Spoilers are forward for Episode 18 of Regulation & Order Season 24, referred to as “Inherent Bias” and obtainable streaming subsequent day with a Peacock subscription.
After Detective Jalen Shaw was lacking from the previous two episodes of Regulation & Order Season 24 within the 2025 TV schedule, “Inherent Bias” introduced him again with an enormous half to play. Regardless of their shut bond as companions, Shaw and Detective Vince Riley had totally different takes on what they thought they noticed whereas chasing a suspect. That was actually par for the course for this period of the present and raised the chance of one other unsatisfying ending. Notably, the sufferer of the week was a star basketball participant and an honest a part of the primary half of the episode concerned the world of basketball.
That was sufficient to remind me of when Mehcad Brooks guest-starred on Regulation & Order: SVU virtually a decade and a half in the past as an athlete within the sport. First issues first, although!
Shaw’s Function In “Inherent Bias”
Jalen bided his time throughout “Inherent Bias” when it got here to brazenly contradicting Riley’s declare that he’d seen the accused assassin – a Black man named Darius Cain, whose document was getting used in opposition to him throughout the trial – tossing a gun into the river. In equity, Shaw couldn’t say with certainty if the merchandise was truly a gun, however he additionally clearly wasn’t as offered as Riley from the bounce that it had been a firearm, and he believed Darius when he claimed that he’d tossed a tough drive and never a gun.
Throw in a witness testifying about know-how recurrently misidentifying individuals of colour, and viewers noticed the aspect of Shaw that – to cite Mehcad Brooks – processes ”his personal racial trauma.” In actual fact, Brooks beforehand informed CinemBlend about Shaw wanting to vary the system that “punishes Black Individuals extra harshly than non-Black counterparts.” Is it any marvel that Shaw didn’t wish to be hasty in judging Darius when he was already on the mercy of an unfair system with solely circumstantial proof?
Maroun supplied some assist for Shaw’s argument concerning the onerous drive, whereas Value was assured that Darius was responsible. Riley didn’t take it nicely when Shaw broke down the ways in which he might need been biased into mistaking a tough drive for a gun. The 2 detectives delivered opposing testimony, with Nolan counting on Riley’s take whereas the protection showcased what Shaw mentioned.
All in all, I used to be glad to have Mehcad Brooks again for this episode. It simply wouldn’t have hit the identical if Riley was paired with Jesse Metcalfe’s Sergeant Danny DeLuca once more, and I missed having Shaw round after a pair episodes with out him. Plus, as a lot because it was onerous to observe Hugh Dancy’s Value taking some pictures at Shaw on the stand, the 2 actors killed it.
Mehcad Brooks’ Episode Of Regulation & Order: SVU
I’ll be the primary to confess that the parallels between Shaw in “Inherent Bias” and Mehcad Brooks’ episode of Regulation & Order: SVU don’t actually prolong past each episodes beginning with a “DUN DUN” and each that includes the Supergirl alum. Nonetheless, as quickly as I noticed that Shaw was again and the homicide sufferer this week was a basketball celebrity, I couldn’t assist however flash again to Brooks’ Regulation & Order franchise function from earlier than he landed the a part of Jalen Shaw.
He first appeared within the second episode of Regulation & Order: SVU Season 13, which was truly solely the second after Christopher Meloni left the sequence as Detective Stabler and the primary that includes Danny Pino as Detective Amaro. Known as “Private Fouls,” Mehcad Brooks guest-starred as star basketball participant Prince, who struggled to come back to phrases with abuse he’d endured as a baby by the hands of his coach.
Prince was lastly motivated to come back ahead about his abuse when he noticed that one other younger man was at risk of being abused by the trusted coach, overcoming his personal emotions of disgrace to encourage others to do the identical. The episode is out there streaming on Peacock now, and value testing even for those who simply wish to see how totally different Brooks’ efficiency as Shaw is in comparison with his efficiency as Prince again in 2011.
It stays to be seen how a lot Mehcad Brooks might be featured within the upcoming Regulation & Order crossover with Regulation & Order: SVU. Primarily based on the preview for the two-parter, followers can not less than depend on seeing SVU’s Mariska Hargitay crossing over for a brutal homicide that ties again to a Particular Victims case from years in the past. Tune in to NBC on Thursday, April 17 at 8 p.m. ET for Regulation & Order to kick off the crossover earlier than it continues at 9 p.m. ET with SVU.
A mini crossover is within the works elsewhere within the franchise as nicely, with Mariska Hargitay slated to seem as a visitor star early in Regulation & Order: Organized Crime Season 5. All three reveals are at present streaming on Peacock.