We’re back another week with The Rookie! After last week’s episode, The Rookie 3×11 “New Blood” returns with an episode that shows the courage of activism and the different lessons we need to learn, and although it has been a bridge episode, it has kept us entertained.
Here we go!
We need to talk about the story between Nolan and Fiona. She seems so brave to me. I have no words to describe her bravery. She’s an activist fighting for civil rights and for police reform. She’s been a victim of racism since she could remember, when she was 10 years old where she witnessed the murder of Black people by the police – by the way, an event that I have really appreciated learning about, because learning is how one learns not to repeat mistakes – and she always fought against it, to change things.
Now, a few nasty freaks and racists try to scare her and she just won’t allow them. They win if she does. They want her silenced, they want her terrified, they want her submissive, they want her head down, they want her dead, and they’re never going to get what they want.
You have to have huge ovaries to, despite everything, swallow your fear and go out there, bare-chested and say, “Are you looking for me? I’m here”. I admire this woman. When I grow up, I want to be like her. Bravo!
It’s that she never stops fighting, even when it’s personal. When she saw that Nolan and Harper were bending the rules a bit to get that stalker’s camera, she fought for them to do the right thing. I mean, I wouldn’t have been so understanding or correct about this, but she was.
Of course, Nolan admires her but he is also aware that bravery is too intertwined with recklessness at times. He knows that the threat hanging over her is serious and not something to be taken lightly, so he decides to follow her and watch her house.
And they are both right here. Logic, common sense, tells us that Fiona needs protection but our heart, our emotions, let us know that she is doing the right thing in not being afraid and facing danger. They want her terrified and she is not going to let them win, she is not going to let them see that it is affecting her or that she has to look behind her back at every step of the way. No, they are the ones who are wrong and she is not going to let them win.
It’s a brave, strong attitude that shows exactly what civil rights activists are up against. Stupid, racist and crazy people chase them, harass them, terrorize them and try to kill them. This human garbage is capable of killing just to get what they want, they have no measure in their speech and their hateful actions don’t fit in any civilized society.
There comes a point where they don’t want to be educated, they have no interest in doing so, they’re fanatics, and that mob should not have a place in any society worth its salt. And, speaking of this, what do you think if we prevent these crazy people from killing someone by restricting the use of weapons? They can literally buy weapons for a war and that’s perfectly fine. Well, no. It’s not fine. If these crazy and dangerous people don’t have access to weapons they would not be able to kill or physically injure anyone. I said what I said.
Frankly, if I already admired civil rights activists, I admire them much more now. Black Lives Matter. Now and always. Let’s not forget. Read, learn, educate yourself, ask POC, listen to them, let their voice be heard. And never, ever, be a racist garbage.
On the other hand, Fiona still has time to teach Nolan a lesson. He continues to worry about Henry and his decision to drop out of college. He wants the best for him and keeps thinking that dropping out of college is not. But Fiona gives him a key piece of advice: maybe it is.
It may not be exactly what Nolan had envisioned for his son but maybe it is what he needs now. The university will always be there but it may not be what he needs to do now, he may needs to go further and explore other kinds of things, another kind of life, other lessons that the classroom cannot teach. Nolan must let him fly, wherever that journey takes him.
And Nolan takes note. He knows Fiona is right so he gives Henry his full support, from his heart. Only in The Rookie it’s rare that we can breathe easy, so and something happens to Henry, he faints and we just stays there. Hopefully Henry is okay, because he is Nolan’s whole life.
New blood arrives at the police station. We meet two new recruits … who don’t last long. One of them is expelled after 5 minutes and we cannot say that he did not deserve it because accidentally firing his gun in the middle of a police station is not exactly someone who can be left with a gun unsupervised. But it looks like the other recruit, Katie, assigned to Tim, is going to be different.
She is very different from Lucy. Katie is more of Tim’s style, she’s a former military, just like Tim, therefore she’s more hardened and she knows exactly everything bad the world has to offer. And it’s the only thing she sees. That’s her problem. Tim is reflected in her. He too came back from the war and saw only enemies out there. Adjusting to civilian life, wearing a uniform wasn’t exactly easy … but he did. And he did it because someone reminded him that the world could also offer good things.
That implies that Tim follows different ways of teaching Katie than the ones he followed with Lucy and that annoys her. She suffered a lot for Tim to see her as an equal, as his partner, to show her worth and Katie arrives and from the first moment, she has in front of her a Tim who treats her more like his partner, while Lucy had to cry tears of blood to get there.
Honestly, I was upset about this too. My heart was raging for Lucy. But I understood why Tim did it that way as soon as he explained it to Lucy. Lucy was always brave and tough but she is also sweet and sees all the good in the world and that’s okay … only when you wear a uniform you have to also be aware of how bad the world can be and Tim prepared her for that, giving her blow after blow so that she would bring out the strength she carried within, her resistance.
However, Katie is different. She only sees friends or enemies out there, she sneaks in, she sees objectives, ways to escape, places where the danger is greater. And Tim must guide her through that transition, teach her that not everyone is going to harm her or that the world is not only surrounded by dangers. She needs to relax and find peace in her mind, she needs to live in the present and not in the past. And, for that, he can’t treat her like he treated Lucy because it’s not what Katie needs.
This brings up the post-traumatic stress syndrome that ex-soldiers suffer when they return home, that difficulty in adapting again to civilian life and stop seeing only targets, starting to see people. It’s a reality that few speak of and we’re happy that The Rookie did.
Katie realizes what is happening and knows that it will not work for her to wear a uniform while she adjusts. She is not ready for it yet. Tim tries to convince her, because he knows she’s good and it worked for him … but Katie knows it wouldn’t for her. She might come back … but she will when she can see people, citizens and not enemies and targets. We hope to have her back soon.
By the way, did anyone else melt when Tim told Lucy that she was good? My Chenford heart began to beat rapidly. Tim not only respects her as a cop but he also admires her.
And here ends our The Rookie review. We will be back May 3, after a short hiatus, with a new one!
Agree? Disagree? Don’t hesitate to share it with us in the comments below!
The Rookie will returns Sunday May 2 at 10/9 on ABC.
