Chicago P.D. addresses LaRoyce Hawkins exit

Chicago P.D. says goodbye to Officer Kevin Atwater this fall.

LaRoyce Hawkins has played the character since Season 1.

But Hawkins is moving on to new things. We only get a few more episodes with him as Atwater.

The new season of Chicago P.D. begins on Wednesday, October 7. It’s a full night of new content on NBC.

Chicago P.D. showrunner addresses LaRoyce Hawkins exit

As Tea on TV previously reported, Chicago P.D. fans must say goodbye to another fan-favorite. This will likely disappoint many fans.

LaRoyce Hawkins only has a few more episodes as Officer Kevin Atwater. The showrunner is teasing what fans should expect.

“We really wanted to give the best sendoff that we could. Of course, you want it to be very natural for the character. You want it to feel organic. We wanted this to feel like something that hopefully isn’t just coming out of left field, that we could take little pieces that maybe were already embedded and just try our best to make it feel as real and authentic for him as possible,” showrunner Gwen Sigan told TV Insider.

Those are lofty goals. Viewers want closure, good stories, and something true to the character. Can the writers pull it off?

An exit doesn’t always need to be shocking.

Luckily, it sounds like the show is on the right track regarding this big exit.

“And we knew we wanted to make it positive, make it optimistic for him, make it something that for his character could be a choice and that he could almost author it and we could bake it into the episode in a way that felt like, OK, we’re giving this character something that maybe he’s been longing for or wanting for a long time and hasn’t admitted to. And so it felt like we got there,” Sigan elaborated.

Here’s some added good news. Jesse Lee Soffer directed the upcoming episode. He played Detective Jay Halstead for years and knows the characters well.

Still, we are sad about saying goodbye to Atwater. The Intelligence team won’t be the same without him.