Warning: spoilers ahead for the third episode of Chicago P.D. Season 12, called "Off Switch."
Following Chicago P.D. putting Ruzek through the wringer with the murder of his friend and fellow cop in the 2024 TV schedule, the One Chicago cop drama shifted the focus over to Atwater. Despite getting the episode off to a flirty start after meeting Val in a bar, Atwater was pulled into a robbery-gone-wrong case in which the witness was so traumatized that the Intelligence Unit needed to recruit some help. By the end of the hour, Atwater made a kind gesture... and officially embraced the time-honored tradition of the unit when it comes to starting a romance with a coworker... sort of.
It may sound like I jest, but it's well known among fans that Atwater has rarely had more than a fling or a brief romantic arc, and a show as procedural as Chicago P.D. can really only put much focus on a pairing if both people are involved in the job somehow. Is it healthy for the characters to generally date within their pool of coworkers? Maybe not in real life, but this is the fun of One Chicago we're talking about.
Just look at his longtime coworkers! Ruzek, Burgess, Upton, and Halstead all had multiple relationships within the unit, for all that nobody has really acknowledged the Upzek era since Season 6. (For good reason, if you ask me.)
Val already seems like an interesting romantic partner for Atwater, not least because she got him to look away from his phone by the end and deliver a pretty great apology for his overreaction earlier in the episode. Plus, she seems like an intriguing character even separate from him as a forensic psychologist who may or may not contribute on cases, so I'm optimistic.
Prior to this most recent episode of Season 12, the closest that Atwater came to a CPD romance was with Rojas back in Season 7, when it seemed like Chicago P.D. was aiming to do something different with them. LaRoyce Hawkins even embraced the "RoWater" ship name. Then, Lisseth Chavez was written out ahead of Season 8, putting an end to RoWater as a possible romance for LaRoyce Hawkins to portray. (You can revisit the Rojas era of P.D. streaming with a Peacock subscription, but be warned – the One Chicago series never explained what happened to Rojas.)
All in all, I'm hoping that the fact that Val works with the CPD without actually working in the Intelligence Unit could make for about as healthy a relationship as can be found on this show. Plus, it's just nice to see LaRoyce Hawkins getting the chance to play a romance on Chicago P.D. after his coworkers have gotten many such storylines over the years. My fingers have been crossed for Atwater to make detective for the sake of a new storyline for him, so I'm on board for this if he's not necessarily going to get the promotion this season.
Based on the new promo for the next episode, though, Voight looks like he's getting the spotlight for a case that seems like it could use an assist from Law & Order: SVU's Olivia Benson... or at least Chicago P.D.'s SVU detective. Take a look:
Catch new episodes of Chicago P.D. closing out NBC's Wednesday night lineup at 10 p.m. ET, following Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET. If you want to revisit some of the earlier days of One Chicago, every season so far is streaming on Peacock.