Is it about the cop or the uniform?

The Rookie Season 1 Episode 18 proved that it all depends on the situation as Nolan found himself in the middle of a lawsuit and Bishop had a questionable choice come back to possibly derail her career.

Bishop has never been comfortable with sharing too much about herself, but the moment Dylan's name was mentioned, it was obvious that he was a link to her closely guarded past.

Talia and Dylan shared a foster home as kids. Although she considers him family, she hasn't had contact with him since the system split them up and she was moved to another home.

Should she have listed him as family on her police academy application? I find that really questionable.

Foster kids frequently bounce from home to home. How do you decide which people you lived with are considered family and which ones are not? Obviously, she feels a connection to Dylan but does that truly make him family? They aren't blood-related and they only shared that home for a year.

I can't help but wonder if Bishop's guilt over leaving Dylan behind in that foster home and moving on with her life is, in part, fueling her need to make this confession.

I think there's some gray area here, or at least I hope there is, and that it will be enough to save Bishop's career.

It sounds as though Sgt. Grey would have gladly given her some wiggle room if it weren't for the heat brought down on the squad due to Detective Jenkins' arrest.

Of course Sgt. Grey had his hands full with more than just Officer Bishop's drama.

Commander West may have been at the squad to review all of the cases that Det. Jenkins had worked on, but he really wanted to know why his son was avoiding him.

I've always like Commander West, but he annoyed the heck out of me when he questioned Officer Lopez's ability to properly train Jackson while considering Bradford a "cop's cop."

Why was that? Because Lopez is a woman? Because she's Hispanic, or just because he doesn't know her? I fear it's the first guess, whether West would ever admit to it or not.

I was proud of Sgt. Grey for not hesitating to go toe to toe with West, even if he is his superior. Grey won't give Jackson or his father special treatment, and he won't allow the Commander to do parental check-ins as though Jackson is a child.

The only thing I wished Grey had done more vehemently was to defend Officer Lopez.

I was surprised by how angry Jackon was at his father and how readily he believed a known felon's story about him.

On the one hand, I get it. Commander West has preached the letter of the law to Jackson his entire life, but the reason for that may be that he's seen the consequences of bending or breaking the rules.

Commander West certainly doesn't consider himself corrupt but that doesn't mean he's squeaky clean either. Unfortunately, the LAPD was a very different place in the 1990s.

Perhaps Jackson's anger was fueled by fear after seeing Det. Jenkins taken out of the squad in cuffs, but either way, Jackson will have to come to terms with the fact that his father isn't as perfect as he once believed.

Elsewhere, Nolan found himself being sued for using excessive force during a foot chase, a case brought on by an obvious conman looking for a payday, but he sure knew how to throw himself to the curb when he saw a police officer coming his way.

Actor Robbie Kay played Simon Parks and I must admit that for the first five minutes I couldn't stop seeing him as Peter Pan from Once Upon a Time.

As usual, Bishop had one of the best The Rookie quotes...

Officer Nolan: The union says I can’t switch lawyers. They said, and I quote, “you get what you get,” which is exactly what I said to my son when he wouldn’t eat his peas.
Officer Bishop: He’s a lawyer, Officer Nolan, not a fish. You just can’t throw him back because you think he’s too small.

Permalink: He’s a lawyer, Officer Nolan, not a fish. You just can’t throw him back because you think...

Simon looked young and this was his first case but he knew what he was doing. His biggest liability was a client who wouldn't listen to his instructions.

John Nolan really can't keep his mouth shut to save his life...or his case.

The best thing to happen to Nolan was that he was called out of the room. He couldn't seem to stop himself from talking and annoying the arbitrator at every turn.

If Nolan had listened to Simon from the very beginning, they wouldn't have been stuck there all day.

Officer Nolan: Nicely done.
Simon Parks: I told you I know what I’m doing.
Officer Nolan: Yeah you did, and I for one should know better than to judge someone on their age or their experience, so I’m sorry and thank you very much.

Permalink: Yeah you did, and I for one should know better than to judge someone on their age or their...

Officers Bradford and Chen had the best day.

The moment Max Kegel mentioned how he couldn't wait to get his jailhouse bride back to their bedroom, I knew she had poisoned him.

I'd love to know the psychology that drives someone to marry a convicted felon who is still in prison and they've never actually met. It must be fascinating.

As much as I question whether paintball is a relaxing hobby for Bradford, I simply can't imagine him in a yoga class or painting landscapes in his spare time, and it was nice to see him willing to share some downtime with Chen.

Other than Angela hooking up with Wesley once again, everyone else's personal lives were MIA. Nolan didn't mention Jessica and Jackson never mentioned to his father that he had a new boyfriend which left me wondering if Commander West knows his son is gay.

With only two episodes left in The Rookie Season 1, Officer Bishop's future as a police officer appears to be on the line. Will she survive this turmoil or inadvertently take Nolan down with her?

Check back in for my review of The Rookie Season 1 Episode 19 and until then, you can watch The Rookie online here at TV Fanatic.