Surprise! A Familiar Face Is Returning to Chicago P.D. to Help [Spoiler] Out of a Bind
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After a week-long break, Chicago P.D. is back with another Season 11 episode. “Split Second” will be an Atwater-centric episode and it will even feature an appearance from the beloved officer’s dad, Lew (Erik LaRay Harvey). So, who is Lew and what happened to him on Chicago P.D.?
Chicago P.D. is NBC’s police procedural drama following the personal and professional lives of patrol officers and detectives at the Chicago Police Department’s 21st District and Intelligence Unit. The series — which premiered in 2014 and was created by Dick Wolf, the same mind behind the Law & Order and FBI series — is the second show in NBC’s One Chicago franchise, which also includes Chicago Fire, Chicago Med and the now-canceled Chicago Justice.
LaRoyce Hawkins has starred as Officer Kevin Atwater since Season 1. It’s been awhile since the show focused on Atwater’s personal life and fans will finally get a glimpse of what’s been going on with him in the upcoming fifth episode of Season 11. Per the official synopsis, Atwater “turns to an unlikely source of support when a string of jewelry store robberies shakes his confidence.” Speaking with TV Insider ahead of the episode, Hawkins spoke about the aspiring detective will struggle with “trying to get out of his own way.” He also teased that Erik LaRay Harvey will return as Atwater’s dad.
Who is Lew and what happened to him on Chicago P.D.?
Who is Lew and what happened to him on Chicago P.D.? Lewis “Lew” Atwater is Atwater’s estranged father and a convicted felon. The pair have a tense relationship, as they stopped talking to one another when Lew was incarcerated for robbery.
Lew was first introduced during the Season 10 episode “Long Lost.” In the episode, Atwater discovered that Lew had been released from prison and was out on parole when he sees him attending a funeral he’s staking out with Burgess (Marina Squerciati). It was the first time he had seen his father in years and the reunion wasn’t a particularly happy one. After Lew helped his son out with a case, however, Atwater offers him a unit in the apartment building he owned.
Their relationship was still rocky when Lew made another appearance during the Season 10 episode “Bleeding Valve.” This time around, he was caught up in a shooting at the apartment building. It was later revealed that Lew was trying to help the neighborhood boys who were involved in the incident. Although he nearly got himself killed when confronting a drug dealer and butted heads with his son several times, Atwater recognized his good intentions and the two seemed to take a step in right direction.
Harvey is reprising his role as Lew again in the upcoming Season 11 Episode 5. While speaking to TV Insider, Hawkins teased what fans can expect to see form the father-son duo. “It’s going pretty well,” he said of Atwater and Lew’s relationship. “I don’t even think Atwater expected it to grow into the positive space that it leans into. And even in this episode you can tell that there’s still room for more growth, but they’re definitely better than they were the last time we saw ’em.”
While we don’t know for sure what role Lew will have in the episode, he will most likely be the person Atwater turns to for support — and definitely sounds like Atwater could use it. “Atwater has a tendency to want to take full accountability for everything. Whether it’s his private endeavors with his building, his family, his team, he has a knack for just wanting to take it all,” Hawkins told TV Insider. “And I think this episode, he struggles with that. So the challenge would be Atwater getting out of his own way and allowing himself the grace to be able to grow and let go.”
Atwater’s dad may also look familiar to fans. As it turns out, Harvey has played six different characters in the Law & Order franchise. He guest starred on Law & Order as Marty Pine in 1994 and returned to the series in 1998 as Officer Anthony Loomis. The actor also had three different roles on Law & Order: SVU and guest starred as Deputy Warden on Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
