The Rookie - Brave Heart - Review

With a new episode on tonight, let’s do a recap of the show’s outing last week, whose primary goal was to set up the final overarching plot for the closing of the season.

The episode followed three pretty splintered storylines.

Starting from where we left off last week with Henry’s heath scare, we learn that his heart condition has resurfaced as the he has outgrown the surgeries he had as a child, and will need new surgery. John, Abigail, Henry and Sarah (guest starring Emily Deschanel as Henry’s mother) weigh the options of the aggressive but dangerous surgery versus the less invasive treatment which will require follow up. Henry wanting to put this behind him wants to go “aggressive” but Sarah, as the reasonably weary and concerned parent wants him to take the safe route. Abigail is torn, but would rather Henry play it safe as well. John is undecided as well, but seems intent on wanting to follow Henry’s wishes, as this is his decision. In the end that’s what they do, because as John very eloquently puts it, “anything else would be a betrayal”. Thankfully after much fretting Henry pulls through.

Nolan being at the hospital gives the opportunity for the rest of the crew to stop by, as Grey and Nyla want to check in on him before work, Tim in tow. Angela for her part is at the hospital as well with Wesley, but for baby related reasons. However when Harper and Bradford spot La Fierra in the halls, much to Wesley’s dismay, she gets sucked into work. It is revealed that Sandra is using an emergency surgery her son Diego has to have, as an excuse to be at the hospital and strike up a deal with Tomas Madrigal, a dying cartel boss. Tim’s friend Mack (from episode 3.06 for those of you who don’t remember) is working security for the dying jeffe, and his displeasure in seeing Tim lurking around is more than palpable. His derision towards Tim can only be matched by the feelings he has towards Madrigal’s son, who he deems an unworthy thug that will run the business to the ground. As Angela and Nyla wiretap Madrigal’s room, it’s all too obvious by the way Tomas seems willing to give his business over to Sandra that he too knows his son is not up to the task. Still La Fierra and Madrigal are smart and speak in code; however Grey deems the recordings good enough to start up an investigation.

Things heat up when Sandra threatens Wesley as a means to keep Angela in check, though he doesn’t find himself too intimidated. Instead he’s more worried about Angela, but they both know she has to see this though. Lopez takes the opportunity to try and reason with Sandra and asks her to step away for her son’s sake. Instead La Fierra blows her off, and all hell breaks loose: Diego is executed by the men of Madrigal’s son right in front of his mother and a shoot out continues with Sandra as the target. Angela keeps her safe, while Nyla and Tim apprehend the sicarios. With La Fierra having survived it’s unlikely she will allow her son’s murder to go unpunished, and so our team needs to prepare for war.

Lucy and Jackson are also on site at the hospital, though they never get sucked into any of the other stories really. They spend the episode mostly dealing with a drug mule, and some inner conflict about Tamara staying with them. Jackson is not 100% trusting of the girl, and blames her for his baby Yoda crystal figurine having gone missing. Lucy reveals that it’s not missing, she broke it and his distrust of Tamara is unwarranted... which is only proven even further when she gifts him with a baby Yoda plushy as a replacement for the figurine as a “thank you” for letting her stay with them until her transitional housing situation is sorted out.

For what was mostly a set up episode that picked up all the threads seamed throughout the season to start weaving the final closing storyline of the season, it also offered some great character moments: From getting to meet the infamous ex-Mrs Nolan and finally get to see John’s full family dynamic in effect, to Grey cutting him slack for skipping work, and Nyla and Angela getting into some girl talk; Tim continuing to fulfil his Man of Honor duties and extending Mack another helping hand (this time successfully, as he agrees to go to rehab); Wesley and Angela being the cutest parents-to-be; also Wesley getting a chance to strut the darker side of his profession, and Angela being justifiably turned on by that; getting yet another reminder of how big a nerd Jackson... Hell even seeing La Fierra in full mama bear mode, really everyone got their chance to shine.

That’s that for last week’s episode. Tune in tonight for a brand new instalment of The Rookie!