After last week’s brilliant episode, The Rookie 3×10 “Man of Honor” explores much of the dynamics between parents and children and how all that glitters is not gold in a family. Sometimes the fear that our children will make the same mistakes as us or our insistence on not listening to them can play a trick on us and make them feel bad. Ready for a new The Rookie review?
Here we go!
Let’s start The Rookie 3×10 “Man of Honor” review with Nolan. With him, we face two types of conflict, the family conflict with his son and his best friend and the professional. As for the family conflict, I must admit that I agree with Nolan regarding his concern, it’s his job to worry. He just wants a better life for his son.
Isn’t that what all parents want? I guess we’ve all experienced something like this in our homes. Our parents haven’t had an easy life and they only want us to study so that, in the future, we will not work more hours than a clock, earning a pittance. They just want us to have the opportunities they didn’t have.
Nolan discovered his true calling at a late age and in the meantime, he had had many jobs and his life was not stable. Nolan doesn’t want that for his son, he wants Henry to go all out when he finds his passion.
That is the reason why he worries when his son decides to abandon everything. It reminds him too much of him and he doesn’t want an unstable life for his son, he wants something better. Studying in college, having a career, sounds like the best way to start in the real world, in a world outside of the classroom. And he worries that, wanting to grow up too fast, his son is putting his future aside and throwing him overboard.
Of course, Nolan needs someone to blame and he can’t exactly get mad at his son because he wants to support him, make it clear that he’s right next to him, so the next option is Ben. In that discourse they both say things that they don’t feel and that they later regret, but that is true friendship. In a fight, everyone says these kinds of hurtful things just for that, hurt, but, later, everything is forgiven and it is forgotten because you are confident enough to know that there was really no real intention to harm.
At the end of the day, some of what Ben pointed out in this matter is right. Nolan had to leave university and never regretted because his son is what he loves the most in the world, he would do the same thing a thousand times, but he doesn’t want that for his child. He doesn’t want Henry simply drop everything and give up that great opportunity that many others do not have.
However, Ben is not the culprit here, no one is. Henry makes his own decisions and Ben will always be there to take care of him, just like Nolan. Neither of them is going to let Henry waste his life.
As a result of this, I understand both Henry’s and Harper’s point of view. Sometimes we have to let our children fly and listen to them, really listen to what it is that they want to do. Because sometimes what we think is best for them is not at all. They need to make their own decisions and maybe make mistakes, yes, but also learn from their own mistakes. And the job of the parents is to be there right next to them, to support them but also to worry because it is something that you never stop doing.
As for Nolan’s career conflict, he just isn’t cut out to quit without having all the answers. That is why he is so good at his job, because he digs deep to answer all the questions that a case poses. That’s why he would be such a good inspector. As a patrolman, his job ends the moment he avoided the robbery and went to check the suspect’s house, but as an inspector, his job doesn’t end until he knows all the reasons, gets to the bottom of the matter, and finds that missing family.
Nolan’s attitude in this case clearly shows his instinct as an inspector and that he has not yet given up on his claims to be an inspector. He will get it? Everybody seems to tell him it’s impossible and it really scares me that he will be even more disappointed when he realizes that no matter what he does, they will never forget that stain on his expedient but, on the other hand, how are they going to miss a talent as obvious as Nolan’s? We just have to wait and see…
As a last note about Nolan, we have to comment on the fact that he didn’t say anything about his extension in the program, he feels somehow ashamed, like a fraud, he feels that he has failed not only himself, but also the people who trust him and, in a situation like this, where you feel so much shame, your first instinct is always not to say anything as if the fact that no one knew would make everything disappear and you can almost… you can almost forget that it happened. Almost.
It’s Lucy’s turn. Her graduation as a rookie doesn’t bring her the joys she hopes for. She hopes her parents are proud of her and congratulate her. That’s just what they should have done… but no. Her father directly decides not to show up to the little celebration that Lucy had planned and her mother, well, her mother had better not show up.
She thinks that Lucy’s work is not enough and pressures her to go back to college and become a doctor or whatever career she considers suitable for her daughter. We have here a case similar to Nolan’s with his son, except that Nolan is willing to listen to Henry. But not Lucy’s mother, she sees that her daughter is happy but she doesn’t care. She only cares about hers and her own concerns.
Being a police officer is dangerous and it is normal for a parent to worry but that is what Lucy loves to do, she is happy with her life and that should be enough for her parents to take a step back in their attempts to undermine and support her, because your daughter is happy is the only thing that matters. Or the only thing that should matter.
It may not be what her parents expected for her or even what they want for her but it is what she wants. It is her life, her choice and her parents should only support her and stand by her side, be proud of what her daughter has achieved.
But some parents just don’t get it.
And I feel so bad for Lucy … instead of being happy she is sad and feels lonely, abandoned … that is why I love when West doesn’t hesitate to make it clear to Lucy’s mother that if she is not able to appreciate her daughter, she is not welcome in that house. I love them. Please, more friends like this and like Nolan and Ben or… Angela and Bradford. The good thing about The Rookie is that we can choose from many great friendship.
Speaking about West, his rookie graduation has been everything we hoped it would be. After all, he comes from several generations of policemen. But what has excited us the most about him has been his behavior with Lucy. Not only has he made it clear to her mother that she cannot behave like this with her daughter, but that she takes Lucy’s joke about adopting her into his family very seriously and includes her in their family tradition, showing her that she is part of the family and that if no one in her family is proud of her, she must be. Beautiful.
On the other hand, Bradford is going to have to deal with a lot of things by agreeing to be Angela’s man of honor but we can’t wait to see how he navigates with Patrice, we love this! And… Harper got the date! She seemed to be moving on slippery ground but, in the end, it all worked out.
Right now, it seems like Nolan and Harper are really separated, she’s dating someone and him, well… I think something will happen between him and his teacher but I still believe that Nolan and Harper are each other’s future.
As one last thing, I was delighted that West, Nolan, and Lucy remembered why they decided to be cops, why they love their job. Sometimes, it doesn’t hurt that we remember the reason behind our choices, especially when everyone around you, the people who are supposed to love you the most and are supposed to support you, try to destroy all your hopes and dreams.
And here ends our The Rookie review. We will be back next week with a new one!
Agree? Disagree? Don’t hesitate to share it with us in the comments below.
The Rookie airs Sundays at 10/9 on ABC.
