‘Accused’ Stars Nick Cannon & Patrick J. Adams on Their Complicated Onscreen Friendship

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Accused Season 2, Episode 3, “Marcus’ Story.”]

Accused took on A.I. in its latest episode, “Marcus’ Story,” in which two friends are pitted against each other as they examine the risks and rewards of such technology.

The Masked Singer host Nick Cannon and Suits favorite Patrick J. Adams teamed up to play friends and colleagues Marcus and Pete, who are on the verge of selling their A.I. program when an issue in the system is raised, and someone uses this to blackmail the duo into cutting a third party into their forthcoming windfall.

Ultimately, when Marcus learns that Pete covered up a problem with the program, which exhibited problems in identifying the faces of Black and other persons of color, the duo has a falling out. But their rift isn’t just about the bug as a Black man is wrongfully killed by the police after he’s misidentified by their program. Marcus doesn’t want to go forward with the sale without being transparent despite Pete’s claims the problem is fixed. As tensions flare around this issue, including mixed feelings about Pete’s perception of programming and racial identification, the friends get into a physical rift as they fight over paying their blackmailer.

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The altercation leads Marcus to shove Pete who accidentally falls over the railing of the staircase well they were talking in. The fall kills Pete, and therefore Marcus stands trial. Ultimately, Marcus was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter, but the failed program and Pete’s death weighed on him in the final moments of the episode.

Regarding the role, Cannon tells TV Insider, “I got to experience every emotion in an hour. You see elation, you see joy, you see pain, you see sorrow, you see regret, you see anxiety, you see fear,” he adds. “So to take a journey with a character like that in one sitting was pretty outstanding.”

Cannon is more often seen in a comedic light, and for Adams, who teamed up with the actor, he says, “It was just so easy and great to work with him. He’s a pro, he’s been doing it forever and it’s fun to work with people when you’re like, ‘Hey, I have no idea who you are. We’ve never met. Let’s get into it,'” Adams notes. The feeling was mutual for Cannon who reveals, “I enjoyed being able to bounce off of him. And our chemistry was real. I think we are two men in a similar space in life and we just embody those characters in an authentic way.”

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Even though Adams’ Pete was the victim in this case, Adams says, “This isn’t about evil people doing evil things. This episode isn’t about people with bad intentions. This isn’t about premeditation. This is about [a] moment gone wrong.”

In terms of shedding his more comedic shell, Cannon shares, “It was a great challenge to disappear into a character that people don’t recognize.” And the same could be said for Adams whose character Pete was a bit of a departure from his nice-guy characters.

“Pete’s just different than me,” Adams says. “I overthink everything. I’m much more of a Marcus in my life. I belabor everything, want to make sure everybody likes me and that I do the right thing and I [want to] make a good impression to a fault. It can be sort of overbearing and take over my life. And so it’s very freeing to play a character that’s like, ‘I just don’t care.'”

As for the subject of A.I. which has been a hot-button topic in recent years, Cannon admits that it was part of the draw for him. “Technology is making a lot of decisions for us now, but they’re not making it in a way that a human would make these decisions. It questions a lot. I’m glad to be a part of an episode that is so relevant and will make people think.”

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“This is just one consequence of something that’s going to come to define all of our lives and our children’s lives moving forward,” Adams says of A.I.’s role in this episode. “So I think any story that incorporates it in a way that feels realistic and grounded and you get to see the way it affects characters in real time is so important.” Admittedly a “fan of tech,” Adams shares, “I also spend a fair amount of time listening to people who are a lot smarter than myself talk about it, and A.I. is something completely different. It’s a revolution, the likes of which we haven’t really seen since the internet.”

This episode of Accused shines a light on the potential dangers of such a high-speed technological revolution that will surely keep fans thinking long after the credits. What did you think of the episode? Let us know in the comments section, below, and stay tuned for more on Accused as Season 2 unfolds.

Accused, Tuesdays, 9/8c, Fox