The biggest criticism of Chicago P.D. other than how polarizing Hank Voight is has to do with the underuse of Kevin Atwater. For 11 seasons, LaRoyce Hawkins’ character has been beloved by fans, but the writers have struggled to fit him into many episodes unless they have to do with race-related issues. There’s so much more to Atwater than his being the sole Black cop in the Intelligence Unit, and it seems like the NBC show might finally be moving away from that very narrow definition of his character.
Season 11, Episode 11, “The Water Line” is a follow-up and spiritual sequel to Chicago P.D. Season 11, Episode 5, “Split Second,” which saw Atwater at the center of a brutal robbery case. “The Water Line” also relies on a series of robberies, but this time it puts someone that Atwater knows into the equation. While the result ends up following the usual tragic Chicago P.D. pattern, it’s another episode that effectively utilizes LaRoyce Hawkins — and even works in Amy Morton.
The subplot in “The Water Line” is worth mentioning first, because it’s directly tied to the events of “Split Second.” Audiences learn early on that a guilt-ridden Atwater is secretly providing for Teresa Westbrooke and her son Jonathan, after being unable to save Teresa’s husband and Jonathan’s father Corey Westbrooke during a jewelry store robbery. He ensures that Corey’s grave receives a proper headstone, gets regular alerts about the family’s neighborhood, and — according to Teresa — has been paying expenses and anonymously delivering groceries to their home. This isn’t the first time a Chicago P.D. character has tried to help someone close to a crime, and also not the first time that it’s gone badly. But this is the worst case because of how it affects Atwater and the entire Intelligence Unit along with him.
The Teresa character continues to be one-dimensional and frustrating because of her insistence on blaming Atwater for Corey’s death. That made a certain amount of sense in the immediate aftermath, when she was grieving and vengeful, but the scene in which she shows up at the 21st District and threatens him with a restraining order and potential firing is much harder to watch. It paints her as someone who is incapable of emotional growth and simply wants to see Atwater suffer. This scene would have been more powerful if it wasn’t one-sided and Atwater was able to connect with Teresa in a way he hadn’t before to see her perspective. The episode’s message — that Atwater can’t save everyone — would still be intact, but in a more well-rounded way.
That’s because Teresa shows up at the district after Atwater pulls himself off of a surveillance assignment to go to Jonathan’s school. By asking his former partner — and fellow standout character — Kim Burgess to cover his surveillance so that he can keep Jonathan from being expelled, Atwater winds up causing a huge problem in his current case, leading to a shootout and the death of a suspect. That’s the bigger consequence that he then has to keep paying through the remainder of “The Water Line,” and it’s where the real meat of the episode is. Atwater doesn’t need to be vilified by Teresa for the second time in order for the audience to understand his faults.
One scene involves Atwater interrogating Terrence Hayes, the fence connected to the robberies. Most of the interrogation scenes in the show have the same tone — quietly aggressive unless they’re being done by Voight, and then they can be openly aggressive. Atwater remains calm throughout speaking with Hayes, even when laying out the potential consequences of Hayes not telling him the truth. He’s so level that it’s as if the two of them are just talking about the weather. He doesn’t need to raise his voice or get in the other man’s face to make his point. There’s a time and place for those scenes in TV crime dramas, but it’s impressive that Atwater can be just as effective without going there.
