Rookie Blue - A Real Gentleman - Review

Remember the serial rapist who got away in the first episode this season? Yeah, he’s back and this time he’s coming for Traci. The guys at 15 are determined to catch him before time runs out for the detective.

Traci’s orchestrating her first big raid and she’s feeling really nervous about it. Steve being his charming self tries to calm her nerves by making a fool out of himself. This is the first time we get to see a proper Steve and Traci scene and it’s really sweet. I love Stash, but I really wished they didn’t leave out their reconciliation that happened sometime during last season’s finale and the premiere.

Right before the raid, Traci gets a call from Leo’s school to let her know that her son is sick. Dex is out of town, so she has to go pick Leo up and drop him at the babysitter’s and be back just in time for the raid. When she gets there, she finds out that Leo isn’t actually sick and it may have been a mistake. Traci rushes back to her car and the second she closes the door, a masked man appears from the backseat to kidnap Traci, leaving the rest of 15 to conduct the raid without her.

The guys are waiting for the right time to make a move on the raid and worried about Traci’s whereabouts at the same time. She knows the operation better than anyone, so it’s probably best if she’s the one leading the raid. For a second I thought the raid would be a bust without Traci, but they manage to catch their target, Thom Kozik the guns dealer and seize the weapons.

While interrogating Kozik, they realize that Traci’s missing and Kozik probably has something to do with it. But it’s too obvious. If Kozik didn’t want to get caught, he would have cancelled the trade instead of kidnapping a police officer. Andy and Gail arrive at Leo’s school and find Traci’s car in the parking lot, her phone and a bouquet of flowers left in the back. Same MO as the serial rapist they were trying to catch in the first episode.

Things get pretty tense at the precinct as everybody’s working hard to find Traci (maybe except for Duncan). Juliet is still shady as hell. She has her own way of contributing, doing something on the computer called “onion routing”. How she knows this, we don’t know. But it definitely adds to my theory that she’s from Internal Affairs or some secret organization or department, sent to poke around 15.

The detective from Sex Crimes returns to help and they have a suspect named Adrian Clark who might be the serial rapist. They catch him at his house but Traci is nowhere to be found. They bring him to the station anyway to get his alibi checked out.

It is revealed later in the episode that Clark is indeed the guy, but he’s not working alone. He didn't kidnap Traci, but his partner did. Juliet saves the day by finding out that Corey Sleeman, the barista at Traci’s local coffee shop is Clark’s partner in crime. Who else yelled ‘I knew it!’ in front of the TV?

Traci Nash is a badass in this episode. She fought and tried to escape when Corey cut her loose, but unfortunately trapped herself in the storeroom. Andy and the officers at 15 arrive just in time to rescue Traci and arrest Corey. The serial rapist case is officially closed.

Some of my favourite scenes this week involve Dov and Gail. Ah, Peckstein. They almost became a thing back in season 2. I love their chemistry and banter. They are assigned to get Leo from school and keep him away from the station. We see Gail trying to “practice” parenting on Leo, making jokes and being silly around him so he wouldn’t miss his mum. Seeing Gail with Leo is like preparing me for Gail’s adoption storyline. I still don’t know how I feel about it, but I can tell Gail’s great with kids. At the end of the day, Leo reunites with Traci and hugs Gail, telling her she’d be a pretty cool aunt if Steve and Traci ever get married in the future.

I’m shaking my head as I write this. Chris is in quite a difficult situation. He shows up at work and Jamie’s there trying to convince him to skip the day. He returns home to find Jamie in his living room waiting for him with a bag of cocaine. We don’t see Chris taking any of it, so I’m going to assume he didn’t. Jamie's going to be a problem for his career and wellbeing. I really hope he stays clean and away from that woman.

We didn’t get to see much of Andy and Sam again, but what we get to see are sweet moments at the beginning and end of the episode. You know I like Marlo, but it’s really great to be free of baby drama this week. McSwarek fans will probably agree.

It turns out I was wrong last week. I predicted that Juliet would want to forget about the night she shared with Nick, but they are still going strong – not for long, probably – and keeping it a secret at the station. That probably won’t work out well, they do realize that they work in a building full of detectives and cops right? Someone is going to find out eventually.

I really enjoyed this episode, especially when all hands are on deck to save one of their own. It shows the chemistry and bond between the characters and when someone’s life is hanging in the balance, things tend to get tense and thrilling, and I love it.

What about you? Did you enjoy A Real Gentleman? Share your thoughts on the episode with me in the comments section below!

Rookie Blue is moving to Wednesdays, starting next week on the 24th.