We’re back! The Rookie Season 8 Episode 10 ‘His Name Was Martin’ was a turning point for Lucy, leading her to make a life-or-death decision. At the same time, Grey and Luna’s marriage is crumbling more and more. Ready?
Here we go!
The Turning Point in The Rookie Season 8 Episode 10 ‘His Name Was Martin’
The Rookie Season 8 Episode 10 ‘His Name Was Martin’ left us speechless. In the best possible way. You know I don’t like “special” episodes. I mention this every time the show tries to be a true crime documentary. So I went into this episode without many expectations. I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. The episode moves at a frantic pace, jumping from one moment to the next so quickly that you barely have time to think about it. And honestly, that energy works. It feels very much in line with the tone of The Walking Dead or The Last of Us. At times, it even plays like a video game.
Because of that, this “special” episode was already working better for me than the previous ones. I was having fun with it. Still, I wouldn’t have called it a favorite.
Then the last fifteen minutes hit.
Like…that was brutal. Brilliant. And we loved it. We suffered. But we loved it. What happens in The Rookie Season 8 Episode 10 ‘His Name Was Martin,’ is a turning point for Lucy.
Let’s be clear: Lucy did what she had to do. It was Martin or her. Martin isn’t the typical criminal, and he was poisoned by a toxic substance, but that didn’t make a difference in the moment. Martin was going to kill her…and Lucy had to defend herself. As best she could. It’s the definition of self-defense. And Lucy knows it. She knows that, rationally, she had no other choice and did the right thing.
What happens with Martin changes everything, especially for Lucy. For the first time in her career, she’s forced to use lethal force. That alone is a lot to process. Taking a life is never simple. It shouldn’t be. And the situation becomes even more complicated when the person who dies is someone like Martin, someone who was also a victim in many ways.
MORE: The Rookie Season 8, Episode 9 Review: ‘Fun and Games’
Reliving the Trauma
Throughout The Rookie Season 8 Episode 10 ‘His Name Was Martin,’ that moment keeps coming back to her. It’s stuck in her head. She goes over it again and again, wondering if there was another option—some different way to stop him. Realistically, there wasn’t. But knowing that doesn’t make the weight of it disappear. She killed him, and now she has to carry that with her.
The attack itself also pushes her somewhere she hasn’t been in a long time. Martin’s violence takes her right back to a place she thought she had left behind.
The last time she felt fear like that was the day a serial killer nearly ended her life. Moments like that don’t just vanish. It’s easy to see why she’s still in shock. Even Celina’s attempt to comfort her feels like too much in that moment, which is why Lucy instinctively pulls away from her touch. And our hearts break for her.
At the same time, the episode only begins to explore the emotional aftermath of everything that happened. She’s still shaken, still struggling with the guilt of what she had to do. Nothing is resolved yet.
If anything, this feels like the start of a much bigger emotional fallout. Fingers crossed that the next episode does exactly this and we don’t go from what we saw in this one to Lucy going back to work as if nothing happened.
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Test of Trust
And as if Lucy’s situation wasn’t heartbreaking enough, The Rookie Season 8 Episode 10 ‘His Name Was Martin’ puts the final nail in the coffin with Grey and Luna. They left us heartbroken. And we understand them both. We understand that Luna doesn’t want to abandon a job she’s passionate about, one that fills a void in her she didn’t know existed. But we also understand what Grey is asking of her.
Grey can’t bear knowing that Luna spends eight hours a day with the guy she has feelings for—feelings strong enough to jeopardize their marriage. Every single day. How long will they resist temptation? How can Grey be sure that nothing will ever happen? We think Grey is asking for something reasonable. A marriage can’t survive without trust. After everything Grey now knows, it’s understandable that he struggles to believe nothing could happen between Luna and that doctor—not even a kiss. Maybe that reaction isn’t entirely fair, but it’s undeniably human.
And there’s the other side of the coin in The Rookie Season 8 Episode 10 ‘His Name Was Martin.’ What Grey is asking of Luna isn’t fair. It’s not fair for her to give up a job she loves…especially when he’s still doing his. So, if you ask us what we think is best, we think Luna should quit her job…and Grey should too. Only then they will be truly committed to each other and 100% dedicated to saving their marriage.
MORE: The Rookie Season 8, Episode 7 Review: ‘Baja’
Other Stuff in The Rookie Season 8 Episode 10 ‘His Name Was Martin’
- Melissa O’Neil conveys so much. The shock, the pain, the guilt, the fear, the trauma…she’s fantastic.
- We understand that, once he confirmed Lucy was okay, Tim had to act like the superior officer, to protect Lucy in such a situation and make sure she understood what was going to happen. But we miss Tim, Lucy’s boyfriend. We miss seeing him hug her, comfort her.
- And yes, we miss the Tim who was desperately searching for Lucy the day she was buried alive.
- So we hope to see plenty of that in the next episode.
The Rookie Season 8 airs Mondays at 10 pm on ABC.
The writers let the chasing officers by the infected workers go on waaaay too long. Meanwhile Bailey knocks on a door. Best story was Wesley’s witness. It was overall not a great storyline.