One more week, one more review! The Rookie 4×13 “Fight or Flight” is…a disappointment. It’s a transition episode that doesn’t advance the plot and in which the important story, the one that is most worth telling, is diluted by secondary storylines. In short, it’s an episode with good intentions but one that, ultimately, doesn’t do much. Time for a review!
Here we go!
The Rookie 4×13 “Fight or Flight” is a transition episode that could have been one of the best episodes of the season and has become one of the worst. This is so because it hasn’t focused on what is important, it hasn’t been a clear condemnation of the issues with the justice system, that was left in the background and what was in the foreground is a teenager piloting an LAPD helicopter, for good reasons, but still.
The really important story of The Rookie 4×13 “Fight or Flight” is that of that man wrongly accused of killing a cop and how, because of the situation the system placed him in, he ended up trapped in that system. But that story is diluted by secondary stories that are given more importance than this.
Yes, my heart was touched to learn why that teenager stole the LAPD helicopter. He fought for his mother, for his family, but it’s not believable to us that a teenager steals an LAPD helicopter and they have no other way to stop him other than to complete the tasks he tells them to do.
The story of the robbery and murder was entertaining but it was more filler than anything else. The really important story that the episode should have focused on is the story of the Black man wrongfully accused of murdering a cop. And in The Rookie 4×13 “Fight or Flight” this story didn’t get the time nor the importance it deserved.
Unfortunately, this story is not the exception in the system. No one listened to this man, no one took the time to think about the case and assess all the evidence. They just saw that he was a man, Back and from a bad neighborhood and everyone thought “guilty.”
Aaron is the only one who takes the time to listen to him, despite the damage that may do to his career as a police officer, because he knows how that feels. He understands how it feels to be looked at and see a murderer, Aaron knows how it feels to have no one believe you and to be alone…that’s why he fights to the end, even when he can’t get that man out of jail. Because, at least, everyone will know that he’s innocent of killing a cop and they can start looking for the real killer.
At least, the system will be able to shame itself a little for exposing an innocent man to a violent world that forced his hand.
And I’d like to talk about Nyla’s attitude about all of this. She’s nothing if she’s not protective of her rookies. Of course, she wants to figure out if this man is innocent or not, so she lets Wes and James into that room, but she wants to protect Aaron from the consequences of this man’s possible lies. That’s why she’s so good as a supervisor because she puts her partner, her protégé, above all else.
Later, she doesn’t understand why Aaron wants to go through with this. In the end, the man, innocent of the murder or not, will stay in jail, so the result will be the same and nothing will change. But she is wrong, everything will change. They would prove a man’s innocence, clear him of a crime he didn’t commit, and expose the system to its contradictions.
And Nyla doesn’t get it until she talks to Aaron. She didn’t go through what Aaron went through, so she doesn’t understand how important it is for people to know the truth, but when Aaron talks to her, Nyla understands. She understands that this is important and she is willing to help in any way necessary. And we love her for it.
PS: Who’s up to hug Nyla and tell her it’s going to be okay?
The Rookie airs Sundays at 10/9 on ABC and will return with new episodes February 27.
