We’re back! The Rookie Season 8 Episode 6 ‘Burn 4 Love’ is the best episode of the season. It’s perfect. Every character has their moment to shine. Bailey and Nolan map out their future, while Chenford struggles with Valentine’s Day gifts, and Wesley and Nyla face a problem that puts them on opposite sides. And, in the end, everything explodes. Literally.
Here we go!
Sacrifices in The Rookie Season 8 Episode 6 ‘Burn 4 Love’
Bailey gets what she wants for Valentine’s Day in The Rookie Season 8 Episode 6 ‘Burn 4 Love.’ Although we were surprised by how we got there. At first, Bailey threw a tantrum. Nolan tried to get closer to her, to bridge the gap between them, but Bailey rejected his advances and continued to play the victim in the whole situation. Which is completely unfair.
But talking to Luna helped Bailey a lot. Marriage is about commitment, yes—a lesson Bailey could learn—but it’s also about sacrifice. As we discussed, sometimes you have to sacrifice one thing to preserve another. Marriage presents many such opportunities. And if you want your marriage to survive, you have to fight for it, which means you’ll have to make sacrifices.
The truth is, Bailey isn’t committing to Nolan because she doesn’t care about his feelings or the magnitude of what she’s asking; she just expects him to agree and indulge her every whim. But Bailey is also not willing to sacrifice a job she’s been wanting for five minutes for the sake of her marriage. And she can’t have it all.
Either Bailey chooses to keep her marriage alive by staying in Los Angeles, or she throws it all away by moving to Washington. The choice is hers. But she can’t expect everything to fall into place on her terms. Or blame Nolan and accuse him of not supporting her just because he doesn’t want to go along with her latest whim. Luckily, Bailey realizes in time in The Rookie Season 8 Episode 6 ‘Burn 4 Love’ and makes the right decision.
MORE: The Rookie Season 8, Episode 5 Review: ‘The Network’
Uncertain Future
Nolan means more to Bailey than just a job, so she decides to stay in Los Angeles with him. And she wants to tell him why. Bailey wants to tell him that she’s happy and that she doesn’t need to run away from her life with him. Bailey stopped running away when she met him. And, although it took Bailey too long to reach this conclusion, that’s beautiful. However, Nolan turns everything upside down once again when he asks Bailey to leave.
And for us, Nolan’s decision in The Rookie Season 8 Episode 6 ‘Burn 4 Love’ makes no sense. It’s a fatal blow to their marriage. We understand that he wants to support Bailey and can’t stand feeling like he’s holding her back, but the sacrifices you make for the people you love shouldn’t feel like holds, but rather like a choice. Choosing the person you love above everything else, because that person is more important.
This marriage is doomed if Bailey doesn’t come back. That’s a fact. No matter what Nolan says, no marriage can withstand a long-distance relationship forever. For a while? Sure. Forever? Nope. That’s doomed. And Bailey is leaving for good, not for a year, or two, or a few months, but forever. That’s why she was going to turn their life upside down, because Washington wasn’t temporary, it was permanent.
So yeah, The Rookie Season 8 Episode 6 ‘Burn 4 Love’ sealed Bailan’s fate, even if it takes a while for either of them to accept it. And, frankly, this plot twist felt forced. We would have preferred Bailey to stick to her selfish ways or, following Luna’s advice, to sacrifice her job for her marriage. That makes sense, but Bailey changing her mind and then Nolan sacrificing himself for her doesn’t quite work. We said what we said.
MORE: The Rookie Season 8, Episode 4 Review: ‘Cut and Run’
Giving In…Has a Price
Our hearts broke when we saw what happened between Wesley and Nyla in The RookieSeason 8 Episode 6 ‘Burn 4 Love.’ This is so complicated. We want to hate Wesley for what he did to Nyla and for what he indirectly did to her friendship with Angela, but we can’t.
Wesley did what he had to do. He did his job. Nyla let her emotions get the better of her when she threatened that monster like that. She knew he was the killer and those innocent women he murdered…Nyla did what we all would have done in her place and made it clear to that monster that he would pay for everything.
The point is that this jeopardizes the entire case. And Wesley is in a very public and difficult position right now. He can’t cover it up and let it go, but Nyla is like family to him and Angela, so reporting her to internal affairs, putting her career on the line, feels like a betrayal. It’s an impossible choice. And completely unfair.
Nyla doesn’t deserve to lose her job over this. We understand why she did it, and we don’t blame her. We would have done the same. And probably if Wesley weren’t running for district attorney, he’d just be supporting his friend. But he is, so that option isn’t on the table. So Wesley did the best he could. We don’t blame him for making the decision he made either.
The worst part is that Angela is caught in the middle. She and Nyla are like sisters, but in The Rookie Season 8 Episode 6 ‘Burn 4 Love,’ Nyla needs to get away from Wesley and, by extension, from Angela. She knows Wesley did what he had to do. But she’s angry with him for it. The explosion at the police station and everything they went through made them just the besties they are one more night, but the distance is there. And it hurts.
MORE: The Rookie Season 8, Episode 3 Review: ‘The Red Place’
Other Stuff in The Rookie Season 8 Episode 6 ‘Burn 4 Love’
- We weren’t expecting that final part of the episode. It gave us more than one heart-stopping moment.
- We were worried about everyone there: Celina, Lucy, Tim, Nyla, Angela, Miles, and Nolan. We breathed a sigh of relief when we saw them alive and well.
- But we were really worried about Tim and Nyla. That was too close.
- Celina is a true hero. I never want to hear her say she’s a coward again; she never was, and what she did during that explosion proves it. She saved them all.
- Lucy saving Tim, even giving him her oxygen. Love it!
- And, after all, they still have the energy for a joke. We love them.
- That final moment between Wesley, Angela, and Nyla gave us years of life.
- We’re so glad Angela caught that bastard.
- Tim and Lucy are terrible with Valentine’s Day gifts, but they made us laugh. And melt. That book Lucy gave Tim…best gift ever!
- Genny deserves a nice glass of wine and a spa weekend courtesy of Chenford.
- We noticed Genny wasn’t amused when Bailey showed up while she was talking to Nolan. Hopefully, there’ll be something going on here in the future.
- We can’t stand Grey’s complaining. Why doesn’t he ask Luna how many times she’s had to cancel plans because he had work?
- We should have seen Luna’s reaction to Grey’s new job, which he took without consulting her.
- Even so, we like seeing them doing well and reaching a compromise so their marriage doesn’t fall apart.
- Celina meant to be kind. But it could have been misinterpreted.
- Celina’s boyfriend is cute. He’s just not Miles (wink, wink).
The Rookie Season 8 airs Mondays at 10 pm on ABC.
