The Rookie Sets Up Next Week’s Winter Finale With Multiple, Dramatic Storylines
After a two-week break, The Rookie finally returned with a new episode. During the hour, Officer Nolan and the LAPD took down a dangerous, well-armed criminal who wanted to overthrow the government, and while that was exciting, the episode also had bigger, more lasting developments. To wit: almost every character was involved in a separate subplot, and each plot could easily develop into an important storyline down the road. Here’s a rundown of the episode and how one, specific subplot sets up next week’s dramatic winter finale.
The episode opened with Nolan and his subplot. For the last few weeks, Nolan has been setting up his campaign to run for the LAPD’s Union Representative. With Thorsen’s help, he was taking on Smitty, the lazy incumbent representative. So far, Smitty’s best campaign move was passing out “recycled” water bottles – by that, he meant old water bottles that he filled up with water from his bathroom sink. So, it looked like Nolan will be in a good position to win and Officer Bradford even endorsed him at the end of the episode. This plot is important, as The Rookie tries to depict the need for policing reform in many situations.
The second noteworthy subplot featured Officer Bradford. Early on, the Rookie episode introduced his sister, Genny, who showed up out of the blue. Reluctantly, he and Officer Chen gave her a ride-along, but naturally, she didn’t just come to chat. First, she talked about rebuilding and selling their childhood house. However, what she really wanted was for her brother to go and see their dying father. It had been twenty years since Bradford had seen the man that abused him as a child, and at the end of the episode, he still refused to do so. However, he did agree to help his sister with the house and promised to be a better listener.
Detective Harper’s subplot involved her ex-husband and daughter. They recently had a fling but mutually decided to not pursue a relationship again. Part of the reason for that was that her ex was getting ready to propose to someone else. Then, in “Hit and Run,” Harper got a call from her lawyer saying that her ex was moving to San Francisco and taking their daughter with him. At first, Harper thought that there was nothing that she could do — partly because she lost their original custody battle and partly because her lawyer was too nice. So, Thorsen offered his lawyer and urged her to try and get her daughter back for good.
The final subplot involved Wesley and Angela. In the first episode of the season, the LAPD rescued Detective Angela from La Fiera, but to find her, Wesley had to make a secret deal with a crime lord named Elijah. Since then, he has been Elijah’s dirty lawyer, but everything became too much to handle. So, in the last episode, he finally fessed up to Angela, and in this episode, he went to Sergeant Wade for help.
The previews for next week’s winter finale teased a war between the LAPD and Elijah, with Wesley caught in the middle of everything. It’s bound to be an eventful Rookie episode, so don’t miss it.
