2.1 – “Forward Motion & Frat Life”
Directed by Todd Harthan
Reviewed by Kelly Anne Blount
Rosewood is back after leaving us on several massive cliffhangers!
Will Rosie’s mother fall in love with a prison inmate? Are Pippy and Tara really breaking up? Did Rosewood blow things with Villa to the point of no return? Let’s hope this episode has some answers for us!
Looks like we are starting off in a party bus with “dancers” and a possible bachelor party. One of the dancers has had enough and leaves the bus. She admits to having a hard go of things lately and she looks really upset. She walks to her car and drives to a bridge/overpass. I have a bad feeling about this…
She gets out of her car and starts to walk to a staircase on side of the bridge/overpass. It’s dark and it seems like a pretty bad idea, but she keeps walking. Then suddenly, BOOM! We cut to a shot of her laying at the bottom of the staircase with blood pouring out of the back of her skull on to the pavement.
Meanwhile, Rosie is at a party listening to music. WAIT! That’s not just any music! That’s Pippy singing! GET IT, PIPPY! Her voice is on point and then some! Plus, she’s rocking a white one piece. I love Pippy and her super sweet sibling relationship with Rosie! What’s not to like?
WHOA! Eddie Cibrian! What are you doing in this episode? My head is spinning right now!
The next day, we see Villa at the station. She finds Captain Ira Hornstock a.k.a. Capt in a closet like office. Apparently, Villa has been off duty for a few weeks. She confronts Capt about turning in his badge. The fact that he’s still here is interesting. Perhaps he received punishment, but was allowed to keep a job at the station? The Capt asks Villa about Rosie. She doesn’t want to talk about it. Surprise, surprise!
Ah, the Mayor put in a good word for Capt and he was allowed to keep his job as a Junior Detective with the chance to earn his position back. Interesting!
Villa is nervous about meeting the new Captain. Eek! Rosie just showed up. He and Villa have a super awkward moment.
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! EDDIE CIBRIAN IS THE NEW CAPTAIN!
The new Captain wastes no time diving into the case of the college girl found dead at the bottom of the stairs. They aren’t sure if it’s an accident or a murder. The case is high profile and the new Captain wants it solved right away! He likes the chemistry between Rosie and Villa. He even goes as far as to call it magical.
Oooh! Tara has figured out who Rosie’s mom is sneaking around with at the prison! That is going to cause some major drama!
Mitchie is pumped about some new machine and tries to comfort Tara. He tells her she needs to “get back out there.” That way, she can decide if she made a mistake or not. Interesting advice.
The new Captain has crashed the crime scene. Rosie and Villa are struggling with their communication, but they want to work together to solve the case.
Rosie and Villa find out that the victim, Cassie, was unconscious before her head on the pavement. The new Captain, I’m going to call him Captain 2.0 from now on, is worried about paranoia spreading on the college campus. He wants Rosie and Villa to solve this case A.S.A.P.
We come back after a commercial break to find Rosie and Villa in the victim’s dorm room. Cassie’s neighbor stops by and shares that she is surprised Cassie even went out last night. Cassie’s mother passed away a short time ago and the neighbor revealed that Cassie had been having a really difficult time dealing with things and that she had been quite lately.
A quite girl who is depressed over the loss of her mother? Doesn’t seem like the type of girl who would be dancing on a party bus, am I right?
Ooh! There is a new reception area and a new receptionist. I like her tats! I can’t quite figure out if she’s flirting with Rosie or not?
Rosie starts to examine Cassie’s body. He goes over the injuries and gives Tara and Mitchie instructions. Mitchie will be working overtime until they can replace Pippy. I really hope Pippy comes back and that she and Tara can work things out! I love them together!
Villa busts through the door with big news. She thinks the killer destroyed Cassie’s phone because he might be on it.
Villa also figures out why Captain 2.0 has deemed this case as high profile. One of Cassie’s last calls was to the Mayor. Uh oh! Co-eds and politics! That is trouble with a capital T!
Rosie fanboy’s out over the Mayor. He is literally all about this man and what he has done for the city. Villa has to reel Rosie back in and asks the Mayor if he knows Cassie, the victim.
Surprisingly, the Mayor admits to knowing Cassie. He was the one who requested that her case be handled by the city’s finest a.k.a. Villa and Rosie! The Mayor denies ever having a physical relationship with the victim. I’m not sure I buy that… But we’ll soon find out, right?
When asked about his whereabouts, one of the Mayor’s people quickly states that he was at home with her all night. She seems a bit intense. I wonder if she’s the killer?
The Mayor says that his door is always open and that he’ll do whatever he can to help. Such a good politician!
Villa literally has to drag Rosie out of the room before he can fanboy out over the Mayor anymore.
We cut back to Rosie’s lab. Mitchie’s friend has made a dummy which resembles Cassie. They are trying to figure out what caused her internal injuries and how they align with her external injuries.
Cassie was drugged with halothane a.k.a. “chloroform’s ugly twin” the night of her murder.
Uh oh! Tara stops upstairs to talk to Rosie’s mother. She tells her that she received a call from the Daytona Maximum Security Prison. Her video key is ready so she and Gerald can talk face to face. Rosie’s mother says that Gerald reached out due to his case and that she’s helping him. I don’t know if I buy that? What do you think?
Tara digs deeper. Donna Rosewood tells Tara that she feels compelled to help Gerald. She isn’t doing much around the lab anymore and this has given her life purpose. Donna says that she will tell Rosie and Pippy herself. That’s going to go over well, NOT!
Captain 2.0 meets with Rosie and Villa. They need to figure out where the victim was the night of her murder. They are stumped until the Original Capt. (I’m going to call him that from now on) comes in the room and lets them know the bracelet the girl is wearing is the answer to their question. He turns out the light and the bracelet glows, “Saul’s Party Bus.” GO ORIGINAL CAPT!
Rosie and Villa find the party bus. Then we cut to a commercial. Taps fingers impatiently…
Okay, we’re back! Rosie and Villa are on the bus. The bus owner is pissed. His bus has been trashed and he was scratched by a wild dog. Eek, he was also spanked by the people on the bus…
The owner tells Rosie and Villa that Cassie and a giant d-bag (Ha ha ha!) got into it the night of her murder. Interesting!
Villa and Rosie gather evidence and bring it back to the lab. The new receptionist hits on Mitchie. That would be sweet. Mitchie needs someone special in his life!
Donna Rosewood is acting strange around Rosie. Wonder when she’s going to admit to helping a convicted alleged murderer?
So the wild dog wasn’t a dog at all, it was a badger. Wisssssconsin, YOU SAID IT ALL! Anyone? Anyone? Bucky Badger? I’m from Madison, Wisconsin, that should explain it.
Sorry, I digress! So, the badger’s saliva was on Cassie as well as the DNA of a frat boy who has donated more semen that just about anyone in all of Florida, allegedly. D
Rosie figures out that the poor bus driver/owner was paddled by a frat paddle. Poor guy!
Villa and Rosie take off in ONE CAR! This shows promise of things getting back to normal. WHAT? I’m shocked again! Villa just apologized to Rosie and said that he was right about everything! What is happening in this episode? Villa says that she doesn’t want to talk about it, but she does want to move on.
The frat boys are being jerks and won’t give up the suspect a.k.a. Frant Boy Lane. A few moments later, he gives himself up by peeling out of the driveway without looking. His car is quickly smashed by a truck. Looks like Rosie and Villa got their guy!
Villa rips into Frat Boy Lane. He is a d-bag. He claims Cassie is the only girl on campus who won’t have sex with him. Yuck!
While Villa interrogates Frat Boy Lane, Captain 2.0 tries to get personal with Rosie. He wants to know if there is more than a professional relationship going on with Villa. Rosie denies it. I think Captain 2.0 is digging and NOT in a good way. I’m going to keep my eye on him…
Frat Boy Lane is an idiot. He thinks that you can’t pull fingerprints off of someone’s skin. What. A. Bonehead. Villas asks if he’s high. He freaks out! Frat Boy Lane says that he just wanted to French kiss Cassie or at least get a hicky from her. Is this idiot for real? He does share something strange though… He says that Cassie was rubbing sunscreen on herself at night, inside the party bus. Strange indeed! Rosie jumps on it and thinks he just figured out why Cassie’s insides don’t match her outsides.
Rosie heads back to the lab. He and Mitchie finds out that Cassie had hemophilia. That’s why her internal injuries were so bad.
Tara has some news too. She says that the hair on Cassie didn’t belong to the badger after all. It was sheep’s wool.
Rosie declares Frat Boy Lane didn’t do it. He says, “This is big!” I wonder if it’s MAYOR big?
Oooooh! Rosie figures it out! He thinks Cassie is the Mayor’s daughter! That is big!
Villa tells Captain 2.0 that perhaps Cassie was ready to go to the press to tell the world she was the Mayor’s illegitimate child. Now THAT could cause some political backlash. Politicians always have nasty secrets, don’t they?
Rosie needs to see the Mayor’s body to confirm that he’s Cassie’s father.
Capt a.k.a. the Original Captain gets the job to interrogate the Mayor. Oooh! Remember, the Mayor put in a good word for the Capt, allowing him to keep a job on the police squad. Talk about a sticky situation!
The Mayor says that he barely knows Cassie.
Capt is playing hardball!
The Mayor admits that after Cassie’s mother passed away, Cassie found some letters. He says that he was open to having a relationship with her. He just asked her if she could keep it a secret until after the elections. Cassie was allegedly okay with this plan.
Capt isn’t happy. He tells the Mayor that he thinks Cassie was going to go to the press and that she had sheep’s wool on her, just like the sheep’s wool carpet they are standing on! BOOM!
The Mayor admits to being with his assistant during the time of the murder, not his wife. Looks like he has a solid alibi and the Capt believes him.
Villa, Rosie, Capt, and Captain 2.0 all meet in the squad room. Cassie took a paternity test and only a few people would have known that a fall down the stairs would have been lethal. Rosie and Villa exchange a special glance. They know who killed Cassie.
The team, the Mayor, and some of his people gather at the police station. James, the Mayor’s right hand man, is the killer! Rosie and Villa trick him into confessing with a mocked up image supposedly taken from Cassie’s phone.
The Mayor is upset he never got to know Cassie. Captain 2.0 is all, “YUP! AND IT’S YOUR FAULT!” One point for Captain 2.0! He tells the Mayor never to forgive himself. Two points to Captain 2.0!
Capt and Captain 2.0 have an awkward meeting after the confession. Capt finds out the Captain 2.0 grew up in a home for boys. Interesting!
The Capt and Captain 2.0 seem to handling this weird situation as best as they can and Capt finally unpacks a box at one of the desks in the squad room. It’s sad, but there is room for growth, right?
We cut over to Tara and Donna Rosewood. Tara pours the two of them a drink and tells Rosie’s mother that she has always been there for her and now she is returning the favor. Aw! That’s sweet. They take a shot and Tara is like, “EW!” Donna laughs and passes her some tea to drink. I think these two are going to grow much closer and it’s going to cause major issues with Pippy, whenever she returns.
Whoa! Speaking of Pippy, she’s singing in a recording studio. She. Is. So. Talented! WOW! She’s singing about moving on. Aw! Don’t say that, Pippy! Get back with Tara STAT!
Villa goes to visit Rosie. Rosie has all of the info about Villa’s late husband up on a whiteboard. Villa looks devastated until she rips off two pictures and declares them as dead ends. She tosses Rosie a flash drive and tells him that is everything she has so far. She vows to find out who killed her husband, Eddie. She thanks Rosie for what he has done. Villa says she might have never found out about the murder without Rosie’s help. Rosie and Villa vow to work on the case together.
***
Talk about a great opening episode! The case was complex with lots of twists and turns. I love when you think you’ve figured out who the killer is (a.k.a. Frat Boy Lane or the Mayor’s wife), but it turns out to be someone completely different!
I also love that Rosie and Villa are back and working together! They are right up there with Booth and Bones on my favorite crime solving duos list!
What did you think of the episode? Do you think they’ll find Eddie’s killer? Leave a comment below!
