SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Chicago PD Season 13, Episode 5.

With “Miami,” Chicago PD Season 13 gets to the Kevin Atwater episode. Every season, there is at least one Atwater-centric installment, and with good reason, because LaRoyce Hawkins has made Atwater a fan-favorite. This episode is different, though, because it seems to notice some of the ways that the show hasn’t always supported Atwater’s character. And then there are other ways in which it makes some of those mistakes again.

The episode takes its title from the fact that Atwater’s police academy classmate, Tasha Fox, is leaving the Chicago Police Department to take a more lucrative position in Miami. Atwater and Tasha are temporarily partnered up on a one-day patrol detail that turns into the search for a serial bomber. The explosions keep the plot moving along, but the real point of the episode is that it contrasts Atwater with Tasha. The script is also very clear about how Atwater lacks direction, from how it opens with his average morning routine to him admitting that he doesn’t know what he wants.

That’s been the issue with Chicago PD‘s handling of Atwater before. As the only Black character in the main cast for most of the show’s run, his episodes tend to be about issues of race or discrimination. “Miami” isn’t about that, except for a line when Tasha mentions “abuses” that she’s experienced. And that’s important, because there’s far more to Atwater than his being a Black man—that just hasn’t been explored. He had great stories about raising his siblings, but then the show moved them to Texas (which is mentioned again here). His relationship with his father also grew over the seasons (but Lew is now working as a long-haul trucker, so he’s also at least temporarily out of the picture). The writers didn’t always invest in Atwater’s personal life. The last episode to do that was Season 10’s “The Bleed Valve,” which revolved around the apartment building that he owns.

The show has tried to give Atwater love interests, but they never seem to last. That’s also referenced in “Miami,” as one line confirms that he and his Season 12 love interest Val Soto broke up because she moved to New York. (Natalee Linez, who portrayed Val, was cast in Dick Wolf’s FBI spinoff CIA in September.) But this episode then falls into a cliche pit by having Tasha and Atwater hook up at the end. There’s no reason for them to sleep together. The point of the episode is for Tasha to give Atwater food for thought—something that doesn’t require a romantic angle.

Plus, with everyone (including Atwater) already knowing she’s leaving, the hookup doesn’t add anything to the story. If the two were to develop a relationship and somehow LaRoyce Hawkins was leaving the show, then this could be a setup for Atwater to indeed be going to Miami. But there’s very little of a relationship; the two have just been reunited for the first time in years and spent part of that arguing. And there’s no indication that Hawkins is exiting Chicago PD, which is good because the show would be less without him.

“Miami” does give viewers an extended scene with Atwater and Kim Burgess, as Atwater vents to Burgess about Tasha’s failure to keep up with him during a pursuit. It is fantastic that Chicago PD remembers that Atwater and Burgess are good friends and former partners. That friendship has gone by the wayside in the last few seasons, and it would be wonderful for the writers to reinvest in it. One only needs to hear the emotion in Marina Squerciati’s voice when Burgess thinks that Atwater may have been blown up to be reminded of how much Kevin means to Kim.

And the intention behind this episode is spot on. Atwater deserves to figure out what he wants and needs, because so much of his life has been devoted to everyone else—whether it’s his family or his girlfriends or the city of Chicago. There absolutely needs to be more for him (and more for LaRoyce Hawkins to do great things with). This episode seems to be Chicago PD saying that Atwater ought to have more. But now it’s up to the writers to give it to him, and it’s not just through another love interest or one-night stand.

It’s going to be through investing in his existing family relationships, and his friendships within the Intelligence Unit. Can his siblings come back from Texas? Can his dad pop up now and then? Even if they’re not the focus of an episode, just seeing them or even getting semi-regular updates on them would matter. Can the writers pair Atwater and Burgess up again? With Patrick John Flueger on a leave of absence from the show, Chicago PD could have the ex-partners work on a case, or have Kevin helping out Kim and Makayla (depending how the creative team explains where Ruzek is). Or there could be more focus on Kevin’s work in the community, either his apartment building or his volunteering. There’s so much going on with Atwater, and “Miami” is proof that the writers seem ready to seize upon it.

Chicago PD airs Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Photo Credit: Courtesy of NBC.

Article content is (c)2020-2025 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.