Chicago PD Doesn’t Need More “Chaos” – It Needs Consistency

Chicago PD is losing one of its original series regulars, and to say this girl isn’t taking it well would be an understatement.

LaRoyce Hawkins’ Kevin Atwater was a TV Fanatic favorite, and based on how fans are reacting to the news of his departure, it’s evident that he was a fan favorite, too.

And that’s what makes the news accompanying his departure so infuriating, the longer it truly sinks in.

The fact of the matter is that we’ve been here before.

We’ve lambasted One Chicago for all the cast-cutting that’s been going on for years, as they toss everything from “budget cuts” to “creative reasons” at us to explain why that’s come to be.

One Chicago has notoriously become a revolving door of characters. As the years progress, they start to feel more like plot vehicles than actual, deeply developed, well-rounded, well-written characters with any semblance of depth.

That’s not to say that some additions haven’t been great, but, overwhelmingly, depending on whether the network, writers, or whoever else are properly inspired and motivated, they’ve fostered an environment where characters can flit in and out without leaving much of an impact.

And that’s why it hurts so deeply when we lose characters that have made a lasting impact. Kevin Atwater is one of those characters.

As an original series regular, we’ve had the opportunity to know this character and watch his evolution for 13 years. To the point where it’s difficult to imagine what the series will be without him.

It seems unusual to say that, I’m sure, given that I was also explaining how Chicago PD has done the character a disservice for years, sidelining him and pushing him to the fringes of the series, treating his arcs as obligatory rather than opportunities for a steady character to truly thrive.

When you reflect on that, it makes very little sense.

How does a series run out of inspiration for a character they stopped exploring in the first place?

There’s plenty of interest in seeing any number of arcs for him, which is precisely why viewers were always vocal in expressing their frustration over the series simply not tapping into any of its potential when it comes to him.

Kevin Atwater was a steady, consistent character; it’s the writing that never was, and that’s where things get frustrating.

Aside from maybe Trudy, there’s no other character on the show that has the universal appeal of Atwater.

He possessed a quiet strength that grounded the series, and always permeated through even when underused. Atwater’s presence was always felt even at the periphery of scenes.

In many ways, he was the heart of the series, and in other ways, Intelligence’s moral center, without making it his entire personality.

When so many of the other characters have characteristics that start to merge into one another, he is a refreshing change of pace.

So hearing about the loss of what he has to offer the team, only for the series to tease more of the same, makes his departure all the more enraging.

In addition to Chicago PD treating Atwater, a legacy character in the franchise, as expendable, they’re acting as though replacing the show’s only Black series regular with another Black character somehow fills the void Atwater leaves behind. It doesn’t.

And frankly, that’s just gross. By now, there’s a habit of trying to mitigate the outrage and get ahead of the criticism of booting a character of color by teasing what their replacement will be like.

We saw it two seasons ago when they announced Kiana Cook’s departure but also teased the addition of Eva Imani, a multiracial woman, to assuage viewers.

This time, Atwater is departing, but we’re immediately told that we’ll get another Black cop as an “agent of chaos.”

They know enough to understand that when you get rid of the only Black character of a series, and one who has been a constant presence for 13 seasons, they’d need a new addition to offset that in some capacity.

But it’s so reductive, too, as if that’s all Atwater had to offer to the series in the first place. He was never just the Black cop — he was a fully realized character who also happened to be Black. Viewers see right through that.

It’s not fair to everything Atwater was for 13 years. Nor is it fair to the new addition who already feels like the embodiment of a box ticked.

Of course, the other irritation is the “agent of chaos” descriptor, which already puts me on edge.

Chicago PD doesn’t need more “chaos” within its characters.

It needs more consistency and cohesion, for the show to do right by the characters it already has, for Intelligence to feel like a unit, not just separate pieces moving around a board or shelved when it’s not their time to shine.

Nearly every new character for the past five years has had some version of “chaos” attached to their description — some reference to them being an outsider in some capacity.

Someone, anyone, grab a thesaurus!

Or, better yet, diversify the options for what characters can bring to the show so they don’t feel like pale ghosts or carbon copies of what we’ve already had.

It’s evident that the series is constantly chasing the same character concept, some amalgamation of the same two or three characters from yesteryear.

As if they can hit this same button enough times, it’ll magically work. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t; hell, maybe it’s just a desensitization tactic, and it’s not that it’s working; it’s just that they’ve beaten a concept into submission.

It feels like the series is stuck in a loop regarding its characters; that’s not a reflection of the characters but rather those telling their stories.

To say it’s uninspired is an understatement at this point.

“Chaos” has become the catch-all terminology for the same characteristics that these shows think can initiate the conflict, drama, and action they believe the series needs.

It’s an oversimplification, or rather a poor substitution for actually taking the time to delve into proper storytelling, characterization, and more importantly, interpersonal interactions.

I don’t want Imanis, Uptons, and Rojas generating from the essence of Erin Lindsay in some endless loop, or Torres, Halstead, and Dawson as jigsaw puzzles in new forms.

Viewers have been crystal clear about their desires for the series, even as they understand the limitations that naturally come with a long-running show in this day and age, when networks feel the squeeze and the industry as we know it feels more like myth than reality.

At the very least, we want the very heart of a show to remain intact enough where we can still recognize and connect with it.

And the heart of a show is its characters.

They’re more than just a collection of archetypes stomping around a scene, or plot devices only valuable in a select few episodes a season.

We want more of the characters we love getting to be the characters we’ve gotten to know over the years — for them to get the due and respect they deserve and have earned, for storylines to reflect their growth and champion their evolution, not teased and discarded.

Hell, we want the unique value each character brings to the table to be celebrated, not thrown away or smothered out, because the safest and most uninspired thing is to keep producing more of the same.

Good characters aren’t expendable or interchangeable.

Even when Chicago PD underused or misused Kevin Atwater, he was still a good character. And another bout of “chaos” in a new form will not do him any real justice.

Yeah, I’m underwhelmed right now, so I’m turning it over to you. What are your thoughts on all of this, Fanatics?