We’re back! The Rookie 6×07 “Crushed” marks the beginning of a new era after the Chenford breakup and the episode focuses on them, both on the reasons for their breakup and on finding out if there is room for hope. Ready?
Here we go!
Forced Therapy for Chenford in The Rookie 6×07 “Crushed”
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The Rookie 6×07 “Crushed” is the first episode after the Chenford breakup and it didn’t disappoint, in fact, it surprised us. After the lazy writing that led to the breakup, this episode once again has the fluid and measured writing to which we are accustomed in this show.
If we talk about character growth, we have to talk about Tim Bradford. At the beginning of The Rookie 6×07 “Crushed,” he was doing what he does best: keeping all his feelings to himself, pretending he’s fine, and moving on as if nothing had changed.
But Blair’s intervention – by the way, we welcome her again because the truth is that we had forgotten she existed – changes things. She works with Tim on denying his feelings and puts her finger on the issue. Tim is angry with himself and that makes him push away the person who makes him happiest AKA Lucy, the love of his life. In this way, he punishes himself.
At the beginning of The Rookie 6×07 “Crushed,” Tim doesn’t want to hear about this. However, while the old Tim would have closed the issue, this older Tim actually listens to Blair and accepts the truth of her words.
In fact, there is a moment in that patrol car where Tim’s emotions are felt one by one on his face. The guilt he feels for having hurt Lucy and having given up on her, on them, the sadness for giving up the love of his life, his home. It’s all there and Tim is allowing himself to feel it for the first time.
Nobody Said Growing Up Was Easy in The Rookie 6×07 “Crushed”
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Lucy, for her part, is really mad in The Rookie 6×07 “Crushed.” It’s not just that Tim has given up on them without a fight, it’s that he’s also adamant that she deserves better than a broken man. But really, it’s not Tim who should decide this. Only Lucy can decide what is best for her or what she wants or doesn’t want in her life. Tim is deciding for her, taking away her decision-making power and it’s not fair.
The myriad of feelings between them both leads them to have a conversation that is as painful as necessary at the end of The Rookie 6×07 “Crushed.” Tim accepted that anger causes him to punish himself, pushing away the person most important to him. He just wants to let Lucy know that he loves her, that what they experienced is real, it’s the most real thing that he experienced in his life… but he cannot be the man that Lucy needs and deserves. Not now.
Lucy feels like that’s bullshit. Tim is the man she loves. Broken or not. It’s as simple as that. And if Tim doesn’t see it that way, he needs a lot of therapy to realize that how broken he is doesn’t change the fact that she loves him and wants to be by his side. And, right after this, Tim wants to let Lucy know that he heard her and that her words are not falling on deaf ears, that he is determined to fight for her, for them.
At the end of The Rookie 6×07 “Crushed,” Tim shows us her growth again because, after this conversation with Lucy, he goes directly to see Blair urgently—and we didn’t miss that strange look on her face when she let him in. Tim is not only determined to heal, but he wants to start now because Lucy, what they have, what they are together, is worth it and he is not willing to lose it. He will fight his own demons not only for himself but for them too.
So if anyone doubted it, here’s the answer: there is hope for Chenford. Much hope.
“I Hope You Know That You Always Have a Home With Me”
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Tamara and Lucy made us cry in The Rookie 6×07 “Crushed.” Lucy found Tamara living in her car and without being able to count on anyone. And Lucy took her in. But she not only gave her a roof over her head, but she also gave her a safe place and people who would always be there for her. Lucy provided a home for Tamara.
That allowed Tamara to think beyond surviving the day and focus on what she wanted to achieve, on what she wanted her life to be like. And so, Tamara was building a future for herself and becoming the woman she wanted to be. Now, it’s time for Tamara to fly alone and for Lucy to let her do it, no matter how much it hurts her.
But in The Rookie 6×07 “Crushed” Lucy just wants to make it clear to Tamara that she is no longer alone, she can always count on her, and she will always have a home next to her, no matter what. Lucy will always have her back and, if something goes wrong or Tamara needs her, she will always have a home to return to and a sister to comfort her.
And Tamara knows it. Stealing Lucy’s car was the best decision of her life because she brought her all this…a home, and a family. Our puppy has gotten older, we’re sobbing!
PS: Bailan’s scene about having sex in an ambulance is unnecessary. In an episode in which the dramatic load focuses on Chenford, their breakup, and their suffering, a joke like that is out of place.
PS 2: The same thing happens with Smitty and the bet. It wasn’t the time.
The Rookie Season 6 airs Tuesdays at 9/8 on ABC.