Chicago P.D. will soon return from hiatus for its seventh season on NBC, and love is likely going to be in the air in the Intelligence Unit. Showrunner Rick Eid recently revealed that "another interesting intra-team romance" is developing for Season 7, which raised some big questions about who, why, and when. Of course, the cops of the Intelligence Unit have been hooking up with each other from almost the very beginning, but P.D. is probably doing something pretty unexpected with the new romance.
Namely, one half of the romance won't be one of the frequent flyers known for dating or at least making some very serious bedroom eyes at their coworkers. Rick Eid didn't reveal exactly what to expect when romance starts to bloom again in the Intelligence Unit, but he did drop one of the names of who will be involved:
It may involve Atwater.
Score for Kevin Atwater! He's been part of Chicago P.D. since the very first season without falling into a major relationship with one of his coworkers, so his time has come. His ability to stay out of the in-unit romantic drama to this point might normally be a sign that he could avoid some of the pitfalls encountered by Halstead, Lindsay (who is almost certainly gone for good), Ruzek, Burgess, and Upton (who dated some coworkers before she joined Intelligence), but Intelligence is so intense that it's hard to imagine a totally normal relationship between any two members.
Honestly, Atwater was one of my top candidates for the intra-team romances once Rick Eid teased that one was in the works for Season 7, although my money was admittedly on Halstead and Upton more than Atwater and somebody. Of course, Eid didn't 100% confirm anything or name the other half of the romance in his comments to TVLine, and his previous comments only stated that they were "talking about" and "writing toward" it. Still, there's a lot to be excited about on Atwater's behalf! Honestly, I'm just looking forward to seeing more of Atwater, if that's what a romance would provide.
A big question now is who the other half of the romance would be. If it's "intra-team" and if Atwater continues to prefer opposite-sex relationships, then that rules out Voight (if he's ever been in the running), Halstead, and Ruzek. I'm very slightly disappointed that I won't get to spend Season 7 writing the word "Atwuzek," but it's a good thing that Ruzek will almost certainly be sitting this one out. He's been engaged to Burgess and dated Upton; maybe keep him out of the Intelligence dating pool for a while.
The most likely candidate for Atwater's intra-team romance at this point is the gritty new cop who's coming in to replace Antonio Dawson, now that Jon Seda is gone. Antonio's story may not be done, but he won't be on screen, and somebody will need to fill the gap in Intelligence. If Atwater and the newcomer begin a relationship, that means fans will get to see a brand new Intelligence romance without comparing it to another Intelligence relationship for one or both of them in previous seasons.
Of course, romance may not be the order of the day for most of the cops in Intelligence, if Chicago P.D. really does go ahead and divide the unit in Season 7. Promo footage for the premiere reveals a confrontation between Voight and Halstead, and photos for the episode seemingly indicate that Halstead is suspicious of Voight after the Season 6 cliffhanger.
Only time will tell what's in store for Atwater's love life, the Intelligence Unit as a whole, and the Chicago universe as it heads toward another huge crossover. All three Chicago series premiere their new seasons on Wednesday, September 25, with Med at 8 p.m. ET, Fire at 9 p.m. ET, and finally P.D. at 10 p.m. ET.
