We’re back! After the adrenaline of the previous week, The Rookie 3×13 “Triple Duty” returns with much more of that, but also focusing, once again on the systematic racism that exists in our society and the difficulty of changing things, in an absolutely real and heartbreaking way. One of the best episodes of the show. Let’s review it!
Here we go!
The Rookie 3×13 “Triple Duty” shows us that in the police force, it is too difficult to fire racist cops who stain and don’t deserve to wear the uniform. When West nearly died to have a racist cop fired and his fight was stronger than ever as a Black cop in uniform, the hateful and racist Doug reappears. Turns out, he got his job back and neither Grey nor West knew about this.
I don’t understand, how can it be that a guy who left his partner to his fate, in danger of death, can regain the right to wear a uniform? There was a video that clearly showed what he did. Who could decide that this was not so bad? It disgusts me.
But … would the decision have been the same if the partner he left to die had been white? The answer is no. In that case, Doug would never have gotten his job back, and this disgusts me even more. This situation disgusts me, makes me sick and makes me want to hit something or someone.
Black Lives Matter.
Black. Lives. Matter.
Why this systematic racism in American society? Can we burn this into everyone’s brains, please? It is just a fact, a truth that should not have any discussion or any doubt.
Black Lives Matter.
Why don’t trash like Doug and those in power within the police force care?
I wanted to join West and burn the world to the ground. I have felt so much anger, so much helplessness … this urge to cry from frustration, from anger … you feel powerless, not even being on the brink of death is enough for the police force to clean up the racist garbage from their police stations, from the streets. They just downgrade him which is basically a pat on the back. Really, what do they need? What else do they need?
So, of course I agree with Fiona: they have to make it public. It is the only way. Putting them in evidence makes them act, because otherwise they simply protect each other. But Grey has a point in this. If West does this, there is no going back. His career is over because he will be singled out as a “snitch,” as a “traitor.” And that’s fucking part of the problem.
The “blue wall.” Fiona is right. This is how no change is made. If those who dare to raise their voices and denounce what is really happening are silenced, singled out and degraded, there will never be a real and significant change. The police reform that is so necessary will never happen. And we have to change that.
Racist police officers should be fired and those who report them, rewarded. It must be taken as a duty not as a heroic action. It’s the right thing to do. It’s what a decent person and good person would do. It’s what someone other than trash would do.
So I think it’s great that West and Fiona are determined to go public. The police force doesn’t care about Black lives, it is time for it to be known. Grey, he looks stunned by all this. His heart tells him that West is right but his head, he knows that West’s career will be over and he can’t allow him to do that. He has been in the police force for years, he knows how it works, and while he may agree that the blue wall is part of the problem, it exists and only time can change it.
It frustrates me that West has to make this compromise. But is the right decision. My heart wants this racist and all his allies, all those who made it possible for him to return to the streets, to be dragged through the mud and exposed for what they are. And part of my wish is fulfilled. All of Doug’s new teammates turn their backs on him because he told them lies, and they think West threw him under the bus.
But Grey and West make it possible for everyone to find out that it was the other way around. Doug was willing to let him die for being a Black cop who stood up to him. And now they all turn their backs on Doug. West and Grey used the blue wall to their advantage. Because what really bothers these cops is not Doug’s racism, but that he didn’t protect his partner. When both attitudes are despicable and they should see it. We have to work for them to do so.
But … now what? Doug is still in his position even though no one supports him anymore. I really hope they take him off the streets for good. But West shouldn’t have had to go to these lengths for they to do so.
Freaking proud of West, so much so that it makes me want to cry.
Police reform is sorely needed and The Rookie 3×13 “Triple Duty” does an excellent job of showing us why. And above all…
Black
Lives
Matter.
They always did, they do, and they always will.
Period.
It seems that the future is clear for Lucy in The Rookie 3×13 “Triple Duty.” She wanted to be an undercover cop and her opportunity came. It’s risky and much more without proper training but the truth is that she is great at this. It seems that she was born for it and Harper tested each and every one of her weak points, even involving Sam to see how Lucy reacted to seeing her in danger – bravo for Sam, I believed everything and I really thought that she was in problems.
However, the hardest test comes at the end, when no one expected anything else to happen. Harper and the other undercover inspector kidnap Lucy to simulate a situation that she may find herself in. When I discovered this truth I too felt like Lucy, pissed off and somehow betrayed by Harper, but she is right.
They should know how Lucy would react to such a situation, especially because of what happened to her. And Lucy had to know it too, to be able to control her own emotions and prepare in case this situation becomes the real thing. If she fails, she is dead and, for this, she must have an idea of what she might feel.
Despite this, she is confident about her choice. She wants to do it. And, I’ll be honest, I’m dying to see Tim’s reaction to this news because I want to know if he is going to compare, Lucy with Isabel or if he’s learned that they are not the same and maybe, just maybe, these latent feelings between the two will explode at once with this trigger. I hope Tim feels this is a turning point, since Lucy is going to be undercover for a while and is going to stop being in his life as before.
Fingers crossed.
The murder of Diego, La Fiera’s son, in the previous episode, begins to have its consequences in The Rookie 3×13 “Triple Duty.” The war started and Angela, along with the rest of the Los Angeles police, try to stop it. Angela connects with La Fiera, who calls her “sister” and a part of Angela … feels the same. La Fiera had to fight tooth and nail throughout her life, she suffered a lot and the world didn’t make it easy for her … just like Angela.
La Fiera had to play with the cards she was given and, later, she started to like the game … but that game has a price. And Angela despises that part of her, the ruthless and cruel drug dealer who is capable of ordering the murder of a baby as revenge and enjoys it. But Angela also likes her and she understands that part of a grieving mother, a tireless fighter, against the world, against everyone … including those who underestimate her for being a woman or being Latina.
Angela faced this throughout her life and her career. These white men who treat her condescendingly or arrogantly. These white men who think they are better than her and only see a stereotype in her. So she understands what La Fiera is saying because she lived it too. It is part of what unites them.
She wanted to kick that pretentious FBI jerk’s ass to defend Angela. But my baby doesn’t need anyone to defend her. She can defend herself – although the urge to kick that asshole is still intact. That FBI guy thinks he knows everything … when he doesn’t know anything.
He doesn’t even know the language, the customs, the traditions … all of that is very important for that business, and for the people who do it. Nobody who has not lived it, who has not learned it at home would understand how important these traditions and customs are. So the idiot can put his “25 years of experience” where the sun don’t shine.
You know what happens to these pretentious white guys who patronize others? They never realize their mistakes. So the idiot is still determined to “teach” Angela “who’s boss.” And here, I feel like another kick in his ass from her is brewing in me. But Angela and La Fiera are ahead of me. La Fiera knew exactly what that idiot guy was going to do … and she’s smarter than that. When a guy like that underestimates you, you have it easier.
And Angela. Goodness, Angela, I would like to stand up and clap. Tell him, queen! He only sees a stereotype, a poor woman from a developing country who came out of the ashes and will return to them, thanks to guys like him. He doesn’t see her as a rival, or even as an enemy worthy of him. And he sees Angela as a weak woman who is a means to an end, thinks she will never be able to catch that big prey … because she is not capable of it. But La Fiera is much more than that. And Angela is capable of everything.
This prejudiced guy underestimates them for being Latina women. He considers them less, he considers them weak, when he is the weak one. They are two strong women, who know what it is to fight. And yes, they are Latinas, and proud of it. In fact, La Fiera is intelligent, much more than him, she equals Angela in intelligence, but Angela knows how to recognize that and that is how she will win. After all, bias-based methods haven’t produced any results for the asshole, have they?
How many prejudices and how much ignorance still exists in our society. How much education does it take so that these attitudes are not the norm? The Rookie 3×13 “Triple Duty” has shown us perfectly with this character that we have all hated, one that was designed for us to hate. The worrying thing would be if we’d liked him.
PS: what a pleasure to hear La Fiera and Angela speak in Spanish! And more if it is to kick the butt of a prejudiced and racist guy. I love listening to my language on a show.
The Rookie 3×13 “Triple Duty” has given us a strange couple but one that complements each other perfectly. We’re talking about Nolan and Bradford. I like that The Rookie gives us these surprises from time to time, and brings together two characters who have not been coupled much throughout the show but who, somehow, fit perfectly.
Their turn together has been fun, full of action and tension but also … enlightening. Tim knew that Nolan was a good cop. He went through a lot not to know, even if Nolan wasn’t his partner. But it’s the first time he’s seen it in action firsthand. Nolan’s bravery, his courage, his resources, the cold mind he has to make quick and potentially dangerous but correct decisions … well, his instinct.
It reminds Tim a bit of himself. So he knows that he would make a good teacher and mentor for the new rookies that come in the future. But mentoring is a very serious job, especially for Tim, it’s his whole life. So he’s not going to help someone who sees him as a consolation prize or a stepping stone to something else. It would be like betraying his principles.
That’s why he makes sure Nolan doesn’t feel that way about this job. He wanted to be a detective, yes, but he accepted that he never will be and being a mentor … is something that suits him. He wants to be and he is willing to do anything to get it.
Tim makes sure by testing him in his own way, and Nolan far exceeds his expectations. Of course Tim is going to help him get it … but he needed to be sure that it was the right choice and that for Nolan that job will be just as important and he will take it as seriously as he does. And now, he understands.
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.
