God, I missed how unpredictable this show is. Seriously, a cold opening of relationship awkwardness, jumping into a data trip with a guy named Elvis, and a prison riot?
Welcome back from a two-week break that lasted way too long. The Rookie didn’t waste a second going into this hour and frankly made for another hour glued to the edge of your seat.
Why don’t we dive into it?
Honesty is a difficult policy
That is a hundred percent the truth. Okay, cheesy humor aside, I didn’t envy Nolan or Bradford when they both came across relationship stumbling blocks tonight.
John had to bite his tongue when he met Grace’s soon to be ex, and Tim found out Rachel might be moving to New York City. Real-life quickly took precedence, but damn if I didn’t love every second of navigating relationships that felt all too real. Well … almost every second.
On the happier side, Tim Bradford might have a gruff exterior, but his heart of gold shined through.
Steadfastly doing what he could to help Rachel with her case was one of the sweetest things ever, and further intensified my fictional character crush.
I won’t try to predict what’s going to happen with Rachel’s job, because frankly, it’s this show. However, I have faith in the writers to do justice to these characters.
On the heart-wrenching side was a breakup I was afraid would happen the second that Simon (ugh) showed up.
Doing the right thing sometimes means putting others first, even when its one of the hardest choices ever. I hated Grace chose to leave her relationship with Nolan, where she was happy, but she put her son first.
That’s one of the most relatable choices in the world.
I don’t believe for a second this is a permanent end for these two, but if it’s a slow-burn that we are in for, I’m here for the ride. Because let’s face it, love is always worth the wait.
Yes, I’m super cheesy, you can blame the quarantine induced time to read a lot of romance right now.
Every moment is teachable
Literally, every single moment as a police officer certainly is. Relationship drama aside, the heart-stopping pace of the prison riot & active shooter was another stark reminder of how difficult and dangerous being a police officer is.
On television no less, God knows how that’s dialed up that is in real life. If I had to bet on any show coming close, though, it would be The Rookie. It was flat out terrifying when the inmates surrounded Nolan and Harper.
The nail biter scene of West and Lopez running into danger with an active shooter on the loose was equally nerve-wracking. Data science and predictability can help with a lot in our world, but people will never be included in that.
It was hard to see this confident data genius get a crash course in that reality. That’s after I literally laughed at him for being named Elvis by his dad’s.
The rookie of the night, though, easily goes to John Nolan. Despite getting people scoffing him at every turn for his faith in people, in the end, it proved to be the thing that saved him and Harper from getting overtaken by a rioting prison mob.
That, and smooth-talking a selfish criminal into helping them rescue a prison warden. You take help where you can get it when lives are at stake.
Jokes aside, it may be one of the hardest choices to stick to when we put faith in people, but sometimes it really comes through. It’s a nice reminder to have when cynicism is one of the reigning emotions in the world today.
Final Thoughts
As a Rachel fan, I am sad to see her potentially leave L.A. even for her dream job. As a Chenford fan, I admit part of me squealed, and yes, it is possible to like Rachel and ship them at the same time.
That’s what good character writing does.
Thank God the data guy got the wrong Lopez. I was seriously mystified by this “flawless” system flagging her, but my girl proved to be a badass in under fifteen minutes.
I sincerely wish it was only fictional for parents to think a name like Elvis is a good idea in this day and age.
Sometimes it’s the little things, like Sergeant Gray calling Tim Bradford of all people boot, haha.
For the record, no, I am not worried for a second that he’ll move to New York, but it does make me very curious.
Mostly to see how it plays out, I have no shame in shipping. Point is if Bradford couldn’t go for his dream sergeant job in the same city, I sincerely doubt he’ll be able to leave Lucy for NYC.
The Rookie airs on Sundays at 10/9c on ABC.