‘The Rookie’ Season 1, Episode 14 ‘Plain Clothes Day’ Recap: Your Call

The Rookie finally has his first drug bust operation along with his fellow rookies. When they suddenly become involved in the case, they each show that they deserve to remain part of the force. Now, they face a different challenge: Plainclothes Day. They call the shots; they make a choice.

In this week’s episode of The Rookie, Officer John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) learns to take his age as an advantage. Meanwhile, Officer Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil) risks losing her career. Back at the station, Officer Jackson West (Titus Makin Jr.) finally outgrows his father’s shadow.

Beating The Odds

Rick Rowell/ABC

Officer Nolan knows how his age limits his capabilities as a rookie. Despite this, he still wishes to reach Detective status. To impress his Training Officer, Officer Talia Bishop (Afton Williamson), Nolan shows off during his shift on a plainclothes day. When they respond to a domestic violence call, Nolan and Bishop find a pair of goons beating up a man. After Nolan cuffs one of them, he goes after another one; leaving Bishop to watch the first one. However, when Nolan catches the second suspect, the first suspect ran off, since he did not cuff him to an immovable object. After all, Bishop technically was not there, so she had no say in how the arrest goes. As Nolan received a lecture from Bishop in the squad car, they found the fleeing suspect, limping because of his hurt leg.

Nolan’s second policing method did not sit well with Bishop, but she had no choice but to watch. Pulling up to the driveway of a motel, Nolan checks the plates of a vehicle, finding out that it belonged to a wanted Arms Dealer. Nolan then organizes a strike team to enter the suspect’s motel room, but what happens is a mix-up. The occupant bought the car from craigslist and is working on processing the car’s new license plates. Also, she had a baby: a baby that took quite some time to woo to sleep.

Listener

Luckily, Nolan’s strange case led to something good. The mother gave him the seller’s address, so he had cops serve a warrant to the said location. After lunch, Nolan receives a call that mentions the same motel that they went. Once there, Nolan realizes that the occupant next to the mother, a lady, was missing, the same lady who asked for his help about credit card purchases. When Sergeant Wade Gray (Richard T. Jones) arrives at the scene, he briefs Nolan and Bishop about the situation: the lady married a man with a history of domestic violence.

Finally, the force tracks the lady’s location. Nolan and Bishop respond to the scene; a truck parked in a sketchy area. At this point, Nolan and Bishop disregard the plainclothes day rule since it would require Nolan to wait for backup, and time was a luxury they could not afford. With their combined use of police tactics, Nolan and Bishop apprehend the suspect and save the lady from becoming a murder victim. At the end of their shift, Bishop tells Nolan to not think of his age as a disadvantage. Unlike his fellow rookies, he is a full-grown adult with much life experiences, making him different. Nolan should stay true to who he is: a listener.

It Was A Good Day

Officer West expected to go out on field duty to beat his father’s plain clothes day records. However, it did not go as planned. While his fellow rookies were out on the field, he waited for two hours as the mechanic changed his squad car’s batteries. Just as he and Officer Angela Lopez (Alyssa Diaz) prepare to leave, Detective Kevin Wolfe (Demetrius Grosse) hands him a box of evidence to catalog. The evidence was from the murder of a man named Richard Ochoa. Frustrated, West complained about this aspect of the job. After he finishes listing the evidence, the victim’s wife, Maria Ochoa (Bertila Damas) asks for his help to have at least one item that belonged to her husband, since the cops took most (if not all) of Richard’s belongings. At first, West apologizes since he could not release evidence not until after the trial. However, his heart softened for the woman who was in pain. With that, West decides to re-check the items to find something that he could hand over to the Widow. To West, what he obtained was not much: a broken watch. However, Mrs. Ochoa tells him the story of the item he found. The clock was the first watch that Mrs. Ochoa bought for Richard, long before they managed to afford a decent living. After this, she thanks and appreciates West’s action. Now, West realized that it does not matter if he beat his father’s records. What matters is the essence of the job: to serve and protect.

Overlook

Rick Rowell/ABC

Determined to prove her Training Officer, Officer Tim Bradford (Eric Winter), Officer Chen makes sure that she does all police procedures spotlessly. Somehow, she still forgets some crucial things. In her first case, Chen forgets to take possession of a pedophile’s vehicle. Luckily, Bradford has the van impounded. Later, Chen threatens a man who clearly disrespected her but was still unjustifiable. The man owned a dog, and his neighbor complained about the dog’s excessive barking. The man filed a complaint about Chen, and Internal Affairs got notified. The shift neared its end when Bradford decides to visit the man once again, but the man threatened to file a complaint against him, too. As Bradford returned to the squad car, Chen notices that the dog was digging at the bloodstained garage door, so she and Bradford check it out, where they find the neighbor’s body. Chen may have apprehended the suspect, but Captain Zoe Andersen (Mercedes Mason) reprimanded her for her behavior. After all, the LAPD has no room for cops with that behavior, at least, not in her hands.

‘The Rookie’ Season 1 Episode 14 ‘Plain Clothes Day Final Verdict

This episode shows the rookies in most human, relatable, and emotional ways as possible. It dramatically helps make their characters even more likable than they already are. Also, each case that the rookies handled had a strange twist to what they initially seem to be. In each episode, The Rookie has something new ins store for their viewers, making it one heck of a show.

The Rookie continues Tuesday, March 5^th with ‘Manhunt’ at 9/8c on ABC.