If there’s one thing that I never fail to love about this show, it’s the freaking deadpan and hilarious cold openings. It’s a smile I appreciate after we get into where we left off on last week’s hour.
“Sabotage” sinks its teeth into our ongoing conflict right off the bat, so why don’t we get into it?
Limits are there for a reason
I wish I could say limits were not crossed over tonight, but sadly I think it was a hard-won lesson for some of our rookies. Nolan on the personal side had to confront his mom’s behavior and the way it spills over into every aspect of his life.
She steamrolls staying at his house, blows money on “CBD” that she then scams on to his boss’s wife. Who, incidentally is an awesome, smart, and level-headed lady who gives Nolan advice I think he really needed to hear.
After Nolan and Grey team up to confront the actual criminals who sold the snake oil, and like the true bada**es they are, take them down promptly. They may be seasoned, but don’t ever doubt their capability.
On the deeply personal side, Angela finds out the reason her hubby to be is micromanaging is due to a genetic predisposition to fragile x syndrome. He may have been toeing the line on what he was telling her, but once the truth was out in this case I get why.
It’s scary as hell, and while I fully believe she and Wesley can handle anything I wished I could have hugged them both through the screen.
The truth is not always a straight line
On the professional and personal side, Jackson agreed to note everything his T.O. does with Grey’s supervision. I admit I loved there was an honest effort to properly discipline Stanton, but things have a tendency to never go the way you plan.
Bradford, and Chen were brought in as backup which was brilliant in many ways, but Lucy calling out how he treated her on their first ride together was something I didn’t know I needed. One bottom line difference is Tim Bradford admitted he was upset with himself, and would work to change his behavior in the future.
He made mistakes, no doubt, but he’s willing to learn and listen to his rookie. I wish that was the case for every training officer.
The ongoing story with calling out behavior like Stanton’s has been a phenomenal way to showcase conflict that could easily happen in real life. The reality of how difficult it can be to root out attitudes like that, unfortunately, hit hard this week.
Jackson’s internal struggle at Stanton’s behavior toward citizens broke my heart, especially as he made it clear he held himself responsible for keeping him out in the field. Stanton’s choices are not on him, but karma fell short this week in an enraging way.
After failing to follow orders, Stanton’s former rookie screwed Jackson over by slipping that Chen and Bradford asked about him. Citizen’s don’t matter when it comes to the system never changing, and he deserved to get his due.
Every single word rang hollow of excuses, and it made my blood boil. I don’t know how this story is going to go from now on, but if I had to bet, I’d go with Jackson, Chen, Nolan, Bradford & Grey every single time.
Final Thoughts
- Nolan firmly kicking his mom out was a cathartic choice. It may be true that she stayed in the past, but what she told him was complete crap. He isn’t abandoning her, but he did what needed to protect himself.
- Angela and Harper bonding over being pregnant cops is another scene I never knew I needed. If the Rookie wants to keep surprising me with scenes like this please keep it coming.
- I really hope we get to see Harper go on a date with the cute dad who got their daughters into the music program. Nolan noticing his T.O. giggling was the cherry on top.
- If I had to pick someone to take advice from I’d pick Luna Grey right off. That woman is a powerhouse, and her hubby knows it.
- The slimy jerk knows full well what went down, and decided to report Jackson. I don’t give a crap what Stanton tries, I know Jackson will get through this because he’s a d*mn good cop and he’s not alone.
The Rookie airs on Sundays at 10/9c on ABC.