Spoilers ahead for the seventh episode of Law & Order Season 25, called “Guardian” and available streaming next day with a Peacock subscription.
Law & Order returned for the milestone 25th season back in September of the 2025 TV schedule without a member of the team, as Mehcad Brooks left the NBC drama over the summer as Detective Jalen Shaw. The exit was off-screen and unceremonious, with Brady and Riley moving forward a man down in the squad. With a shortage of detectives, I’ve been waiting ever since the Season 25 premiere for the show to introduce a new partner to replace Shaw, and that wait extended to mid-November. Now, after David Ajala debuted as Detective Theo Walker, I’m actually glad about how long it took.
I admittedly got a kick out of the fact that the episode revealing Shaw’s replacement was titled “Guardian,” since Mehcad Brooks played a superhero by that name on Supergirl. There wasn’t much to laugh about with the case of the week, however, especially for Walker in his first case with homicide after previously working on the drug beat. The action kicked off with the murder of a teen sports star, with a number of potential suspects who had planned to make a lot of money from his athletic ability.
With Riley and Walker teaming up for the first time, the newcomer took the lead in getting information from the lead suspect’s wife, and he provided some much-needed information to Nolan and Maroun in their fight to land Pickett behind bars for the murder. As it turned out, however, Walker misled the ADAs about video evidence, and while it wasn’t a crime, Riley called his new partner out.
Riley, who’d been close with Shaw during their time together, agreed with Walker that the right man had been convicted for the crime, but firmly told his new partner that he wasn’t on board with the “lone wolf” approach. He said:
Either we do this thing together, or you gotta find a different partner.
So, Riley and Shaw didn’t get off to the strongest start, and Brady asked for updates on how well the new guy was fitting in. David Ajala’s character just didn’t get as warm a welcome as Mehcad Brooks’ Shaw when he arrived to replace Anthony Anderson‘s Kevin Bernard, or even Reid Scott’s Riley when he replaced Jeffrey Donovan as Frank Cosgrove.
But that’s part of what really works for me in his first episode as Detective Walker. Not joining the squad right off the bat meant that it didn’t feel like Law & Order was just using him as a replacement for Shaw, and a little conflict with his new colleagues makes me more invested in seeing him as part of the team. The delay to November effectively prevented the sense that the show was just slotting a new actor into a vacancy; “Guardian” introducing Walker feels organic rather than. adding Shaw 2.0 to occupy an empty desk.
Plus, I’ve had time to build up some anticipation for seeing just what kind of detective would be played by David Ajala. The actor is pretty well known for projects in very different genres, with roles in Star Trek: Discovery, Jupiter Ascending, and even Supergirl.
The only bad news is that only one episode is left in Law & Order Season 25 this year, so fans won’t see much of Ajala’s Detective Walker before the drama takes some time off. Following the fall finale next week on November 20 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, Law & Order returns in the 2026 TV schedule on Thursday, January 8.
