We’re back! After the previous week, The Rookie 4×02 “Five Minutes” teaches us that the silence caused by the absence of a loved one is too deafening to bear and we also witness the damage that an unfair trial can do against an innocent person. Time for review!
Here we go!
In The Rookie 4×02 “Five Minutes” Lucy continues to struggle with Jackson’s absence. Tamara is going to live with her but… it doesn’t feel quite right. Lucy wants Tamara to move in with her but she can’t just erase Jackson. Something as everyday as choosing the new color for the room is too hard. If she does, it will make everything more real and she will have to face squarely the fact that Jackson is never coming back, and that makes it somewhat harder.
Changing the color of the room somehow feels like erasing Jackson for Lucy and she doesn’t want that, she can’t do it. She doesn’t want his presence, the memory of him, to be erased. But the truth is, none of that will be erased because as long as Lucy, as long as everyone remembers Jackson, he will still live right where it matters. We cannot live in the past and Lucy cannot leave Jackson’s room like a time capsule, she must go ahead and remember Jackson, always, keep him in her mind and heart, where it matters. It’s what he would want. But it’s easier to say it than do it.
It isn’t easy for Tamara either. She loved Jackson and it hurts her that he’s gone so she feels like an intruder in his room, in his house, almost as if she is… replacing him, and she doesn’t want to do that. She doesn’t want to feel like this. Lucy and Tamara are struggling with the same thing right now and, in the end, they find themselves in the middle of the road. Jackson will always remain part of their lives in the only way that he can, but he would have wanted this, he would have wanted Tamara to feel at home and for her and Lucy to move on. It’s beautiful.
In The Rookie 4×02 “Five Minutes” for the first time I felt that Harper was being unfair. The story of this new recruit is not easy for anyone. It’s not easy for him and not for the people around him because he lived a traumatic experience and he must try to overcome it and not let it affect him on a day-to-day basis, he must stop feeling guilty for not having been there at the right time, he should stop thinking about the maybes.
And for others it’s difficult because, like Harper, they have already judged him and changing that opinion is not easy. That certainty in what you think happened can make you be unfair to this guy, just as it happened to Harper.
Here, The Rookie 4×02 “Five Minutes” shows us how the opinion of justice and society doesn’t have to be the same. Sometimes, we see a case on TV and we know, because we see too much evidence that indicates it, that that person is guilty so when an injustice happens and that person is free, we fight against it and that is fine. Because the criminal system is not perfect and many offenders are released on a technicality. And we have to change that.
However, precisely that imperfection of the criminal system also helps us to see the other side of the coin: an innocent person who is tried for a crime that he/she didn’t commit. The criminalsystem may do its job and release the accused, but for society it is not so easy.
Society has already condemned Adrien. And Harper did the same, and that’s unfair. Adrien’s case was riddled with loopholes and circumstantial evidence peppered with a poor defense. But everyone treats him like a murderer and doesn’t give him the benefit of the doubt. Harper, in theory, gave this guy five minutes, but in reality, from the moment she knew who he was, she knew she had to make him quit. Actually, Harper didn’t give him a chance.
And a part of me understands. That is, maybe we would all act like her in a situation like this, yes, it’s unfair and in an ideal world that would not happen but we’re human, imperfect and we make mistakes. On the other hand, Adrien has a point here. It’s not the first time that the criminal system has been wrong and judges an innocent and they tend to be wrong especially when they accuse a Black person. Why doesn’t Harper, knowing the injustices of the system, give him a chance?
What’s more, she even makes it clear that he has two options: either he leaves or she fires him and on top of this, she tells him that she’s doing him a favor. Here I got really angry and outraged, what the hell does Harper know what Adrien wants or needs if she hasn’t even taken the time to ask him? It really is the first time I’ve had to look away from anger when Harper is on screen. I’ve felt bad for Adrien.
It’s true that, acting as the devil’s advocate here, Harper had to pressure Adrien as much as possible so that he was prepared for what he was going to have to endure from his partners and the people he has to protect but in The Rookie 4×02 “Five Minutes” Harper pushed too hard. It was clear that this was not helping Adrien and I couldn’t stop thinking that if she had seen Nolan, Lucy, Tim … anyone else have that reaction to finding a corpse, she would have helped them more than she did with Adrien.
Fortunately, Harper realizes her mistake in judging Adrien when he raises his voice for the first time and makes it clear that he isn’t going to give up, no matter how many rocks she puts in his way. This is when Harper finally gives this rookie a chance and starts listening to him and not judging him. It will be interesting to see them work together …
Tim must get used to a new routine in The Rookie 4×02 “Five Minutes.” Now he’s a sergeant and that brings a huge change because now it’s about directing the action, not being in the center of it. But Tim just isn’t like that. He’s a cop who likes to be part of the action, he likes to get down in the mud and get his hands dirty, he doesn’t like to watch the fight from the sidelines at all. It’s just… it wouldn’t be him if he did.
So in The Rookie 4×02 “Five Minutes” Tim has tried to be someone that he wasn’t and that couldn’t work. For him, being a sergeant amounts to a difficult balance because he must encourage newcomers, lead and show them that he trusts them, that he delegates but, at the same time, Tim needs to be there, working hand in hand with them. And maybe taking a step back works for Gray but that’s not Tim. That’s not going to work for him and he needs to find a way that works for him, his own balance.
And this seems wonderful to me. We never have to be other people or follow in the footsteps of others, we must be ourselves and find our own way because what works for one person doesn’t have to work for another and there is nothing wrong with that.
I want to talk about Chenford now. After the previous episode, in The Rookie 4×02 “Five Minutes” we return to the little moments and winks. Lucy had a lot on her plate in this episode but she had time to remember Tim and his promotion and play a trick on him, a harmless little revenge, a way of saying “I remember you. Congratulations, you deserve it, I’m proud of you” and I love that. And that look when Tim catches her say it all.
I almost died of love when Tim gives her that spontaneous compliment, it’s something that Lucy didn’t expect because Tim rarely praises someone and much less in such a spontaneous and honest way, and it’s evident that the words left his mouth before he could think on it or slow them down. Of course, Tim is Tim and he has to excuse himself and cover it up but we all know what was going on there, including Lucy. I really want these two to finally make the move.
I know I said I couldn’t wait for Harper and Nolan to start dating and I continue to feel this way, but for now, in The Rookie 4×02 “Five Minutes,” I was rooting for Bailey. Which is why I was so disappointed that she broke up with Nolan so abruptly and over the phone. It was sudden and I didn’t understand anything… but when Nolan spoke to her I realized that Bailey is just scared.
There are many relationships that have not worked for her … but the good thing is that you only need one to work and who knows … this may be it. What is clear is that if she doesn’t take the step and dares to find out what could happen with Nolan, she will never know if he is the one. So I’m glad we’re going to see this.
PS: It’s always a pleasure to see our Charlotte from Lucifer, especially if she’s in a character as fierce as Claire. More of her, please.
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.
