Critic’s Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Well, that was quite the episode.
For the most part, The Rookie Season 8 Episode 13 delivers another Bailan misadventure that has the badass couple taking down some violent thieves, the return of Seth (again), and Wesley losing his big election.
And there are some fun elements to the hour, no doubt, but it was also an installment filled with a lot of wasteful content.
(Disney/Mike Taing) I know people didn’t necessarily care for The Rookie Season 8 Episode 10 ‘s zombie episode. It was an acquired taste and all of that.
But for an hour like that, you can at least lean into the theme and the fun of it.
This was just one of those hours that was easy to watch while scrolling on your phone or barely paying attention, and by the end of the episode, you look up and realize that you haven’t actually missed anything.
The Rookie has always been a fun series.
Still, it has never been so flagrantly background television — the type you watch when you’re folding laundry, playing TikTok videos in the background, or simultaneously holding side conversations with those around you.
(Disney/Mike Taing) For the second week in a row, one of the dominant arcs was Bailey-centered, and yes, we’ve beaten this dead horse into the ground and properly pulverized it by wondering what the specific hold Bailey Nune has on this series.
I can’t make sense of it, and I’m tired of trying to figure it out. We’ve reached a point in The Rookie Season 8 where even viewers who didn’t initially understand some of our beef with the character get it now.
What’s better about this hour’s Bailey usage is that, blessedly, she’s actually doing her job again, so that’s something. If they hadn’t overused Bailey all season, doing everything but what she was supposed to do, maybe the fun of badass Bailan would’ve landed better.
Because on paper, it was actually a good episode for her and Nolan.
Objectively, they found a way to combine her status as a firefighter/EMT with his as a cop, and they came together in an unfortunate but classic The Rookie way.
(Disney/Mike Taing) The problem is that they’ve exhausted us on Bailey, and by this point, it was hard to care.
It also felt like something we’ve seen before on this show, but admittedly, I tune into a lot of cop and first-responders shows, so maybe it was a similar plot point on One Chicago or something.
Nevertheless, the heart of that arc was sweet Oakland being such a precious little bean, and of all that was going on during that plot, I just wanted him to survive and decide he doesn’t want to be an EMT after all.
He’s brilliant, but there are other things he can be doing. They didn’t even get to lean too heavily into the Probie/Rookie parallels of Bailan training the next generation because we shifted from seeing Baiiley actually train.
It was more interesting to give us the Bourne Identity Barbie, or whatever the sadistic guy called her. The arc gave us some gore, especially when they cut off Isaac’s arm as if a man already dying of a GSW would somehow get chattier if they cut off his arm, too.
(Disney/Mike Taing) Grey’s Anatomy ‘s Percy lost his temper a few times, and Mr. O-negative passed out from giving blood. Bailan kicked butt, lived to save the day, and Oakland assisted. Good times.
And I only spent two minutes trying to figure out how Bailey was able to walk back into the job she had abandoned and was in a position to train the next generation of paramedics.
At this point, I’m not even advocating for benching Bailey, but at least shove her further down in the natural order of things.
The more interesting storyline that should’ve been the dominant plot was Harper and Lopez’s dirty retired cop having a team of people posing as cops to rob banks to help him support his gaggle of children.
It was such an odd choice to make that the D-List storyline that came in behind Bailan in a warehouse, Seth taking polygraphs, and Luna and Grey’s marital drama.
That’s an A-list storyline, not a C or D one.
(Disney/Mike Taing) There was so much to dig into for that, too. How does an otherwise great cop with a spotless record retire and eight years later commit felonies like that? What separates someone like that from the cops we love at the station now?
There are so many things to dig into there.
Also, it would have made great use of Harper, getting her back to working with Lopez again after her beat of working patrol, and it would’ve meant more Angela period. She seems to be lacking this season.
Speaking of that, what was the point of Wesley running for political office if we’d end up here? He lost to Vivian. She’ll serve as an antagonist in many ways, and I guess he’s going back to being a defense attorney.
It feels a bit anticlimactic, regardless of how well being on opposing sides helps Wopez… climax.
I thought the DA plot would be a lot bigger than it has been, so watching it fizzle out like this is a bit of a bummer. But at least we got that group to hang out at Bailey and Nolan’s place.
(Disney/Mike Taing) It’s always important to go where you’re celebrated, and I love that Wesley has this beautiful, unusual family he can lean on in times like this.
The entire gang celebrating Wesley together, having drinks, laughing, and having a good time, was probably my favorite moment.
I’m a sucker for found families.
The Seth arc felt a bit random, too. I didn’t mind the last time he was on the series, when he saved Miles. It’s nice that they still hang out, I guess.
But it just seemed ridiculous that they spent so much time on him taking a polygraph test to own up to his past lies and prove he’s capable of being a cop again, if they were never going to let him join there anyway.
He can be a cop somewhere else. It doesn’t have to be in Los Angeles.
(Disney/Mike Taing) His being an amputee won’t infringe on him being a cop as long as he passes the other necessary tests, and it’s doubtful that his specific history there will follow him if he leaves the state or something.
I genuinely understand that Patrick Keleher is a great actor, and it’s nice to have him on, but I don’t really see the point of Seth popping up the way he does.
His scene with Smitty was cute, and it’s nice that he may have met a girl with a terrible man-picker.
Rodge is someone else who just got tossed into the episode. But I’ll begrudgingly admit that he didn’t bother me as much as usual.
His writing Celina a beautiful song, stirred up some interesting bits about Celina’s Imposter Syndrome that we may not have dug into otherwise, so hopefully it’s something that they carry into future episodes.
(Disney/Mike Taing) She’s been without a proper arc for a while now. I’d be interested to see one exploring how she’s this far into her career there and still doesn’t feel worthy or gets uncomfortable with too much praise.
I still don’t really get the whole Rodge/Celina thing, but they have their moments.
And while Grey’s petty game was strong and hilarious, it’s been difficult to invest much further into the marital issues.
It’s been so weird because it feels like Luna never fully took accountability and spent a lot of time shifting focus to what Wade did wrong along the way.
Then she went off on Ashford, which was fine. He was a total tool for acting as if he didn’t know what she was talking about, when he admitted that he would’ve slept with her had she asked.
(Disney/Mike Taing) His not being single doesn’t mean he can disrupt marriages without consequence or accountability.
But I snorted at Luna, proclaiming she came to her senses when she didn’t. Wade found out. That had little to do with her active choices.
I almost hate that they went down this whole route for this pairing, because now they’re back to being cute and made up, and I’m still mad as hell.
Over to you, Rookie Fanatics.
Is it just me, or was this a pointless episode? Sound off below, and let’s chat about this episode of The Rookie and the season so far.
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