The Rookie Season 4 Episode 11 Review: End Game
Jasmine Blu
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Jason's terror reign is as over as quickly as it started.
Bailey got her life back, and they managed to put her future ex-husband behind bars on The Rookie Season 4 Episode 11. The hour also had a Castle alum guest-star, minus an actual reunion.
And to shake things up, we learned that Harper is pregnant.
The story arc with Bailey's husband concluded with him getting sent to prison for eight years, and after a few hiccups, everything is wrapped up in a neat bow.
The momentum and intrigue of The Rookie Season 4 Episode 10 petered out during this installment as the hour rushed through the resolution of an issue that should've taken far longer to settle.
Harper: I'm pregnant.
James: I can't tell if you're joking.
Harper: I'm not. I just found out.
At the top of the hour, they attempted to find something useful for Wesley to do, and it's still a bit questionable that he resorts to doling out legal advice when they suspended his license, but we'll digress.
Nolan couldn't fathom the idea that he'd have to give up the woman he purports to love or his job, as he couldn't have a romantic relationship with a convicted felon if it came to that. The whole ordeal prompted him to take off days to focus his attention on clearing Bailey's name.
Lucky for him, he didn't even need to put a dent in his vacations days since it took all of a day or two. How fortuitous!
He and Bailey teamed up, and here's where it's glaring how they have to go out of their way to incorporate Bailey into story arcs. Maybe they'd have had better luck if they gave her a different job that could coincide with law enforcement if they insisted on utilizing her so much.
Oscar: Do you still hear the lambs, Clarice?
Nolan: Oh, Oscar, you're no Hannibal Lecter. You're more like Ernest Goes to Jail.
Because in hindsight, Bailey takes up a shocking amount of screentime that often leads to the underutilization of other characters like Angela, who again popped up but didn't have much to do, and Thorsen, who we have finally seen for the first time in multiple episodes.
It didn't take much for Nolan and Bailey to get some leads in how to take down Jason, and it also, for some reason, required the assistance of Oscar. Oscar isn't a bad character or anything, and he has some fun moments, but there are times when to use him makes the cops look incompetent.
Oscar had some funny moments here, and the most significant role he played in this was shifting the hit from him to Jason, but outside of that, a lot of what he was telling Nolan was stuff you'd think Nolan could figure out on his own.
Tracking down Jason's current girlfriend, whom he was using, was predictable.
While Bailey's vulnerable admission about her abuse was moving, and that portion of this storyline and how well they captured emotionally abusive relationships and the effects has worked, the new girlfriend caving and turning on Jason quickly felt unrealistic.
I know sentiments about Bailey, her relevance, and her relationship with Bailey are mixed. Still, if they wanted to devote time to her and this particular story arc, it should've lasted a bit longer or taken more.
Justin turning himself in was the smartest move he could make, and it wasn't shocking when he tried to take off after the shootout at the undercover Op. It was irritating that Chris wanted to make a deal with him that would've had him doing 18 months instead of any significant time after his actions.
Thanks to his actions at the OP, which didn't exactly make any sense, he's in prison for eight years. The things he did to Bailey were no biggie, but pissing off the deal they struck with him did the trick.
Don't take it personally. She might just have a hard time opening up to you., but I'm sure Tamara will share when she's ready to.
Bradford
By the time Bailey and Nolan had their drinks and celebrated, all you could think about was how this whole storyline came about to postpone Nolan from popping the question. It's a weird segue-way that started strong and fizzled out with an anti-climactic ending. So by now, it felt like a waste of time.
Sadly, because Nolan spent his day(s) taking down his girlfriend's ex, we didn't get a Castle reunion with Tamala Jones guest-starring. It's something many Castle fans would've looked forward to, but assuming that she shows up again, maybe it'll happen.
Thorsen's return was a welcome one, as we're so light on actual rookies that we cling to him. Yvonne is quite the character, and you can tell how much she loves her son and wants the best for him. It took a lot for him to crawl beneath the murder trial and wrongful conviction.
You could understand how she wants this documentary to show the world that her son is innocent and give his side of the story. And as resistant as Thorsen was to the whole thing, it's always bothered him how people look at him. It's an opportunity for him to set the world straight on his terms.
He deserves that shot to control the narrative and how people view him, something he hasn't been able to do for years. How to Get Away with Murder's Rome Flynn guest-starring as Morris was a lovely treat, and his interaction with Harper was a funny moment.
If we love Harper's no-nonsense, snarky comments and fun quips now, then one can't imagine what type of gems she'll give us when the pregnancy hormones kick in fully.
Harper's pregnancy is a huge surprise. It's not a storyline that you'd ever expect from her, and it came out of nowhere, but I suppose that's the point.
It's also something that is coming soon after Angela's pregnancy. The timing of it is interesting, too.
When she first found out about it, you couldn't help but think they were headed down a path of her not knowing if Donovan or James was the father. After all, we had that random Halloween hookup between her and her ex-husband.
But it should be after Christmas now, so their hookup was longer than six weeks ago.
James' discussion had every right to be upset with Harper for chasing him down against his wishes. He's been managing these relationships with everyone in their community well before he met Harper, so it's something she should remain mindful of more. And he could face some issues if people notice that he's dating a police officer.
One can't even imagine what could happen if others learn that he's expecting a child with one. Harper probably has some reason to be worried about Curtis, though, and it's bound to come up again.
Morris: You are?
Harper: Annoyed
Morris. Right. I'll make this quick.
It sucks that James couldn't express himself on Harper, not respecting his boundaries before she dropped the baby bomb on him. And now things have shifted to that instead.
Although, it was hilarious when he confided in Wesley about it, who told him to break the bank to make it up to Harper. Wesley and James formed the bromance I didn't know we needed. They're the best together, and that dynamic is so much fun to watch!
The only thing we missed out on was some Harper and Angela time. Harper did confide in Thorsen about her pregnancy and issues with James, though, and it's surprising how close she's become to the rookie and how candid and personal their conversations are now.
Harper didn't think she could have kids again after her daughter, so while the news of her pregnancy is a shock, she wants this desperately. Fortunately, despite the newness of their relationship, James is all-in with her on this. I do wonder how Donovan will react to this and her daughter.
And will it be a repeat of when Angela was pregnant?
Speaking of Angela, she had limited screentime, and it's odd how she disappeared even though she should've been investigating the Becca case with Bradford and Chen.
Lucy had a personal investment and connection to it via Tamara, but Angela should've been the lead in all of it, but she fell to the wayside.
It was a good installment for Tamara as she got to develop further. We also revisited some of her past and so forth. It also served as a chance to showcase how close she and Lucy have become over time.
Tamara has come a long way, something she pointed out, and she knows that she could've ended up in a bad way without Lucy coming into her life.
It's probably one of the reasons Becca's murder struck her so hard. Deep down, she had to feel as if that could've been her. It's a lot about her story that Lucy doesn't know, and Bradford was right in telling Lucy that Tamara would share things when she was ready.
Becca's death was tragic. After that investigation, it was her friend who killed her. For a moment, one feared that he would do something to Tamara, too, while he was confessing to it.
You had to feel for Tamara. Obviously, she wasn't as close to West as Lucy was obviously, but they lived together, so his death impacted her. Now she lost another friend, and someone she thought was one was responsible for it.
Harper: I made my peace with not being able to get pregnant again, so I never even allowed myself to fantasize... I'm going to have this baby.
James: Well you and I are going to make a kickass team because we're going to fight every day to make sure this baby will live in a better world.
Harper: That's a kickass answer.
No matter what, she has Lucy to lean on, though, and that's a beautiful thing.
Lucy got a win when Chris eventually worked it out, so they didn't charge the teen as an adult. And he and Lucy had an almost flirty interaction by the end. It's evident they're easing these two into a possible romantic relationship.
And Lucy deserves the opportunity to find some romantic love somewhere after the things she's gone through. But even though Chris eventually did the right thing, he's still smarmy and unlikeable. I'm not feeling him as a character at all, so the flirting does nothing for me. How about you?
Over to you, Rookie Fanatics.
Are you pleased with the way they wrapped up the Bailey storyline? Were you shocked by Harper's pregnancy? Hit the comments below.
You can watch The Rookie online here via TV Fanatic.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
