Season 7 of The Rookie premiered on ABC. After a Season 6 finale that found the station in a mess of corruption and a covert mission that ended in gunfire, consequences and uneasy decisions are the name of the day. New rookies are put under pressure as a nuclear weapon threatens to upend everything. And John’s response in the aftermath of his shooting may prove fatal.
In the Season 7 premiere of The Rookie, John (Nathan Fillion) assures everyone that he is okay. His shooting while trying to capture Monica Stevens has left little in the way of physical damage. However, it becomes clear early on that John is still dealing with some lingering issues. A new set of rookies prove to be problematic. But, with the officers and the county betting on their success, will Boot and Peacock rise to the occasion?
A Life and Death Decision and a Moment’s Hesitation in ‘The Rookie’
The top priority of the station is the recapture of the escaped convicts, Jason Wyler and Oscar Hutchinson. Wyler, ex-husband of Nolan’s new wife, has made his way to L.A. after hearing of Bailey’s remarriage. The FBI and US Marshals are joining in on the search. While out on patrol, John and Celina come across a robbery at a pharmacy.
As they attempt to intervene, John hesitates when he has a shot of the robber. He puts his finger on and then off the trigger as he takes a deep breath. His hesitation contrasts heavily with his eagerness from the last episode when he literally drove into danger and started the gunfight that ended up with him getting shot. So, taking a moment’s pause in such a tense situation seems uncharacteristic.
John later explains to Lieutenant Grey that he wasn’t certain if he had a clean shot. Whatever it is, his hesitation allows the assailant to escape out of the back, where he shoots a man and steals his car. In a particularly hard-to-watch moment, they decide not to tell the man’s family that he died until after they get a statement from his wife. Their reasoning that she would be emotionally compromised and unfit to give a statement after learning of her husband’s death makes sense but seems harsh. Back in the car, Juarez tries to encourage him to talk and asks what he would say to her if the situation were reversed. John says that the only thing to be done is to learn from the incident so that if it happens again, the next time will be a win.
The New Recruits in ‘The Rookie’ Season 7 and a Nuclear Decision
Two new recruits join the station. Dis-affectionately nicknamed Boots and Peacock by Bradford, Boots is an eager but incredibly nervous rookie, while Peacock is an arrogant and showboating transfer. Bradford and Chin make a bet on whose trainee will best perform in a month. And while new training officer Chin is discouraged by Boots’s (aka Seth Ridley) inexperience, Bradford is constantly frustrated by the brash Peacock (Miles Penn), who forges ahead against protocol. On their first run out, Penn manages to get three strikes while confronting a car chase suspect. He later compounds this by ignoring Bradford’s command to fall back when the car turns out to be radioactive.
The radioactive car is thanks to a nuclear bomb that had been smuggled from the port. Although the port worker who stole it is dead, one of his partners is arrested and is convinced to talk in order to find his associates. ADA Evans, recently assigned to oversee the department thanks to former psychiatrist London’s involvement with corrupt lawyer Stevens, steps away from reviewing London’s recording of her sessions to sort out a deal.
The thief gives up his crew and the location of the device. As the teams move to intercept the nuke, a one-sided shootout ensues as the cops take cover in a game of ‘Don’t Shoot the nuke!’ Seeing that the cops aren’t firing back, one of the thieves threatens to shoot the bomb in order to secure his release.
Amid the chaos, it is John who takes the shot as he brings down the thief and secures the win. At the end of the episode, Bradford and Chin call their rookies’ first day a wash as, along with Penn’s over-eagerness, Ridley contaminated a crime scene by throwing up. Both rookies had rocky introductions in the episode. However, by the end, they both proved an endearing addition to the police procedural.
In the premiere episode of Season 7 of The Rookie, John clearly had some issues to work out in the aftermath of his shooting at the end of last season. Although his physical wounds appeared resolved, his hesitation to engage showed a marked difference from his eagerness at the end of last season. However, as John learns from his hesitation, when the time for action comes around again, he has worked through his issues and manages to take the shot when it counts. The Rookie is streaming on Hulu and airs Tuesdays on ABC.
