Critic’s Rating: 4.3 / 5.0
4.3
Seth came, and he went!
It shouldn’t be that surprising that The Rookie Season 7 Episode 16 found a way to reintroduce this character and kick him to the curve in 45 minutes or less, yet it still caught me off guard how they resolved his arc.
But the hour marks a “return” in more ways than one!
Seth’s Return Ratcheted Up Tension
No one wanted Seth to grace the walls of the police station after his antics, and we all suspected his departure during The Rookie Season 7 Episode 10.
His storyline didn’t feel complete, and he left that open door when he implied that he would be fighting his termination, and they wouldn’t hear the last of him.
Yet it was still jarring to see him waltzing into the locker room as if nothing had happened and trying so hard to appeal to people as if they didn’t have a right to be angry.
Seth’s entitlement was remarkable. And Miles, in particular, had every right to feel angry at Seth’s reappearance.
He showed back up at the station as if he belonged there, scored $10K in back pay, and thought people would embrace him with open arms.
Miles Mixed Feelings Felt Honest and Real
He never should’ve crossed the threshold if he couldn’t take some hostility and jabs. The fact that he didn’t feel people should have space to be angry is mind-boggling.
He and Miles coming to blows in the locker room was exactly what you’d expect from this scenario, and more measures should’ve gone into place to keep Seth far away from the people he had issues with most.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to deal with Seth riding with Lucy. It would’ve been unfair to stick her with him, and frankly, Nolan was the best person he could’ve been with on his first day back.
Nolan can pull off being professional, and while he didn’t care for Seth’s antics either, he was probably the only person who could compartmentalize that and stick to the job.
He even treated Seth fairly when Seth’s previous actions would’ve given him every reason not to. Nolan was rather impressive in that regard, and it was a strong hour that showed us how great a cop he can be when it matters most.
Nolan Shines in Handling of Seth
It was quite nice to have him keep it real with Seth, give him advice, and still take his duty to show him the ropes and how to be a decent cop seriously.
In doing so, we also had someone whom Seth could bounce things off of and serve as a sounding board so viewers could better understand the character better understand the character.
But it’s safe to say there was never a shot of him winning Lucy over, and his pathetic attempts were more irritating than anything else. Using Tamara to orchestrate this dinner was infuriating.
Then he showed up with flowers and all those little attempts at small talk, and I couldn’t help rolling my eyes. When we learned that he and Tamara were engaged, I was every bit as infuriated as Lucy.
Tamara’s Naivete Regarding Seth Feels Forced
Tamara is so much smarter than this, and while the sentiment that maybe thanks to Lucy, she’s softened up and learned to trust was sweet, it also didn’t ring true.
It felt like they didn’t know what to do with Tamara, so they entangled her needlessly in this Seth plot, and she suffered narratively and via her characterization as a result.
Even if Tamara has grown comfortable with Lucy and the idea of a family, it doesn’t erase her natural instincts and a desire to read people after so long of living on the streets.
I wish they didn’t have to dumb Tamara down for this part of the story, especially since Seth confessed to her by the end of the hour, and she broke up with him anyway.
Hell, I still don’t believe Tamara would get engaged to someone she probably only knew for a couple of months.
Seth’s Redemption Doesn’t Let Him Off the Hook
What The Rookie does get right with Seth here is finding a way to redeem him without necessarily selling the narrative that everything is fine now.
Throughout his time with Nolan, he tried to improve as a cop, even though he was still a liability. Because of his clumsiness, everything went pear-shaped at that warehouse with Gene and the others.
He caused the chaos there, but he also saved Nolan. His first day back was his last on the job, and he became the hero he always wanted to be.
Unfortunately for him, it came with a cost — his leg.
The moment they showed his leg, it was evident he’d be losing it.
Nothing was salvageable about that. And it sucked to see him in so much pain, although admittedly, I found his wailing a bit jarring and distracting, not because people wouldn’t be in excruciating pain during that, but because the pitch or something got to me.
The Seth Nuance Makes His Return Work
Nevertheless, as much as we didn’t like Seth, no one wants to see a person endure what he did, and I loved that Bradford took his moment in the hospital with Miles to talk about how it’s okay to feel conflicted about all of it.
And to think, they went through all of that over a case where poor Gene should’ve just been able to be free in the first place. I’m still annoyed by that, and I don’t really blame the man for fleeing. He shouldn’t have faced punishment for a clerical error.
It still feels like Angela and Wesley haven’t had much of a storyline this season, but the war against the obnoxious social media influencers was amusing all the same.
The mob of people trying to film Angela and her son was so agitating, but the best payback was appealing to Tulsa’s girlfriend.
She clearly had an agenda from the start, and using footage of him ragging on his fan base to cancel him was ingenious.
Chenford’s Breakup is Still a Confusing Mess Headed Toward Reunion
I don’t really have much to say about the Chenford of it all.
They’re on this pathway toward reconciliation, and it always feels like we’re missing out on some key steps.
Now, rather abruptly and randomly, they’re selling us the notion that what’s kept them from properly reuniting isn’t so much what Bradford did or the work they needed to do as a couple, but the power dynamic situation.
They spent their scenes together, and this chemistry flowing between them suggested that when Lucy passes her sergeant’s exam, they’ll celebrate horizontally as peers who don’t have to worry about HR or anything else.
But I didn’t realize these were things they were worried about in the first place.
Whatever. It seems that by the finale, Lucy and Tim will likely be back together again and fine, assuming that her test goes well. But if it doesn’t, what will they do next?
I will leave you with one last thing you’d never expect from me: despite my rantings and ravings about Bailey and Rodge, they were amusing during their scenes.
Granted, they both felt shoehorned in, but at least they weren’t overtly obnoxious.
Over to you, Rookie Fanatics.
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