Warning: Spoilers ahead for the fall finale of Right Season 22, titled “The System”.
The spotlight turned to Detective Jalen Shaw for the fall finale of Right Season 22, when a man who was wrongfully imprisoned after Shaw made a false confession escaped and fled. A man who was innocent of the crime with which he was accused committed crimes in his escape, e Shaw had to face his worst nightmare which was part of the system that created the problem. Actor Mehcad Brooks talks about how his character would change after “The System” and what Shaw really thinks of Price after what happened between them.
The man who managed to escape was Troy Booker, who had been in prison awaiting trial for more than a year after Shaw accidentally made him believe that a confession was his only chance at freedom. . He was also under the influence of marijuana at the time, which even Shaw was unaware of. The case got more complicated once he was finally brought to trial (and the guard who was shot in the run was killed), and Price finally got a guilty verdict. However, Shaw was clearly wracked with guilt that it could all have been avoided.
When Mehcad Brooks spoke to Gossipify about “The System,” I asked if Shaw’s loss of faith in the system would affect him long-term, and the actor shared:
Yes, I think every black man of a certain age distrusts the system established centuries ago. Shaw’s goal was to disrupt this system and add a different, and perhaps fail-safe perspective for some people seeking respite and relief from this system. And I think he’s kind of become an unwitting gatekeeper to this system: He’s made false confessions, the wrong person is in jail, people get hurt because the wrong person is in jail, and that’s a horrible situation when you do that. . his face. But when you look at it, when it comes to, “Well, why does Shaw do what he does?” it is existential
Shaw joined the team Right with a unique perspective as a man who left his career as a lawyer to join the NYPD and try to improve the system. While he did everything in his power to him from the arrival of him as a substitute for Detective Kevin Bernard by Anthony Anderson “The System” was the first time his hard work really backfired, with the criminal justice system making matters worse instead of giving Booker his day in court before a jury.
Nearly all of the characters were deeply sympathetic to Booker, even in light of the guard’s death, and Price argued that it would have been morally and ethically wrong to bring up the higher charge of murder, even if it were legally justifiable. . AD Jack McCoy (with Sam Waterston makes franchise history in season 22) lobbied for the more serious charge, and after more facts were uncovered and a plea deal was denied, Booker was convicted. Mehcad Brooks explained why this will affect Shaw:
It’s like, ‘Damn, what have I done? I was supposed to be the champion of change, and now I’m the custodian of a system designed to destroy people like Troy Booker or Khalief Browder or any of the thousands who are in prison for something they don’t have. t done. t do or just because they couldn’t pay the deposit. Yes, it will have to influence how he moves in the future. I’ll let the audience decide whether Shaw should have been more careful with a teenager who seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But going forward, that has to be reflected in Shaw’s personal experience and how he can accept a confession and how he can do the rest of his job, of course.
If there was one element of the case that nearly everyone agreed on, it was that the system had failed Booker by keeping him behind bars for 18 months without trial. While no one forced the man to try to flee or fight back with the gun, the whole mess never would have happened if Shaw hadn’t inadvertently taken the false confession and had to wait.
While Price didn’t want to make the harshest accusation against Booker, he argued the case to the best of his ability. Price’s prosecution ultimately resulted in a guilty verdict, which didn’t really help Shaw’s guilt. After Mehcad Brooks confirmed that the case had shaken his faith in the system, he shared whether it had also shaken his confidence in his colleagues:
There’s definitely a mutual respect between him and Price, that’s for sure. I think you understand the criminal justice system as a whole. He understands that. He understands that Price works as part of the district attorney’s office. He understands all of that, but I also think he has a different lived experience than Price, so he has a different perspective on a system they’re enmeshed in than Price ever could and ever will. Price is not tasked with fighting for his dignity against a system that has existed for centuries, and Shaw is tasked with meeting this personal challenge in his own life.
While Shaw may understand Price’s position better than anyone due to his background as an attorney, Price will never be able to understand Shaw’s position as a black detective whose efforts to bring about positive change in the system and keep young people from color of going to prison are not good. t work. the way he wanted. Price may want to put what happened behind him, while Shaw knows those involved can’t. Mehcad Brooks then shared that Shaw respects his other colleagues as well, saying:
To answer the question, I think you respect your colleagues. I think you respect the DA’s office. Of course, he respects his partner. At the same time, he understands that they have a different lived experience and a different perspective than they might have on the system they are fighting to protect and fighting to fix.
“El Sistema” didn’t exactly lead Right to a happy ending by 2022, but it showed Shaw as a character in a way that hadn’t happened yet. While the series has developed the partnership with Cosgrove and found a way to include him in the team as if he’s always been a part of it, the fall finale is the episode that really sheds the most light on what motivates him. .
Find out more for Right when season 22 returns Thursday, January 5 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC at 2023 TV premiere schedule Before Law and order: SVUthe return (after the Goodbye Kelli Giddish as Amanda Rollins ) at 21:00 and Law and order: organized crime (who spent the first half of the third season pushing Bell to his breaking point with Stabler ) at 10 p.m. To check out some previous episodes of the long-form procedural, you can stream the series with a peacock subscription .
Source: Cinemablend
