The Rookie Season 1 Episode 7 Review: The Ride Along
Christine Orlando
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What is a patrol officer's least favorite assignment?
I wanted Lopez to explain why hers was guarding a dead body because other than being boring, I don't see the issue, or maybe boring was her issue.
Canvassing in the rain just made Bradford sound whiny.
Bishop's sounded the most believable. I have no doubt that driving the drunk wagon must get really nasty.
But is the VIP ride-along really so bad?
Well, if your VIP was movie director Rupert Payne from The Rookie Season 1 Episode 7, it would be.
Rupert was an arrogant, entitled ass who didn't care if he was putting himself, the police, or other citizens in danger with his presence. Heck, he couldn't even be bothered to remember John's name...
Rupert: Oh, I’m so excited to be riding with the oldest rookie in the world.
Nolan: I wouldn’t say the world.
Rupert: Don’t sell yourself short, James.
Nolan: It’s John.
I was really kind of hoping that Malcolm was going to smash Rupert's phone to pieces when he was filming Tyson in cuffs but the consequences of that probably would have been worse for Malcolm than Rupert, not that it mattered in the end.
Family disputes and dealing with the mentally ill must be two of a cop's most difficult types of calls and Bishop and Nolan had them combined.
It was clear that Tyson didn't understand what was happening when he held that knife but he also could have seriously hurt or killed someone.
Bishop and Nolan had to try to de-escalate the situation while the family was screaming, Tyson was waving the knife and they had their guns drawn.
How do you convince a mentally ill person that you aren't a threat to them and they can drop their weapon while pointing a gun at them?
Officer Bishop is definitely someone I'd want responding to a call like this. She's firm but always calm and that's rare.
This storyline brought up a fact that has always astounded me. which is the difference in the number of police personnel between New York City and Los Angeles, as per this The Rookie quote:
Bishop: You wanted to see the difference between New York cops ad LA ones, right?
Rupert: Yup.
Bishop: Well, New York has 40,000 officers policing their streets, LA only has nine operating in a city twice its size. We see a hell of a lot more action every shift.
New York has a larger overall population but Los Angeles has a larger area, yet the difference in the number of police officers startling.
When Rupert started asking Nolan whether Tyson would get the help he needed, I figured I knew where this was going. Rupert would swoop in and play the white knight with all of his ready cash and pay for Tyson's treatment.
But not so fast, as this story zigged and zagged in ways I hadn't expected.
Rupert's offer only made Malcolm angry which was both understandable and short-sighted. Yes, Rupert was an overbearing, egotistical jerk, and I could see how telling him where to shove his money could feel good.
But Rupert's cash could have actually helped Tyson, and it's a shame his brother couldn't swallow his pride and accept that. I'm sure his mother would have.
And then things took whole other turn when they robbed Rupert who then was accidentally shot while doing something stupid and trying to play the hero.
Bishop and Nolan were lucky that the shooting didn't happen during the actual ride-along but it certainly didn't win them any points with the Captain.
During his off hours, Nolan wasn't getting out much. I get the feeling he's a bit of a homebody to begin with and his breakup with Lucy has him down. Checking her Instagram account several times a day probably wasn't helping.
Ben: So, just to be clear, since I left you three days ago, I flew to New York, went to a board meeting, two Broadway shows, a charity gala, and you haven’t moved.
Nolan: Moving is overrated.
I didn't think Nolan would call any of the numbers on those napkins Rupert handed him. He didn't know any of those women and if he were looking for random hookups to forget Lucy he could have been out looking for that already.
We did finally get to see his son, Henry, and I look forward to Henry's visit to LA. Henry is probably closer in age to many of the other rookies than Nolan which should make his visit interesting.
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As for our other teams, Bradford felt sucker punched when Isabel was arrested with enough weight to make the charges stick no matter what kind of strings he or Sgt. Grey might try to pull.
I loved the music that played when Grey told him about Isabel. It sounded like the blood rushing through his ears as Tim stood, not moving, but must have felt panicked inside.
When Isabel promised Tim she'd go to rehab and she'd change if he took the kilo of heroin from her apartment before the detectives found it, I knew she was lying.
Junkies will say absolutely anything to get what they want; they are world-class manipulators. Isabel would have had Tim trash his career and his self-worth to get her off, only to have her go back out and do it all over again.
It's unfortunate that some small part of Bradford will most likely always wonder if she was telling the truth.
Like Chen, I was relieved when Tim didn't take the drugs for her. He walked right up to the line but he chose not to cross it.
For all of his bravado, being a good cop and doing the right thing is important to him. At the end of the day, it's the one thing he can still hold onto.
Finally, we get to Officers Lopez and West.
Lopez was so focused on making detective that she failed to take Sgt. Grey's warnings seriously.
In some ways, I think Lopez needed to get knocked down a peg or two. If all of this had helped her earn the promotion to detective, I think her ego would have become too inflated.
Also, we need her to remain as West's training officer for at least the rest of The Rookie Season 1.
Jackson made it clear he had her back. She was there when he needed help and he won't forget that.
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Much the way that Bishop and Lopez were there to make sure Bradford didn't end up wallowing alone after being dragged back into Isabel's madness.
I'm sure there must be a lot more shared story between our three training officers and I'm looking forward to seeing it.
So TV Fanatics, could Bishop and Nolan have handled their VIP ride-along better?
Will this be the last we hear of Isabel Bradford for a while or do you want more of her story?
And are you looking forward to seeing Henry visit his dad?
Check out my review of The Rookie Season 1 Episode 8 and until then, you can watch The Rookie online here at TV Fanatic.
C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.
