Chicago P.D. is wrapping up in a way that fans probably wouldn't have thought, as the Season 7 finale will be largely focused on LaRoyce Hawkins' Atwater in the midst of a dangerous sting op, rather than a more traditional finale that spreads the narrative love around. It still sounds like it'll be quite the memorable hour of TV, however, serving as a direct follow-up to Season 6's racially charged ep "Night in Chicago." Viewers probably shouldn't expect for things to be all cooled off when the summer hiatus starts, though.
The Season 7 finale, "Silence of the Night," will see Atwater going undercover to investigate a drug-trafficking ring. Things get quite troublesome when he realizes the ring has another undercover cop in its ranks, and it just so happens to be Mickey O'Sullivan's Tim Doyle, one of the cops who pulled Atwater and Daryl over during that fatal display of racial profiling from last season. But showrunner Rick Eid says that even though Atwater figures Doyle to be a "racist asshole," it turns out the guy may actually be sincerely apologetic about what happened.
That, in turn, causes Atwater to indulge in even more complex thought processes about how to feel and react to a difficult situation that later goes down with Doyle. Not just from the perspective of a black man, but also as a police officer. In speaking with TV Guide, Rick Eid seems to be insinuating that Atwater will make a morally unsound decision. In his words:
It will make him feel good about himself (for a few minutes anyway), but there will be no closure. The issues addressed are too complicated to wrap up in a bow. The choice Atwater makes in this episode is brave, but like Ray Price said: there's a cost to being brave. So, Atwater is going to have to deal with the consequences.
Uh-oh. The word "consequences" is never a great one to hear or deal with in the Chicago-verse, especially in a complicated situation like this. It doesn't sound like Atwater is going to toss Doyle in the river or anything, since that probably wouldn't count as a "brave" act that he would be pleased with himself for. (Okay, maybe for a few minutes.) But it also doesn't sound like Atwater stood down and accepted Doyle's apologies over beer and pizza.
Atwater won't do himself any good by either pissing off Doyle in the midst of an undercover operation, or by making himself look suspicious to any of the drug traffickers. That is, unless he finds a brave enough way to blow Doyle's cover to the other criminals. It all depends on how fresh those feelings about Daryl's death are, I suppose.
Considering how awkwardly Voight handled the "Night in Chicago" situation after Atwater got arrested, it's quite possible that Voight will be involved in the aforementioned consequences. Hopefully he'll be more readily on Atwater's side this time, though, instead of jumping at the chance to defend the men who wronged him.
Check out the trailer for Chicago P.D.'s Season 7 finale below!
Of course, "Silence of the Night" wasn't originally meant to serve as Chicago P.D.'s finale, as it's only the 20th episode of the season. It's unknown at this point whether or not the consequences from the installment in question would have gotten resolved before the original finale plans, which had to get tossed once Hollywood shut down (and many other places) shut down. But for now, fans will be waiting for quite a while to see what Season 8 will deliver. (Hopefully more crossovers with other Dick Wolf shows.)
Chicago P.D.'s finale airs Wednesday night at the tail end of the NBC drama lineup, at 10:00 p.m. ET.
