The Rookie

Wow! I loved it, keep up the good writing, the good plot lines & the relationships of the characters as they settle into their roles & we've got an entertaining hour of tv!

I start watching this show without knowing it and the S1 and S2 was just so great! Every episode was pure fun and every thing felt so real without fake policing and stuff. But than season 3 came and wow it felt like it turn into a teaching episodes, How I should feel about certain things and every second character is offended from every second word a white person says (and I'm not white). Also lots of Hypocrisy, at one moment a person say to a white guy he wont get special treatment or any ease, and on the next the same person go directly to the Sargent and asks for his help only because she knows him. I fully understand the problems with the police and profiling, but too bad they took a great show and turned it into a teaching and lessons episodes. They should continue the same as s1 and s2 which also contained profiling and stuff, but it was reasonable and subtle.

At first I thought "no please, not another cop show" and I wasn't sure about Nathan Fillion as a cop. But I must say, the directing is spot on, and the writing is refreshing - especially the relationships of the rookies and their T.O's, their relationship with each other, the conflicts they have to deal with, and the use/views of the body cams. Also surprisingly, Fillion is perfect for this part and nails his role, and all other actors were perfectly cast and also are great in their roles. I especially appreciate seeing the various parts of L.A. and the different people/conflicts the LAPD has to deal with - outside and within the force. So far so good, let's hope the writing progresses as good at the pilot was throughout the season. A well deserved 8/10 from me.

EDIT: 4/2019 - upped my score from 8 to 9/10... the writing has vastly improved; more realistic (and original) drama, and much less cliched cheese. Keep it up guys!

That is basically the gist of it. Like in any police series, way too many things happen in one episode and the rookies experience more shootings and heavy crime than most police in many life times.

The bad writing is mostly about how the leave of people from the show is dealt with. They might get a short farewell, but then they are gone and nobody thinks about them anymore for more than one episode. That lacks. Also the writers make quite many characters spill deep wisdom out of the blue that usually takes a life-time to acquire and therefore the only one who doesn't look silly doing it, is the Sergeant. Also it is not credible that the receiving end always follows this advise given. Also it is silly how the relationships that end in the show never have a fall-out.

Before you write this off as some hater, know that I'm a person of color. I appreciate the attempt at bringing real life issues into the show, but that does not forgive bad writing or a shove-it-down-your-throat attitude. Season 3 has so far been only about 2 things. Women suffering from men and people of color suffering from bad cops. There's no longer policing, there's no longer "The Rookie". This is another show, and it's the wrong show.

This used to be a goody-two-shoes comic relief police show with just enough drama to make us invested. That doesn't go with this. If you want to talk about these issues that deeply then make another show dedicated to them.

And if you wanted to simply give them an appearance in "The Rookie", then you could have done it more subtly and without simply pulling us out of the story and environment we were used to. For example, Officer Smitty would have been a good character to involve in the racism issues. He's a slacker, comic-relief, but what if we show him when he feels endangered, because of a person of color who doesn't show any cause for danger? That could have been a good tip of the hat towards the issue, and showing it through a character we're familiar with.

One other thing is the death of logic in this third season.

SPOILERS IN THE NEXT LINE. (Check below for Spoiler end and start reading there to avoid season 3 spoilers)

The fact that Jackson's TO would be this stupid when he has the IA commander's son as a boot just doesn't make sense. And if he's as smart and cautious about his racism as they make him out to be, he'd have actually acted like a goody-two-shoes in front of Jackson, which the latter could have noticed and created another plotline about that, but we're past that now.

SPOILER END.

At the moment, I'm conflicted about even finish season 3, I'm at episode 5, and frankly I don't want to watch it. I just want this whole mess over with and for us to get back to the story of The Rookie.