David Ajala Teases His ‘Law & Order’ Introduction

A new detective is coming to town.

David Ajala will be making his Law & Order debut in Thursday’s episode.

It was announced in September that the Star Trek: Discovery star would be joining the long-running NBC drama as an NYPD detective. He’s replacing Mehcad Brooks, who departed as Detective Jalen Shaw at the end of Season 24. It was believed that Ajala’s first appearance wouldn’t be coming until halfway through the season, but fans will indeed be meeting Detective Theo Walker on Thursday night when he helps new partner Detective Vincent Riley (Reid Scott) solve the murder of a high school sports star.

Ajala told TV Insider that Theo originally comes from narcotics and is “navigating the world of homicide. I feel like the beginning part of his journey in this show is going to be about how he navigates the differences between the two and how he’s able to use transferable skills from narcotics as, now, a homicide detective. Also, Theo Walker is not a straightforward kind of guy. He lives in the area of gray, but I feel like he uses that to his advantage. It allows him to understand the psyche of human beings, that everything is not binary. It’s many shades of gray.”

As for how Theo’s partnership will go with Riley, Ajala said, “Theo looks at Riley, and I don’t think he judges him, but I think he offers perspective so that Riley can be more impactful with the work that he does. It’s almost like correcting somebody’s style or approach to work that could be quite a sensitive subject, but I don’t think for someone like Theo — he’s like, I’ll give you this information and share my thoughts on this, but you do with it whatever you will. But as I’m empowering you and explaining to you how to read the nuances of characters, hopefully, you’ll get a little insight into the way that I see things, too. It’s teaching without teaching.”

Fans are going to be in for quite an entertaining ride with this new partnership, and there is no telling what will go down. Be sure to tune in to David Ajala’s debut as Detective Theo Walker in the new episode of Law & Order premiering on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, streaming the next day on Peacock.