Is Mehcad Brooks’ Detective Jalen Shaw Back on Law & Order? (April 10, 2025)
Find out if Det. Shaw was back at work in the "Inherent Bias" episode that debuted on April 10, 2025, after he was missing from two prior episodes.
Law & Order has been missing one major component in recent weeks: beloved detective, Jalen Shaw.
Played by Mehcad Brooks, Shaw was noticeably absent from two back-to-back Season 24 episodes of the criminal justice procedural. But he was sidelined from the action for a very relatable reason.
As his partner, Detective Vincent Riley (Reid Scott), explained in the “Folk Hero" episode, Shaw was forced to put his crime fighting on hold after getting sick.
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"Big guy got hammered,” Riley told their boss, Lieutenant Jessica Brady (Maura Tierney), of the nasty illness that wiped Shaw out and even sent him to the emergency room for a chest scan.
Shaw was still off the roster in the “A Perfect Family" episode of Season 24, leaving Brady and Riley to team up to solve the heartbreaking death of a 12-year-old girl.
But is Shaw finally on the mend? To find out, read on.
Was Mehcad Brooks’ Det. Shaw back on Law & Order’s April 10, 2025 episode?
Law & Order fans can breathe a sigh of relief because their favorite New York City-based crime-solving duo, Shaw and Riley, were back together again in the latest episode of the series, titled “Inherent Bias."
Shaw looked just as fit as he ever was as he chased down a potential suspect with Riley by his side in the polarizing case.
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Det. Shaw's first case back is a complex one
In “Inherent Bias,” Riley and Shaw reunited to investigate the murder of a popular women’s basketball player who was gunned down after a game, but they didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye as the case unfolded and issues of race and bias took center stage.
After eliminating one suspect after another, the two detectives zeroed in on physical therapist Darius Cain (Isaiah Johnson), a former business partner of the victim, Cameron Adler. Darius and Cameron had planned to open a cannabis business together.
Darius, a Black man, was able to secure one of the first business licenses from the city to legally sell cannabis as a reparation of sorts, after being unfairly punished for a marijuana offense in the past. But Cameron decided to forcefully buy out his stake in the business after learning that his criminal rap sheet was more extensive than she thought.
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Investigators believed that Darius retaliated by killing Cameron. When they went to confront Darius, he took off running and threw something into the river before he was apprehended. Riley — who was ahead of Shaw in the foot chase — was convinced he saw Darius toss a gun into the water, but Shaw couldn’t be sure of what was thrown.
As the largely circumstantial case played out, Darius took the stand to insist he threw a hard drive into the water, not a gun, and questions about his guilt began to emerge, especially since neither the basketball arena, nor police, could track down video footage that put him at the scene of the crime.
Detectives Riley and Shaw clash about what they saw the defendant throw
Riley testified that he saw Darius toss what looked like a 9mm gun, which was the same caliber as the murder weapon. Shaw took the stand for the defense to testify that he didn't believe it was a gun that Darius threw into the river, but his testimony was undermined after Riley told prosecutors that Shaw had made a passing comment before the arrest that he hoped Cain wasn’t their guy.
Although Riley believed he was simply explaining on the stand what he saw, Shaw argued that he may have been influenced by knowing that Darius had a prior record. Shaw was also upset that Riley had told prosecutors about his remark about him not wanting Darius to be guilty, feeling betrayed as his partner and friend.
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Shaw told Riley that though each detective testified as to what they believed they saw, the jury would be more likely to "side with" Riley's version of events over his own, since Riley's white and Shaw is Black.
Darius was found guilty and was led away in court while screaming that he was innocent.
While their first case back on the job together was a bit rocky, Shaw and Riley will likely be back on good terms soon enough.
To find out what case the detectives and district attorneys will take on next, watch Law & Order on Thursdays at 8/7c p.m. on NBC or stream episodes on Peacock after they become available the next day.
