Hey guys, I'll be helping out our regular Rookie reviewer, Kollin, from now on! We decided to share duties, I'll be doing even numbered episodes and he'll be doing odd! Tonight's episode sees Nolan coming head-to-head against his former mentor after he becomes a fugitive and Lucy gets to learn a few street cop tricks to get inside the mind of a criminal from her TO. Plus, Lopez and West have to deal with a tricky shooting case that may not be as easily solved as it looks. "The Hawke" was written by Fredrick Kotto and directed by Timothy Busfield. THE HAWKE LEAVES THE NEST The primary focus of this episode is on Jeremy Hawke (Shawn Christian), Nolan and Bradford's former training officer. Well, Nolan in the classroom, as Hawke was one of his teachers and a mentor, and Bradford out on the field. Over the years, Nolan has kept in touch with Hawke, nurturing a friendship with him that generally consists of beers and platitudes about their lives. That's how we begin this week, with Nolan meeting Hawke for a few drinks as he unloads about his downward spiral. Unaware of the true extent of Hawke's instability, Nolan doesn't think much of it when he rejects his invitation to crash on his couch in preference of a dingy motel room. Until the next day when a follow-up to a 911 call warrants worry. Turns out, Hawke went home and found his wife (soon to be ex-wife as she filed for divorce) cuddled up to someone new and lost his mind. He whipped out his gun, threatened her date and forced him to leave the house in underwear before taking off. Given Hawke's once esteemed position in the police force, his wife, Megan (played by Joelle Carter, who I've loved fiercely since Justified), felt hesitant about the call she placed and tried to brush it off. Lopez and West weren't willing to let simply let things go and thus the bulk of the episode surrounds the team trying to track down Hawke. Hawke is a former cop, so he knows their playbook and is consistently a step ahead, that, coupled with him kidnapping his own son, and things become even trickier. Though, eventually Bradford and Nolan are able to get the drop on him after a series of car chases, and a public mall confrontation, they decide to duke things out in a hand-to-hand fight because...men. It's Chen and Bishop who actually come in with pepper spray to get things done. "You were supposed to arrest him, not get in a brawl." I wish I cared more about Hawke's storyline but frankly, it's one I've seen a thousand times with far more likable characters in the role. This week's episode fell flat for me. The moments I truly enjoyed were more about the relationships between the core characters than the stories themselves. SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD Lopez and West are assigned a call about a gunshot. When they arrive at the hospital they discover a maligned father (Aaron D. Spears) verbally berating his son (played by All American's Spence Moore II) for his stupidity over getting caught up in a "bad crowd", thus winding up the victim of a supposed drive-by. Except, things aren't as clear-cut as the patients would want us to believe. The bullet wound doesn't match with a long-distance shot and West deduces that the son actually tried to kill his father but they got into a scuffle and the gun misfired. Once his boyfriend comes to the hospital to confront his abusive dad about the way he's been treated, it makes sense. He's gay and his father clearly resents him for it. West has some... interesting choice of words for the kid. Look, he shouldn't have tried to shoot him, obviously, and I understand that his father's actions don't excuse his own but I still thought West was a little bit harsh. Or at least he could have offered to help him find an outlet, a therapist, someone he could talk to about all this. I mean I know he could wind up going to jail, to trial, etc. but I tend to think there is some sympathy for a young gay teen who is being bullied at home and gets pushed to a breaking point. D.E.A.R. In addition to the two central storylines, there are some loose ends that involve Nolan and Bishop following up on a potential homicide and discovering an older man who actually did a citizen's arrest and has the murderer in the trunk of his car. And Chen and Bradford getting a search warrant in the home of an active drug addict/seller. Bradford revels in the chance to teach her his tactic for handling most everything in the cop world. D.E.A.R. as in dear, as in Deception, Elusive, Access, and Repulsive. He demonstrates how each of these correlate to potential hiding spots in his apartment. Poor Lucy gets saddled with Repulsive of course, and has to glove up and search a giant box of sex toys and the toilet for drugs. Don't worry though, Lucy gets her shot at revenge at the end of the episode by swiping Bradford's money clip and leaving high and dry at the bar. EXTRAS Performer of the Week: Mercedes Mason as Captain Zoe Anderson. Mason hasn't been given much to do yet which is a shame because she's a great actress. This week she finally got better material and I loved her scenes with Joelle Carter. Plus, we actually got to learn something about her past relationships. Rookie of the Week: Chen. I loved the fact she stole Bradford's money clip, using his own system against him. It's about time she got him back for the amount of tough love he shows her. Best Scene: Chen stealing the money clip! It was a cute scene and I can't help but enjoy the two of them together, especially his proud smile at the end after he realized what she'd done. Brooklyn 99 Reference: Not exactly a reference for real but couldn't help drawing comparisons between the "Hawke" and B99's "Vulture". THE TEAM GOES HOLLYWOOD WITH MAKE-A-WISH ON AN ALL-NEW EPISODE OF ABC’S THE ROOKIE, TUESDAY, DEC. 4.
In The Rookie 4x21 “Mother’s Day” Chenford begins to grow as the episode shows that positions of power should only be for those who care.
Need a refresher? Read my recap of the previous episode here. Police entitlement, are you allowed to take favors, bargaining chips, the odd crème brûlée, in exchange for doing your job? Thus far, The Rookie has mostly tried to side-step the harsh realities of being a cop. The show is too light-hearted to dig into police brutality or the topical political issues. So in terms of "police entitlement" the episode only brushes by it on a surface level. For instance, in West's case, he's battling with contradictory values. On one hand, his father, who trained him to be a cop since he was a kid, believes in strict adherence to the letter, while Lopez is more experienced in the spirit. They catch a case where a woman ends up on a Tinder date from hell. A scam artist tries to dine-and-dash on a $600 bill. The law would say to arrest him on a misdemeanor but Lopez encourages the woman to rack up a few desserts to get it to $700 to make it a felony grand theft. Then the only person who suffers is the man who tried to pull a fast one. ABC/Eric McCandless It's hard for West to come to terms with bending the rules as such, despite the fact it doesn't really harm anyone but the perp. His holier-than-thou attitude comes across as hypocritical though, when you remember Lopez covering for his cowardice during a gun fight, and she isn't afraid to let him know that. It's the check he needs to make him realize his father's way isn't the only way. Lopez has been in his corner all along, there's no need for him to suddenly believe she's in the wrong. West apologizes for doubting her. Lucy's test of morality comes with a strange robbery case. She and Tim investigate stolen embryos from a volatile lesbian couple. They arrive at the home of a married couple and find them in the middle of a heated fight that appears on the brink of violence. ABC/Eric McCandless One woman is threatening to destroy the embryos of her soon-to-be-ex-wife. But if she does, she will destroy any chance she has of ever having her own child. Both women are arrested as Tim points out there are graveyards full of women who would still be alive if action was taken the moment an act of violence occurred. Even though the woman whose embryos were taken technically didn't initiate the problem, she still reacted in physical violence (a lead pipe included). But the real test of merit for the three rookies comes later on when they inadvertently get involved in an undercover narcotics case. Bishop and Nolan help a wounded Detective Ortiz (unaware he's an undercover cop) and he visits the station after getting treated. He's closing in on an important drug bust. This will be the rookies first high-stakes tactical operation. Everything goes according to plan until it comes time to count the money. The counters realize they're $250,000 short of the supposed million dollar haul. All the intel points to one million but the only three people left alone with the money were Nolan, Chen, and West, who were given the unsavory task of sitting around it while waiting for the money counters to arrive. It's obvious none of them took it. Though the show does try to paint Lucy as the most likely suspect given her pointed money troubles and difficulty finding a new place to live. ABC/Eric McCandless All three rookies pass their polygraph tests (although West admits to eating the crème brûlée!) And the investigation continues, though not for long since Lucy gets run off the road by a bunch of sweaty cartel members not long after. They believe she took the money because she's the most obvious, given her money troubles. But Lucy remembers some random detail confirming the bald guy who has her at gunpoint, is the real thief! He kills his buddies and then tries to kill Lucy but she totally kicks his ass. With Franco arrested, Zoe pays Ortiz a visit in the hospital where he's being treated for his earlier stab wound. Turns out, the undercover cop was dirty and involved in the theft all along. Gotta admit, I called that one from a mile away. I didn't find the cases all that interesting this week, but it was a fun episode overall. I think The Rookie soars when it plays to its strengths: character relationships and comedy. Those are what set it apart from other shows. It's comfort TV and I really enjoy it but generally the criminals are some of the weaker aspects of the show, this week wasn't any different. I appreciate they try to mix things up by giving us up to 3 or 5 different criminals every week but sometimes I wish they would follow in the footsteps of other shows and focus on only 2 or maybe 3, so we could get more fleshed out stories instead of quick beats that wrap before they even get a chance to develop into something interesting. Odds & Ends - Lucy finds a new place to live - she really does take the former apartment of Mr. Rodriguez, bloodstains and all, for 25% off the rent! - Chen becomes a station meme when she passes out on the job during a midnight shift and has a horror-movie worthy dream to show for it. Gas masks are always terrifying. - When I mentioned that I'd like to see cases get more developed, this week, for example, it would have been nice to see the lesbian couple with the stolen embryo story feature more because it seemed pretty crazy but it was wrapped up so fast I got whiplash. ABC/Eric McCandless Favorite Lines Lucy: Wait until it’s your turn Officer In Bed By Ten. Angela: You’re in for a hard fall if you can’t see the difference between righteous and rigid. Tim: You seem surprised. Lucy: Sir, you surprise me everyday. Tim: If it was Chen she wouldn’t get caught like this. Talia: Sounds like a compliment. Tim: I'm just saying, she's smarter than this. Lucy: Friends help friends clean up crime scenes. A new episode of The Rookie titled "Plain Clothes Day" airs February 26th.
Take Back The Rookie season 5 episode 9 starts with Sergeant Grey and his wife visiting New York to see their daughter, Dominique. Grey is not happy about
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Answer all questions and find out Which The Rookie Character Are You!
