Chicago Justice
Chicago Justice – Uncertainty Principle (1×02)
Chicago Justice took a shot at the Chicago police in it’s second episode of the season. You could say a story taken straight from the headlines, as many of Dick Wolf’s story lines are.
In an attempt to make us care a bit more, Justice didn’t just target the police, they targeted Intelligence’s Kevin Atwater and even threw a murder charge at him!
Antonio, who jump shipped when he heard a new show was coming to town, was like “oh hell no, not my boy Atwater.” However no one in his new “unit” seemed to care and even told him to simmer it down because he’s not a cop anymore so he can’t go around saying “we go out into those dangerous streets.”
Now Antonio saw it all from a different perspective than Stone did. He’s been there, he’s done it, he’s pushed a little too hard, he’s been in Voight’s cage, he knows what happens. But there’s a difference between being tough and physically MURDERING someone, which is what they were saying Antonio did.
Long story – Antonio offered to bust a man who was selling drugs on the street because he “knew his mom.” He thought nothing of it but when Wilkes booked it, he had to chase him down a few city blocks then tackle him to the ground and throw him into the backseat of his ride. We’re unsure of what happened when Wilkes arrived at the precinct but when the episode started, we see him passed out on a bench, puke all over his sweater.
At first everyone thinks Wilkes was just drunk but when he dies, the neighborhood reverend asks for a thorough investigation of police brutality. After watching some surveillance video, all signs point to Atwater being guilty.
That is until Antonio is finally able to prove that Wilkes was actually never drunk in the first place because if he was, there’s no way he’d be able to outrun Atwater. That leads them back to the prisoner in the next cell that testified who admits that he lied. Stone gets him to confess for hitting Wilkes after he wouldn’t give him a cigarette and the State’s Attorney drops Atwater’s charges. Stone gives a sincere apology on behalf of the city of Chicago and Atwater seems to accept but honestly, I would have been pissed.
If the law doesn’t have your back in this city, who does? It’s okay to get the wrong guy sometimes on the hunt for the right person but to actually try to CONVICT someone and have them agree to a plea deal because of an oversight? That deserves a bit more than an apology… especially if Atwater’s name is now tainted.
In my opinion, it felt like Chicago Justice tried too hard to get justice.
I’ll stick by the idea that if the episode wasn’t anchored to PD, I’m not sure that I would have been so invested in it. At times, I caught my attention slipping away, especially because I knew there was no way that Atwater would be found guilty – he’s to valuable to the show.
However, I encourage the show to continue down a path of tackling real-life stories… stories that some may be too afraid to talk about out loud. That truly is the Chicago, Dick Wolf way.
Then there were three.
After just one season, NBC has pulled the plug on Chicago Justice, the fourth show in Dick Wolf’s Chicago franchise.
Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D, and Chicago Med were all renewed earlier this month.
The news doesn’t come as much of a surprise considering that Justice was the newest and lowest-rated of the shows, however, it was rated higher than Taken and Shades of Blue, both of which have been renewed.
I guess NBC just has certain expectations for Wolf’s shows.
Personally, I enjoy all the Chicago shows, but could not get into Justice.
It lacked the spirit of Chicago and a charismatic cast – even Antonio couldn’t save it.
Which makes me wonder, what happens to his character since he left PD to pursue a role on Justice?
Coffee Table News
‘Chicago Fire,’ ‘Chicago P.D’ and ‘Chicago Med’ Renewed, ‘Chicago Justice’ On the Fence
NBC said yes to Chicago, specifically three major Chicago shows.
Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D and Chicago Med will all be returning for the 2017-18 season.
No decision has been made about the fourth and most recent addition to the franchise, Chicago Justice.
It isn’t surprising considering that out of the shows, Justice seems to have the lowest draw, starting out slow when it premiered in March during a three-show crossover.
Also not yet renewed is Wolf’s Law & Order: SVU, despite being the second-highest-rated drama on the network with over 10 million viewers weekly.
P.D is another top performer while Med’s ratings are solid, even after a move to Thursday night.
If Justice and SVU get the boot, Wolf won’t be too concerned as he’s adding yet another drama this year – Law & Order: True Crime — The Menendez Murders.
Dick Wolf. Unstoppable.
This week’s Chicago Justice dealt with the most common problem on Chicago’s south side, shootings. More specifically, gang rivalries that lead to shootings.
As Stone summarized it, gangs are using social media to initiate bloody wars that are killing the city’s young black men.
It all starts when a man in an army uniform brings a gun to a gun buyback event being led by Dawson and Nagel. Gun buybacks are supposed to be painless and anonymous but when Nagel discovers blood on the gun, they have no choice but to arrest him. At first, he doesn’t want to say where he found the gun but soon admits it was under his nephew Andre’s pillow.
DNA from the gun returns shocking results – the blood belongs to a gang member named Damon Cafferty, who was being attacked by rival gang members when a stray bullet shot and killed Lara. Tragic but unfortunately, all too common in the streets of Chicago.
As luck would have it, Lara is being represented by the cities best; Stone and Valdez.
It’s tragic but unfortunately, all too common in the streets of Chicago, which is why Peter knows he has to do something about it, has to put away the bad guy, even if he has to stall the case with this newly presented evidence. Will it make a difference, Jefferies asks. Stone hopes so.
When the judge agrees to a 72-hour continuance, the defendant is released but becomes a victim of a drive-by from opposing gangs who think he’s a snitch. Thankfully, he’s not critically injured but it’s enough to scare anyone from talking, especially Andre and his nephew. They’re willing to confess to what really happened – Andre hid the gun for his cousin Keo – but they won’t testify in fear of getting silenced.
When Stone realizes all of the gang wars are initiated through socials, he calls for a hearing to block all of their phones. Jefferies disagrees with Stone’s extreme idea, explaining that it technically is racial profiling and a grounds for a lawsuit. But gun violence is also extreme in the city and the judge agrees, if the cell phones are causing the violence, they need to be shut down.
That’s when Stone decides to take a different approach. Without Andre’s testimony, they need to find a way to bring Keo in. He asks to continue Stackhouse’s trail in hopes of getting Keo to inadvertently confess to the crime and surprisingly it works. The 15-year-old proves that the gun belongs to him by removing the jammed magazine compartment without blinking an eye.
Stackhouse is cleared, Antonio gives him a ‘hook up’ card and Keo is arrested. Stone, Jefferies and Valdez are feeling good about their unconventional but justified victory until they get a dark call – Andre’s uncle had been killed, a retaliation by Keo’s people.
Even when someone wants to do the right thing, it ends up hurting them in the end. And the police, no matter how good their intentions, simply cannot save anyone who doesn’t want to be saved.
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