The Rookie Episode 2
The Rookie’s second episode started off with a police chase and impressively continued to rev up to its conclusion.
Do we need to review high-speed pursuit protocol?
To remind us this is inherently a drama about the LAPD, the opening scene spun off with a high pursuit chase led by John Nolan (Nathan Fillion, Castle).
Talia Bishop (Afton Williamson) rode shotgun and criticized every move John did (or didn’t do) as they chase a red Jeep to a location unknown. John missed opportunities to execute a PIT maneuver. John quoted police regulations back. Classic rookie behavior and the amusing banter between John and Talia almost made me forget this was a typical opening for any cop show.
And then the bride stepped out of the Jeep.
As John had said: “Seriously?”
My life is a country song.
The pilot presented us with the usual elements, only to flip it around and made it anything but the ordinary. I’m happy to report the second episode was no different.
The ubiquitous high-speed police chase ended with a sympathetic talk between John and the would-be jumper bride. John shared a downturn in his life, a lottery ticket and a touching moment when John turned the story to one of hope for the bride. It was heartfelt—insert warm fuzzies here—the bride reached for John’s hand…
…and promptly tipped over to dangle over the Hollywood sign, John clutching her fluffy white wedding train to keep her from plummeting down the hills below.
Thus the second episode began: adjacent to the ordinary. Just when you least expect it, someone or something surprised us to remind us The Rookie isn’t just your average cop drama.
That is painfully romantic.
Bishop warned Lucy (Melissa O’Neil), to end things with John. However, it appeared things between them stayed the same: furtive yet sweet. However, both John and Lucy separately seemed to realize this shouldn’t continue, yet they avoided discussing it.
I’m not a fan of the invented drama of romance in the workplace. So far, other than a few domestic scenes, the characters seemed determined to keep it out of the workplace.
But as we know with 99.99% of the shows out there, it never stays that way for long. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the fallout will not ruin the dynamics among the cast.
Checkout time, Officer.
Despite what the show’s title implies, it’s nice we’re starting to get a glimpse of the TOs as well.
The trio of training officers shared a good-natured moment when Bishop and Lopez came to pick up Tim. Bishop, Bradford and Lopez weren’t given much screen time except for whenever they’re with their rookies. This is a different side to the rigid façade they presented their rookies. It’s one I hope we get to see more often to flesh out these three characters and see they’re far more than career driven and brash talking officers.
Honeymoon’s over.
And then, we have Sergeant Grey (Richard T. Jones, Hawaii five-O) . The watch commander, still unimpressed with John, hassled and nitpick every possible mistake. To John’s credit, he responded with a balance of wry humor, long-suffering patience, but never with insubordination.
It’s good to see Grey wasn’t written as the stereotypical bully commanding officer. He’s upfront with his legitimate concerns about John; the uniform and the safety of the officers under his watch are always his priority. When Bishop challenged West for the ‘friendly fire’ she endured as John’s TO, Grey pointed out she was being tested as well. Inadvertently (or was it on purpose?), this may have pushed Bishop and John closer in camaraderie.
3, 5, 21
The joke throughout this episode was the fact John and patrol cars didn’t mix. To the point, in fact, the motor pool had enough and gave John and Talia an antique patrol car after John wrecked the other one.
As running gags go, it was cute and balanced nicely against the darker turn of events when they ran into—literally—a kidnap victim. Christine escaped but left another behind. And from that point on, the episode lost a bit of the laughter as the officers tried to find where the woman escaped from.
This episode was about reality checks on both sides of the coin. John’s expectations of one big brotherhood were somewhat shattered when he found himself up against an “us versus them” attitude with the detectives within the station.
I just hope protecting you doesn’t get me killed.
Lopez, still fuming over Jackson’s (Titus Makin) freezing up at the shootout, took all the high-risk calls to test her rookie’s ability. Was it hazing? Was it Lopez’s way to punish Jackson? As for Jackson, that shiny enthusiasm he displayed in the pilot dulled as his confidence took a hit.
Rock stars don’t pack-mule the gear.
Chen, with Bradford on medical leave, received a new TO, Officer Scott Wrigley. Her moment of relief turned into dismay when she realized Wrigley was the complete opposite of Bradford. Wrigley was a cheerful officer happier to write tickets and keeping his gun in his holster.
Way to go, Mad Max.
John’s frustrations about how he couldn’t do more searching for Emma was telling of John’s personality. It also echoed the unspoken division between the departments.
John also had moments of self-doubt: Grey and Bishop constantly told him he needed to change his “old life” way of thinking.
Are you gonna be a cop in that moment, or are you gonna be a guy who’s in over his head?
Nathan Fillion’s character was primed for change. In fact, all three rookies were set up to evolve into the kind of police officer their TOs said they needed to be.
Time and time again, Bishop and Grey warned John he needed to change his ‘old life’ ways, move past decades of instinct honed from his experiences if he was to succeed. Lucy thought she wanted to abide by the book, follow the path to her career. Lopez kept telling Jackson she needed a more reliable partner.
At the end of the day (episode) though, everyone learned something about each other, taking that one step closer and slowly accepting who they are.
John was a good guy and stayed as such despite Bishop chiding him he needed to stop finding “reason behind the tragedy.” He reacted like the viewers did when he discovered the junkie stabbed the boy. And yet he was berated for it. When he caught up with the serial killer with a tackle and a punch, Captain Andersen reminded John “as a civilian, you can be driven by emotion, but as a cop, you rise above it.”
Deep down, a part of you liked it.
Lucy realized that despite how much Bradford grated her, he was the better TO for her. She knew the cop she wanted to be in the pilot. She wavered when she got Wrigley as her TO. But instead of following Wrigley’s lead, she opted to jump in when they got the call about Bishop and John. It turned out to be yet another test by Bradford; Lucy passed and realized Bradford may be a pain in her ass, but he was the TO she needed to become a good cop.
Good job, Officer West.
Jackson was shaken by his reaction during the shootout. He was around guns all his life, but he was not as prepared as he thought he was even though he insisted he was still “Officer Extra Credit” from the academy.
Lopez saw Jackson as the VIP rookie, but one who could get in her way to becoming a detective. I thought her methods were extreme: they took on a PCP addict and a tough warrant call to test Jackson’s nettle. When she saw how Jackson took the Aryan fugitive down, she begrudgingly admitted Jackson did a good job. There was still a long way to go, but Lopez appeared finally willing to meet Jackson halfway.
A present for your maturity.
Grey, determined to see John fail, couldn’t deny John has his heart in the right place, though. He approved how John looked out for Christine. Grey told John he did a good job and the show flipped it to a humorous moment (John first checked behind him in case Grey was talking to someone else) to avoid it from getting too cliché.
And Bishop, acknowledging the same, shared filling out the paperwork. And later, she bribed the motor pool to get them a new shop. Too bad it looked like John’s poor affinity for cars took one more victim when the episode faded to black.
So far, so good…
Ultimately, everyone around John started to change, recognizing something the captain and Lucy saw in John. While John course-corrected his thinking along the way, he generally remained the same modest, decent guy we met in the pilot.
John proved that by being himself, he can still get the bad guys and save Emma. When we see John waiting by Christine’s bedside to tell her Emma was safe, it was a surprise, a great payoff and reassuring to know John was still mostly the decent guy from PA.
The Rookie managed to stay unique in a sea of tropes. In the pilot, I felt the abrupt switch to John’s body cam was jarring. Getting used to it, I came to appreciate this different perspective of John and the show’s creative way to acknowledge what our uniformed has to go through.
Speeding right along…
The show kept the cases short as it jumped to each rookie, highlighting the controlled chaos in the police’s daily routine. Sometimes they’re comical (big giant PCP addled perp coaxed to compliance with the promise of water). Sometimes they’re not; the realization the junkie stabbed a boy was a sobering end to what we first thought was going to be a quirky side story.
With the cases this short, the episode sped along nicely, even when the kidnapping case took over the latter half of the hour. However, I felt the show short-changed the character development in exchange. Sure, the cases were fun and exciting to watch, but the scenes revealing the characters’ progress were anemic.
Maybe the show will continue to sprinkle the season with more bits about our rookies and their TOs. I certainly hope so. The episodes so far have been quick paced and as exciting as a car chase, but the show needs to be careful. The show needs a little bit more on our rookies. Otherwise, they’ll go into the backseat as the show charges forward into average police drama.
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