Oh man, what a way to say goodbye to Atwater. I honestly wish we didn’t have to watch him leave, but I really did love the way that he exited, and most of all, I am glad he didn’t die.
Right from the start of this episode, I was so happy. Getting to see Atwater be a dad and be so happy about it was amazing, and to see him in a family was so lovely. I was smiling so much watching Kevin film Malcolm and Tasha. It was so cute.
I always love when a case hits home for one of the characters, but I think this was the ultimate version of that trope. For the pairing of realisations to be that Atwater could have left Malcolm without a dad and what could happen to Malcolm if he isn’t around was great. The likelihood of that situation happening would be very slim, but it was enough for him to see what he really wanted.
Even when Kev went back to work, you could tell that he was apprehensive about everything. He just didn’t clear locations the same. He made sure that he was super safe, whereas usually he doesn’t appear to think about that too much. It was actually quite nice to see his whole demeanour change, knowing that what happens on the job can heavily affect more than just his own life now.
I kind of knew that Kevin was going to either be shot or come close to death because in general, he wouldn’t just give up being a police officer without a catalyst. However, I was definitely worried when the screen faded into the commercial break because I was thinking that he might actually have been hit and that the vest didn’t catch it when Burgess couldn’t wake him.
Then to come back to flashbacks of Tasha and Malcolm, I was fully convinced that the vest hadn’t caught it. I am very glad that it did and that he went out without being shot or dying, or coming close to it in the hospital, causing him to leave. I love that it was a natural realisation that he just wants something different now, not to leave the police completely but just that his priorities have changed.
I really enjoyed watching Atwater and Voight interact in this episode, especially that last conversation between them. In general, Voight doesn’t let his guard down that often, nor does he ever really talk about Justin (I definitely noticed the camera work to show the picture of Justin and Voight on his desk). It was great to just watch two dads bond over knowing that raising their sons is something that is forever the most important thing to them.
That last scene had me smiling so much at my tv screen. I loved Ruzek’s speech and Atwater’s speech, but my favourite part was watching them all sing “He’s a jolly good fellow” because I just enjoyed watching the actors behind the characters all saying goodbye to their friend and coworker of 14 years.
The love and admiration bled through the screen, and you can’t help but love it.
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