Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0
4
As far as penultimate episodes of the season go, The Rookie Season 7 Episode 17 was solid enough.
The hour worked as a standard installment of The Rookie, even if it didn’t exactly set up what we should anticipate as the season concludes.
But that’s been what most of the season has felt like, right?
The Penultimate Episode Doesn’t Really Set Up Anything
If it wasn’t for the fact that we’re checking the episode count and the ending promo teased the season finale, it would’ve been easy to forget that the finale was right around the corner.
Nothing about this installment gave the impression that it was laying any groundwork for what was to come.
And that’s been an issue with The Rookie for most of the season, where it was spinning on wheels in parts of the season with not many storylines carrying through.
In hindsight, characters like Wesley had very little this season, and Angela wasn’t too far behind him, which was unfortunate.
The Chenford relationship has dragged on for a bit, and with so much confusion, there’s no real way of knowing where the two stand.
And, of course, stories like that of Seth felt a bit anticlimactic in the end, whereas we’ve had to wait the entire season to get any catch-up on Oscar. He’s been out there in the wind and pushed to the recesses of our mind as a result.
Skip Tracer Randy Provided Some Levity, Even if He Came at a Weird Time
As far as The Rookie’s never-ending roster of recurring guest-stars, Skip Tracer Randy can be more amusing than annoying, and this time, he was entertaining.
The entire spiel of him serving as Chastity’s Peter-Approved Sugar Daddy was a bit odd and seemingly came out of left field, but it had The Rookie leaning into its humor, and that’s always fun.
His takedown of the robbers was particularly funny, and somehow, his bungling up the ransom multiple times felt on-brand for his character and amusing to boot.
Only Randy would go on a life and put a bounty on the kidnappers’ heads while staying in Nolan, a cop’s guest room.
Somehow, wrangling the rest of the cops into this ordeal paid off.
The quest to find Chastity had some strong points, with the best being her saving herself in the end, to the surprise of LAPD and S.W.A.T., prepared to breach the abandoned mall and take care of business.
I also loved how well Nolan, Miles, and Tim worked together during the takedown, dealing with the vigilantes and the kidnappers.
Miles really stands out among the others. He’s a prized pupil when working alongside Bradford and Nolan. He’s shaping up to be a great cop and a real pleasure to watch.
Celina and Rodge’s Side Plot was Unnecessary
But keeping in line with some of the weird pacing and things, one of the shortcomings of the hour was Celina and Rodge.
It’s not that Celina isn’t great, and the moments when the cops are having personal issues and consult with each other and seek advice aren’t entertaining; they are.
But it felt like an unnecessary plot point for this hour, which is one reason Rodge’s presence is so annoying.
I didn’t care about his birthday, what Celina got him, or the fact that he was going on tour to Europe for the foreseeable future. Celina’s singing was cute, but that’s neither here nor there.
It felt like such a waste of a storyline, and it’s frustrating that they’ve devoted so much time to side characters like Rodge at the expense of others.
Wesley Finally Gets an Arc, Too Little Too Late
A perfect example is how Wesley has had very little to do all season long. But they finally gave him something significant when he had to help Del Monte.
Del Monte is a character I can never figure out, so the hour spent testing him was interesting because we got to see if he would succumb to the demands of the Eastern gang threatening him or let justice prevail.
He almost gave in to the demands in an effort to protect his son. Wesley could understand and relate to this, as he faced a similar issue when he found himself at Elijah’s mercy.
I only wish this storyline had a bit more space and time to breathe. If they had built up this case, the danger and persistent threat, and even given us some background into Del Monte and his troubled son, it would’ve worked better.
Instead, it felt like all this happened offscreen, and we were supposed to follow it now. Even the harrowing moments, like Del Monte in a shootout with the bad guys and his son sustaining a GSW to the neck, didn’t have the emotional impact they should’ve had.
Two Generations of the Greatest Female Friendship Ever? Sign Me Up!
Nevertheless, it was nice that Wesley had a plot.
Angela barely reacted to the danger Wesley could’ve faced with this one because he downplayed it, and she was preoccupied with helping Nyla and her mother.
I also adored the part about Nyla and Angela’s mothers being best friends. Who saw that coming?
It was like looking at the two of them in a few decades. What a fun turn of events!
People who take advantage of senior-aged individuals and scam them are the absolute worst and deserve every bad thing that happens to them.
This incident gave us another sneak peek into Nyla’s life and background, particularly her relationship with her mother.
More Insight into Nyla Works
We see Nyla as so razor-sharp and street-smart that it’s hard to imagine that there ever could’ve been a time when she wasn’t. She felt ill-prepared for the world and how cruel and harsh it could be because her mother was this eternal optimist and gullible person who always saw the best in everyone around her.
She’s an easy mark for scammers.
But it’s also difficult when you have children, and you’re trying to raise them right. It can be dangerous, and it’s no wonder Nyla had some frustrations about that growing up and never wanted her kids to deal with the same level of aloofness she did.
If Nyla is nothing like her mother, Angela is so much like her, making the interactions between the four women hilarious and fun.
Angela’s mother is just as fiercely protective as Angela, and it was so funny how passionate she was about going undercover, playing a decoy, and taking down Priscilla.
Of all the light-headed stories during this hour, the one with these four worked best because they’re all such great characters and provided some insight.
Sergeant Lucy Chen Reporting for Duty
It’s ridiculous how long they’re dragging on this arc with Lucy and, by extension, Tim.
She’s had an uphill battle with her career. Nothing has panned out as she expected, and that’s been frustrating for me as a fan.
But she’s made great strides with this sergeant’s direction. It’s something she’s great at, and it suits her, even if it still stings that she never scored the undercover detective angle.
She spent the entire hour fretting over a test that we all could’ve guessed she passed. Hell, not only did she pass the exam, but she was at the top of her class, which is quintessential Lucy.
We know she’ll be on the night shift as a sergeant, so she’ll get into action.
It’s a double-edged sword, as The Rookie has tied Lucy’s career to her relationship with Tim.
On the one hand, the hour of not delivering a meaningful conversation or acknowledging what they’re doing with their relationship is as irritating as it has been all season.
But on the other hand, there has to be a way for this series to give both Lucy and Tim things that don’t have them inextricably linked all of the time.
Lucy’s arc as a sergeant and her pursuit of this career move, which is unlike what she initially planned, should be predominantly about her.
Instead, they’ve since abruptly implied that part of her motivation for this could be that she and Tim would be peers on equal footing, and it would make their relationship better as it would be without power dynamics.
But they never made that a significant enough issue to be a barrier for them in the first place, so even hinting at it now detracts from this arc centering Lucy exclusively rather than also tacking on her romance with Tim.
I’m thrilled about what she’s achieved, though!
Over to you, Rookie Fanatics.
Did you love the return of Randy? Are you happy Lucy passed the exam? Let’s discuss everything!
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