Easily one of the most successful franchises in television history, Law & Order and its spin-offs have been a massive success for NBC. In fact, another Law & Order spin-off is coming soon, even though it will not be airing on the same network as the franchise's other series. While the franchise's captivating storylines have played a major role in its popularity, there is also no doubt that the talented actors who've starred in one of the Law & Order series have also played a pivotal role. As a result, it is always sad when one of those actors departs.
Before the show's recent return, it was revealed that Mechad Brooks was leaving Law & Order's cast. When a show loses one of its stars between seasons, that always presents the people in charge of the series with an interesting question to answer. How will they handle the character's sudden disappearance? During Law & Order's season 25 premiere, fans learned how the show chose to handle Detective Jalen Shaw leaving.
Detective Jalen Shaw was given a happy ending
Sometimes, when an actor leaves a series between seasons, they still briefly return to provide an on-screen explanation for their character's departure. After it was revealed that Daniel Kyri was leaving Chicago Fire, fans learned that he would appear during that show's 14th season for that reason. However, Law & Order's season 25 premiere made it clear that Mechad Brooks' character, Detective Jalen Shaw, wouldn't be showing up to say goodbye.
During Law & Order's season 25 premiere, Jalen leaving the NYPD's 27th precinct was explained in a very brief exchange between two other characters. First off, Maura Tierney's character, Lieutenant Jessica Brady, stated that Jalen had told her that he'd gotten a job at the NYPD's 88th precinct.
“I just spoke to Shaw. Something opened up over at the 8-8, and he’s going to take it."
Following that statement, Reid Scott's character, Detective Vincent Riley, brought up that Jalen desired to work in Brooklyn and that he got his wish. Then, the character briefly expressed that he would miss Jalen before the conversation about Mechad Brooks' character ended.
“I knew he wanted to get back to Brooklyn. So good for him. I’m going to miss that guy, though.”
There are two reasons why the way Brooks' exit was handled is fascinating. The most notable reason is the fact that the character going to work for another precinct definitely leaves the door open to a possible return in the future. While viewers certainly shouldn't hold their breath while waiting for that to happen, it is always interesting when an option like that remains a possibility.
Secondly, it never feels satisfying to me when a show has a character exit offscreen like that, followed by a brief conversation between other characters that explains what happened. Still, I definitely think that Jalen's exit could have been handled a lot worse than it was. For example, it felt wrong when Titus Makin Jr. left The Rookie, and another actor who was filmed from behind briefly took over his role as his character had his life taken. When Jeff Garlin was fired from The Goldbergs, their choice to use archival footage of the actor made every scene that his character was inserted into feel laughably disjointed. Examples like those are why I think Law & Order could have handled Brooks leaving a lot worse.