Chicago Justice Review: Did The New Team Get Justice?

The conclusion to the epic #OneChicago crossover depended on the new sister show Chicago Justice proving its worth and weight. This was not easy to do given the murky circumstances Chicago P.D. set it up for. The fourth show in Dick Wolf’s Chicago franchise makes its mark by tackling a case incredibly personal to everyone within that extended family. New leading man Assistant State’s Attorney Peter Stone and his team must use every available resource to get justice for Alvin Olinsky’s daughter, and must do so against those who seek to manipulate the system to tell their variation of the truth.

Despite what his parents may think about their ‘good son’, Dylan Oates seems to fit the classic profile of a sociopath. I say that not speaking from the perspective of a licensed psychologist, but showing no remorse seems pretty accurate to me. State’s Attorney Jefferies makes many smart points about the case. With so many victims, getting a conviction is more important than ever. It’s too important to rely on anything but the facts. Unfortunately, that scenario won’t be enough. Antonio doesn’t even have to ask Olinsky. He already knows the confession was fabricated. Oates’s high-priced attorney Albert Forrest (The West Wing alum Bradley Whitford) brutally tries to discredit the state’s witnesses, specifically Voight and the one witness who was able to identify Oates before she was blinded. ASA Stone has no choice but to play hardball.

Little by little we’ll learn more about the people who make up the fabric of Chicago Justice. For this case, and especially for the victims, Stone has to put his own reputation on the line to get justice. He has no choice but to put a tabloid blog owner on the stand to try to prove that Oates is a pyromaniac due to childhood sexual abuse. That line of questioning is a personal risk for Stone because Anders threatens to out an affair he had with a married woman. The professional reward is worth it to him. It backfires on him worse than he believed.

Forrest manipulates the situation so that the jury has sympathy for Oates. He calls it “twisting reality” to best serve his client’s needs. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I get the feeling this show is going to be another great conduit into the intricate workings of the law, especially since the state’s attorney’s investigators work differently than the police do. It’s Antonio and his new partner Laura Nagel’s job to find any additional evidence during the investigation. They find the one thing Forrest never wanted them to find: motive.

It all comes back to something Jefferies predicted could sink the ship. People want to know why someone would senselessly kill without remorse. It’s not enough to slap a label on them and have that be enough, there has to be a reason. 39 people dead, and their only crime was being in the same place as the woman Oates blinded because she didn’t like him on Facebook. Cyberstalking is a real thing people. Stone proves to be impressive at his job. He doesn’t get a confession, but gets enough of a combative reaction from Oates for the jury to see the truth. He’s convicted of each individual death while Olinsky looks on. Hopefully this small victory gives Olinsky some peace, and Voight can help him through this one father to another.

Did Chicago Justice make a strong mark? Tune in when the show moves to its regular time, Sundays on NBC.