Chicago P.D.'s Voight Just Called All The Way Back To The Series Premiere, And I Can't Get Over How Young Atwater Looked

Warning: spoilers are ahead for Episode 13 of Chicago P.D. Season 12, called "Street Jesus" and streaming next day with a Peacock subscription.

Chicago P.D.'s latest episode in the 2025 TV schedule got off to an uplifting start for Kevin Atwater as he helped raise funds for a community center in his neighborhood... which of course meant that everything went downhill as the episode continued, starting with a shooting shortly after the fundraiser ended. The case hit close to home in more than one way for the officer, so it was no wonder that he struggled. He earned a lecture from Voight for it, including a callback to arguably the character's most famous line from the series premiere circa 2014.

Atwater did everything he could to keep the name of a good man out of the case for the sake of the neighborhood, to the point that Ruzek finally had to push him to come clean to Voight. The sergeant wasn't happy that Atwater had been withholding information, but wasn't unsympathetic when the case ended with that good man dead on the street. Voight conceded that they didn't have to let it be known that Hype had been wearing a wire for the CPD to protect his legacy, with Atwater responding with "Appreciate that, Sarge," as it will "go a long way with all the local bankers, the businesses."

They agreed on a version of the truth that kept the man's name out of any reports, but Voight had one last parting message before they went their separate ways:

And that's a message that Atwater first heard uttered by Voight more than ten years ago, when he said the same thing in the very first episode of Chicago P.D., way back in 2014 when even Chicago Fire was only in its second season. Of course, "Street Jesus" wasn't the first time that the sentiment has been echoed over the years since 2014, with Halstead even inverting it back in Season 9 when he told Voight to always tell him the truth so he could protect the sergeant from himself. (Ah, the good old days of Upstead vs. Voight drama!)

Still, seeing Voight drop his "tell me the truth so I can lie for you" line made me want to rewatch the very first time he said it, about six minutes into the very first episode as streaming on Peacock now. While it was strange the see the squad room filled with long gone characters like Sophia Bush's Lindsay, Jon Seda's Antonio, and Elias Koteas as Olinsky (although he returned to play hallucination Olinsky in 2024), I actually paused the episode when I spotted Patrol Officers Atwater and Burgess and discovered just how young LaRoyce Hawkins looked in his first outing as his character.

If you don't believe me and don't feel like checking the series premiere for yourself, just take a look at then and now!

Obviously I knew that 2014 was a long time ago before I queued up the pilot to rewatch, and LaRoyce Hawkins was in his early 20s when Season 1 started airing all those years ago. But dang it, seeing Atwater back when he was an officer on Platt's patrol team really reminded me of how far he's come since then, and how much he's been through. I do wish that some of those experiences over the past twelve seasons had resulted in him finally making detective, but Burgess is the only officer to get the promotion so far.

Did Atwater really need the reminder about the way things work in the Intelligence Unit, and Voight's policy of lying for his officers if they tell him the truth? Maybe not in a normal episode, but he went through the emotional wringer in "Street Jesus." That said, I'm still not sure how he could go from giving a speech in his neighborhood as Kevin Atwater and then going undercover later in the same episode.

Based on the promo for the next episode that will air on Wednesday, February 26 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, Ruzek is about to be thrust back into one of his most emotional cases in recent years. Take a look:

Chicago PD 12x14 Promo "Marie" (HD) - YouTube

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As if young Zoe hadn't been through enough in her first episode, she's apparently going to be kidnapped in her second! I do hope that the episode will also feature Jack Coleman as Disco Bob again, and perhaps Ruzek's sister after the clues dropped last time.

As always, P.D. closes out NBC's hit One Chicago block of primetime, which starts with Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET, continues with Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET, before ending with Voight and the Intelligence Unit. If you want to revisit the pilot like I did or even Zoe's first episode ahead of next week's, you can find every P.D. installment streaming on Peacock now.