Why Duggy Atwater From NCIS: Hawai'i Looks So Familiar
In keeping with its stable of "NCIS" sister shows, "NCIS: Hawai'i" isn't shy about introducing a bunch of new characters for a single episode if it services the case-of-the-week. Of course, the show also has no qualms about killing these guest stars off as quickly as they arrived (we need stakes, after all). That's exactly why Season 2, Episode 8, titled "Curtain Call," proved to be such a nail-biter. Officer Kenny Wells (Aleks Pevec) and Duggy Atwater are two of the fresh faces that find themselves in danger this time around. Wells doesn't even make it past the episode's first act, leading to a great deal of tension regarding whether the team can protect Duggy from harm.
Thankfully, despite the best efforts of the episode's villain, Duggy makes it through the ordeal fairly unscathed. While that may make audiences breathe a sigh of relief, some might have one issue still gnawing at them at the episode's conclusion: why Duggy looks so darn familiar. While Duggy's actor, Charlie Hudson III, hasn't appeared in a massive amount of properties, he's still amassed a respectable list of credits in some shows that avid TV watchers will no doubt recognize.
Unforgettable (2011)
Charlie Hudson III's first credit on a mainstream TV series came in 2011 with a guest appearance in the CBS series "Unforgettable." The show features Poppy Montgomery as Carrie Wells, an NYPD detective with photographic memory, along with her partner Lieutenant Al Burns (Dylan Walsh). Each episode sees Wells employing her unique memory skills in solving a case. It's perhaps not one of the best crime shows of all time, but it's entertaining stuff nonetheless.
Hudson makes his first and only appearance in the show relatively early on, guest starring in Season 1, Episode 5, titled "With Honor." The episode revolves around Wells and Burns working to investigate the murder of the latter's former partner, Detective Jim Kelly (Malachy Cleary). The pair's search leads them to J-Dog (played by Hudson), a hired gun whose involvement in the case has gotten him way over his head. Realizing that their fellow officers are out for revenge and will likely kill J-Dog in retaliation, Wells and Burns convince the criminal to surrender and go with them quietly so he can testify in court.
Shades of Blue (2016)
Stop us if you've heard this one before: Charlie Hudson III guest stars in a New York-set police procedural as a criminal during its first season. No, we're not just redescribing his credit on "Unforgettable," but rather his appearance on the NBC series "Shades of Blue." This show stars movie actress Jennifer Lopez as Harlee Santos, a NYPD detective, who if you can believe it, solves crimes from episode-to-episode while simultaneously dealing with plenty of juicy personal drama. Go figure.
Hudson appears as part of the cast for Season 1, Episode 4, titled "Who Is It That Can Tell Me Who I Am." The episode sees Santos between a rock and a hard place, attempting to stop a robbery while dealing with the erratic behavior of her fellow officer Michael Loman (Dayo Okeniyi). Hudson plays one of the robbers in the case, a man named Ricky. Of course, he's quickly apprehended by Santos for his role in the crime and pressed for even more information.
The Night Of (2016)
For the third time on this list, Charlie Hudson III has a TV credit that sees him embroiled in a criminal case. Only this time, the leads aren't NYPD detectives with uncanny crime-solving abilities. The credit in question is the 2016 HBO miniseries "The Night Of." The mystery-thriller centers upon Riz Ahmed's Naz Khan, a college student who gets arrested after his date Andrea (Sofia Black-D'Elia) is found murdered. Representing his case and working to find out what really happened on the night of (yes!) of the crime is John Turturro as attorney John Stone.
As will quickly become clear to viewers, there's absolutely no shortage of suspects in "The Night Of." That lengthy list includes Hudson's Duane Reade — yes, like the convenience store. Reade pops up a few times over the course of the miniseries, but most notably during one of the pivotal scenes leading up to Andrea's murder. Reade is one of the last people to see Naz and Andrea together before her death, encountering the pair on the street at night.
The show certainly makes an effort to suggest that there's more to Reade than meets the eye, and a chase sequence with Stone definitely makes him seem extra suspicious. Of course, it would all be a little too obvious if he was the true killer, wouldn't it? The ending of "The Night Of" lays out the pieces of the puzzle and confirms that Reade is little more than a red herring.
The Good Fight (2017)
Charlie Hudson III also joined the cast for "The Good Fight," the 2017 spin-off of "The Good Wife," for a single episode. This sequel series sees Diane Lockhart, Maia Rindell, and Lucca Quinn join forces to work legal cases at the firm Reddick, Boseman, & Kolstad. Hudson appears early on in the series, and wouldn't you know it, his character is once again sitting on the wrong side of the law.
In Season 1, Episode 9, titled "Self Condemned," Hudson portrays Todd Knudsen, a random dude who's been arrested for unlawful possession of heroin. With the firm's team trying to uncover evidence to build a case against a corrupt cop, Knudsen initially appears to have no real relevance to the work at hand. However, the gang later realizes that Knudsen's account of his arrest is actually just the thing they need to bring the brutal officer down. Nice work, Knudsen.
Archive 81 (2022)
The most extensive credit for Charlie Hudson III to date, and likely the role by which most TV viewers will recognize him for, is his part on Netflix's 2022 mystery-horror show "Archive 81." The short-but-sweet series follows Dan Turner (Mamoudou Athie), a young man who unravels a dark and horrifying secret when he's tasked with restoring footage from long-lost documentary tapes.
Early on in the show, the audience learns that Dan's family tragically died in a fire when he was a young boy. However, that's not the last we hear of them...or from them. Dan recovers more of the mysterious tapes, only for them to reveal that his family, particularly his father Steven (played by none other than Hudson), was caught up in some mysterious events via his work as a psychiatrist years prior. It's not longer before Dan uncovers an intriguing connection between Steven and Melody (Dina Shihabi), the creator of the tapes, that recontextualizes a major part of his own past.
Unfortunately, the show was cancelled after one season, so audiences likely won't get a chance to see if Hudson would have reprised the role in an "Archive 81" Season 2.