The Rookie: Chen and Bradford Stop a Frankenstein – but Chenford Takes a Hit
Last episode of The Rookie thankfully wrapped up the drama surrounding Bailey’s awful ex-husband. Now, the series can get back to regular police work, while running with some new plot points. There were a number of those in the latest episode, titled “The Knock.” Sergeant Wade uncovered a dirty cop from Italy, while Angela and Wesley argued about their son’s preschool plans. (Yes, the kid is only a year old). Meanwhile, Harper’s pregnancy hormones made her into “Detective Happy Pants,” and Nolan won the election for Union delegate — more on that in the weeks to come.
The main plot, however, followed Officer Chen and Sergeant Bradford. During the episode’s intro, Ashely McGrady — Bradford’s lifeguard girlfriend — called the cops because a severed hand washed up on the beach. The investigation surrounding that disgusting find brought Chen and Bradford closer together, but it also pushed the hopes of Chenford further away.
It all started when Bradford responded to a Biotechnological engineering lab. Someone had robbed the lab, but because of its top-secret status, the CEO wouldn’t tell Bradford what was missing or let the LAPD see the crime scene. In fact, the CEO planned to handle everything in-house and only called the police to get a case number for insurance purposes. Since the lab didn’t really want help, the LAPD was off the case, until a dead body showed up at the hospital with a missing hand.
Turns out, the hand belonged to one of the biotechnological lab’s employees, and that was enough for Angela to force her way onto the case. The CEO and his lawyer weren’t happy, but they told Angela what they were up to, saying that the lab existed to “bridge the gap between biology and technology.” Along with that, the CEO said that he suspected a Chester Fray of breaking into their lab and, probably, killing the former employee for his hand.
Nolan and Harper went to Fray’s house and found a severed hand knocking on a table, one that was still knocking when Chen and Braford arrived. Clearly, he wanted to make some kind of Frankensteinian-cybernetic prosthesis. The problem was he a zealot, willing to do anything to create artificial life. So, it made perfect sense when the LAPD discovered that he was getting his dead bodies from unclaimed victims at the county morgue.
Bradford and Chen went to investigate, and sure enough, they found Fray. Using a bodycam to safely get intel, they saw that Fray was making the MEs cut limbs off of their cadavers. To avoid a hostage situation, they thought fast. Bradford killed the lights and blinded Fray with a flashlight, while Chen snuck in and tased him. They successfully arrested Fray, but that couldn’t ease the sting from the hit Chenford took earlier in the episode.
Bradford’s girlfriend set up a double date for them after a friend won tickets to an exclusive restaurant. When the friend backed out, Bradford invited Chen and got ADA Chris Sanford to be her date for the night. So, they all went to dinner, which could have been a fun evening, but Bradford blew it. His bad attitude — combined with the fact that he and Chen kept up a constant work chatter — made things very uncomfortable. All in all, the dinner was a disaster because their compatibility was obvious to their dates. Even so, both Bradford and Chen apologized to their dates as the episode ended, and both pairs decided to keep perusing their respective relationships. Thus, Chenford will have to wait for at least a few more weeks.
