Law and Order SVU season 19, episode 18 preview: Service

Law and Order SVU has a Chicago Justice connection this week. Look ahead to tonight’s episode with our Law and Order SVU season 19, episode 18 preview.

If you’re a Chicago Justice fan, you’ll enjoy this week’s Law & Order: SVU episode.

Tuesday’s episode is called “Service” and it’s a thorny episode, as the SVU team runs into the military when an Army officer is accused of sexual assault.

But the draw for One Chicago fans is that Peter Stone will be facing off against one of his old adversaries from Chicago Justice.

Christopher Wiehl (Playmakers) reprises his role as defense attorney James Olson, who was last seen in the Justice episode “Friendly Fire.”

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That episode, of course, also had to do with Peter Stone running afoul of the military—so you can see why it makes perfect sense to bring back Wiehl’s character.

The question is how much SVU season 19 will use that connection, since this is a different franchise even if they exist in the same universe and we’re working with limited screen time.

Will “Service” make any reference to the events of “Friendly Fire”? Will it explain why Olson is not just the defense attorney of the week? Could we enjoy some of Wiehl and Philip Winchester going at each other’s throats?

Since Peter Stone is more of a supporting character here than the lead as he was on Chicago Justice, the episode probably won’t devote a ton of time to this angle—but the fact that Michael Chernuchin and Co. even had the idea to connect the two episodes through the Olson character is pretty neat.

But there’s more to watch for in Wednesday’s Law & Order: SVU episode than just the callback to Chicago Justice. “Service” will be an interesting episode to watch unfold, because fans may recall that Detective Odafin “Fin” Tutuola was an Army Ranger.

That will make this a case a bit close to home for him, and that should mean more screen time for Ice-T. And do you think anyone wants to end up on the wrong side of Ice-T? Definitely not. How Fin approaches this case and how much he gets to do in it will also be worth keeping tabs on.

Plus, this is an area where the Law & Order franchise has excelled before. Back in the third season of the original show was an episode called “Conduct Unbecoming,” which dealt with misconduct by a Naval officer.

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Do you know who wrote the teleplay for that episode? It was Michael Chernuchin, alongside Rene Balcer. Under Chernuchin’s watch, this should be an installment that treats the military with due respect, while also not flinching away from the realities of someone committing a crime, whatever they may do for a living. Make sure you’re tuned in tonight.

Next: How Law & Order: SVU evolved Peter Stone

What do you think will happen in tonight’s Law & Order: SVU episode? Leave your predictions for “Service” in the comments and then tune in to NBC to watch the full episode.

Law & Order: SVU airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on NBC.

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