Rate Chicago Justice’s reunion on SVU

How would you rate Carl Weathers’ guest spot on SVU? Tell us what you thought of Weathers reuniting with Chicago Justice colleague Philip Winchester.

There was a Chicago Justice reunion in Thursday’s episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, so what did you think of Carl Weathers‘ guest appearance?

Weathers appeared in this week’s SVU installment entitled “Zero Tolerance” reprising his Chicago Justice character, State’s Attorney Mark Jefferies. It’s the first time he’s played the character since Justice was cancelled in 2017.

In “Zero Tolerance,” Jefferies’ former subordinate Peter Stone (Philip Winchester), now working as an Assistant District Attorney in New York, sought his help on a case.

Stone wanted Jefferies to use his political connections, so that a victim of human trafficking and her mother could be reunited and granted asylum in the United States—as they were both in the country illegally.

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Not only did Jefferies lean on his connections to get an asylum order, but he personally went with Lt. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) to hand-deliver the paperwork to officials at the military base where the victim was being detained.

The SVU episode revealed that the circuit judge who signed the asylum paperwork happened to be born in Chicago, and went to the same gym as Jefferies. So when Stone drafted the request, the judge signed off on it.

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It was a smaller role for Carl Weathers than fans may have expected—only two scenes—and didn’t do as much with his character as the series could have.

There was some brief dialogue between Jefferies and Stone about Stone’s move to New York, with Jefferies saying he expected Stone would always work homicides, and Stone admitting that being a sex crimes prosecutor wasn’t what he expected it would be.

But that scene didn’t dig into some of the things fans of both characters have been wanting to know, like what the actual experience of Jefferies and Stone parting company was like, or Stone even asking how his former team was doing.

To be fair, there wasn’t going to be a huge aside on that because this isn’t their show anymore, but even another detail or two would’ve been hugely appreciated by everyone who watched them on Chicago Justice and became invested in their characters.

It also essentially used Jefferies as a deus ex machina, showing up at almost the last minute and saving the day.

One thing that SVU season 20 did very right, though, was its characterization of Mark Jefferies. What he did in “Zero Tolerance” directly contradicts a previous reference to him on Chicago PD.

In that episode, former State’s Investigator Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda) says that his old boss won’t help with a murder case involving illegal immigrants, because he’s “too scared” about the “sensitive issues.”

That line never rang true to One Chicago fans, and it was actually somewhat insulting, so it was fantastic to see Jefferies written here in a way that undid that issue. His SVU role left a lot to be desired, but it did a big thing right.

But what did you think of Carl Weathers coming to Law & Order: SVU? Was it what you wanted it to be? Let us know in the comments.