If you would like to read my review of last episode of The Rookie, click here.
Synopsis: Talia forces Nolan to confront his personal moral instincts in order to be a good cop after he encounters a kidnapping victim. Meanwhile, Lucy is temporarily placed with a new training officer who tests her patience, and Jackson must confront his failures head-on if he wants to be an officer. (TVGuide)
Writer: Alexi Hawley
Director: Adam Davidson
Rating: TV-14
Running Time: 43 mins
Airs: Tuesdays at 10pm on CTV (Canada)/ABC (United States)
“Crash Course”starts off with a carjacking in progress. Nolan and Bishop are right on their tail with Bishop critiquing Nolan’s pursuit of the vehicle. They head up into the Hollywood Hills where Nolan is able to hit the vehicle to stop it, but a runaway bride jumps out and flees to into the hills. Nolan follows her to on top of the Hollywood sign where she plans to jump because of her fiance’s infidelity. She has nothing to live for, but he offers his lottery ticket to her while talking about how his life seemed to be on a downward spiral after his failed marriage and all he needed was hope. She is convinced by him, but slips and falls off the front of the sign with Nolan grabbing her in the nick of time.
Nolan and Chen wake up in bed together as he questions what would have happened if he did not catch the bride. They suggest taking a sick day to spend some time together, but know it would be suspicious and opt to go in to work. At the hospital, Bradford is getting ready to leave by himself when he is picked up by Bishop and Lopez who already start with their heckling. Nolan runs into West who discusses wanting to get back into the field while Bishop continues to advise Chen to break off her relationship with Nolan. At roll call, the precinct leaves a bouquet of flowers at Nolan’s spot who proceeds to thrown them back into the crowd.
These fun and games are quickly over when Sergeant Grey comes in and puts three numbers on the board: 3, 5 and 21. These numbers pertain to the mistakes and damages made during Nolan’s pursuit. Grey announces that until Bradford is cleared for duty that Officer Ripley will act as Chen’s training counterpart. He also instructs Lopez and West to see the Captain who criticizes West for his lack of shots fired at the suspect, but Lopez bails him out. Ripley and Chen are introduced and he is way nicer than what she is used to. He grabs the gear and gives her a free pass for her work on the previous case.
On patrol, Bishop tells Nolan that he needs to reprogram his innate human nature in order to survive in this profession. Nolan and Bishop arrive at a burning car where a woman admits to lighting the fire because it’s her meth dealer’s car and she also stabbed his brother in the process. That is good enough to arrest her, but when they find the knife with fresh blood they know that time is not on their side. And they did not have enough of it as they find the boy dead. Nolan questions mortality and Bishop tells him to drop those thoughts because they impede judgment.
Meanwhile, West reassures Lopez that next time he won’t fail and she says he better not because they are taking all the high risk calls. They arrive at the scene of a church attack where a muscular guy on PCP threw a priest into the glass window. She tells him to assess the situation and he decides to carefully calm the man down to apprehend him and does so easily. Lopez learns that their suspect has ties to an Arian fanatic with priors and cannot wait to get West in there. After finding his house empty, they stop at a convenience store where West runs into the suspect exiting the bathroom. He engages in a fight with the suspect and is able to subdue him with his baton.
Chen sits down for lunch where Bradford drops by to check up on her, but when a call comes in, Bradford expects her to run to the scene. She chases down the suspect and apprehends him. Now with all three rookies have a suspect, they head back to the precinct to process them with some proving to be more difficult than others. Grey looks over their reports and criticizes Nolan for a number of errors, firing shots at Bishop in the process. She confronts him about it and he says that training Nolan is a test for her and future promotions.
During their patrol, Nolan hits a woman, but as they go to inspect her they discover her hands are bond and she pleads not to let him take her. At the hospital, Grey again criticizes Nolan for his actions before two pompous detectives arrive to fill them in on the situation. Grey assigns Bishop and Nolan to canvass the area looking for her captor who may have more victims. On their search, they are called to a runaway scissor lift driven by a disgruntled employee who rams it into the side of their cruiser. In the morning, Nolan questions if he is set in his ways, but Chen says his investment is only natural and he just wants to help people.
At roll call, Grey brings news that the second suspected kidnapping victim is Emma Vasquez and they will all be canvassing the city until they find her. The Captain singles out Nolan for his damages to vehicles and gives him an old, broken down cruiser to use to avoid any more major damages. Nolan decides to visit the victim at the hospital who reveals details about her kidnapper and the situation she was in. She remembers a voice saying wait before the detectives enter and criticize them for overstepping. Bishop knows that the wait voice is a visually impaired cross walk meaning they’ve narrowed the search area to one part of the city.
While searching the block, Bishop notices a suspicious man as Nolan questions a man across the street. Bishop looks into the man’s car and notices a mask, prompting her to call out to her partner who narrowly misses a shotgun shell from inside. He enters the house as Bishop calls for backup with Chen answering the call, but with Bishop unable to enter the house, Nolan is alone. He finds a secret entrance to the basement and after exchanging fire with the man, he descends in pursuit. He finds Emma chained up, but is bashed in the head by the butt of the man’s shotgun. As he reloads his gun, Bishop crashes the car into the door, opening it up for her and Chen to enter, but the man escapes. Nolan advises them to stay with Emma while he chases the man.
As Nolan and Chen run through a graveyard after the man, Bishop pulls her vehicle around and stops him. That is until Nolan tackles him and proceeds to punch him over and over. Bishop is able to calm down her rookie and he cuffs him. The Captain has a meeting with the detectives, Bishop and Nolan who tells the former to thank the latter for their efforts. She wants a word alone with Nolan, and advises him to hold his good-natured impulses in. Lopez congratulates on West for a job well done and says this is the first step on a better relationship between them.
Chen notices Bradford talking with Ripley who has been cleared for duty. She knows that Bradford assigned Ripley to her and he says everything is a test to make her the best cop she can be. Grey congratulates Nolan on a job well done and his reward is paperwork. Nolan heads to the hospital and tells the woman that they caught the guy. The episode ends as Bishop and Nolan drive around in their new modified pick-up truck to try to avoid more of Nolan’s reckless vehicle damages.
Captain’s Log
- Will Nolan and Chen continue their secret relationship or will Bishop’s advice get in the middle of them?
- Will Chen and Bradford’s dynamic change now that she wants him to be her TO?
- Why is Captain Anderson so high on Nolan?
- Will Grey and Nolan become reluctant friends?
Overall, this was a decent episode. The pacing continues to work thanks to short cases in quick succession keeping the tension high, but allowing for moments of character development in between the action. The humour continues to be a great complement to the serious look at the unpredictable nature of police work without causing tonal issues. Thankfully, this episode dives a little more into the characters and makes them feel a little more three-dimensional which should hopefully continue in the coming episodes.
Score: 7/10
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