'Chicago PD' Season 8: Will NBC drama address BLM protests? Here's why Kevin Atwater needs to be centerstage
NBC recently announced that new seasons for all three 'Chicago' shows will premiere in November. The previous seasons had to end earlier than expected because production was shut down due to lockdown restrictions imposed in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak. Of course, when these shows come back, they will be doing so to a very different world — one that has been filled with protests.
This is especially relevant in the case of 'Chicago PD', which has come under criticism previously for its treatment of African-American characters. For instance, in an episode in Season 7, the Intelligence Squad used a facial recognition software that led to the wrong African-American man arrested for the murder of two children. That man was beaten up in county jail — where he was placed to force a confession out of him — and later succumbed to his wounds.
The cops and the department got off scot-free while they hid details of the real killer from the public to save face. Moreover, the Intelligence Unit's tendency of aggressive behavior towards suspects, whether they are proven guilty or not, also leaves a sour taste.
Such episodes and story treatments may not do so well in a world that is still reeling from the death of George Floyd, the 46-year-old African-American man at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. After footage emerged of former officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes despite repeated pleas that he could not breathe, the United States collectively broke into protests, with people from across the world joining in, demanding for better treatment of Black people and to defund the police.
In such a world, it becomes crucial to tell stories of Black and African-American people with respect, a quality that the show has lacked. In fact, it was only in the previous season that Kevin Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins) — the only Black cop on the show — began to get more screentime, whereas more Black people were portrayed as criminals rather than as cops.
Season 7 ended with Kevin Atwater at the front and center and we hope that trend continues into Season 8. When Atwater was partnered up with a cop who had racist tendencies for the second time, he found himself in a messy situation. The cop — who died — had pursued someone just because he was Black, but in the process got shot and died from the wounds.
With Internal Affairs conducting an investigation, Atwater is pressured to cover up for the officer, who comes from a family of cops. Atwater instead chooses to tell the truth and when he returns home that evening, he finds a group of cars waiting for him, flashing their lights to signal that he will be the target of their intimidation tactics for what he chose to do.
In the aftermath of this year's Black Lives Matter protests, Atwater's story needs to be told with much more nuance and while 'Chicago PD' is great at being authentic, it has often done so at the expense of Black Americans. It will also be difficult for the show to move on without acknowledging George Floyd's death — it very well could, but TV perhaps should not be as independent of real life as it tries to be.
It will be that 'Chicago PD' is under more scrutiny than any other 'Chicago' show and it will be interesting to see how it handles that. 'Chicago PD' Season 8 will premiere on NBC on Wednesday, November 11, at 10/9c.
