Initially, The Rookie was a grounded procedural show with 40-year-old divorcee, John Nolan, trying to prove himself as a police officer with the LAPD. Along this journey, the show has evolved to become a program where patrol officers routinely battle serial killers, survive major explosions, discover massive conspiracies, and are the first line of contact after every major crime in Los Angeles. Realistic? Not even close. Entertaining? Yes.
One of the major problems with the newer seasons of The Rookie is that they have very little focus on rookies, as they did in earlier seasons, when viewers were able to experience alongside Nolan, Chen, and Jackson how they learned to survive on patrol and transitioned into successful police officers. Today, most of the characters on The Rookie are not even patrol officers, but rather they are detectives, sergeants, training officers, or otherwise involved in massive criminal investigations with some level of involvement from federal law enforcement agencies. Thus, the title The Rookie no longer fits the program; however, the relationships among the characters are so strong that many viewers no longer care.
8. Season 3
Season 3 is the weakest of the entire series. It has many bad scenes and stories that drag, as well as a poor balance between social commentary and entertainment. Nolan’s character has become frustratingly perfect, and many of the episodes lack the comedic relief and natural pacing that made the other seasons enjoyable.
The only bright spot in this season has been the budding relationship between Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen. The chemistry they show through their undercover investigations can’t be ignored. I enjoyed the La Fiera storyline and her connection to Angela Lopez; however, I feel it was canceled out by the writers trying to have the characters be “morally correct.” While addressing racism in the police department is very important, especially in 2020 when season 3 was coming out, I feel it was overdone within Jackson and Stanton’s storyline.
7. Season 5
Chaos reigns supreme with Season 5. The show is no longer attempting to stay true-to-life, but the self-reflexive aspect of that provides some entertainment value. Rosalind’s final storyline contains some of the best material of the entire season. But the main cause for the success of this episode is that the emotional stakes are relevant. Unfortunately, this is also the point where the documentary-style episodes become intolerable. Every time the documentary-style episodes are aired, they break the rhythm of the episodes’ pacing. Instead of being immersed in the episodes, they come off as a gimmick, breaking character development and the overall flow of the series. Alexi Hawley, the director of The Rookie, plays the director of the documentaries, which makes such episodes seem like he just wants a feature. Similarly, Hawley’s son is introduced, and Rodge, the singer of “Daddy Cop,” who has since become a recurring character.
6. Season 1
While Season 1 is an important starting point for the series, it is fairly weak on the second-time review; however, there were elements of the rookie-focused storytelling and smaller patrol cases that made the show’s setting feel more plausible at that time compared to all subsequent seasons combined. There are some very clear examples throughout the entire season of characters not being developed to their full potential.
A good example of this is Talia Bishop. There’s nothing horribly wrong with her character, but, when you consider how much more developed Nyla Harper becomes in the future, you see that Bishop is very flat and much less dynamic than Harper. Harper, unlike Bishop, brought complexity, unpredictability, and emotional realism to her character. .
One area in which Season 1 was particularly weak was Chen and Nolan’s relationship. This relationship created several awkward situations and soured Chen’s character from the very beginning. Luckily, the writers got rid of this pretty quickly.
Finally, there were several really great episodes in Season 1. “Greenlight” continues to be one of the most intense episodes ever produced for the show. The death of Captain Andersen was a completely unexpected shock to the audience. Captain Andersen was one of the few authority figures who had the potential to anchor the madness swirling around her, and when they lost her, the overall tone of the series changed forever.
5. Season 4
The absurdity of season four has surpassed all expectations. The series has committed itself wholeheartedly to being an action-drama, and by all accounts, has achieved more successes than should have been possible. While the scale of many of the cases seems completely ridiculous, the overall emotional dynamics between characters have continued to be far-reaching enough to keep the series’ feet on the ground.
Wesley Evers and Lopez have, in my opinion, one of the best relationships of the show. Not only has Wesley not been relegated to the role of Lopez’s significant other, but he actually plays a significant role in moving the plot forward. I also love how Harper and Lopez continue to dominate all scenes in which they appear together.
The relationships within the department are also shown to be patently absurd this season. There is a romantic, mentor/mentee, supervisory, and/or emotional component to most every relationship that exists in the department. Rather than being a police station where the sole purpose of the people inside is to enforce the law, Mid-Wilshire is now becoming more like a very dangerous workplace friendship.
4. Season 6
Season 6 isn’t very consistent throughout but can still be fun to watch due to how much chemistry there is between the actors. Harper and Lopez continue to deliver great performances together; they are hands down the best duo on this show. They have an authentic friendship that does not feel pushed or forced, and they really show how well both of their characters balance being funny and emotional.
Bradford continues to grow as a character; thus far, he has been one of the most developed characters on the series. Watching him develop into a more emotionally open individual has been an incredibly believable long-term plot line, while still maintaining his “tough guy” attitude.
Due to the shorter episode count, many plot lines were rushed. I would have loved to see more on Thorsen’s return to active duty, and Juarez’ last few months of being a rookie.
3. Season 8
The eighth season has made the show crazier than ever. The end of this season has created cliffhangers and left viewers in suspense for one more year. This season also shows the frustrating side of Alexi Hawley by using screen time of his children and other less important characters instead of focusing on the major characters during episodes that should be filled with emotion. The episode “His Name Was Marvin” should have focused on Lucy Chen, but instead featured 20 minutes of Hawley’s son running from zombie-like people, taking away from the emotional impact on the audience. Another example is Nolan’s son, Henry’s ex-fiancée, should have been off the show once Henry left; it seems that at times, strong characters get robbed of much-needed airtime so that more time can be devoted to weak side characters.
The eighth season was successful in that the show’s storylines this season reflect and increase the stakes for characters than that of previous years.
2. Season 7
The seventh season of this show is an improvement from the previous seasons because it has learned what works best for it and is no longer concerned with being real; it is now mainly about rewarding viewers with emotion, developing chemistry between its characters, and having excellent self-contained episodes.
One of the most successful episodes of contemporary The Rookie is the episode about the fire “The Mickey.” The writers put the characters through some intense situations, but they also allowed ample opportunity for emotions to be expressed and for characters to work together as a team; after all this time, viewers feel they have invested in these characters, and they will be rooting for them to overcome obstacles.
In addition to improving the relationship between Bradford and Chen, it has allowed both of them to feel like a solid, believable couple instead of just creating a fan base around them for the purpose of generating more viewers. Wade Grey remains the character who provides the emotional support that all of the other characters look up to in each of their situations.
1. Season 2
The second season of The Rookie remains the flagship season of the show. It skillfully draws a line between rookie-level grounded storytelling and a much higher level than that without tipping into complete absurdity. The addition of Harper has an immediate positive impact on the cast’s chemistry, as does the character depth being developed for Bradford, and finally, Chen has found her own confidence and character independent of Nolan’s influence.
What has not been lost from what’s at the heart of The Rookie—a story about police officers learning, developing, and discovering who they are—is still very much evident in season 2. The rookie aspect of this being a rookie series will still be presented high in season 2, before it is almost completely lost entirely in later seasons. I love “Day of Death” because it displays Lucy processing trauma in a way I wished “His Name Was Marvin” could have done. Bradford’s breakdown while searching for her, and Harper/Lopez’s survival instincts, create an overall tension that feels legitimized through all aspects of the scene. Melissa O’Neil is phenomenal in this whole episode.
Ultimately, the character connections to the audience are what make The Rookie successful at its core. Sure, having to deal with almost a dozen different serial killers like Rosalind Dyer, or an entire city tied into a series of murders/kidnappings will always sound ridiculous, but episodes such as “Day of Death,” “Greenlight,” and the “Fire” episode in season 7 prove that The Rookie can still work as a series when the emotional character development is still central to all of the chaos. The connections between these characters may also explain why the fans will wait until season 9 to see what happens after that excellent season 8 finale cliffhanger.