The Rookie (2×17) Control Review

Dylan PhillipsApril 14, 202070/100n/a6 min
Director
Marcus Stokes
Writers
Alexi Hawley, Robert Bella
Rating
TV-14
Running Time
44 minutes
Airs
Sundays 10pm
Channel
CTV, ABC
Overall Score
Rating Summary
Control takes a few steps back in the strong storytelling elements of the previous episodes to become a slightly more average TV cop story.

For our review of the last episode of The Rookie, click here.

Chen brings a perp to a line-up where he stands beside Bradford and instantly recognizes them. As the officers go through the five suspects, the victim cannot identify who the real culprit is and so they are released back into the cells. The guy admits to doing the crime to his fellow cellmates which so happens to include Nolan who gets the confession they needed. Here’s what went down in “Control.”

As the title suggests, this episode is all about control. Nolan is thrown into an undercover assignment and must manage his first informant. While his informant Bianca has gotten clean, she also has developed an attachment to Nolan. She feels emotionally connected to him and given his lack of experience, he doesn’t know what to do. Luckily Grey manages to be the supportive and help his rookie out.

It can’t be an easy informant-officer relationship so they bring in a DEA agent to make things rough for Nolan and Harper. Agent Banks consistently tells Nolan to stop being nice to Bianca because he has too much riding on this operation. Oh and he has a history with Harper that makes her out to be unfaithful to her relationship which seems a bit out of character.

Meanwhile, as the remaining officers are told to walk a beat for their shifts, Lopez and West take the first call. They meet Detective Calderon who seems more interested in closing the case over investigating it. Lopez questions this and then even pushes back when she starts to talk badly about Wesley. This causes tension between the two women, but Calderon easily flips her tune to wanting to help Lopez become a detective.

And the officers who get the short end of the stick this week are Bradford and Chen who deal with a hit pedestrian. She has been invading Jackson’s dating life due to her PTSD from her own dating choices. Luckily, Bradford is there as a friend to help her through it and they continue to grow quite the friendship. They banter, they joke and above all they respect each other. This is a great dynamic for this show and it’s great to see where this is going. Funny how he reacts to her trying to date Bradford’s friend Emmett.

Captain’s Log

  • How long will Tim and Rachel last?
  • Will we see more of Bradford and Cujo?
  • How will Wes deal with his issues?
  • Does Armstrong have a secret he is hiding?

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


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