Is Kevin Atwater leaving ‘Chicago PD’? Season 14 Episode 2 gives an emotional send-off to fan favorite
Season 14 of 'Chicago PD' returned tonight with Episode 2, titled 'Don't Bling', and said goodbye to fan favorite Kevin Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins). The episode opens with Kevin spending time with his son, right after Tasha Fox (Karen Obilom) gives birth. Days later, he professes his love to the newborn. Soon, he gets ready to rejoin the unit, with something on his mind. Tasha assures him she has things under control, and he should be open with Sergeant Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) about his concerns. Kevin enters the unit, and his team quickly begins congratulating the new father. He is grateful, but doesn't spend much time with them. He goes straight to Voight's office and asks why his promotion has been stalled. Voight answers that he cannot do anything about Kevin's issue. Before they can talk further, a case falls into their lap.
The case-of-the-week is about a group of robbers who have wreaked havoc in the city. During the investigation, Kevin finds a dead body, which suggests that they have now escalated to murder. The victim is identified as the building's manager, who seemingly lost her life while escaping. Kevin is on a call with Tasha when the team gets a lead on the perpetrators. The officer hears cries for help while surveying and rushes into a building. He sees two men robbing an arcade machine. But more concerning is the fact that they have held a man at gunpoint. Both robbers escape, but one returns to help Kevin free the man now being crushed by the arcade machine. After helping Kevin, he flees from the scene.
The team finds a suspect, a construction worker in dire need of money. While interrogating the suspect, Kevin gets a call about Tasha being in the hospital. He rushes to meet her, and she tells him that their boy has an ear infection. However, it is nothing serious. He only needs some antibiotics. During the checkup, a nurse comments that Kevin and his son look alike. This gives him an idea. He calls Officer Adam Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) to bring in the suspect's father, Peter. During the questioning, the suspect said he got most of his jobs from Peter and shared similar builds. The department possibly has the wrong family member. The team uncovered that Peter both had money problems and could access the locations where robbers had attacked.
Kevin, Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati), and Adam follow Peter, who takes them to a suspicious man. They detain Peter, but as they approach the other man, he dashes. Kevin runs after him, and the man begins shooting. One hits the fan favorite. Fortunately, Kevin is unharmed because of his vest, but the man successfully escapes. It turns out Peter was doing everything for his son, who owed money to some bad people. He gives them his partner's identity, but the team couldn't save his son. Kevin informs Peter about his son, and he is sad that he was not there when his son needed him. The case and brush with death push Kevin to do better by his son.
Kevin hence takes up a job offer in Atlanta to teach upcoming candidates at the Academy. He decides to leave active duty to spend more time with his son. Kevin explains to hesitant Tasha that he wants to build something new together, so he takes up the job. Before leaving, he gets a heartwarming send-off from his coworkers at Molly's. "I look around this room, and the only word that comes to mind is gratitude," he said at the event. "For the past 14 years, the 21st District has been my home. So raise a drink because I went ahead and made a new family. And it's time we found a new home. From the heart, thank you." The episode ends with them singing 'For He's a Jolly Good Fellow' for him. 'Chicago PD' Season 14 airs every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET (9/8c) on NBC.
