We’re back! The Rookie Season 8 Episode 5 ‘The Network’ focuses on Bailan and how Bailey’s selfishness is tearing her life and marriage apart, but could there be more to it than just selfishness? It’s time to find out! Ready?
Here we go!
Bailey’s Selfishness in The Rookie Season 8 Episode 5 ‘The Network’
Okay, we have to say it: Bailey is selfish. And The Rookie Season 8 Episode 5 ‘The Network’ makes that crystal clear. It’s not just that she’s prioritizing her job over her marriage, but that she’s forcing that decision on Nolan.
Bailey isn’t interested in what Nolan thinks about moving to Washington, or what it would mean for him. She doesn’t even ask him if he wants to work for the FBI. She’s not communicating with him. Bailey simply assumes that Nolan will change his entire life to accommodate what she wants. To accommodate her whims. Because that’s what it is. Bailey may call it her “dream job,” but five minutes ago she didn’t even know that job existed, and she had no intention of advancing her career. So yeah, it sounds like a whim to us.
And, to top it all off, Bailey is playing the victim in this whole thing. She even denies asking Nolan to completely change his life. WTF?! And what about not knowing their marriage was at risk? What world does she live in? What does Bailey think will happen if she moves permanently to Washington and Nolan stays in Los Angeles? It’s clear their marriage would end. No long-distance relationship lasts forever.
So nope. We don’t buy the victim act Bailey is playing in The Rookie Season 8 Episode 5 ‘The Network.’ Sorry not sorry. As we said last week, sometimes you have to give up things you want so you don’t lose others. And at the very least, if Bailey is putting her job first, she needs to be honest with herself and with Nolan about what’s at stake and what she’s asking him to give up. Because she’s asking him to start from scratch, at the police academy, as a rookie, at 50 years old. And burning through their entire life in Los Angeles. For a job she didn’t even know existed five minutes ago, or even want.
MORE: The Rookie Season 8, Episode 4 Review: ‘Cut and Run’
Running Away Is Never the Answer
Honestly, Bailey’s decision didn’t seem right to us anymore. Nyla was in a similar situation not too long ago. Garza offered her a job she would have loved to accept, but she has a family, and it wouldn’t be fair to them to throw their lives away for a job. So we thought Bailey would reach the same conclusion in The Rookie Season 8 Episode 5 ‘The Network.’ But we were wrong.
Nolan did everything right. He calmly accepted Bailey’s decision and genuinely tried to find out if a career in Washington was possible, even if it was with the FBI, something he’s not particularly keen on. But it’s impossible. And he can’t start from scratch. Not after everything he’s fought for, personally and professionally, to build his life in Los Angeles. And it’s not fair that Bailey is pressuring him so much to throw it all away. So he was honest with her.
Perhaps what Nolan said to Bailey in The Rookie Season 8 Episode 5 ‘The Network’ sounds harsh, but she had to hear it. And we thought we’d never say this, but here it is: Nolan is right. Bailey is desperate to escape. Because of her past, Bailey feels like her happiness has an expiration date. She can be happy for a while, but sooner or later, it will all end. So Bailey prefers to leave before it happens, so she can feel like she’s in control and that she’s not running away, just moving forward. And that makes a lot more sense than Bailey throwing her whole life away for a job she’s been craving and dreaming about for the last five minutes.
After The Rookie Season 8 Episode 5 ‘The Network,’ Bailey and Nolan are at a crossroads, at a turning point. If Bailey decides to go to Washington, her marriage to Nolan will be over. But if she decides to stay, a part of her will resent Nolan for being the one “responsible” for her losing “her dream job.” Let’s not even consider the possibility that Bailey wants to delve deeper into the point Nolan makes because she doesn’t think that’s a possibility.
So, we have one week left to find out what happens with Bailan. And, honestly, we think Nolan deserves better. We said what we said.
MORE: The Rookie Season 8, Episode 3 Review: ‘The Red Place’
Other Stuff in The Rookie Season 8 Episode 5 ‘The Network’
- We miss Aaron! We want to see him again; his visit left us wanting more.
- Aaron’s car is a real beauty.
- Tim smiling is everything that’s right in this world.
- Those little Chenford moments and jokes are life. But we need more of them!
- Thank goodness Lucy wasn’t hurt, but for a moment we were worried about Nolan there.
- Celina and her boyfriend are about to break up.
- We love Celina and Lucy’s friendship.
- Elena! We loved seeing her again.
- Nolan getting involved in a very dangerous FBI operation just so he can talk to Garza on Bailey’s whim…
- And Bailey interrupting his work to ask him absurd questions. Give him some space, girl!
- Wopez and Nyla & James are such power couples!
- We love how Nyla handled the situation with her daughter. She was wrong to hide the videos from her, and it’s understandable that Nyla was angry, especially given the dangers she knows exist, but she also needs to listen to her daughter and let her be. So we loved that she realized that. They’re so cute!
The Rookie Season 8 airs Mondays at 10 pm on ABC.
