Typically, Rookie Blue offers up various cliches throughout an episode. It's not exactly the most creative show on television.

But "Broad Daylight" took a different, unoriginal tact: it tread in stereotypes for an entire hour.

The episode started with the late-night, post-coital sneak out. Then, it moved on to the scared groom. The intimidating father-in-law. The easy flight attendants. The single friend lying about his sex life. The single mother trying to juggle her job and her child. The rival son and step-father.

It really felt like the episode could have been written in three minutes, as there was no attempt to create a layered storyline or character. It was all shallow, all obvious, on-the-surface drama. Take Diaz, for example.

He's been dating the same woman for seven years. In fact, he's only kissed one other person in his life... yet he seems utterly taken aback by the concept of marrying her and doesn't think he can do it. Why not? Why has he stayed with her this entire time in that case? Is there a profound reason that reveals more about this individual?

Who knows. The show never tried to answer any of those questions. It just gave us a contrived wedding day scene that saw the groom show up late, get chewed out by his soon-to-be father-in-law, and Diaz, of course, be shaken by witnessing this scene.

It wasn't just a (boring) storyline filled with stereotypes; it was a storyline filled with negative male stereotypes, concluded by Epstein apparently taking back his criticism of marriage. Why? Because Denise is hot, of course.

The developments with Tracy weren't any more original or logical.

Her son is six years old. She's been training to be an officer for years. Are we meant to believe she'd never considered how to juggle the two sides of her life before last night? That's what Andy told the woman who asked.

Again, the show doesn't make any attempt to go beyond the surface of these characters. Most are just one-dimensional caricatures of a certain archetype. In this case, the single mother struggling to have it all.

Moreover, the series doesn't even identity the city in which it takes place. There's no attempt to make it unique in any way. It's just Generic Area Where Crimes Occur.

In closing, we need to see consequences affect these rookies. Andy didn't load her gun and Tracy left the scene of a crime. Their superior was immediately understanding of Andy's mishap, and then we're led to believe that Andy sticking up for Tracy simply fixed that situation.

But those were enormous mistakes. Did the characters receive any punishment for them? Is every mistake just chalked up to rookies being rookies? If so, the lack of ramifications for their miscues removes a large amount of drama and realism from the show.

Rookie Blue still offers up the occasional funny line and its actors do the best with the material they have. But it too often feels like the writers have no grasp on the actual police world or the individuals about whom they're writing. They simply slap a stereotype or cliche onto a situation and take the most obvious direction possible with it.

What did you think of the episode?

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.