For our review of the last episode of The Rookie, click here.
Synopsis: An unscheduled visit by the vice president of the United States puts the station on high alert. The secret service tasks Officer Nolan and Officer Bishop with checking out a possible threat to the vice president while the rest of the team try to keep the streets clear and safe for his visit. (TVGuide)
Writers: Ally Seibert and Liz Alper
Director: Sylvain White
Rating: TV-14
Running Time: 43mins
Airs: Tuesdays at 10pm on CTV (Canada)/ABC (United States)
“Redwood”starts off with the LAPD hosting a gun buyback day where they trade in civilian firearms for cash making the streets a little safer. A woman brings in her father’s old weapons from his time in the war including a very unstable claymore from Vietnam. This prompts Nolan and the rest of the rookies to alert bomb squad, but as they try to escort her out the claymore in her trunk explodes outside.
Ben informs Nolan that his ex-wife sold their old house prompting some nostalgic feelings for him, but this is interrupted by a work emergency. Turns out the vice-president is in town and their precinct is in charge of protection duty. While Grey and Agent Danvers give the briefing, West is caught texting and disciplined. As everyone is dismissed, Nolan and Bishop are pulled aside to chase down a class two threat who has a repeat history of assaulting authority figures.
The other teams head to inventory and grab an endless list of supplies from police tape and pylons to riot gear because anything is possible today. West and Lopez arrive at a peaceful protest, but when the people refuse to leave they threaten to arrest them. One of the protesters tries to swallow a key, but starts to choke forcing Lopez and West to save him. Lopez questions why West is constantly on his phone which he attributes to family problems. She reminds him to keep his focus on the job before they enter their next assignment.
They arrive at an apartment where someone has hung an obscene banner, but upon further inspection they find an overcrowded home with a landlord taking advantage of immigrants. They head to the next apartment where the woman is hesitant to risk losing money that she needs for rent. Lopez finds a loophole and decides to get the woman a few months of free rent when she confronts the building manager.
While walking the halls, West and Lopez are forced to kick down an apartment door when a woman is in distress. She’s tied to a chair and blames her son, but when he returns he explains it was to protect her from early onset dementia. Regardless they arrest him for elder abuse and head to the next tenant.
Meanwhile, Chen and Bradford try to escort some homeless people off the vice-president’s route, but when a fight breaks out Chen is stabbed by a used needle. They arrive at the hospital and remind the nurse that armed officer are first priority allowing Chen to head into the back. While the nurse takes her blood for tests, Chen starts to freak out about the possibilities. Bradford reassures her and makes it known that she will always be a cop regardless of the result.
Chen meets someone in the bathroom who is crying over her brother’s car accident that put him in a coma. She notices a bottle of bleach in the bathroom and follows the woman to find her ready to inject her brother with it. Bradford and hospital staff arrive at the room where Chen is able to taze the emotionally unstable woman.
Bishop and Nolan head out and find the class two threat Stanley, but upon questioning him he runs. Nolan takes him down and they uncover a flare gun potentially thwarting an assassination attempt. After booking the man, they are assigned rover duty aka bringing food and giving bathroom breaks to fellow officers. Sounds like fun! During rover duty, Nolan and Bishop encounter a car accident that turns into a gun situation; while it is quickly diffused, the man accidentally shoots a bystander who dies on scene.
With the vice-president’s route being changed, Bishop and Nolan are sent to set up roadblocks in a new section of town. He plans to visit a restaurant in town prompting West and Lopez to be tasked with counter assault detail. Nolan and Bishop notice a suspicious vehicle behind a closed store leading them to believe it’s a robbery in progress. They grab the driver and as the other three robbers exit they engage in a gunfight. Lopez and West hear their distress call, but are told by Agent Danvers to stay on the counter assault.
That doesn’t last long as they arrive for backup and take the injured driver away to safety while Nolan and Bishop deal with the remaining men. They hit them with tear gas as more officers arrive and subdue the robbers. Meanwhile things aren’t looking good as Lopez and West get stuck in traffic en route to the hospital. She improvises and drives along the sidewalk to get them to there in time. At the hospital, West notices Chen as she talks about her eventful, needle-filled day.
Agent Danvers confronts Grey about his officers disregarding her order, but he stands by their decision because they made a choice to protect their fellow officers. West opens up to Chen about his brother’s kidney disease. The dates conflicted with joining the academy, but his brother said he could wait. Unfortunately, his kidneys failed shortly after and while he managed to find another donor, their mother never forgave him. He didn’t want to disappoint his mom again, hence being so on edge about cancelling plans, but Chen finds a way to reassure him.
Chen receives the results of her blood work. She has no viral infections, but has a staph infection and needs to take some intravenous antibiotics. Lopez gives some words of praise for West’s actions in the field today and he thanks her for being such a good teacher. Bishop gives Nolan peace of mind on his current house dilemma saying that Henry will always cherish that house. The rookies meet up at Nolan’s to discuss their day when Ben arrives with a gift from Henry: the door stop with his height marks from their house.
Captain’s Log
- Will Nolan and Chen get back together at some point?
- Will Lopez get the detective position or will someone else swoop in?
- How long will Lopez and the lawyer last?
- Will Isabel testify?
- Will Grey and Nolan have to deal with their children dating?
- Which rookie won’t make it the year?
- Does Commander West trust Nolan?
Overall, Redwood was an alright episode. The intensity of this episode is some of the best action that this show has to offer, but it also feels like some of the most unrealistic situations we’ve seen as well. The tasks that these patrol officers, and rookies at that, are forced to take on during a powerful political figure’s time in their city seems like something an elite task force would take on and deal with, not low-level academy graduates. Luckily the characters continue to grow through these life-or-death situations while showing that it’s impossible to separate work and home life in this profession.
Score: 7.5/10
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