All fans of The Rookie know the song by now: “Cop cuties, cute and on duty, navy blue booties, go ahead and lock me up…” The song was first introduced in the Season 5 Episode, “Daddy Cop,” named after that very tune. When Nolan (Nathan Fillion) and Celina (Lisseth Chavez) were pulling over a car while on duty together, they passed a band performing in a nearby garage. The band, led by the lead singer whom viewers now know as Rodge (Zander Hawley), began performing a song with lyrics that Rodge had made up on the spot, specifically about Nolan and Celina.
This cold open was absolutely hilarious, and it was made even better when it came back the following season, complete with a gospel choir and an electric guitarist in a van. The Rookie has now brought back this recurring joke for a third time. It starts off with a very fun cold open in this week’s episode, “Chaos Agent,” but the episode pushes this storyline a little too far. So, unfortunately, it has come to this: The Rookie’s funniest recurring joke is officially dead.
“Daddy Cop” Has Been ‘The Rookie’s Best Recurring Joke Up Until Now
The Rookie’s “Daddy Cop” bit started off unbelievably strong. It is a very catchy and specific song, and it was so much fun to hear it both times and to see Nolan become irrationally angry in response to it each time. The second version of the song built off of the existing joke without running it into the ground. It switched things up with the fact that the 9-1-1 call had specifically requested Nolan and with the addition of more singers and musical instruments. Rodge’s return starts as a fun bit in The Rookie’s latest episode, too, when Celina brings Nolan and Bailey (Jenna Dewan) to a club to meet the guy that she’s dating.
Nolan notices that this guy seems very familiar, but it is only after he starts playing with his band that Nolan realizes who he is. The song that Rodge sings this time is a new song called “9-1-1,” and, like “Daddy Cop,” it is extremely catchy. Rodge’s new song is also surprisingly sweet, and it combines silliness with more traditional love song elements. This is an excellent cold open and a great way to bring this joke back without making it go stale. If The Rookie had left it at that and then let the romance fizzle out off-screen, it could have kept bringing Rodge back once every season to sing. Instead, though, Rodge plays a major role this episode.
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‘The Rookie’ airs new episodes every Tuesday.
‘The Rookie’s Latest Episode Introduces Celina and Rodge as a Couple
Rodge shows up to the precinct the next day to see Celina, and he reveals that he is actually there because someone stole his musical equipment, then spray-painted “Die” on the walls of his studio a number of times. It’s already clear that Rodge and Celina aren’t the best fit, just based on these interactions. He criticizes her wording when she asks if he has any enemies, and he shows a significant lack of self-awareness when he insists that nobody could possibly have anything against him. Eventually, when Celina points out that some people don’t like Rodge’s songs, he reveals that he’s been singing these songs about a number of people, including firefighters, the Girl Scouts, mail carriers, and his neighbor.
Every other main character in The Rookie has had a great deal of focus on their love lives, except for Celina. She is not in a committed relationship like many of the others, and she has not gotten to really date on-screen. There always seemed to be the possibility of a romance with Aaron (Tru Valentino), but that never went anywhere. There was also, of course, Celina’s relationship with Scott (Ben Levin), whom she brought to the gala on Valentine’s Day. It seemed like that could turn back into something, but her love life was not addressed again after that, until now. Celina’s relationship with Rodge doesn’t seem to be particularly serious, so after they inevitably break up, it’s time for The Rookie to give Celina a substantial romantic storyline.
‘The Rookie’s “Daddy Cop” Joke Doesn’t Work If Rodge Is In the Foreground
A recurring joke like “Daddy Cop” works best as a funny bit that exists in the background of The Rookie’s main storylines. One time per season was the perfect amount of Rodge, and even a brief date with Celina would have been funny. Now, though, there is no coming back for this joke. For one, this relationship definitely won’t last, and Rodge will always just be Celina’s ex-boyfriend if he ever comes back. Additionally, Rodge is no longer just a silly side character, because the show pushed his storyline into melodramatic territory this episode. After that uncomfortable emotional song that he sang at the station, Rodge’s words don’t have the same humor to them anymore.
A group of incarcerated people are brought to the station when the computers are down, and the process of checking everyone in is very hectic. Rodge decides right then to sing a song about the people there, which, naturally, isn’t received well. He gets attacked, and Celina helps him. Later, Nolan decides that all of the heaviness that they dealt with this episode is reason enough to suddenly be nice to Rodge. It all just feels a little too neat, and it is quite the letdown after the setup of Celina and Rodge dating. Nolan’s disapproval was very funny, and it could have kept this as a one-off storyline. Now, though, Rodge is going to be sticking around and dating Celina, and it looks like he’s going to be majorly cutting back on the insulting songs as well.
As a love interest for Celina, Rodge is ultimately a disappointment. He seems to like the idea of her more than he actually likes her, and the second she’s not watching him at the station, he causes trouble. Celina should get to be with a real love interest: someone with whom she has a connection and, ideally, someone who is involved in a similar line of work. The “Daddy Cop” song could’ve been a fun thing that continued for the rest of The Rookie’s run, but now, Rodge will only henceforth be known as Rodge, and honestly, that sucks.
