Chicago P.D. Season 13 Episode 5 Recap: Atwater Faces the Heat in ‘Miami’

The episode opens with Kevin Atwater getting ready for his day. Instead of wearing his plainclothes he is getting ready in his patrol uniform. Once at the district Ruzek asks why he is dressed this way. Kevin tells him he has to do foot patrol today, inside the district with Trudy Platt coordinating and lays out the plan. The city wants a show of strength downtown because of a spike in teen takeovers. Foot patrols, marine units, mounted cops, the works. Officers Fox and Atwater trade a few sarcastic jabs while everyone gets their assignments. 

Platt tells everyone to pair up and move out. Kevin ends up with Fox, and right away you feel the friction, but it’s clear there is something between the two. They know each other from academy days. Fox says she's counting down her last week before transferring to Miami. He teases her about chasing sunshine and a five-thousand-dollar bonus. She fires back that Chicago’s full of charm until it breaks you. They both know the city takes more than it gives.

Out on patrol, Kevin and Fox talk with the family. He mentions his brother and sister now living in Texas with relatives. Fox asks about his dad, and he admits he’s still trucking. She opens up a little too, an old relationship that didn’t last. Fox and Atwater are trying to make the best of their day when they are about to cross an intersection when there is a large explosion!!

They rush to the scene, smoke, debris, people running. Atwater calls everything in and starts to access the scene. Platt tells the chief the plan to clear the area and find victims. Atwater tells Fox to have his back. Voight arrives, taking charge of crowd control while Ruzek and Burgess coordinate securing the area. Intelligence and IAD are both involved. The target looks political, maybe tied to city redevelopment projects. The first lead is Richard “Ricky” Robbins, a former felon with one old weapons conviction and known ties to the G-Park Lords. His ex-wife works in the bombed building, and there’s a restraining order keeping him a thousand feet away. It’s an obvious lead, maybe too obvious. Ricky swears he’s innocent, just wanted to see her. Kevin presses him hard; Fox tells him to cooperate or risk getting locked up. He insists he ran only because he knew his past would make him a suspect.

Back at the district, Platt organizes video feeds while Fox stays behind reviewing footage. Kevin hits the field with Ruzek assisting. They get dash-cam footage from a CTA bus showing a man in a brown hoodie carrying a package into the building minutes before the blast. The guy leaves without it. Fox notices Rickey taking pictures and he possibly took a picture of the offender. The city might have a domestic terrorist on its hands.

Fox and Kevin bicker,after a foot chase that Kevin feels she didn’t have his back. He thinks she’s coasting because she’s leaving; she thinks he doubts her skills. Burgess and Kevin go to get or warn the other members of the realtor investment firm that were not accounted for. Once in the neighborhood Burgess notices a similar silver sedan that was downtown. While trying to warn Mahoney the sedan explodes. Kevin gets thrown to the ground, and Burgess screams his name to make sure he is okay and rushes to pull him up. The shock forces them to reset, both realizing this isn’t just another day on the job.

The breakthrough comes from the CTA footage. Ricky, camera in hand, accidentally captures the bomber’s face. Kevin and Fox track him to Garfield Park, meeting Kurt, a store owner that knows Rickey, who doesn’t welcome the cops. Fox lets him know we need his help and that he owes her so tell them where they can find Rickey. At the bat Fox and Atwater question Rickey again. Rickey confesses he was downtown because his wife is divorcing him and he found out she is cheating with her boss. He went to her building to take photos to catch her. Atwater says they need these photographs; it could help their case. Eventually Ricky hands over his phone. The photo identifies Judd Larkin.

They run Larkin’s record, nothing serious, just a dropout with a growing online presence. They go to do a search of his home. Once searched his manifesto surfaces: videos railing against gentrification, claiming “real Chicago” is being erased so the rich can profit. The bomb wasn’t random; it was a statement.  Platt coordinates the operation while Burgess and Ruzek brief the officers heading into the field. Fox notices one of his videos wasn’t done by a phone but by a camera and someone is recording him. The question is who. The team goes back to the district and tries to find known associates of Judd Larkin. They stumble onto Ben Husby. 

Ben is brought in for questioning and he keeps saying Judd would not do this. They break it down and show him the destruction Judd has done so far today and they are trying to stop another bombing. Ben said that he always mentioned his old school, Warner Middle, now sitting in escrow with a realty group redeveloping the property. He always said that was the place he’d “make a statement.” Voight orders a full sweep: no radios, two-by-two, bomb squad on standby. Kevin and Fox are first inside. Halls are quiet; sunlight cuts through dust. Kevin and Fox pursue Judd. It’s quiet and dark in the basement. Visibility is bad. Kevin is being shot at through a door and is stuck until he hears other shots. It’s Fox and she has her sites on Judd. Kevin tells everyone to vacate the building because they know bombs were placed, they just don’t know where. Kevin and Fox try to take Judd down together in the shootout Fox is shot in the arm.  Kevin is able to take Judd out with a shot to the head. 

At the ambulance Kevin thanks Fox for having his back. She tells him to go back to work. Kevin finishes up the crime scene. At MED Fox is surprised to see Kevin has come to take her home. She asks if he’s okay; he nods. The unspoken respect and bond between them hangs in the air. Fox asks were any more devices found and he lets her know two more were found in the school. 

Fox jokes about Miami again; Kevin laughs, admitting he never really thought about leaving. She suggests he should. He proposes a drink first. She smiles and says she has a better idea. Kevin and Fox go back to Kevin’s place and they enjoy the evening together. The next morning Kevin wakes up to an empty bed and feels bad, until he sees the post it note saying to come visit her in Miami any time. Kevin smiles and gets up to start the day. 

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