead until 2022, directed it.

The baby

The setup was a year in the making. Last season, Atwater's girlfriend, Tasha Fox, played by Karen Obilom, told him she was pregnant. The season 14 premiere, "Demolition," ends with her calling to say the baby is coming, and Ruzek driving Atwater to the hospital. "Don't Blink" opens with the birth of their son, Malcolm.

Then Atwater goes back to work, and the episode starts piling up reasons for him to leave:

• The money — Tasha pushes him to ask Voight about his stalled promotion. Voight says there's little he can do, and Atwater, who wants to provide for his family, leaves frustrated.
• The phone call — while he's questioning a suspect at the front desk, Tasha calls: Malcolm has an ear infection and needs antibiotics.
• The case — a robbery turns into a murder case, and the trail leads to a young construction worker, Brennan, and his father, Peter.

The other half

The case does the rest. When the unit moves on Peter, a bullet hits Atwater during the pursuit, and his vest stops it.

"It didn't penetrate. The vest took it! You're going home tonight," Burgess tells him.

Peter eventually explains why he did it. His son Brennan had stolen from a drug dealer, and the robberies were meant to pay off the debt before Brennan got hurt. Atwater is the one who has to tell Peter that Brennan has been found dead, at a dump site. Peter's regret is that he wasn't there for his son.

The episode gives Atwater a bullet he survives and a father who outlived his son, on the same case.

Atlanta

The way out comes from Voight. A sergeant's spot will open when Sgt. Nolan retires, which finally makes the promotion possible, but Atwater realizes a higher rank won't give him the family life he wants. Voight, who remembers his own years as a young father, understands, and tells him about an opening teaching at a police academy in Atlanta. The pay, Voight says, is "good, real good."

Showrunner Gwen Sigan pointed to "that question that Tasha asked him the first time they met on screen": "What do you want for yourself?" The episode gives him the answer.

"I got my answer now. I want us to build something together," Atwater tells Tasha.

Sigan described it to Parade as "a choice that is pretty unexpected, but such a lovely choice for that character." The 21st District throws him a going-away party, and his speech includes the line "For the past 14 years, the 21st district has been my home."

Don't miss: Chicago PD season 14 episode 2 recap: Voight himself hands Atwater the way out of the IU

Off screen

NBC and the producers haven't said why Hawkins is leaving. One Chicago Center, a fan site, read the exit as "a cost reduction move," though it presented that as its own inference. Hawkins' public goodbye, posted to his Instagram Stories, was short: "Thank you. Thank you for being there for me."

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