Critic’s Rating: 3.8 / 5.0
3.8
The rookies were going rogue!
In many ways, I’d love to have more reservations about the rookies.
The series dumped Thorsen so abruptly that it still stings, and installments like The Rookie Season 7 Episode 3 spend a surprising amount of time with these new characters.
They should get under my skin more, but the truth is, they don’t! They’re so purely entertaining that it’s been easy to embrace them.
The installment wasn’t flawless; it was far from that. The hour had one of the notable balance issues that sometimes plague the series.
And a couple of storylines brewing that are already on the cusp of becoming irksome beyond words.
But when it comes down to what makes this such a fun and entertaining hour, all the credit belongs to the rookies and an unexpected visit from Rachel that gave us some bits of a Chenford plot.
Miles and Seth are a slapstick duo that reminds a person of some early 90s buddy-cop comedy, action series, and films.
They have such a genuinely fun chemistry that even when they’re doing or saying some of the dumbest things alive, you can’t help but adore every second of it.
I want to be upset that the season is devoting a surprising amount of time to these two brand-new characters (although they tie to Chenford serving as their training officers).
It’s typically inadvisable to prioritize new faces over established characters, as the former may have plots that require more fleshing out.
Offhand, Chenford is in an unusual place where it feels like the show has reset them inexplicably without properly addressing their awkwardness.
Angela doesn’t have a storyline because it’s mostly about Wesley harboring discomfort and jealousy over Graham having the hots for his wife and Wesley’s inability to do anything about it.
Words cannot adequately describe how annoying the forced drama is between Harper and James.
And Nolan? Well, we’ll get into that disaster story momentarily.
The other characters require more stories or stronger ones. Meanwhile, the new rookies are trying to get a handle on the job.
While it’s a disservice to other characters that these two newbies carry so much of the plot and entertainment this season, they’re knocking it out of the park regardless.
The Rookie swap was hilarious because we knew there would be a clash of personalities when that happened.
To Lucy’s credit, she can work with pretty much anyone without issue, but we know damn well Tim would’ve been annoyed if he had to spend the entire day with Seth.
It’s a shame we didn’t get more of their scenes together, but it was hilarious that Lucy prepped Seth for the Tim Tests. It only added to Tim’s irritation.
Miles’ personality and ego, which are the size of Texas, that’s where there are more clashes. Miles is an acquired taste, and it seems to change on a dime when it comes to who acquires it.
He shot himself in the foot the second he referred to Lucy as “Darling” and blamed it on Southern gentility. Tim’s reaction was priceless, and that shut down the Lucy/Miles dynamic quickly.
But the Lethal Weapon-style scene that was a highlight of the hour was watching Seth and Miles defy orders and run into a hostage situation, only to spend time bickering over their next steps.
Miles going rogue is in line with his character, while Seth seems like he’s the person who will only get into these situations because of Miles.
They’re already the perfect little bromance, and it’s a refreshing dynamic to explore in this series because, in hindsight, we don’t have many of those.
Outside of James and Wesley, a classic bromance and buddy-cop dynamic is lacking, and it’s great that Miles and Seth can fill that void.
It works for the series, and rookie antics are half the fun of this series.
Writing on the whiteboard that they wouldn’t go rogue like Bart Simpson or a misbehaving child stuck on chalkboard duty back in the day, or they were preening over the internet considering them “#HeroHotties” and badass rookies, were all hilarious moments.
Deric Augustine, in particular, has great comedic timing and delivery. His quip about Grey having a happy face was comedic gold.
Everything with them was entertaining, and poor Tim and Lucy were getting chewed out about the two as if they were disappointed parents at a Parent-Teacher conference whenever they crossed paths with Grey.
These dynamics work, and they’re fun to watch. Chenford is always worth it, but what they’re trying to do with them this season is still puzzling.
They randomly brought Rachel into the fold, which was a bizarre move, but it was good to see her, nonetheless. Out of Tim’s past relationships, she’s one of the best.
Rachel is a genuinely good person, and it was great to see her interacting with Lucy again. Rachel knows that she and Bradford weren’t meant to be, and we learn all these new things about the relationship.
Sadly, she ghosted Tim, which explains how their relationship concluded. But she and Lucy did speak when Lucy started dating Tim, and there was no awkwardness there.
It’s nice to know that their friendship remained intact and that the two women were mature. Celina wasn’t the only one impressed by that or finding it refreshing.
Rachel would like the same amenable dynamic with Tim. It seems like she’s rooting for Chenford as much as many of the viewers. She recognized that Tim was an idiot for breaking up with Lucy, too.
Lucy seems to be over things with Tim romantically and claims it’s all for the best. But it’s still an unusual situation where there hasn’t been much discussion about their past relationship, any closure, or everything that happened.
Again, it’s like The Rookie plays the best of both worlds, taking full advantage of the flirty banter and fun dynamic while still keeping them at bay.
The hour struggled with Nolan’s storyline. It was frustrating that he spent most of the installment selfishly trying to find workarounds to get a lead on taking down Jason.
The one perp killed two people, and Nolan was still trying to figure out a deal in exchange for information on Jason. He was tracking down family members of criminals and generally obsessing about this.
It’s another attempt at addressing the cliffhanger from The Rookie Season 6 Episode 10, but unsurprisingly, it was hard to care.
They didn’t have any real urgency with this overbaked storyline. So much of it hinged on Bailey, who hasn’t been here thus far because of Jenna Dewan’s pregnancy.
While it was fun to watch the rookies go rogue, the same can’t be said for Nolan doing it for the umpteenth time and not facing any consequences.
He went after Modovo by himself off-book and without backup, and it was one of the most reckless things he’s done, which speaks volumes because he does many things without thinking.
He had to leave a man bleeding out because he prioritized going after the perp rather than attending to the GSW victim. And then, by the time he went to help the person, he lost his suspect.
It was all so stupid because of this quest to track down Jason and save Bailey.
Where’s the growth when he does the same things over and over again? He’s not a rookie anymore. He shouldn’t be making such impulsive and reckless decisions.
On top of that terrible alarm system, which had amusing moments, maybe we could’ve gotten a Jason connection.
The drunk girl had to be the woman Jason supposedly works with, right? It was such a weird thing when this woman showed up on his doorstep and was breaking into his house but “drunk.”
Now, Bailey’s back, and Nolan will be extra paranoid. Maybe Nolan needs to get rid of the alarm system. He’s unable to work it properly anyway.
And I’d love to believe that Nolan forgetting Bailey’s birthday was a joke, but it also seemed stupid to suggest that her birthday was the passcode in the first place. Her ex-husband is after them, for goodness sake.
He would know her birthday!
Over to you, Rookie Fanatics.
How did you feel about all this rogue action? Do you love the new rookies? Are you invested in the Jason saga? Let’s hear it below!
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