Chicago PD spoilers to follow.
Chicago PD originally had a very different ending planned for season seven, showrunner Rick Eid has revealed.
During an in-depth breakdown of the outing's 20th episode with TVLine, the executive producer opened up about how the ongoing coronavirus pandemic — and the subsequent production halts it has caused — affected how they were going to wrap up the storyline.
"We had an exciting season finale that will probably get pushed to episode 4 or 5 of next season," he explained, making sure to keep as schtum as possible. "I can't really talk specifically about the episode, other than to say someone we know is murdered."
Related: Chicago Fire star Monica Raymund opens up on whether she would ever return to the show
That's not to say the episode that wound up being the unexpected finale didn't have its fair share of shocking moments, mind.
Primarily, it centred on Kevin Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins) reluctantly agreeing to go undercover with Tom Doyle (guest star Mickey O'Sullivan), despite him being the racist cop who pointed a gun at his head last season.
During their mission, Doyle controversially assumed that a black man he spotted was up to no good, and followed him, only to discover that he was just delivering some trainers to his cousin's house.
But things escalated when Doyle noticed drugs in the warehouse the man returned to, crept inside and pulled out his gun. Unfortunately for him, the man got a shot in first and Doyle eventually died due to his injuries.
Following his death, Atwater decided to tell the truth about Doyle having no justifiable right to have pursued the man who wound up killing him to his superiors and later, returned home to find a bunch of Doyle's supporters camped out in police cars.
Chicago PD airs on NBC in the US, and on Universal, 5USA and Sky Witness in the UK. The season 7 finale was broadcast on the latter network on Friday May 15.
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