‘The Rookie’s 1 Consistent Flaw Turns a Heart-Pounding Mission Into a Weak Hour of TV

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for The Rookie Season 8, Episode 12.One of the best things about procedurals is bringing back familiar characters over the course of several seasons. It can be fun for long-term fans of the show to spot people they know. However, The Rookie, now in Season 8, seems to be utilizing past characters a little too much for my taste. Episode 12 is chock-full of minor characters we’ve already met, which results in the episode feeling stale, despite depicting several exciting plotlines.

‘The Rookie’ Takes on a Dangerous Sting Operation

The episode opens with John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) giving testimony in a debrief for the FBI on a sting operation carried out by his team. We then flash back to seeing the mission unfold. The plan is to smoke out Heath Everett’s (Jeffrey Vincent Parise) co-conspirators inside the military and Department of Defense. They set up a mission called “Spy Game,” where Bailey Nune (Jenna Dewan) is the bait. Quickly, they’re able to see that the mysterious woman from the Pentagon is named Regan (Chantal Thuy), and she’s definitely following Bailey. The best part of this operation is that we have all the main characters working together, which creates a fun dynamic. The cops trick Regan and her team into meeting at the hospital, where the police learn that Regan’s objective is to “cancel tickets,” a.k.a. kill Bailey.

After a thrill-inducing elevator fight, Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) takes down one of Regan’s goons. Regan escapes, but FBI agent Matthew Garza (Felix Solis) and Nyla Harper (Mekia Cox) interrogate the suspect they’ve caught. They learn that these men served under General Adam Pressman, who was involved in a kickback scheme with Everett. When Everett was caught, the general instructed Regan to scrub his name from all the Pentagon files. The evil AI bot, Zuzu, from last season resurfaces and offers Nolan a recorded conversation from Regan’s burner phone that provides clear evidence of a conspiracy. This feels a little too convenient; instead of the police having to do more work to solve the case, but it does help wrap things up pretty nicely. Of course, things aren’t completely over until there’s a car chase in the pursuit of Regan. There’s some action next to the La Brea Tar Pits (an iconic Los Angeles location), but the crew is finally able to apprehend Regan. The most frustrating part is that they’re not sure what will happen to the general, even though he took millions of dollars in kickbacks, he could just retire quietly so that the DOD isn’t publicly embarrassed by his actions.

‘The Rookie’ Season 8 Episode 12 Threatens Wesley’s DA Campaign

Wesley Evers (Shawn Ashmore) was already experiencing some major problems in his campaign for District Attorney, namely him not being able to successfully prosecute serial killer Liam Glasser (Seth Gabel). But then we see that there are also some serious accusations surfacing regarding Wesley’s personal life. The way this storyline is told in this episode is actually super confusing. There are shifts in the timeline that don’t make sense (especially because the rest of the episode is told chronologically). We see Wesley sitting for an interview, but it would have made more sense for the whole narrative to be told more straightforwardly. Wesley is offered a tape of his opponent, Vivian Eckert (Necar Zadegan), berating her staff, but Wesley doesn’t want to stoop to her level by releasing the tape. Wesley’s troubles truly kick off when his former enemy, Elijah Stone (Brandon Jay McLaren), pops up on the courthouse steps, calls Wesley a liar to the press that’s gathered there, and states that Wesley and Monica Stevens (Bridget Regan) had an affair.

Wesley decides that the only way to squash the lie and save his campaign is to have Monica refute the accusation herself. Monica meets with Angela Lopez (Alyssa Diaz) and says that the only way she’ll deny the affair is if Wesley comes to her himself. Then, Zuzu calls Angela and offers an untraceable link that would “destroy Vivian” for good. She ultimately decides to erase the file, proving she’s still an honorable person. Monica and Wesley meet, and we learn that Wesley did cheat, but it was on Monica during their relationship, not during his marriage to Angela. Wesley apologizes to Monica, and Monica ultimately releases a video clearing Wesley of wrongdoing. She even goes so far as to name Vivian as the true enemy of the people of Los Angeles. But we’re left with the question: is it too late to salvage Wesley’s campaign now?

Most Relationships Are in a Good Place in ‘The Rookie’

Wade Grey (Richard T. Jones) and Luna (Angel Parker) are still talking through their fractured marriage, but I’m getting sort of tired of the same narrative being played out for the past several episodes. These two need to either work it out or move on at this point. However, aside from this relationship, our other favorite couples are doing well. Tim confesses to Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil) that he’s bored being Watch Commander, and Lucy encourages him to make the job his own. It’s nice to see them working out their professional issues in a healthy way with each other. And by the end of the episode, Bailey and Nolan have mended their conflict, because Bailey admits that the job at the Pentagon wasn’t what she thought it would be. She even decides to move back home to LA for good. I’m frustrated that The Rookie writers aren’t following through with this storyline, and I’m not sure what the point of the narrative was if it doesn’t change anything with Bailey’s character.

The episode ends with Zuzu calling Nolan to say goodbye. The Indonesian police are taking down his server, and it does seem like a positive thing to wrap up this plot for good. The AI bot was being used to give the police valuable information, but I’d rather see them work through their investigations with real police work, instead of utilizing this futuristic plot device. Overall, this episode is not as captivating as others have been because it felt too bogged down by the use of old characters to move the storytelling along. I’m hoping that The Rookie will head through the rest of the season with an eye on the future, instead of the past.

New episodes of The Rookie air on Monday nights on ABC, with episodes available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.