Patrick John Flueger and LaRoyce Hawkins on Chicago P.D.'s Explosive Season 9 Finale!

Last week’s Chicago P.D. ended with an explosion that put lives in jeopardy and changed the plan carefully put into place by the Intelligence team to finally take down drug kingpin Javier Escano (José Zúñiga). But Sgt. Hank Voight’s (Jason Beghe) informant Anna Avalos (Carmela Zumbado) lost faith and decided to go rogue when Voight asked her to put a pin in the plan, be patient, and go home.

Anna refused and drove away to finish what she started as she felt as if she could no longer live the double life being a UC demanded, nor put up with Voight's lying to her. What she doesn’t know is that Escano, feeling that something isn’t right, put a scorched earth plan into effect to aid in his escape and that potentially includes Anna’s death.

If Intelligence takes down Escano tonight—and we won’t spoil it, it will put an end to this long-arc storyline with a payoff for both the actors and the audience.

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“I think the payoff is amazing,” Patrick John Flueger, who plays Officer Adam Ruzek, exclusively told Parade.com. “It's been nice to have the gal that plays Anna—a really talented actress and also a lovely person—come back around and the cat that plays Escano come back around, they get invested, too. I'd like to think that we as a cast and crew are really inviting to our guest stars and try and to give them as much latitude and leverage to do the best that they can do. So, yeah, the payoffs come in dividends both personally and professionally.”

From the trailer, it looks as if Voight may be reverting to his old ways, not as concerned with proper policing as getting the job done. But LaRoyce Hawkins, who plays Officer Kevin Atwater, still feels as if the show has made progress in looking at policing in 2022 as opposed to 2014 when the series premiered.

“I think what this cast is very good at doing—and I say this humbly—is we’re very good at empathizing,” Hawkins said. “I think this is a group of some of the most empathetic imaginations that that we have on TV right now to be honest, especially with this platform and with the characters that we play. We play first responders, police officers specifically. We understand the scrutiny that shows of this nature receive. We know that not too long ago, especially post pandemic, a lot of cop shows were canceled. There were a lot of concepts of the system of policing that we question even more and so with our empathetic imagination, we do our best to make sure that we serve the people what they need. I think they need to see cops that empathize, that care a little bit more, that would rather save a life than solve a case.”

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For Hawkins, the only Black officer on the Intelligence team, that representation is especially important for Atwater, and Hawkins feels that Atwater has grown into the kind of police that truly is there to protect and serve. That said, his character is also very much involved in his community and recently purchased a building he hopes will help with development.

“Unless there's a promotion in his future where he can be a detective, he might see a ceiling with how he can protect and serve within this position right now,” he said. “So, I think to diversify his protective portfolio allows him to lean into the community, buy property that he knows can house families and set the community up to be better place hopefully. So, yeah, I think Atwater’s change is always going to be in that direction.”

Chicago P.D. airs Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

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