The Rookie loves itself as a good villain, and they know how to put them to use.
It was easy not to think much of the gang war Angela, Harper, Nolan, and Celina happened across on The Rookie Season 5 Episode 11, but as far as having things come together, Elijah, as a returning baddie, sets up another potentially interesting arc.
Of course, that’s assuming people aren’t tired of Elijah already.
Angela and Nyla, as partners, continue to be the gift that keeps on giving, and they always bring in the interesting cases, too. The ladies just click well with each other, and most days, you can watch an entire installment devoted to them.
The return of Angela’s super hot priest brother was a treat, but he brought the total opposite of that when he needed her to look into finding Mateo, the good kid caught up in gangs.
That one request sent us down an action-packed path, resulting in the discovery of bodies buried in the wall, a shootout, and of course, the whole Elijah thing.
Reintroducing Elijah for the umpteenth time is a catch-22. The Rookie has an issue where they will have some fascinating villains who make a splash and make you want to see more of them.
Suspect: You look good out of uniform.
Angela: I know.
They deliver on showing them more, but then the villains overstay their welcome. Rosalind was a prime example of this. It took way too long to put an end to her finally.
Elijah is arguably in a similar boat. Sure, he’s a great nemesis for Angela and Wesley, and Brandon Jay McLaren is a charismatic actor who knows how to draw you in no matter what he’s playing, but sometimes it’s too much.
The moment Elijah got off, we knew he’d return to wreak some havoc and cross paths with the squad again. He’s a criminal mastermind, and there’s no way he would’ve stayed under the radar for too long.
But there are mixed feelings about another storyline that’ll heavily revolve around him as Angela and the others must work to take him down for good this time.
Does all of LA’s seedy matter relate to him?
Regardless, following the case was one of the most appealing aspects of the hour.
Lucy brought the emotions with her DV case that endangered her life. Kira was a woman in dire need of help, and the road to get her was tough to watch.
But Lucy certainly shined with her way of handling all of it. She researched Oliver after it was evident that Kira’s questions were coming from a personal place.
And then she extended her help the second Kira felt ready to reach out. She tried her best to talk to Kira, too.
Oliver was abusive and toxic. How he treated and spoke to Kia told you all you need to know about him, and it raised Lucy’s hackles, for sure.
But it was another display of how far Lucy has come as a woman and officer. She’s calm and collected under pressure and in a crisis. She exudes such compassion and determination, too.
And she, for damn sure, is brave. She stared down the barrel of the gun and knew how to talk Kira down in a manner that saved them both.
It’s hard to navigate something as delicate as a domestic violence situation. The victim is getting abused and hurt, but they’re also protective of the person hurting them and care about their well-being too.
Kira captured that version of a domestic violence survivor authentically. It didn’t do any good insisting that Oliver was this lousy person in hopes of changing her mind.
Lucy, even while facing down a gun, as the woman she was trying to save wielded it, had to calm the situation and focus on Kira doing the right thing rather than framing any of her arguments as taking down Oliver in some way.
She made headway with that method, which saved her and Kira.
In some ways, I wish a topic with such an emotional impact didn’t fall into an installment with this much humor and frivolous storylines.
When Lucy wasn’t dealing with that particular case, she was immersed in Chenford domestic moments and Little League.
Chenford is going strong, and this installment delivered many cute moments for the two. Their attempts to hide their relationship from their colleagues are a joke.
Tim is just downright awful and covering his tracks and lying. Lucy does the elaborate stories to distract, but they’re constantly making eyes at each other, and everything at that little league game screams that they were a couple.
Surprisingly, Angela didn’t outright ask Tim in front of everyone what the deal was with the two. They hand-held right in front of Angela and Nyla’s faces.
Even if she pops up here and there, Genny has been an excellent addition to the series. It’s nice to see Tim in this element with family.
Thorsen always slays as the scene-stealer, but his putting Tim on the spot, leading to him coaching Tyler’s team, was such a classic, hilarious Thorsen move. The funniest part is that half the time, he isn’t even aware of what he’s doing.
Tim and Lucy in coach mode — it was far more entertaining than it had a right to be, especially with their styles. Tim was such a softie as a coach. You would’ve thought he’d be more diehard about the whole thing.
But that honor fell to Lucy. She was a tiny ball of energy during the game. It won’t be her last time with the coaching gig because she was in her element.
They’re having a blast with all of these fun scenarios to place Chenford while giving us more layers to their romantic relationship. And it’s fun to watch all around.
Bailey and Nolan still don’t deliver much of anything entertaining as a couple. We were due for our Bailey sighting, and they didn’t give us too much of her.
We also discover that she isn’t good at collecting rent on the place she owns.
Lucy: So, what are you doing tonight?
Tim: Nothing, I hope.
Lucy: That sounds perfect.
The whole shtick was meh. She was letting those senior-aged individuals rip her off and guilt trip her. The whole thing with the porn shooting was somewhat amusing, I suppose. But of all the arcs, that one was the easiest to tune out.
Over to you, Rookie Fanatics. What did you think of the Elijah connection? Sound off below.
You can watch The Rookie online here via TV Fanatic.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.