The Rookie episode 2 review: Did the ABC series step things up?
Tonight, The Rookie episode 2 brought the challenge of trying to step up its game following the pilot — but, was it actually successful in doing so?
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Honestly, we consider that to be a bit of a mixed bag given that “Crash Course” really touched on some of the same notes as the pilot — there were still jokes about John Nolan’s age, some of the same tension between many of the characters … and also the frustrating body-camera shots that don’t feel necessary. It’s a gimmick when the series doesn’t need that given that much of the focus here should be on the policework on the ground and trying to figure out how these characters navigate some of the super-complicated stuff that they are forced to deal with.
For John tonight, that mostly involved trying to keep his police car (or “shop”) from getting completely destroyed. Meanwhile, for Lucy, it means trying to survive being paired with a cop who had no interest in actual danger; he was fine writing tickets and keeping it low-key since it meant that he could make it back home to his kids at the end of the night. This was an episode that brought some of what these characters wanted from their jobs to the forefront, and also some of what they were capable of doing in the field. This included Jackson, who spent a certain percentage of tonight’s episode trying to figure out that he can be effective even without firing any bullets during the face-off in the premiere.
All of our main trio of newbie cops ended this episode okay, with Nolan building a little bit of trust after showing a great deal of compassion for a kidnapping victim. He is showing that his age can be an asset out in the field — he’s not trying to flex any muscles that he doesn’t have. He’s very good at just being a cop who looks for the human side in just about any case.
CarterMatt Verdict
Where The Rookie tends to put itself into a little bit of trouble is when they give you some information to a story, but not the full extent of what is needed. A perfect example of this is coming courtesy of what we ended up seeing when it comes to John and Lucy’s relationship — we still don’t quite know what drew them together in the first place. Meanwhile, there’s still not enough information as to how John has amazingly a rather-nice place to stay at. It’s almost like he’s experiencing trouble on the job but doesn’t have any high stakes away from it, given that he is effectively living rent-free. There could be so much more bitten off with John’s life away from the force. As good as The Rookie is when it comes to portraying cops as realistically as possible (including procedure stuff you don’t seen on other shows), there are other parts here that still feel incomplete.
Related – Be sure to get some other information right now regarding The Rookie
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