‘The Rookie’ Season 1, Episode 15 ‘Manhunt’ Recap: Prisoner Transport

After The Rookie and his colleagues learn the tough choices done on patrol, they meet a well known former FBI negotiator. The other officers may have had their share of tricks on the boots, but one of them manages to top the negotiator’s test. Later in the shift, the brave men and women of the LAPD responded to a Prisoner Transport Bus accident. With two high-profile prisoners at large, the boots and their T.O.s use their skills in finding and apprehending them.

In this week’s episode of The Rookie, LAPD responds to a Prison Transfer Bus accident. Since there are five prisoners at large, the patrol teams receive new missions. Officer John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) and Officer Talia Bishop (Afton Williamson) cross paths with former FBI Negotiator and author Jessica Russo (Sarah Shahi). Meanwhile, Officer Jackson West (Titus Makin Jr.) and Officer Angela Lopez (Alyssa Diaz) apprehend Oscar Hutchinson, a prisoner who knew Jackson’s dad. Elsewhere, Officer Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) and Officer Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil) find themselves deep in gang territory.

Mobsters and Five-O

Jackson and Angela quickly caught Oscar who tried to steal a car. Oscar was serving a life sentence, so to him, every minute he had outside of prison was exhilarating. Eventually, they arrived at the precinct. Once there, Oscar notices something about Jackson: his last name. Back in Oscar’s younger years, he worked with and eventually arrested by Jackson’s father now Commander West (Michael Beach). He tells Jackson stories about their partnership until his inevitable arrest. Despite these stories, Jackson refused to believe Oscar, thinking that his dad is no dirty cop.

Contradictory to his beliefs, Jackson starts to think about what Oscar told him. His thoughts go as far as telling Lucy about them, who reassures him that Oscar is just messing with him. When it was finally time for Oscar to go back to prison, he tells Jackson to seek out the truth about his stories by reading his file. Jackson seriously considers doing so as he and Angela left the precinct garage.

Five-Four Wants Payback

Having only two fugitives left at large, Tim and Lucy waste no time in looking for Marcos Gibson (Chido Nwokocha). Marcos is one of the two, convicted for murder. Also, he is a member of the Five-Four, a local gang. Luckily, Tim has a contact who could help him locate Marcos: Deacon Joe (Dohn Norwood), a reformed gang member. Joe quickly found and kept Marcos safe from the other members of the Five-Four since they held a grudge against him. By the time Tim and Lucy arrived at Joe’s house, danger lurked outside. Members of the Five-Four assembled there, eager to exact revenge on Marcos.

Since the rest of the force responded to John and Talia’s Hostage situation, Tim and Lucy had to hold the gangsters back as long as they could. Things started to get out of hand: some of the gangsters broke the squad car’s windshield. When Joe goes outside, Keon (Reggie Watkins), a gang member, guts him. Lucy considered giving Marcos up to the gangsters, but Tim insists on the call of duty. As he prepared for the tension to unleash, he hears the police helipad, arriving just in time for them to arrest every gangster on the scene.

Yin and Yang

Eric McCandless/ABC

Perhaps the opposite traits of John and Talia are what makes their partnership one of the best that the LAPD has. John often chooses to be empathetic while Talia does the exact opposite. This difference in their traits showed during their first arrest. A man who passed by their checkpoint had his daughter taken hostage by an armed prisoner who hid in the car’s trunk. John let the car pass, sensing the situation. Talia, on the other hand, took notice of John’s actions but soon understood the reason behind them. Talia arrested the prisoner since they set up a trap for him, thanks to John’s instincts.

The second arrest made their differences more apparent. John tries to talk to the prisoner, Caleb Jost (Sean Maher), who set up a contraption that would kill his mother-in-law instantly if he pulls his arm. On the other hand, Talia stood behind him, weapon aimed and ready to fire. Talia goes as far as intimidating Caleb, who considers what she says. Thankfully, the situation deescalates as John has Caleb surrender willingly; or perhaps hurtfully, since John hurled insults at Caleb that somehow worked.

In Touch with Emotion

Eric McCandless/ABC

John’s way of handling emotional situations made him who he is. The horrible bus accident took the life of one of the correctional officers, Graham Ross (Kurt Yaeger), who died in John’s care. John made sure that he would have his last words relayed to Beth, a person that he loved. Heartbreaking as it may sound, Beth turns out to be Graham’s co-worker, Elizabeth Ohlsen (Tamara Braun). Indeed, John has a way of connecting to people, and Jessica took notice of this.

John read Jessica’s book about negotiating, and working with her that day made him feel happy. John even had her sign his copy of her book. To his surprise, John sees that she left him her number on the first page. He calls Jessica immediately, as both a joking and charming gesture. Jessica smiles at him as they both laughed at each other.

‘The Rookie’ Season 1, Episode 15 ‘Manhunt’ Final Verdict

Jessica’s character strongly hints at Sarah Shahi’s Reverie role, Mara Kint. Mara is also a former FBI Negotiator who now works in the private sector. Perhaps Jessica is supposed to be Mara, but for some reason, the show decided to make her a completely different character. It was a missed opportunity for a possible show crossover, but the move made this episode memorable. Also, Tim and Lucy’s trip to gang territory had a Grove Street kind of vibe. The police’s entrance as Tim prepared to arrest the gangsters was epic, and his lines were perfect for the scene.

The Rookie continues Tuesday, March 19^th with ‘Greenlight’ at 9/8c on ABC.