Just like that, the season finale is here Rookie fans, fresh off a cliffhanger reveal that Detective Nick Armstrong is an undercover turncoat.
A deeply conflicted traitor who has made an impression, but sadly one who is smart as he is ruthless.
D*mn the serial killer being right of all things.
Shall we dive in?
Start to Finish Thrill Ride
I do mean that in every sense of the word. It seems Sunday nights are where I — and others I assume — get an hour of sitting on the edge of my seat.
I may hate everything his character is doing, but Harold Perrineau knocked it out of the park during those opening minutes.
You always wonder what things look like from a criminal’s perspective, and for the first time, I got my answer. Holy crap, what a way to open a season finale.
Nolan immediately brought in Harper, who, despite her questions, supported her rookie. That alone is a testament to how far they’ve come this season, and I loved every second of it.
Unfortunately, Harper spent too many years undercover to not accurately predict just how fine-tuned a person’s radar can get. Nolan made my heart drop when he made the dirty cop comment, and sadly it came back to bite him in the worst way.
I was scared to death this entire hour — which says a lot given how many times I’ve talked about how emotional this show can make me. Kudos writers to outdoing yourselves on story twists because I sure didn’t see that ending coming.
Mr. Armstrong, I suggest you enjoy your moment of evil genius triumph while you can. It won’t last when a cop like John Nolan draws breath, and he is a better man than you could ever dream of being.
I know that will bring some hell in the meantime for Nolan, but I have faith he will climb this brick wall — just to be able to knock this b*tch right into jail where he belongs.
Relationship cliffhangers add in some questions
In between the action, the story did slow down just enough to weave in some damn good character moments. Relationship wise, we were thrown in both happy and heartbreaking directions.
No surprise, but Jackson and Lopez’s friendship continues to be the gift that keeps on giving. If we get more of these two next season, it’ll be as satisfying as it was for Jackson when he caught and arrested his friend’s killer.
On the heartbreaking side, John Nolan laid out his heart to Grace on the phone. Ignoring the creepy Rosalind, that’s got to be one of the most romantic and honest speeches I’ve seen on TV in a while.
I don’t care how high the deck is stacked against him now, I believe in the two of them. Plus, whatever is going on personally, there’s no way Grace would ever buy this John is a dirty cop BS.
On the happier end, Tim Bradford continues to prove he is the perfect boyfriend. I still believe in the Chenford slow-burn, but if he wants to try for committing to long-distance — far be it from me to discourage that kind of effort.
In the end, though, all of them — especially the rookies — are about to have everything they know thrown into flux.
If you wanted fans to be salivating all summer to a well deserved Season 3, congrats, you nailed it.
Final Thoughts
Rachel, next time you are in town, I’d love some makeup tips because, between that and her hair, she looked on fire!
As excited as I am to see Nick Armstrong — who definitely survived — as the evil genius who does not hold back, it’ll be even more satisfying to see him get taken down.
The friendships between Jackson and Lopez, and Harper and Nolan were the shining character moments in an otherwise blink-and-you-miss-it action-packed hour.
Last, but certainly not least, is that no matter where you were sitting, this season ended with a bang, and I cannot wait to see what happens next. To sum up, ABC – PLEASE RENEW THIS SHOW!
The Rookie airs on Sundays at 10/9c on ABC