Rookie Blue - 1.01 Fresh Paint - Recap

Hey spoiler addicts, this is my first recap post on the site. I shall be known as hippopotamoose from here on, or Bob if you prefer, my name is Bob =] I've been told it would be good to do an introduction to myself before the first post but I'm a bit socially awkward and the only thing that I could think of was my love of long walks on beachs as the sun sets *sigh*. Anyway, I thought I better say what TV I watch and my thoughts on a few of the shows, because that's what the site's about. So, here we go. I watch Being Human (I am slightly in love with Lenora Crichlow), Criminal Minds (I am slightly in love with AJ Cook, Paget Brewster and Kirsten Vangress), Desperate Houeswives (I am slightly in love with all of them, it's my guilty pleasure), Fringe (I am slightly in love with Anna Torv), Glee (I am slightly in love with Amber Riley and Diana Argon and massivley in love with Lea Michele), Heroes, House (I am slightly in love with Lisa Edlestien), Human Target, Modern Family (I am slightly in love with Julie Bowen and Sofia Vergara), Nurse Jackie, Persons Unknown and True Blood (I am slightly in love with Anna Paquin). So, let the recapping begin...


‘You five punks are under arrest’
So, the series starts with one of those dramatic shots over the town, sweeping into a shot of a bar with a police man shouting, ‘You five punks are under arrest’, he proceeds to cuff them and take their IDs revealing their names as; Chris Diaz (Travis Milne – Leslie My Name Is Evil, nope), Traci Nash (Enuka Okuma – Marika Donoso on 24), Gail Peck (Charlotte Sullivan – Across the Road to Motor City, not this one either), Dov Epstien (Gregory Smith – Ephram Brown on Everwood), Andy McNally (Missy Peregrym – Andi Prendergast on Reaper and Candice Wilmer on Heroes). He then reveals them to be a new cop in a terribly dramatic fashion, exclaiming the first rookie to get out of their cups has free drinks all night, Gail Peck wins and the rookies all down a shot. The shot cuts the rookies drinking together, with Gail talking to the other cops on another table. So far, we’ve not leant much about the characters, however we do know that they all love their job and are super excited for their job tomorrow in a typical new show way, so far, I’m not blown away by this but it shows a certain amount of promise.

‘We’ve learnt how to shoot, fight and drive a police car really fast’
Scene cut and we see all the rookies pulling up in their cars, nothing too interesting here apart from Traci, who hides in her car as she is pulling up with another man, who, I’m guessing is another cop or another detective. We also hear out first voiceover coming from Andy McNally, who I’m thinking is supposed the Meredith Grey of ‘Rookie Blue’ explainimg how although they’ve trained for months, they apparently know nothing. After a speech from another cop Andy, Traci and Chris walk outside to meet their superior cops. Chris’ office is man, currently divorcing his wife, Traci’s officer is a sarcastic woman who calls her Jenny from the block, and Andy gets the officer who was running the bar contest. We still haven’t learnt a great deal, but I’m starting to warm to the characters, mainly Andy McNally and Traci Nash, I’m starting to like this show more and more.

‘Woman Officer, Police Woman Officer, Yeah I Mean, Well, Yes’
Scene cut again and we see Andy in her car with her officer, who is giving her a speech about how people can smell rookies like wet paint, after a while they get a call on the radio saying that there is a disturbance in Jameson and King, he declines at first, but then begrudgingly accepts. They pull up in a residential area where a woman and her child are waiting for them, the woman says that there is shouting in flat 202, the shot focuses on the woman’s daughter asking if Andy is a policeman, to which she replies, ‘Woman Officer, Police Woman Officer, Yeah I Mean, Well, Yes’ – this is the first bit of humour I’ve seen, which although doesn’t appear that funny in writing, did make me chuckle because of Missy Peregrym’s delivery. The shot cuts back to Andy and her superior officer, and shots are fired. The woman grabs her daughter and runs away and Andy’s officer leads her inside. She asks, like a sensible policeman, woman, officer, well yeah I mean officer, if they should wait for backup, but her superior officer states that there are kids in the area and goes up the stairs.

‘So I just follow you in right? Gun in, Gun out?’
The next shots cut to Traci and her superior officer pulling up looking for the shooter around the back. Andy and her superior officer gone into flat 202 where they find a prostitute, a dead man and a girl (around 16) lying on the floor with and overdose. Andy starts to do CPR but nothing changes.

‘Big man’, ‘Yes I am’
Next shot cuts to Gail and Dov answering phones and doing filing. Dov asks the chief if he can take his gun home and them a memo comes requesting a police woman to search a woman. Gail goes to search a woman called Tammy, who is then revealed to be transgendered and quote unquote, humour ensues and Gail and Dov decide who needs to search her. The chief then comes in and looks at her wallet which proves he is a man, meaning Dov has to search her. I’m not really sure if that was a trial of a joke, but if it was, this show isn’t funny.

‘Go ... and don’t get lost’
The shot cuts to the scene of the crime where Cole is being told to cordon the perimeter. The paramedics revive the girl and Traci and Andy are sent to search the building in case there are more shooters. Andy comes across two guys who run from her Andi goes down the fire escape and comes across a car, which she tells to ‘turn this car around’, he flashes her his detective badge, a second chuckle from me, but I tend to laugh easily. Cut to Traci looking in a closet and finding a boy surprised and Andy arresting both guys, one of whom matches the subject description. He’s got drugs and she arrests them both, she brings them back to the car and tells her superior office, who is more interested in lunch.

‘I know what I said, what d’ya want, a cookie?’
Scene cuts again and Chris is told to take the prostitutes statement, he stumbles off and the scene cuts again to Traci, who is talking to the boy – but he’s not talking as he promised, but reveals that he can’t leave the closet until he is found. Chris’ officer, who is revealed to be called Frank, cuts a deal for her information.

‘Welcome Home, I Mean...’
Cut back to any and it is revealed that one of the men she arrested was an undercover cop, whose cover is blown by Traci’s boyfriend. Then, there is a meeting in which Andy is reprimanded. The scene then cuts for a few seconds between the rookies, and then Andy sees the undercover cop, named Sam. Sam is kicking the lockers in the room and Andy says that she is to blame, but it’s just as bad for her. This is the first time I’ve actually warmed to her character more than a bit. After a conversation her reveals that he saw a guy in an orange t-shirt running from the scene – and he believes that the gun is in a warehouse near where he was arrested.



‘Now how’s he gonna find me’
The scene cuts again to Andy’s superior officer who is sitting on his car, and Andy says that they have to go back to the scene of the crime. The scene then cuts back to the Traci and the boy, who is being taken home by his father, but she quickly spots that he is using and the child is in danger due to it, he says he tried to get back in, and she empathises with him.

‘Because he’s a weasel and he doesn’t have the balls or a gun’
Scene cuts and Andy is talking to a detective explaining that she thinks she knows where the gun was, he recognises her name and she tells him that her father worked on the homicide force. She leaves and goes into the warehouse type building and goes up the stairs. After fumbling and cutting herself a few thousand times the guy in the orange shirt appears and points a gun at her. He tells her to get on the ground and then, on his orders, she cuffs herself. The scene continues as she picks up a bit of metal, whilst distracting him. While she talks to the orange shirt guy she quietly unlocks her handcuffs and once fully off pulls out the gun and pleads ‘Please don’t make me shoot you’. The overdosed girl is revealed to be his sister and she cuffs him.

‘I used to work with a guy named McNally’
She brings him to the police car and he’s arrested, after she reveals his sister is fine. Finally, the show cuts back to the bar and Andy apologises to Sam who refuses it. She goes back to the ‘Rookie Table’, but with Gail this time and they talk for a minute. In the last scenes of the show, they toast each other, and it is revealed that Traci has a son, major shocker. Finally, the show ends with Andy and her dad, who gives her his old police badge.

My Two Cents
Judging by the first episode of the show, I don't think it'll break any records for amazingness, but I do think its a solid foundation for a good show. I'm warming to Andy a lot, but my favourite character at the moment is clearly Tracy, hopefully through the rest of the season it will have more of the other rookies as well, as I felt it was just the Andy show, featuring Tracy. However, I really did enjoy the show.