Where Is Mehcad Brooks’ Detective Shaw on Law & Order and When Does He Return?
Find out why Det. Jalen Shaw was missing in action on Law & Order's April 3, 2025 episode, and when he'll reunite with his partner in crime fighting, Det. Vincent Riley.
Law & Order was down one of its familiar crime fighters once again.
As police hit the streets in the April 3, 2025 episode, titled “A Perfect Family,” to track down the killer of a 12-year-old girl, Det. Jalen Shaw, played by Mehcad Brooks, was noticeably missing from the action for the second episode in a row, leaving fans wondering where the dutiful detective could be.
Shaw was also missing from the prior episode, “Folk Hero," which saw his partner Det. Vincent Riley (Reid Scott) and Sgt. Danny DeLuca, played by guest star Jesse Metcalfe, chase down a man who killed an insurance executive.
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With Shaw MIA in "A Perfect Family" as well, the crime solving was left to Riley and their boss, Lieutenant Jessica Brady (Maura Tierney).
To find out more about why Shaw had to sit this one out and when the detective will be back at the 27th Precinct, read on.
Where was Mehcad Brooks’ Detective Shaw on Law & Order’s April 3, 2025 episode?
Shaw has been battling something that's kept him sidelined for a couple of big cases on Season 24 of Law & Order.
The investigator has been fighting a nasty illness that has him wiped out.
“Jalen’s still sick, it’s just me and you,” Lt. Brady told Riley as they stood over the body of 12-year-old Emily in the “A Perfect Family” episode, just after they each arrived separately at the heartbreaking scene.
It wasn’t the first time Shaw’s illness has been referenced recently. His absence was first explained in Season 24’s “Folk Hero,” which debuted March 20, 2025, as Brady and Riley were driving from a work meeting.
"Do we really believe Jalen’s sick or did he just want to miss the longest CompStat meeting in history?” Brady asked.
“No, he’s really sick,” Riley replied. “Big guy got hammered.”
The exact nature of Shaw's illness hasn’t been revealed, but Riley explained in the "Folk Hero" episode that his partner had to wait in the ER for hours to get a “chest scan.”
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When will Mehcad Brooks’ Det. Shaw return to Law & Order?
The good news is that whatever kept Shaw down won’t be a factor much longer. He’ll be back on the next new episode of Law & Order, "Inherent Bias," airing April 10, 2025.
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It will likely be welcome news for Riley, as the detectives enjoy an easy working relationship and often rib one another when they’re not chasing down criminals through the streets of New York.
It’s a dynamic that’s replicated in real-life for the actors who play the relentless investigators.
“Reid is my brother from another mother, like we were long lost brothers split up at birth," Brooks told CinemaBlend in October 2024 of their enviable working relationship. "I don't know what happened, but I've never gotten along so well with somebody so fast, and he says the same thing,”
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Brooks added that the pair have a “great time” when they’re together.
“We have the same sense of humor, both really sarcastic and sardonic," Brooks continued. "We have a lot of similar interests. We’re both Scorpios. We just get along as human beings, and we both work really hard at our jobs.”
To find out what case will reunite the partners, watch Law & Order on Thursdays at 8/7c p.m. on NBC or stream episodes on Peacock when they become available the next day.
