I Wasn’t Sure What To Expect From Chicago P.D.’s Atwater Replacement, But I Already Love One Thing About Him

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Warning! Spoilers ahead for Chicago P.D. Season 14, Episode 4, “My Eye, My Call,” streaming now with a Peacock subscription. Changes have bene unfolding on Chicago P.D. during its run on the 2026 TV schedule. Original cast member LaRoyce Hawkins officially exited the procedural in Season 14, Episode 2, bringing his time as Officer Kevin Atwater to a close. There was no telling how Intelligence was going to move on after losing yet another member of the team, though it seems the series has already found Atwater's replacement. While I didn’t know what to expect, there is already one thing I love about him.What I Love About Atwater’s New ReplacementThe recent Chicago P.D. episode “My Eye, My Call” puts a lot of focus on a new officer, Donovan “Penny” Watts, played by Naiqui Macabroad. He's a young beat cop who has been patrolling the 11th District for the last six years. After the murder of an acquaintance, Donovan offers to assist Voight on the investigation, which is connected to an ongoing case. Donovan soon gets too involved in the case, so much so that he arrives first on scene at a raid on a stash house. Despite Voight telling him to wait for backup, Donovan proceeds, noting that he believes young children are inside. His hunch proves to be right, with a mother and her son being held hostage by two armed criminals. Donovan tries to de-escalate the situation before Intelligence takes action, but one criminal gets shot, while the other is handcuffed.Donovan's instincts and drive lead Voight to offer him the open position on Intelligence, saying that the Unit is down an officer. With that, Donovan accepts. While viewers have only Donovan in one episode thus far, he already seems like a good fit for the. Something I really love is that he goes by his instincts. The young man even tells Voight that he’s called Penny because he’s a bad penny -- he sees something, he moves on it. That kind of energy is just what the team needs. Penny clearly knew the consequences of defying a direct order from Voight and understood the safety risks. Yet he also understood the repercussions of not going right in. Considering Donovan's approach to the job, I'm eager to see how his work with the team progresses this season.One Hope I Have For DonovanSo far, fans have seen how Donovan works, and what he’s willing to do to help someone. However, we have yet to see him work with Intelligence, and that's going to be a whole new ballgame for him. He’s been on the patrol beat for six years, so it’s going to be interesting for him to transition from that to being part of an actual unit (and a famous unit at that). It's hard to watch Chicago P.D. without Hawkins, but Macabroad is already making his mark.More on Chicago P.D.(Image credit: Lori Allen/NBC)Chicago P.D. Dropped A Heartbreaking Update On Imani And Her Sister In The Season 14 PremiereDonovan is obviously a good cop who cares, which is why he goes off his instincts. However, sometimes, that’s not a good thing, because it could seriously put someone in harm’s way. I’m hoping that the longer he works with Intelligence, the more he’ll get acclimated to working in a team and working together. The last thing I'd ever want to see is anyone on the team or otherwise getting harmed due to impulsiveness on Penny's part.Of course, everyone on Intelligence has great instincts, and they will do whatever it takes to save someone, meaning Donovan is in the perfect place. If Voight wasn’t sure about him, he definitely wouldn’t have offered him the spot. Intelligence has seen a lot of cops come and go, but I have a feeling Naiqui Macabroad's Donovan could stick around for quite some time.Make sure to tune into Season 14 of Chicago P.D. on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC to see how Donovan fits into Intelligence. All episodes are also streaming on Peacock.