Chicago PD - Justice and She's Got Us - Double Review

Because “Justice” wasn’t really a Chicago PD episode, I’ve combined the review for the Chicago Justice backdoor pilot here with PD’s most recent episode, “She’s Got Us”. If you have no intention of watching Chicago Justice (first, rethink your decision), you’ll want to jump down just a bit for this week’s review!

“Justice”

We got our first look at Chicago Justice, which will join the Chicago family of shows in early 2017. We’re introduced to the Justice team after Burgess shoots a man who first shot Roman.

One night while out on patrol, Burgess and Roman are shot at (Roman is hit) by a seemingly random individual. Burgess chases the guy down and eventually shoots him down. However, for barely a few seconds, the suspect is not in Burgess’ line of vision. And it’s those few seconds that set the entire case in motion. The shooter, an African American man, claims that Burgess shot the wrong man. This of course sparks racial tension and puts Burgess in a precarious situation.

Before we dive into the case and how everything played out, here’s who you’ll need to know from the Chicago Justice team:

ASA Peter Stone (Philip Winchester): If I’m not mistaken, ASA Peter Stone will be the lead on Chicago Justice. How’s he connected to the existing Chicago family? Well, he happens to be the ASA responsible for putting Voight behind bars. He seems like a great lawyer and someone unafraid to push the boundaries and ask the tough questions. He tells it like is very matter-of-factly and is a bit rough around the edges. I love him already.

State’s Attorney Mark Jefferies (Carl Weathers): He’ll be headlining Chicago Justice along with Peter, and it seems the two have a great working relationship. Though stern, he seems to have a level, very rational head on his shoulders and should serve as a great anchor for Peter, who I expect will push limits more than a few times. Mark wasn’t a major character in this episode, but I fully expect him to be when the series premieres.

There’s also lawyers Dawn Harper, Lori Nagle, and Daren Okada, Peter’s team for the case. They weren’t major players in this episode, but unless casting changes occur (as they did for both PD and Med between the backdoor pilots and series premieres), expect to see much more of these three. We might also see more of defense attorney Shambala Green. She was a formidable opponent for Peter in the courtroom, and the two seem to have some sort of working history. She could definitely help stir up the drama for the ASAs.

This was a tough case, and one that had me questioning the truth throughout. You can’t deny racism is still very much an issue, and it was a driving force behind this case. Michael Ellis, the suspect, doesn’t appear to be the shooter, and for a good portion of the episode I believed it wasn’t him. But then certain pieces fall into place, revealing Burgess was correct in identifying Michael as the shooter.

What I’m most looking forward to seeing on Chicago Justice is how they handle the gray areas. Let’s face it, there’s not much in this world that’s black and white. More often than not, it’s shades of gray. Even though Michael was the shooter, his reasons for shooting at Burgess and Roman highlighted police battery years before that led to the death of Michael’s uncle. Sadly, his uncle was beaten by a racist cop.

Even the ending isn’t perfect. Though I felt sympathy for Michael and the tragedy behind his uncle’s death, he attempted to murder two innocent people and deserved to spend life behind bars. But instead, they take a plea deal. It’s an unsettling end, yet somehow, fitting. I love that it wasn’t wrapped up in a neat, little bow. There are still questions, there are issues that weren’t resolved, and there weren’t really winners or losers. It just…was.

Ya’ll, I’m excited about Chicago Justice. Dick Wolf and Co. keep knocking it out of the park!




"She's Got Us"

We’re nearing the end of the season, if you can believe it! In “She’s Got Us”, loose ends from the backdoor pilot for Chicago Justice are tied up, specifically with Roman and Burgess. But before we get into that, the Intelligence Unit had a case to solve.

While on patrol (and no, Halstead still isn’t the one driving), Erin and Jay respond to a shooting in which Polly, the youngest of four kids, is the only member of her family to survive. Polly is obviously key to identifying the shooter, but in her current state, she’s unable to do so. In the meantime, Intelligence begins the investigation. The Carlsons, Polly’s parents, were involved in a pyramid scheme that leads the team to several suspects. In the end, I was surprised the killer was someone we hadn’t seen at all during the episode; he was only revealed right at the end. While I appreciate the misdirect (who else thought it would be Mr. Dougherty, especially when Polly said the man had a beard?), it was a bit of a letdown to not have seen or heard of the killer until the end.

Polly suffered an unbelieveably traumatic experience, so naturally, Chicago Med’s Dr. Charles is there to help. When Polly is ready to talk, she mentions a lakehouse. Dr. Charles doesn’t necessarily think it connects to the case, but when Jay finds that Mr. Carlson managed a property on the lake, they take a trip with Polly (still no luck on the driving front for Halstead). The house brings back memories for Polly, who then remembers the man her dad fought with and positively IDs him from a photo array.

It wasn’t a major part of the episode, but I want to touch on the chemistry of the team. I probably sound like a broken record saying how I wish we saw more of their interactions, not in a work-related capacity. But even on the job, you can see what a family this unit has become. We’ve come a long way in three seasons (can you believe it’s already been three seasons?!). The team has this sixth sense with each other and work like a well-oiled machine.

Elsewhere…

Jay is apartment hunting and he and Erin manage to discuss his options throughout the episode, even during some tense moments (which relieved the tension and was kind of fun). This episode highlighted the strength of their relationship and I loved every second of it. While I’ll admit I don’t like how little of their relationship we see, what the writers do show us is encouraging. With all this apartment talk, might these two move in together soon? Have they said “I love you” to each other? Because we haven’t seen that. But, it seems they are quickly approaching that milestone.

Platt and Burgess visit Roman at rehab, and Platt suggests they go for pancakes to devise a plan to get Burgess and Roman back together as partners. But first, Roman has to have a surgery that has yet to be approved. The medical board denies the surgery, claiming it’s too risky and may not even fix the problem. This leaves Roman with one option: a desk job. To someone like Roman, a desk job isn’t an option. He was born to be on the streets; it’s in his blood.

At the end of the hour, Burgess meets a hyped-up Roman at Molly’s. He wants her to move to San Diego with him and oh, he loves her (“probably”). What?! In what world do we get an “I love you” from Roman to Burgess before Erin and Jay?! Anyway, Roman wants to move so he can try to be a patrolman again, and asks Burgess to think about it.

What did you think of the episode? Will it be smooth sailing for Erin and Jay? Will Roman really leave Chicago, and will Burgess go with him? Share your thoughts below!

About the Author - Meghan Reynolds

A Colorado native, Meghan was born a raised a Denver Broncos fan. Aside from football, she loves television and some might say watches too much of it. Some of her favorite shows of the past and present include Galavant, The Blacklist, The Office, Veronica Mars, The 100, and Gilmore Girls. She reviews Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and Chicago Med for SpoilerTV.