After Tim (Eric Winter) and Lucy’s (Melissa O’Neil) breakup last season, The Rookie proved that no couple in the series was safe — that is, at least, for established married couples like Angela (Alyssa Diaz) and Wesley (Shawn Ashmore), and Nyla (Mekia Cox) and James (Arjay Smith). Sure, these couples are not without their problems, particularly this season. In a more trivial storyline, Wesley was jealous after learning through Blair London’s (Danielle Campbell) tapes that Detective Graham (Ivan Hernandez) had a crush on Angela.
In a more serious and well-handled storyline, Nyla and James had to work through the issues between their two jobs, which ended with her starting a police accountability program at Mid-Wilshire. This resolution looked like the end for Nyla and James’ problems, but now, The Rookie has introduced a new conflict for their relationship: in a surprising scene in the midseason finale, another woman, Kylie (Maria Zhang), kisses James — and Nolan (Nathan Fillion) sees the whole thing happen. This storyline is unnecessary romantic drama, but after that cliffhanger ending, The Rookie hopefully won’t be pursuing it beyond the next episode.
‘The Rookie’s Mid-Season 7 Finale Introduces a Cheating Misunderstanding
In the midseason finale this week, James organizes a program at the community center to help people who have been displaced by a wildfire that is spreading. One of the community center’s regular volunteers, Kylie, shows up to help. From the beginning, it is clear that there is something wrong, though. Kylie hasn’t shown up in a week, and now that she’s here, she tells James that she has been going through a hard time, and that seeing him makes her feel better. Soon, a man named Connor (Levi Meaden) shows up and starts threatening Kylie, and James steps in to help her.
After Connor threatens Kylie, James tells her that he is in this with her, and Kylie kisses him. This is clearly just a misunderstanding. Kylie is in a vulnerable place, and James is making her feel safe. Additionally, James would never cheat on Nyla, which he tells Kylie right away when he stops the kiss. This might have been the end of it, but Nolan happens to catch the moment, and then it becomes a point of drama. It’s easy to see how this storyline could build up to a rift between Nyla and James, especially if Nolan were to tell Nyla about it before James is given the chance.
In fact, Nolan has already told Wesley, and it could easily spread and end up looking more like than it actually is. It’s a major problem for the series to have a sudden and random cheating line for one of its most solid and established couples, even if it’s just a misunderstanding. The storyline with Connor takes a turn, though, and the episode ends with James and Kylie fighting for their lives. With such an intense cliffhanger, The Rookie may have sidestepped unnecessary drama for one of its best couples.
‘The Rookie’s Mid-Season 7 Finale Ends With James and Kylie Getting Shot
Although Kylie is scared to tell James what’s going on, he figures it out very quickly. He sees Connor’s gang tattoo, and he puts the pieces together. There was a shooting last week where Connor’s gang killed a member of a rival gang at the place where Kylie works, and she witnessed the shooting. Now, Connor’s gang is threatening Kylie to keep quiet, but James assures her that he will help her through this situation. Shortly after, though, Connor drives by, and the two of them are shot. James will likely make it out alive, but Kylie has many more wounds than him, and she might not.
It would be really disappointing to see Nyla and James’ relationship face issues right now over such an obvious misunderstanding, especially since they just worked through their relationship’s biggest problem. The cliffhanger at the end of this episode will hopefully allow the show to sidestep this plotline and focus on James surviving the shooting, with him and Nyla working to take down the people who did this to him and Kylie. A cheating plot is too dramatic to bring James into the main plotline, and this new plotline feels more fitting and serious for this couple. Instead of having Nyla mad about the Kylie thing, this will put things into perspective for her, and hopefully she and James will come out of it even stronger.
‘The Rookie’ Needs To Leave This Storyline Behind for Nyla and James
The Rookie likely just included this plotline to give James something more to do, but his character and job are interesting enough to bring him into the main storyline without cheating. Nyla and James are one of the show’s best couples. They challenge each other, they have a similar sense of humor, and they are able to work through their different perspectives in a way that still makes the other feel heard and seen. They have been married for a while now, and it would be heartbreaking to see The Rookie separate them over a miscommunication, even for just a few episodes.
That final cliffhanger at the end of the midseason finale can lead to Nyla getting justice for what happened. Hopefully, James and Kylie both make it out alive, and then they wake up soon enough to explain the misunderstanding to Nyla before Nolan blows it out of proportion. With Jason (Steve Kazee) dead and Glasser (Seth Gabel) now in jail, Connor has been introduced at the right time to become The Rookie’s next big villain — and the storyline of taking him and his gang down might just be able to overshadow what could have become a major point of conflict for Nyla and James.
