Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for The Rookie Season 7 Episode 4.
Since the start of The Rookie Season 7, the series has struggled with dramatic conflict and presenting tension that feels natural to the show and its main cast. Aside from the main recurring plot involving John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) seeking to bring Jason Wyler (Steve Kazee) to justice, the show utilizes a strange ongoing subplot involving Wesley Evers (Shawn Ashmore) and Angela Lopez (Alyssa Diaz). Season 7, Episode 3, “Out of Pocket,” also saw the sudden, inexplicable return of Rachel Hall (Jasmine Mathews), the long-MIA ex-girlfriend of Tim Bradford (Eric Winter). Rather than providing the show with strong, organic dramatic tension, these subplots feel forced and unnatural to the show’s established reality. It’s time to explore the artificial drama that has been working against The Rookie Season 7.
Nothing about this subplot works. The Rookie has never offered a reason to ever suspect Angela would be the type of person to cheat on Wesley. The series continues to drag out the storyline for multiple episodes without any progress, and it feels like an awkward, clunky way to force tension in Wesley and Angela’s marriage. It would make more sense if the writers would seed the idea that Detective Graham might be corrupt or working with Monica Stevens (Bridget Regan), similar to the other detective from Season 6, Detective Pierson (Daniel Bonjour). This means Wesley would have to deal with solving a mystery and potentially put his career at stake to bring down a corrupt officer. It would have been fine if the subplot was played off as a comedic one-off, similar to when Charlie Bristow (Preeti Desai) served as a private security guard for Wesley and his and Angela’s son, Jackson. The fact that Wesley is still concerned over Graham’s confessions is beyond frustrating. The subplot isn’t making a positive narrative progression for Wesley.
Rachel Hall Returns Out of Nowhere To Cause Tension for Chenford
“Out of Pocket” also features the inexplicable return of Tim Bradford’s ex, Rachel Hall. After five seasons, Rachel returned out of nowhere like a Randy Orton RKO. Interestingly, we wrote about this ill-fated relationship from Season 2 back in August, and how the series never provided their romance with any narrative closure. In summary, Rachel is a good friend of Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil), and Lucy was the one who set Tim up with Rachel on a blind date. Surprisingly, the two ended up hitting it off and dated for most of the season. Season 2 ends with Rachel leaving Los Angeles to pursue her dream job in New York City, but the finale concludes with the implication that Tim wants to make things work with Rachel long-distance. Then, The Rookie ran a total of five seasons without any mention of Rachel, who has returned to the show nearly five years since her last appearance. Suddenly, Rachel is back and best friends with Lucy like she never left — at a time when Lucy and Tim are both single again after their breakup in Season 6.
Rather than creating closure for Tim and Rachel’s relationship, Rachel’s sudden appearance comes off more like a misguided attempt to develop the romantic tension between Tim and Lucy, creating suspense for the Chenford shippers on social media. It’s great that the episode finally took the time to address burning questions about Tim, Rachel, and Lucy, and how Rachel viewed Lucy and Tim’s relationship. However, Rachel’s return doesn’t feel organic. Throughout five seasons, the writers never deemed it important to address Rachel’s relationship with Tim and her friendship with Lucy. Rachel’s sudden return, seemingly to drive a potential wedge or create a roadblock in the hopes of a Chenford reunion, exemplifies another case of forced dramatic conflict within the series.
‘The Rookie’ Needs a Better Handle on Its Romantic Pairings & Subplots
Thus far,The Rookie Season 7’s struggles with its main romantic pairings lacking an organic storytelling quality. Similarly, trouble is brewing for Detective Nyla Harper (Mekia Cox) and her husband James Murray (Arjay Smith), as the series avoided addressing that Harper is an LAPD detective married to a community activist for several seasons. With fifteen episodes remaining in Season 7, hopefully, the aforementioned problems won’t be a recurring issue and will diminish for the remainder of the season.
