Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D. and Law & Order SVU Crossover to Catch a Killer Interviews with the Show’s EPs About the 3 Episode Special #Trailers #Interview #ChicagoPD #ChicagoFire #NBCSVU #CrossoverWeek

Before our Interview…

To start the interview – we just had one comment for Matt Olmstead, NBC’s Chicago Fire and Chicago PD Executive Producer – and that was related to the last episode of Chicago Fire where Dawson gets a good bye kiss from Peter Mills… we had no words and Matt just chuckled – wonder how many other fans were shocked at this turn of events? Maybe there’s hope?

Red Carpet Report: And Matt, thanks for that kiss last night. 

Warren Leight: I assume this is a story reference.

Matt Olmstead:  Who knows? 

Red Carpet Report: Yes, it is. 

Warren Leight: Yes, okay. I saw it. It was very good. I liked it – very nice episode last night.

Matt Olmstead: Thank you.

Here’s our Interview…

Question: What did you learn about working together in the last crossover event? And what inspired this story line?

Warren Leight told us… “…I think one of the things we learned is we wanted to make it more of an integrated crossover. You know there’s always the challenge of two separate shows. 

And I think Matt and I both liked the idea of this is – that Wednesday night is a two hour event, even to the point where now we’re starting in Chicago at 9 and going to SVU at 10, but it’s all of a piece.

…we wanted to make sure we had a story that could legitimately sustain over three episodes, and also that made sense geographically so that you didn’t have the crime starting with Chicago Fire, then going to New York at 9 o’clock, then going back to Chicago at 10. That’s a little bit of a hopscotch for a criminal.

So those were things we were thinking of. And then here at SVU we’ve been kicking an idea around for a long time about a serial rapist/murderer who in the mode of a Ted Bundy kind of guy – incredibly charming, incredibly manipulative, able to get away with these crimes for a very, very long time across multiple jurisdictions.”

Matt Olmstead told us… “…Yes. In terms of logistics I think that we both learned from the first one which we felt was successful that it would be good to kind of get in the same room. And so we both – Warren and I – kind of cleared our schedules and I came up to New York. And we sat in the room for two days, which was really beneficial. 

I could give a little more background on certain characters, as could he. And we just had a concentrated two days to really break this. And when I left we really had a handle on it as opposed to, you know, separate coasts and you put a message in a bottle and send it down the river and wait for one to come back. It was a…

Warren Leight told us… “…It’s tricky.

The two shows are written 3000 miles apart. So I really was grateful to Matt for coming to New York because it’s a lot easier in the room. And it does – it’s like I’m here for two days. Let’s do this. It really works I think. And I didn’t have to go there so it was great.”

Question: Is it normal for police precincts in different cities to work together?

Warren Leight told us… “…it will happen more on a Dick Wolf series than it might in real life. But, in truth what often happens is what’s called a joint task force. And it’s increasingly used because criminals do cross borders. 

In the real life story of Ted Bundy it was 15 years into his spree before police chiefs from four different states got together – of different cities in four different states – and realized they were dealing with the same guy. And that’s a long time ago.

Now there’s much more of an effort to profile, and people are entered in national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database and there’s much more of an effort. Since criminals can cross borders, it’s imperative that police departments be able to work together. And it’s never easy for them, you know?

We saw that obviously – you see that on the federal level when they try to put together these terrorism task forces. There’s always inherent problems when people with two different cultures or three different cultures try to work together on a case.

It might be odd that every four months New York and Chicago do a task force. That may be more of a network convention I suppose. But they do get together, and they do have different ways of going about things which we try to write toward actually – we enjoy writing toward.”

Matt Olmstead told us… “…If Beverly Hills Cop taught us nothing else, it’s when personally motivated you can travel and hopefully cooperate with the hometown officers. Yes, so it does happen, and in our case I think it works really well...”

Question: One member of Chicago PD Intelligence is rumored to be lost during the crossover and will impact Erin Lindsay. What can you tell us about that and give us a preview the rest of the season on Chicago PD?

Matt Olmstead told us… “…Yes. It’s very impactful and we’ve established the back story of that character is someone who came from the other side of the tracks. And Voight found her, gave her his card, kind of reclaimed her. She moved in, finished high school with him and his then wife. And she owes this great debt to Voight, but she came from the neighborhood so to speak and has put it all behind her. 

So when this happens, it starts to send her back over to the other side of the tracks, and which is the first time we’ve seen that… she’s from there. She’s comfortable there. And it starts to have a crisis of conscious in terms of do I belong here?

Is it worth it in terms of just kind of distancing yourself from grief and pain? And to be around people that she grew up with who are more than welcome just to let her, you know, throw a few back and just kind of be reabsorbed back into that lifestyle.

…she starts to go down a path of in her mind trying to heal herself, but also just kind of distance herself from the pain that becomes one of our cliff hangers for the season really is the proverbial fork in the road for her in terms of continuing to be a cop or to hang it up and get the party started again.”

Question: The SVU and Chicago PD Intelligence handle cases differently, will there be tension in the upcoming crossover about following procedures?

Matt Olmstead told us… “…Yes, the shows are different in that regard. Chicago PD, the DNA of it really did start from Voight as a dirty cop… so we couldn’t all of a sudden just whitewash that character as…Dudley Do Right.

So it became about trying to reconcile his past with where he wants to go. But also it became about looking into the Chicago and not by having a crew of dirty cops or rogue cops… But there’s a slight wish fulfillment into the Chicago of it all where there’s just certain corners that are cut – certain things that are overlooked in service of justice so to speak.

…it’s a little bit more or less by the book. And so when those – the two shows come together, they sometimes collide.

…there are different philosophies. And one of the things I love about these crossovers is the interaction between Voight and Benson, and from our point of view they’re strangely enough cut from the same cloth in that they want justice more than anything.

…And they respect the other.

They know they can’t game the other. And there’s I think a certain fondness and also a certain protectiveness one for the other, especially Voight towards Benson. I think that it’s reciprocated from her to him. 

…and she knows how to wrangle him because one of the things that comes up in this crossover is the case has a personal connection to her. And she lets it known to Voight that you can’t – do me one favor, you can’t screw this up in case it ever goes to trial. 

…and he accepts that – maybe not normally what he would do, but he accepts that because she’s important to him. The case is important to him. And he will defer as a colleague to her because she has the most hooks into this case. So absolutely something that we play into the different personalities, the different methodologies between the two shows.”

Warren Leight told us… “…I like that moment a lot. And in SVU we have District Attorney Rafael Barba there which is the legal component to an SVU. And CPD doesn’t deal as much with the legal process or the trial process. 

So not only do we have Olivia telling Voight this is – let’s not cut any corners here. Let’s not – this is – we want this guy. Let’s not do anything that could jeopardize it if it goes to trial. But there are a couple of tense moments between DA Barba and Voight as well. It’s just – it’s more of a harness I guess I could say than Voight is used to wearing. And he bristles a bit with it. 

But I think we try to write to the differences in the way both squads deal with criminals. And it’s kind of interesting to us to – not to – the writing expression is we hang a lantern on it as opposed to hiding it. But it’s kind of fun to watch the conflict manifest itself.”

Question: We’ve heard about a particular scene with all three heads of the Department of Fire, PD and Intelligence in one room, what can you tell us about it?

Matt Olmstead told us… “it’s in the Chicago Fire episode. And we see they’re definitely – you’re aware of the fact it’s, you know, three heads of state for each show. It’s special – it’s a special moment.

Warren Leight told us… “I call it the Justice League of America…”

Watch Chicago Fire’s Episode on Tuesday for the start of #CrossoverWeek

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Wednesday Night watch Law and Order SVU at 9 PM for #CrossoverWeek

Law & Order: SVU – Charismatic Killer (Sneak Peek) #CrossoverWeek

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Don’t miss Chicago P.D.’s #CrossoverWeek Episode at 10 PM

Chicago PD – Suspect Interrogation (Sneak Peek) as #CrossoverWeek continues Wednesday

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Photos Courtesy NBC