When Tamara (Dylan Conrique) moved out of Lucy’s (Melissa O’Neil) apartment last season of The Rookie, I was worried that that was the last we would see of her. The Rookie has previously had a habit of writing off characters to never be seen again, which it just recently fixed with Rachel (Jasmine Mathews) and which it will hopefully rectify at some point with Aaron (Tru Valentino). Thankfully, Tamara is back not even halfway through Season 7, but I’m not feeling too great about her latest storyline.
One of the more compelling storylines this season of The Rookie has been the introduction of Mid-Wilshire’s two newest rookies, Miles (Deric Augustine) and Seth (Patrick Keleher). In a lot of ways, the two have had parallel but opposite arcs of each other; as Miles becomes more likable and trustworthy, Seth becomes even more unlikable and untrustworthy. As if it’s not bad enough that Seth has lied to Lucy a number of times and now manipulated her into letting him keep his job, in this week’s episode, Seth starts up a romance with Tamara.
I’m Not a Fan of ‘The Rookie’s Seth and Tamara Romance
The Seth and Tamara plotline this episode starts with Lucy and Seth on duty together. Naturally, things are uncomfortable in the wake of their last conversation, and Lucy hints that she thinks that Seth is lying about his cancer. Seth is fully confident in his response — that is, until she says that she might look into his records. That’s when Tamara calls, and Seth is drawn to her from the moment he sees her contact photo pop up on Lucy’s phone. It’s possible that Seth is actually interested in Tamara, but it’s also awfully convenient that he weasels his way into Lucy’s personal life like this, right after she has shown that she is onto him.
Tamara and Seth have a spark as soon as they meet, and I am not thrilled to see this development. They decide to go undercover together to catch a drug dealer on Tamara’s college campus, and Seth poses as her boyfriend. Later, they even go out on a date. On the one hand, this romance is a great way to bring Tamara into the main plot. She is likely to eventually realize who Seth really is, possibly after he has put her and Lucy in danger, which could make for an interesting plotline. On the other hand, though, I feel weird about Seth and Tamara as a couple, and I don’t like seeing Tamara wrapped up in Seth’s lies and his fake persona.
‘The Rookie’ Has Me Worrying About Tamara and Lucy’s Friendship
Lucy and Tamara’s friendship has been one of my favorite parts of The Rookie since Tamara was introduced as the person who stole Lucy’s car at the start of Season 2. It was so much fun to see Tamara go from Lucy’s “puppy,” to her close friend and roommate. At the end of this week’s episode of The Rookie, Lucy tries to warn Tamara about Seth. She tells Tamara that Seth has a history of lying, and she cautions Tamara against dating him. I was very frustrated by Tamara’s reaction here, and I thought she treated Lucy unfairly when Lucy was only trying to protect her. Tamara defends Seth by pointing out that he’s a cop, then she gets mad at Lucy for telling her not to date him, and she storms off.
I can already see how this storyline will play out, with Tamara eventually realizing that Seth is a liar and ultimately apologizing to Lucy for her reaction. The Rookie could even escalate this storyline by revealing that Seth has nefarious motives for his lies. In the meantime, though, I just hate to see Tamara getting mad at Lucy, especially for doing the right thing. It might have helped if Lucy had gone into more detail about Seth’s lie, but Tamara is just not receptive to anything that Lucy had to say about Seth, and it seems like this is something that she will have to learn on her own.
I’m So Ready for Seth’s Lies to Get Exposed on ‘The Rookie’
Seth’s villain arc on The Rookie has certainly been compelling, but I’m starting to reach the breaking point of how long I can handle this storyline. It was interesting to see this seemingly nice character who was always randomly revealing tragic backstories turn out to be a flat-out liar and manipulator. The problem is that Lucy and Tim (Eric Winter) are the only ones who see Seth for who he really is. Tim has been in this with Lucy from the beginning. He believed her and helped her when she first told him about Seth’s lies, and he supported her when she was planning to recommend that Seth get cut from the program.
Part of what makes Seth such an infuriating character is that he is not just a straight-up villain. He pretends to be this nice, innocent, and naive rookie. Really, though, Seth’s moves are calculated, and there is likely even more below the surface than we have seen from him so far. At this point, I am champing at the bit to see Seth’s lies get exposed so that Tamara will apologize to Lucy, Seth will get fired, and Lucy will finally be able to move on from being his T.O. Once the dust settles, hopefully, Lucy can take the time to see if, without Seth as her rookie, being a T.O. might be something she wants to pursue from now on.
