The Rookie Season 5 Episode 16 Review: Exposed
Jasmine Blu
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Well, that was a Valentine's Day to remember!
Everything about The Rookie Season 5 Episode 16 was pure entertainment, with an eventful Valentine's Day and friction among our favorite couples that sorted itself by the end credits.
All the characters had their hands full with a saran gas and ebola issue to resolve.
It only feels right that for a Valentine-themed episode, we'd have all the couples with some tension in their relationships for various reasons, big or small.
For Nyla and James, his mother was overstepping with monitoring the baby via a webcam site. And you couldn't blame Nyla for being creeped out by the whole ordeal.
It's one thing to check in on the baby now and then, but to go as far as to give unsolicited commentary and opinions about something or send Nyla a robe because the one she had on while breastfeeding her daughter was too ratty goes beyond what's acceptable.
James, not even understanding that, is weird because it was such a violation of privacy. Although, Thorsen made a very astute point that if Nyla arranged a Sunday brunch or allotted time for the poor woman to spend with her granddaughter, she mightn't be obsessed with the cam.
One of the hilarious scenes of the hour, I'm talking truly, laugh-out-loud funny, was when Harper initiated everyone going off-channel, and they subsequently vented and gossiped about all of their issues.
Nyla always knows she has backup with Angela, who co-signed that James' mother crossed boundaries. And then she got to bring up her issues with Wesley hiring the very hot Charlie for security.
Everyone's reactions to how gorgeous Charlie was and their instant suggestion that she get rid of the woman immediately because of that were too funny.
Even Grey got in on telling Angela to get rid of that woman. And Nolan's reaction when he learned that Wesley isn't nearly as innocent as people assume was priceless.
Celina: Wow.
Aaron: Damn. I'm sure she was the most qualified candidate.
Celilna: This woman is with your husband right now?
Angela: Yes.
Celina: I would shut that down so fast.
The humor on this show makes it top-tier entertainment, and moments like that, where everyone can play off one another and take advantage of the cast chemistry, are always the series at its strongest.
Wesley has a way of skating on thin ice with hot blades with Angela, and the situation with Elijah has pushed them to their limit.
Angela seems tired and frustrated. She's also scared and doing her best to keep it together despite that. She also works cases frequently, putting her out there and in danger, and she's pregnant again.
It's a lot; you can see where some of this wears down on her. The Charlie thing was just a place for her to direct her frustration, and understandably so.
Wesley hired her without telling Angela, and now there's this strange woman providing security for them, or exclusively Jack, and taking care of their kid when she's not there.
Her reaction during their facetime was classic Angela.
And there's no end in sight with Elijah and whatever he has in store for them hanging over them like the Sword of Damocles.
Unlike the other couples, they couldn't even have a nice Valentine's Day. Charlie delivered the message from Elijah (which could be suspicious down the road if we learn that she's connected to them): a heart-shaped box filled with bugs and dead flowers.
We're in an unfortunate waiting game with Elijah and Abril, and there's no telling when things will have a resolution.
But am I the only one wondering how long Angela and Wesley can carry on with this strain in their marriage? It feels like it's getting more serious than they're trying to let on.
At least we know that Chenford is okay. The gorgeous necklace and the moment between them made their spat worth it.
Tim was definitely not happy about the whole situation of Lucy orchestrating his getting on Metro. Still, she wasn't sorry about it, and they both recognized where the other was coming from by the end.
This is about you going behind my back to get me in Metro.
Tim
Initially, he harbored a bit of jealousy when the hot UC Noah entered the picture. He's nice to look at, has a great rapport with Lucy, and isn't afraid to give her due for how amazing she is.
It was classic Chenford, where Lucy hopped up in the middle of the night to help her friend, and Tim was right by her side as a backup.
Undercover Lucy is one of the best things ever, and she did come in hot with some witty lines about the inbred white boys and bossing Noah around, which was amusing.
She can slip in and out of character so well that it makes you wish she had more opportunities to go under. It wouldn't be a surprise if this reopened the door for Lucy to get involved with undercover work more officially.
She's super talented at it. Her name kept popping up as a recruit. She has this gift that she's not getting to use or take advantage of, and it seems like a waste not to go further with it.
It'll be interesting to see if Tim has a discussion with her about her career, too. If she's willing to do everything to ensure he finds happiness with a job he's better suited to, then he's inclined to do the same for her.
It also was possible foreshadowing to have Noah speak about how undercover work can wreak havoc on romantic relationships. Can Lucy and Tim put that to the test and break the curse, proving him wrong?
Noah seems cool, and I'd love to see him stick around or reappear more. He and Lucy were fun together, even if they seemed to get on Tim's nerves with their inside jokes and rapport.
Noah: Noah Foster.
Tim: Tim Bradford.
Noah: I'm impressed you were able to scrounge up backup this fast.
Lucy: Well it helps that he was sleeping in my bed.
Noah: Oh, so he's that Bradford.
Tim: I'm curious as to what that means.
It's likely time to revisit Lucy going undercover again.
Nevertheless, this case with the Army of Freedom people was exciting. For a bit, there was a genuine concern that Noah broke his cover and it would cost him in the end, and you never know with these things. It could still happen.
When we get action-packed and humorous episodes like that utilizing everyone, it's fun when they use all the fun camerawork tricks by having us watch footage via characters' cameras and things like that.
It adds an extra fun and more immersive element to the episodes when they do that, but I also appreciate that they don't overdo it all the time with them. Here, it was expertly used and fun.
Lucy: Do you want to skip dinner?
Tim: No, I'm hungry, and you're going to need that fuel for later.
The warehouse raid had some high stakes, and once we saw Vince die from the saran gas exposure, the threat became more imminent.
Vince's sister barely seemed to care that he was dead. For a militia steeped in loyalty, that chica wasn't loyal at all. But at least via her phone call, they could thwart the terrorist attack before it happened.
It's all in a good day's work for the L.A.P.D. Chenford and others had their hands full with that one.
But then we had Nolan and Celina tasked with rounding up people exposed to Ebola before it resulted in a more significant outbreak. You can imagine by now that they probably didn't want to wear masks and things anytime soon from some of their other incidents, not to mention a whole pandemic.
Nolan: Cases like this a murdered kid, cops tend to pull out all the stops.
Celina: For white kids, maybe.
Nolan: The file will tell us a lot about the quality of the investigation and if the investigators had any bias.
But there's nothing like that hazardous pay.
The first guy they found was funny. Not only did he not tell his mistress that he was married, but he exposed her to Ebola, and they had to go into quarantine together on Valentine's Day, no less.
And were my eyes playing tricks on me, or was that a Sprouse brother playing the guy at the hospital?
The bus guy led to some more action when someone wanted to flee rather than get taken in for testing. But overall, they managed the situation well enough, and it didn't result in something nightmarish. But it's never a good sign when Dr. Monica pops up.
Amid all that, Nolan juggled two issues with the women in his life. The Bailey of it all was such a minor quibble over him taking control when she was on a call that it barely constituted a fight.
But they seemed happy about overcoming their first real fight as a couple, so kudos.
But Nolan showed that he is one to take control when handling the situation with Celina. So much of why she does what she does is tied to her sister's death.
Celina is most compelling when they dig into that aspect of her character rather than the quirky bits.
Bailey: Can you believe this?
Nolan: Customer Service is an oxymoron.
She wants to see her sister's file and hopefully solve the case for personal closure and to help her mother.
Her mother has been an agoraphobe since her sister's death. It must be smothering that she can't actively be an officer without micromanaging her mother's feelings when something bad happens.
I wonder if solving her sister's case will fix any of that for Mrs. Suarez. She'll always have those fears, and there's no escaping them.
Celina may need to develop a better way of handling her mother, predominantly leaning toward honesty.
I have mixed feelings about what Nolan is doing here. As a friend and superior, he's trying to spare Celina's trauma and hurt if she looks at her sister's file.
He also wants to keep her focused on the job for their well-being. But some of it felt so condescending, too.
Celina should be in control of what she can handle and what she wants to do and see. Nolan means well, but it came across as controlling.
Celina knows what she can and can't handle, and coddling her is not the ideal way of teaching or mentoring her. They spent most of the installment talking about this.
Harper: Are you taking his side?
Aaron: Since when is a pro-Grandma stance controversial?
And he perused some of the files and would look into them extensively later before he handed them over to her to see if it's what's in her best interest. But it doesn't seem like his place to do any of that.
And she could just as quickly go to someone else to access the case file.
They've brought it up a few times this season, so there's only a matter of time before Celina dives into this file and her sister's murder case.
A similar one may pop up, prompting everyone to look into this cold case. But surely, this will be on the horizon.
Over to you, Rookie Fanatics. Did you love this fun-filled Valentine's Day episode? Sound off 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.
