Rookie Blue - Integrity Test - Review

Following the events that occurred in the previous episode, the gang gets together and form a plan to bring down Commissioner Santana in order to save their beloved Staff Sergeant Shaw. A lot happened, trust being broken and careers being ruined. Some of their lives will never be the same.

At the beginning of the episode, Santana visits Oliver in the morning and offers him a job at a private security firm. Oliver knows the Commissioner is trying to buy his silence. If he accepts the job offer, he has to leave the force permanently and Santana will get away clean. But if he doesn’t, if he decides to stay and fight during IA’s investigation, the chances of Oliver clearing his own name and getting his badge back are still going to be very low. He talks about this dilemma over drinks with Sam at the Penny, but not without getting all the bad feelings out of the way first.

The rookies come up with a plan to prove that Santana is dirty, but not without the help of Duncan. I guess it is time for him to contribute to the show. Duncan is like the new kid nobody likes. Trying to prove that he is worthy of hanging with the cool kids, the gang uses Duncan to get to his stepfather. Santana takes the bait and gets all angsty when he finds out there is a copy of Ted McDonald’s hard drives out there. Nick recruits his brother to come to the station to give his statement about the whereabouts of hard drives and it is obvious that Santana is concerned about this new development of the Ted McDonald case. They were expecting Santana to go to the warehouse to get a hold of these hard drives, but when Andy arrives, she finds Steve snooping around instead of the Commissioner.

I’m sure a lot of fans were rooting for Steve. Maybe he was undercover trying to expose Santana too. But we learn that Santana has been using him to do his dirty work all this time by blackmailing him. He admits to Andy that he was going to come clean for Traci’s sake, but Santana needed him to plant the bomb when Ted McDonald showed up. I don’t know if I believe him. Steve is very good at lying and manipulation. He thinks he is going to get away with it, but Nick and Gail are standing by outside the warehouse, and the look on Gail’s face when she finds out Steve is dirty is heart-breaking.

Once Steve is arrested, Jarvis and a bunch of cops arrest Santana at the station. He is still his cocky self even when in handcuffs. I didn’t expect them to arrest Santana so soon. There will be a trial after this and we are left with 3 more episodes, so anything could go wrong and Santana might still be able to walk away from this. My question is, is Jarvis corrupted too?

I expected Traci to tell Andy that Steve is actually the one who bought the explosives from Chris Klemp using Oliver’s name, but throughout the episode Traci keeps a close eye on Steve and gives him the benefit of the doubt. I suppose that is understandable, given they are in a relationship and she cares for him. Traci is heartbroken about Steve. She let him into her life after Jerry, and Leo’s too. They break up in the interrogation room and I think Steve genuinely cares about Traci.

You know who I want to see on the show? The Pecks. With Steve being arrested, I want Steve and Gail’s parent to show up. Maybe clean up the mess or get involved somehow. That would be interesting to watch.

On to other relationships on the show. Juliet finally tells Nick that she is from IA. Nick felt betrayed at first, but in the end I think he understands Juliet is just doing her job. Dov and Chloe talk about their relationship/friendship. Chloe tells him that she can never just be friends with Dov. I think they should get back together because they are miserable alone and they are perfect together. I think it is a matter of time before they reconcile. What do you think?

Tell me who is surprised by Jarvis knowing about Chris’s affair with his wife. What surprised me is the fact that the Inspector is fine with it. He is actually glad that Chris is seeing Jamie, so he can move in with his girlfriend. You know this is going to be a disaster when the husband of the woman you are having an affair with tells you to be careful.

During the episode, Santana conveniently spills to Andy that Oliver accepted the Staff Sergeant position because he wanted to protect her from getting fired when the Duncan thing happened last season. I totally forgot about this. Do you think Andy will bring it up and talk to Oliver about it?

There is a new detective in town. Frankie Anderson from Homicide. I have a feeling she will be sticking around, maybe as Steve’s replacement? I like her.

Is it just me or does Oliver look kind of unhappy when Noelle tells him he is in the clear? He doesn’t seem glad to have his job back. Maybe he is still upset over the fact that his TO is corrupt. Maybe all this changed his impression of the force. Maybe he doesn’t want to be a white shirt anymore?

Week after week, I always say the same thing. That this week’s episode is the best so far and it is still the truth after watching Integrity Test. Rookie Blue is on a roll, producing one great episode after another. After season five, I wasn’t sure if they should continue for a seventh season, but after watching these episodes, I really hope there is one more season to officially wrap things up.

Another solid episode this week. What do you think? Are you disappointed in Steve, or you knew it all along that he was working for Santana? Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts about the episode.