The Rookie - Homefront - Review

One of the precinct's own is arrested by Internal Affairs for lying on the witness stand. Three felons who were put in jail due to the dirty cop's false testimony were released from prison, though they remained under heavy scrutiny. Everyone is assigned to tail one of the felons to ensure they don't do anything criminal that could mean they weren't wrongfully imprisoned and need to make a return trip to a cell.

Amanda Bennett, a woman who was imprisoned for ten years despite being innocent, becomes the problem of West and Lopez who track her down while she causes a scene at her apartment complex. She wants to see her daughter, who her ex took away from her. She is arrested again for causing a disturbance, but they are able to track down her daughter by episode's end and give her some peace of mind.

Photo Credit: Tony Rivetti/ABC

If you were hoping for a Wesley and Lopez reunion (I know I was) you're in luck! The couple seems to be back together, or else they're at least super hot and heavy this week, even flirting over a suspect plea bargaining in one of the interrogation rooms. The pair can't seem to keep their hands off one another.

As for West, he does finally get an answer to the suggestion a felon, Oscar, made about his father being dirty, and it's not the answer he was hoping for.

 His dad confesses that he did "cut corners" on occasion because they didn't have DNA evidence or fast fingerprinting back then. This rattles West to the core, as he was trained his whole life to always follow the law to the letter, only to learn his own dad was out there planting evidence to secure arrests. It'll be interesting to see how this affects West on the line of duty moving forward.

Photo Credit: Tony Rivetti/ABC

Bishop and Nolan are assigned to a man who was arrested for armed robbery named Terry Wright. In a strange moment, Terry recognizes Bishop, but she pretends not to know what he's talking about. We find out that she does actually recognize him because he runs with her foster brother, a kid named Dylan who has gotten tangled up in the wrong side of the law.

Nolan is dealing with his own issues as a man tries to sue him for an "aggressive shove" while pursuing a suspect. His lawyer is a very young kid who is on his first case and ironically, Nolan struggles to trust him despite their similar circumstances (Nolan too, has been judged for his old age as a rookie since the start). Ultimately, the kid wins him the case when Nolan leaves to go help Bishop, throwing himself to the wolves. His lawyer, Parker Jr. is able to use that to their advantage and get the case thrown out!

Photo Credit: Tony Rivetti/ABC

And why does Bishop need help? Well she tracks Dylan, hoping he doesn't succumb to his criminal side and meet up with Terry, but unfortunately, old habits die hard. Bishop gets caught in the crossfire, kidnapped, and nearly murdered by Terry in the process. Luckily, Dylan steps up and saves her life by shooting Terry. She still arrests him though! I suppose in some way, it's for his own good.

Unfortunately, Bishop's unflinching willingness to do the right thing could end her career as she confesses to Grey that she lied on an official document about having a foster brother. He is forced to file a memorandum because IA is on the hunt for anything untoward in the precinct in light of the dirty cop arrest. Will this actually be the end of the line for Bishop? I hope not.

On the lighter side of things, Eric and Lucy get to go through a paintball course to track the third and final felon and Lucy even gets Bradford to lighten up for a change. By episode's end, the two of them are playing paintball and it might be one of the cutest things this show has ever done! Their scenes are my favorite, I wish we'd gotten just a little more so I could see Lucy shoot him in the back with a giant splat of paint.

New episodes of The Rookie air Tuesday nights on ABC.