‘The Rookie’ Season 1, Episode 12 ‘Heartbreak’ Recap: Anti-Valentine

The Rookie got a glimpse of how stressful political occasions are. Now, things fire up just as Valentines Day happens. As the Force goes on high alert due to the holiday, rookies and training officers alike gear up to take on the challenge. A day in the life of an LAPD Officer is unlike anything anyone expects and another holiday makes things stranger than usual.

In this week’s episode of The Rookie, Officer John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) celebrates Valentines Day as a single man for the first time. Because of Officer Tim Bradford’s (Eric Winter) personal leave, Officer Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil) does desk duty. Meanwhile, Officers Angela Lopez (Alyssa Diaz) and Jackson West (Titus Makin Jr.) unexpectedly encounter a serial killer diagnosed with dementia.

Moving Forward

Tim never took personal leaves. For years, this was a consistent fact. However, Tim unexpectedly took one to sort things out with his wife, Isabel (Mircea Monroe). Isabel recently recovered from her injuries following the drug operation that went south. Now, Isabel is sober, and she wishes to fix her relationship with Tim whom she loved and hurt the most. For the most part, Tim was happy to see her recover from both her injuries as well as her addiction.

Sadly, Tim did not see a way for her to move forward with life if she chose to be with him, thinking that he is a reminder of Isabel’s lowest point in life. With that, Tim decides that their relationship ends there. After this, Tim heads to the police station. Both to make amends as well as to get his mind off the breakup, Tim asks Nell (Sara Rue) out on a platonic Valentines Day date.

Dormant Serial Killer

Scott Everett White/ABC

Lopez and West handle the strangest of cases for the day. A masked, naked man ran across town as another man with a golf club chased him down. After the man’s arrest for indecent exposure, Lopez and West respond to an assault report– with a twist. The victim, Kevin (John Billingsley) had bruises as well as a concussion, and he also has dementia. West’s pity urged him to try to locate Kevin’s next of kin. While working on this, they find out that a similar incident happened to one of the victim’s neighbors.

After questioning Kevin, Lopez notes one thing: Kevin knew that the other assault victim was a female despite them not telling him. This situation meant either Kevin’s memory needed a little more time to sort out, or that he is the assailant. With that, Lopez heads to the station to have an investigation conducted on Kevin. Meanwhile, West stood guard outside Kevin’s room. Moments later, Major Crimes Division unearth cases involving assault and homicide with evidence that matched Kevin’s DNA.

As West read Lopez’ text, Kevin suddenly disappeared from his bed. Later, Nurse Brown (Cameron Armstrong) came in to check on Kevin. Lopez found both West and Nurse Brown unconscious in Kevin’s room. It did not take her much time to see Kevin, now disguised in Brown’s scrub suit. Eventually, Lopez apprehends Kevin. His days as a serial killer finally ended.

Romance Extremes

Scott Everett White/ABC

Jackson and Angela shared the same shift but had very different Valentines Day outcomes. Jackson noticed that Nurse Brown from the hospital was into him, so he decides to take Nurse Brown out on a date. Meanwhile, Angela’s paranoia took the better part of her. After both she and Wesley (Shawn Ashmore) forget about Valentines Day, they go about their day until they meet at the station once again. The judge at Wesley’s hearing ordered his arrest. After Angela’s offer to go on a date got turned down, she decides to snoop around Wesley’s phone where she finds that he scheduled a dinner with someone named Melanie. Unfortunately, her snooping around backfired on her as Wesley explained that Melanie was his stepmom and no one was there to take her out on Valentines Day. Tough luck, Angela.

The Savior

Officers Talia Bishop (Afton Williamson) and Nolan seem to receive the most hectic of callouts. Their first incident involved a car that hit a power line. The driver, a woman named Denise (Beau Garett) got electrocuted, but Nolan managed to help her regain consciousness. At the station, Denise gave Nolan a gesture of gratitude as well as a flirty invite– both awkwardly witnessed by Chen. Their second callout was about a potential home invasion, but it was a false alarm: Denise made the 9-11 call just as Nolan and Bishop cruised to their neighborhood. Seeing that Denise was still dealing with the loss of her husband, a soldier killed in action, Nolan tries to talk sense into her.

John thought that he had seen the last of Denise as he and Ben McCree (Currie Graham), as well as Lucy, prepared for the Anti-Valentine party until Ben introduces his date: Denise. Quickly, John and Lucy brief Ben over what happened to Denise then John confronts her, but Denise was way ahead of him. Lying naked on John’s bed, Denise overdosed on pills, turning the situation into an emergency. Luckily, the ambulance arrived not too soon, and Lucy took the liberty of making sure that Denise will be alright. John admits that knowing about Denise’s attraction toward him felt good, up until he found out the truth about her. Unexpectedly, Talia shows up at John’s house, so the Anti-Valentines Day party happens after all; just not the way any of them expected it to happen.

‘The Rookie’ Season 1, Episode 12 ‘Heartbreak’ Final Verdict

This episode has the heaviest personal life drama among all the other ones. Here, we have an in-depth account of the characters’ lives outside the badge. However, it did not fall short of the action that the show has typically. Admittedly, some aspects of the drama in the plot were quite too cheesy, but perhaps the episode just lived up to its title.

The Rookie returns Tuesday, February 19th with ‘Caught Stealing’ at 10/9c on ABC.