Chicago Atwater Replacement Joins Overlooked List of Wolf Entertainment Stars

Watts joins Intelligence

Kevin Atwater’s departure left Chicago P.D.’s Intelligence Unit with Burgess, Ruzek, Torres and Imani. The team usually has five members working under Voight, and season 14 introduced a new officer to fill the opening.

In “My Eye, My Call,” Officer Donovan “Penny” Watts, played by Naiqui Macabroad, enters the story while pursuing a case. He had spent six years as a beat cop in the 11th district. Although the team initially resisted his involvement, he helped solve the case, and Voight offered him a place in Intelligence.

A quick return to Wolf

Macabroad previously appeared in Law & Order season 25, episode 13, “New Normal,” which aired in February. His Chicago P.D. role brought him back to the franchise as a different character less than a year later.

Wolf Entertainment shows have reused actors in different roles. The NBC series are more closely connected to one another than to the CBS shows FBI and CIA, making casting moves between Law & Order and One Chicago especially notable.

Actors cross between shows

The article counts at least 10 actors who have moved between parts of NBC’s Dick Wolf universe. Macabroad joins performers with experience in both Law & Order and One Chicago, though he is not the first former Law & Order guest to take a key One Chicago role.

S. Epatha Merkerson spent 17 seasons on Law & Order before joining One Chicago and appeared in nearly 400 episodes of the Law & Order shows as Lt. Van Buren. David Eigenberg has appeared in more than 300 One Chicago episodes across Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., Chicago Med and Chicago Justice.

Benjamin Levy Aguilar played two characters on Chicago P.D.: guest character Franco Chavaro in season 7 and Officer Dante Torres, a series regular from season 10. Weber appeared on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and SVU, while Squerciati also appeared on both shows.