LaRoyce Hawkins is effortlessly one of many most interesting actors on broadcast, so it is not in the least shocking that he delivered one other highly effective efficiency.
In some ways, Chicago PD Season 10 Episode 11 was a decade within the making, lastly offering us the kind of content material on Kevin’s background that we have been clamoring for for the reason that sequence started.
The introduction of Lew, Kevin’s estranged father, peeled again a layer of this character that even his closest associates could not entry, which is one in every of many explanation why the hour was so thrilling.
An ideal character-centric not solely balances out the private arc of the designated character with the case of the week however it takes full benefit of the years value of fabric from that character.
What separates this hour from lots of Kevin’s different ones over time is that it wasn’t a shallow, surface-level dive into one thing topical to maintain up with present occasions.
As an alternative, this felt very private and tailored for Kevin, not as their solely Black man on the unit, however relatively as a person who had an unlucky background and needed to increase his siblings from a younger age.
We have identified that Kevin raised his siblings on his personal for years. We obtained simply sufficient info to glean that his father was incarcerated and his mom died.
However till now, we’ve but to dig into that additional.
We at all times see Kevin as this sturdy, resilient, even-tempered man who is superb at his job, a stable man, pal, and brother.
However we by no means obtained to discover how his childhood experiences and background have formed who he’s as an individual now or nonetheless have an effect on him.
Everybody carries scars from their previous with them. The looks of Kevin’s father unlocked a few of Kevin’s, and it was pretty to observe him work via all of that whereas engaged on such a troublesome case.
Lew: How are they?
Kevin: Jordan and Vanessa? They’re high quality. We’re all high quality.
Proper out the gate, the hour was winsome as a result of it paired Kevin and Kim for many of the installment. For 2 characters who began within the trenches collectively and are primarily one another’s greatest associates, there was such a disappointing scarcity in Burgwater scenes and interactions over time.
It is such a comforting dynamic, and if anybody may assist or bear in mind of each other, it was them.
Kevin observed Kim’s shaky palms, presumably a stress tremor from her PTSD she merely is not coping with. One can recognize that they are not dropping this storyline or permitting it to vanish into the shadows.
It is also one thing the others are selecting up on, which is an efficient signal for Kim, whether or not she needs to confess it.
And Kim dealt with Kevin fantastically all through the case. She cautiously prodded about his father when the photograph struck him. She additionally revered his privateness and allowed him to share what he wanted when he wanted to and on his personal phrases.
Regardless that she requested Ruzek about Kevin’s father and the way a lot he might have identified about the entire state of affairs, she left the dialog there till Kevin obtained to speak about issues himself.
And whereas Kim challenged and questioned in the event that they had been making the appropriate transfer through the bust, she backed him the entire approach regardless of her disagreement.
Kim was such an important companion and pal throughout this installment, and it is what Kevin wanted as a result of he was going via it.
Understandably, Kevin could not reconcile the man he grew up with and the person who went away, and it is a disgrace that it took him 20 years to seek out out the reality of all the things.
I do not obtained the posh of being indignant. I ain’t carrying that round with me. I am good.
Atwater
Within the blink of a watch, he went from a father and household that defied stereotypes to at least one that fell sufferer to them.
It is as clear as day now that Kevin has spent most of his life making an attempt to not be like his father. As a result of if his father may fall sufferer to the clutches of stereotypical life that had him within the system, how straightforward may it have been for Kevin or his brother to do the identical?
The hour touched a bit on Kevin’s near-constant need to not be one other statistic. His resentment towards his father had a few of the weight of that.
On prime of all the things else, he by no means obtained to see his father your entire time he was in jail as a result of Lew refused so as to add him to the record.
Kevin spent a lifetime not attending to ask her father what he did and why he did it, and there was no sense of closure. But it surely additionally left him out within the chilly concerning elevating his siblings.
If Kevin was solely a teen when his father went away, it is a hell of quite a lot of strain to placed on him. He bore the duty of caring for his siblings, thrown into the deep finish with it, and his father simply left them on their very own to determine issues out.
From Lew’s perspective, he did not need his son to ever see him in jail like that. He thought it was in Kevin’s greatest curiosity to chop communication, however there is not any approach he may clarify that with out coming throughout as a coward.
How was it in Kevin’s greatest curiosity to go away him alone, caring for youngsters at his personal younger age, with out understanding why his father went from a person who took midnight walks with him to an armed robber?
On my own I raised them, so I do not perceive why you are feeling you owe all people however me!
Kevin
Greater than something, I liked Kevin’s method to his father for the whole lot of the hour. Everybody from Voight to Ruzek moved cautiously and handled the difficulty with sensitivity, however Atwater was steadfast in his professionalism.
He was the one who ensured that they labored the case as they might some other with out compromising something due to the private connection, and that tells you a lot of what you ever have to learn about Atwater.
He is at all times been probably the most morally and ethically constant, and this was no exception.
It is also such a refreshing change of tempo to have somebody who’s clear with your entire crew when one thing transpires. Secrecy and facet huddles have been the downfall of a lot of the unit.
When given an opportunity to fall into an analogous sample, Kevin did not even entertain a world the place he wasn’t upfront with the unit. The irony of Voight encouraging that transparency wasn’t misplaced on me both.
There’s lastly some extra acknowledgment of Kevin’s constant position because the morally sound character out of all of them. He is at all times been more true to the position.
He was proper about utilizing Lew to get to Reid.
If it had been anybody aside from Kevin’s dad, they might haven’t any drawback doing that. Kevin wasn’t going to sacrifice the case and nail Reid for the deaths of all these individuals as a result of he could not deal with being in the identical room as his father.
The dialog with Ruzek was notably illuminating and resonant as a result of it subtly distinguished how they may navigate conditions.
Ruzek is a identified hothead. Anger is one thing that may rule and devour him. He has his personal baggage over his father, who could be absent from his life at instances for completely totally different causes.
A few of Ruzek’s approaches generally is a results of that.
However Atwater, as he aptly talked about, would not have that very same sort of luxurious. Even with the playing cards life dealt him, all of the simmering feelings he feels, and all the things in between, he would not have the posh of being indignant.
He did not have time to be indignant about his father as a result of he had youngsters to lift, examples to set, and items to choose up. And he would not have the posh of anger now as a result of the chilly, arduous reality of it’s that strolling this earth as an indignant Black man is a licensed loss of life sentence.
It was a line that summed up Kevin as a personality we have identified for a decade. There’s an expectation and even necessity that he stays even-tempered.
And that is why it was so satisfying when he obtained to lift his voice a bit and demand solutions from his father, expressing himself in a approach that he is held onto for many of his life.
And simply as rapidly as that frustration makes its approach via, he’s quintessentially Kevin, providing up a spot in one of many buildings he runs so his father may have a safer and higher place to dwell.
That ultimate scene between Hawkins and guest-star Erik LaRay Harvey was chill-inducing, and ideally, that is the start of a storyline for these two and never an ending.
Kevin getting an opportunity to rebuild a relationship together with his father, as an grownup who can higher perceive the state of affairs, is much extra compelling than a few of the earlier makes an attempt at fleshing Kevin out.
Positive, our boy nonetheless deserves a love curiosity, and I stand by that, however that is much more rewarding. We, as viewers, earned this storyline for Kevin.
It scratches an itch that is been lingering for a decade. They’ve set issues up properly to discover that even additional, and hopefully, the sequence’ points with continuity will not rear their ugly head and deprive us of follow-up with this storyline.
It deserves to be a full-blown arc.
The nice factor is that as a result of they had been unable to nab Reid completely, it is an unfinished storyline, and thus there’s an allusion that it will crop up once more down the road.
It is nerve-wracking to know that Reid will not be taking place for something, and he’ll seemingly mistrust Lew. It is a catch-22 right here.
Ideally, you’d need Lew distant from Reid for his security in case Lew suspects one thing and feels Lew is the rat. However alternatively, if Lew stops interacting with Reid, it will solely trigger extra suspicion.
It is a harmful recreation Lew can be enjoying, and he solely did it for Kevin. If Reid or anybody finds out Lew is expounded to a cop, it is over for him.
It was disturbing sufficient throughout that cash change scene. As a lot as Kevin jumped the gun, giving the unit the okay to go in, you absolutely perceive why he did it.
Even with a few of the solutions, there are nonetheless some questions on Kevin’s father. Will there be a doable return of Jordan and Vinessa? A household reunion with everybody could be nice.
Lew took the autumn for the theft, however is there extra to the story, and can that have an effect on his life on the surface now? Reid was wanting to convey that up.
The hour felt like a few of the greatest perception we have gotten into Kevin Atwater in years, and thus it did not disappoint.
The case has the potential for longevity, which is one thing that’s working for this sequence as a substitute of wrapping each single case up by the top of the hour.
And with Lew’s presence, we might additionally get to peel again extra layers to Kevin and spend extra time with him off the clock once more.
Would not it’s good to truly see this constructing that he is been operating for some time? Kevin has this complete different life that we sometimes hear about however aren’t precisely aware of, simply itching to be explored. Let’s get into it!
Further Notes:
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The Dante Torres stanning continues. The youngsters are simply so rattling nice undercover. I genuinely love how they handle to play with and avert stereotypes with him, counting on them to promote him undercover. It is a tough recreation, however they’re doing a good sufficient job with it.
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Each time that child says “homie” or “bro,” I smile.
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The pair-ups had been nice. Not solely did we’ve Kim and Kevin, however we obtained Kevin and Voight, one other rarity; they introduced again Hailey and Ruzek and, after all, Ruzek and Torres. It is so a lot better once they combine and match and put your entire crew to make use of.
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Did anybody else maintain their breath once they realized that the bloody tracks at that home belonged to a child?
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Voight and Kevin principally speaking through grunts whereas within the automobile was hilarious.
Over to you, Chicago PD Fanatics. Did you like this Kevin-centric? What are your ideas on assembly Kevin’s father? Pontificate beneath.
You possibly can watch Chicago PD on-line through TV Fanatic.
Jasmine Blu is a senior employees author for TV Fanatic. Comply with her on Twitter.
