Chicago P.D.’s LaRoyce Hawkins Previews Atwater’s New Love Interest: Their Dynamic Is ‘Unexpectedly Sweet’
Chicago P.D.’s Atwater has a lot on his plate during this Wednesday’s episode — an intense job, demanding tenants, family responsibilities — but he’s also got something positive he can now add to his list: a potential new love interest.
The pair first spark at a cop bar, where the aforementioned Val (played by Power Book III: Raising Kanan’s Natalee Linez) strikes up a conversation with the officer while he’s tending to a myriad of incoming texts.
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“Atwater’s extremely distracted when they meet. He has a lot going on in his head, there’s a lot going on in the world, there’s a lot going on on his phone,” his portrayer LaRoyce Hawkins previews. “He’s trying to navigate all those nuances at once, and all of a sudden, this beautiful young lady starts kind of hitting on him a little bit, and I don’t even think he realizes it. I don’t even think he understands because his mind isn’t clear. He’s so distracted by so many other things. So he doesn’t realize until it’s too late.”
At that point, “it’s the wrong time to make the right move,” Hawkins says, and soon after, Atwater goes into work mode as he answers a call to a nearby robbery-gone-wrong. When the only witness starts to have memory issues as a result of PTSD, the Intelligence unit calls in a forensic psychologist for assistance. Much to Atwater’s surprise, that person turns out to be Val, who doesn’t always agree with Atwater’s approach to the witness.
One of the benefits of having to work together, however, is that, unlike Atwater’s previous failed attempts at a romantic relationship, Val is well aware of his job from the start. She also sees and understands everything he has to balance, professionally and personally.
“She gets a firsthand, front-row ticket for watching Atwater navigate all these nuances at once,” Hawkins shares. “Thank God she’s a psychiatrist. So she has the skills to not just be patient but also understand what’s going on, and teaches him how to give himself grace after she offers him grace in the first place. It’s unexpectedly sweet, which I dig about it, because I don’t think Atwater sees it coming. [His] guards are always up.”
Chicago P.D. airs Wednesday at 10/9c on NBC.
Are you excited to meet Atwater’s new love interest? Hit the comments!
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