The Real Reason Elias Koteas Left Chicago PD
Elias Koteas plays detective Alvin Olinsky in just over 100 episodes of "Chicago P.D." This is in addition to a combined eight episodes as the character on "Chicago Justice," "Chicago Fire," and "Chicago Med." Between his debut in the "Chicago P.D." pilot and his departure in Season 5, Episode 22, Alvin is a core member of the show's cast and the One Chicago universe at large. In his final appearance, however, Alvin dies, meaning that the episode's May 2018 air date marks Koteas' definitive exit from the franchise.
After that final episode of "Chicago P.D." Season 5 first aired, TVLine interviewed showrunner Rick Eid about the decision to kill off Alvin. "From a creative perspective, it was a decision that evolved organically," he said, detailing how the series' writers landed on Alvin's death as a byproduct of a key storyline.
"From a business perspective, however, this was an extremely difficult decision," Eid continued. "Elias is a terrific actor and a good person. He's also been an important part of the show since the very beginning. So this part of the process was really challenging. But Elias handled the news like a true professional and remained committed to the show and his character until the final shot. We will miss him dearly."
Koteas' "Chicago P.D." departure, then, was not the result of an interpersonal conflict or even a desire to move on to other work, but the notion that Alvin's death was what was best for the series' story at the time.
The Chicago P.D. writers' room at one point considered Alvin's survival
In his TVLine interview, Rick Eid characterized Alvin Olinsky's death as a plot point the "Chicago P.D." writers' room decided would best serve the character's storyline going into the Season 5 finale. He echoed this sentiment in another interview published around the same time by Entertainment Weekly. That said, during this latter conversation, Eid revealed that Alvin surviving that episode's events was, at least at one point, something the writers' room considered. "I think everything was on the table," he said. "We went through practically every iteration we could think of, and we all just kept coming back to this idea as a really powerful idea. That's ultimately how it all came about."
Furthermore, Eid emphasized that accepting the "Chicago P.D." team's decision to kill off Elias Koteas' character wasn't easy. "Ultimately, the final decision is just really hard because everybody loves Elias, and he's a great actor and a great person. It's hard," he said.
Based on these comments, Alvin's death was something the "Chicago P.D." writers decided made so much sense it was worth overcoming what was otherwise an aversion to writing Koteas off of the show.