West and Lopez are assigned to patrol an apartment complex where a protest has assembled out front.
One guy, who has clearly watched way too many cartoons, tries to swallow the key locking everyone together by their handcuffs and chokes as a result. Jackson to the rescue! And for his heroics he gets rewarded with a face full of vomit. Today is not a good day for West. Due to the impromptu VP visit, he had to cancel breakfast plans with his mom. Maybe not such a big deal to most but his relationship with her has been estranged for several years because of his dedication to his job. Canceling on her because of it is not exactly a great way to mend fences and West is clearly disappointed.
At least the rest of his day is vomit-free, though he spends most of it going door-to-door with Angela. The apartment they're investigating has several explicit posters of the VP displayed in the windows. Apparently someone paid several tenants one hundred dollars each to hang it up, although we never find out which person did exactly. My guess is on the guy who got arrested for elder abuse.
Chen and Bradford don't fare much better. After trying to corral a group of homeless folks off the sidewalks, Chen tries to stop a scuffle only to wind up being stuck with a used hypodermic needle. Tim tries to comfort her with some blunt, but reassuring advice about how to control irrational fears and honestly, Tim is the kind of person I would need around me in a crisis to keep my head on straight.
I related to Lucy so much in the scene where she immediately began reading through WebMD as I regularly fall down that rabbit hole.
Thankfully, Lucy's test results come back negative for both hepatitis and HIV but she does have a staph infection and will need to get started on antibiotics for it right away. I'll be interested to see if this will be contained to this episode and never addressed again or if they intend to fold this into Lucy's storyline. Could it be possible she got staph elsewhere and not from the needle? The duo who scoops the most action is easily Nolan and Bishop. Talia is trying to implement a more positive outlook on life at her therapist's behest -- as an aside, I loved the moment where Nolan said he respected Bishop for having the bravery to face her problems head-on through therapy, positive representation of mental healthcare is always important.
Not only do they have an innocent bystander die on their watch due to a reckless, trigger-happy, truck driver who takes his road rage way too far, but they also come across a robbery at a weed-dispensary and get involved in a shoot-out with the burglars. The getaway driver gets seriously injured in the process and they're forced to call in for back-up to get the driver to the hospital before he bleeds out.
West and Lopez are the closest officers but the VP's head of security doesn't want them to go, despite the fact they're standing around doing nothing while long-armed snipers watch out in case anyone wants to take the VP's panini sandwich and coffee.
Outside of work, Nolan is struggling with a decision of whether or not he should try to buy his house back from his ex-wife. His attachment to it is more about the sentimentality he feels when thinking of his son's childhood there and the last memories imprinted on the walls. He built it from the ground-up. But a rookie's salary could never cover the cost, and he realizes that Henry was too young to remember it the same way he does. Still, it comes as a pleasant surprise when he gets the original doorjamb from the house in the mail with the etchings tracking Henry's height still there.
It appears as though The Rookie is really beginning to find its groove. The last two episodes were a strong improvement over the first batch and this episode follows suit. The characters are more defined, the writing is sharper, and they've nailed the comedic timing and roughed out many of the edges. Now I'll be crossing my fingers and toes the ratings improve so we can be guaranteed a second season.
A new episode of The Rookie titled "Caught Stealing" airs February 5th on ABC.
