The Rookie (2×04) Warriors and Guardians Review

For our review of last episode, click here.

“Warriors and Guardians”starts off with Nolan working on his bathroom when he receives a call from his new training officer, Detective Nyla Harper (Mekia Cox). She wants to meet Nolan for a quick drink before shift the next day at a local bar. When he arrives a waitress brings him a beer and asks him about his life. He soon discovers that this is his new TO. She gives him a lesson on the two types of cops out there, warriors and guardians, and how she only has time for one of them.

The next day, Bradford is walked to work by Rachel when he learns that it is her birthday. Chen overhears them discussing another date and she can’t help but smirk at her TO. At roll call, Grey tries to introduce Nyla Harper to the team, but she doesn’t seem to want to follow his rules. Bradford and Lopez make their way over to Harper to introduce themselves and she puts him in his place. At the munitions locker. Harper is unhappy with the gear that Nolan picked up. She wants an AR-15 and all the gadgets that come with it, hoping that they need that for their basic patrol. She tells him that his openness to a complete stranger last night will be his downfall and that he should keep up.

Chen asks Bradford what he plans to do for Rachel’s birthday, but due to their new relationship he doesn’t feel the need to get her anything. However, Chen manages to make him feel bad and he wants to find something small for her. He suggests some baseball memorabilia, but Chen tells him that she doesn’t even like sports. They arrive at the hospital for an assault call where two crazy social media influencers arrived to try to use a sick kid for their own gain. As they book the two, Bradford suggests a shooting range date for Rachel, but Chen shoots that down.

On patrol, Harper keeps telling Nolan that none of the rules that Grey wants him to follow matter. They will not be leaving their vehicle for anything less than a felony. They find a vehicle with some questionable people in it that appears to be stolen and decide now is the time to strike. They get the guys out of the vehicle, but after a quick scuffle one of them runs off. Harper chases after her and Nolan follows after putting the other two in the back of their cruiser. He finds the last guy with a broken leg claiming that Harper pushed him. He confronts her about it, but she replies with “criminals lie.”

He talks to the other rookies about it and Chen tells him to do what his gut is telling him. However, he comes to Grey’s office and watches her cam footage to see that the man jumped. After she leaves, Grey informs him of the situation. Harper needed out of the high intensity LAPD-DEA task force she was a part of and so Grey assigned her to Nolan believing him to be the rookie with the best chance of surviving her harsh attitude. Nolan questions why Harper wouldn’t show him the footage, but she doesn’t answer to him. While driving, they notice a guy from Harper’s past and she decides to change her outfit to go get some intel. She approaches Corkscrew (Jordan Belfi) and causes a fight to start. Nolan intervenes and arrests Harper while letting Corkscrew go after getting his contact information. As they drive off, Nolan questions Harper while she’s in the back. It gets to the point that she threatens his badge. He goes to lunch with the rookies and leaves her in the back, but she breaks out. Thankfully, Nolan has that contact info to keep him safe for another day.

Meanwhile, West and Lopez find a group of teenagers shooting paintballs at a group of people experiencing homelessness. They ask one of the women, Alice Sheldon (Samantha Sloyan), to help but she seems hesitant to give out information. As Lopez returns to the patrol car, one of the boys says they did it to remove the “less desirable” from their neighborhood who are tanking the property value. Lopez looks through the lost and found at the precinct to bring some stuff to Alice after what the teenagers did to her. West agrees and offers some stuff from his car too. They arrive to find Alice is gone, but left a photo of Katrin Arnoux (Margo Gignac), a hit-and-run victim who had been paralyzed after the accident. They believe that Alice is the missing fugitive responsible. They manage to find her and give her back the photo and start to question her about what happened. She confesses and they reluctantly take her away. They bring in Katrin to see the state that Alice is in hoping that her pain for the past decade is enough suffering.

With the intel from Corkscrew’s cell phone, they manage to find his next weapons drop so they can cut off his pipeline. Grey puts Chen and Bradford on the op with Harper and Nolan as backup. She is unhappy with this and lashes out a bit. After the meeting, Bradford pulls Nolan aside to warn him of Harper’s volatility. During the op, Harper hears them move in on the exchange without the big dog Osito being there. She wants them to wait, but Grey overrules her and the op continues. Nolan manages to convince her to not go in and lose her job. However, while they watch, Nolan notices Osito quickly turn around from the bust and they tail him. He enters a storage facility and they grab their now necessary guns to take in their target.

They move on the facility and arrest the first suspect guarding the entrance. Upon entering, they find Osito and two other men at a storage locker filled with guns. They engage in a firefight and Nolan is hit in the vest. Luckily Chen and Bradford arrive to even the odds until a helicopter and a swarm of vehicles come as well. They arrest Osito, his men and manage to get their guns. Back at the precinct, Grey berates Harper for her actions and forces her to apologize to Nolan for her actions. He wants her to tell him about her past and she tells him fat chance. Lopez sits down with Katrin and apologizes for her actions, relating them to a traumatic accident from her past. Katrin understands where she is coming from and wants to make a statement to help Alice. Bradford arrives at Rachel’s to give her the gift: a model airplane for them to build together. The episode ends as Harper sits outside of a school and is caught by a man. Turns out she is unable to see her daughter, losing her in a custody battle, but she wants to make it right and get her back.

Captain’s Log

• Will Nolan end up with Russo or Grace?
• Will West melt down?
• How will Nolan break down Harper’s walls?

What did you think of “Warriors and Guardians”? Let me know in the comments below!

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Dylan Phillips