‘The Rookie’ Season 2, Episode 9 ‘Breaking Point’ Review: Shells

The Rookie learns quite a lot after meeting his new training officer. The demands of working in the Police force never ceases to change. This time, a string of peculiar cases present themselves to the LAPD. One involves yet another opportunity to go undercover. Another, on the other hand, deals with the case of a minor and his mom. A third situation consists of a TV Show about cops, yes, a TV Show on a TV Show. With that, the utterly unpredictable landscape of the show brings more exciting stories to its whim.

On Sunday’s episode of The Rookie, Officer John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) meets the previous owner of his new home, Howard Green (Geoffrey Rivas). On the field, Nolan helps Detective Nyla Harper (Mekia Cox) with an undercover situation. Meanwhile, Officer Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) and Officer Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil) deals with a sensitive murder case. On the other hand, Officer Jackson West (Titus Makin Jr.) and Officer Angela Lopez (Alyssa Diaz) become technical advisors for a Police TV Show, ‘The Suspect.’

Getting the Act Right

Christopher Willard/ABC

For some reason, the actor Sterling Freeman (Daniel Lissing) chances on Jackson and Angela making an arrest. The manner of how their plot happens is presumably a parody of how similar situations would happen in real life. If anything, it is the show’s way of saying that they make sure of their accuracy in portraying the life of a cop on screen. Also, it makes fun of how other cop shows come under the scrutiny of actual police officers. While the creepy-stalker romance story with one of the stars of the show, Mandy Cross (Presilah Nunez) was admittedly quite short, Wesley Evers’ (Shawn Ashmore) PTSD sequence makes up for it. Wesley finally returns to work after the stabbing incident that injured him, but he is not quite well yet. Despite his lengthy absence from the previous episodes, Wesley remains affected by the trauma he experienced. It is likely for him to have more attacks soon. Wesley’s story presents a side of police work that does not always get the limelight but is equally relevant. The men and women in blue experience emotionally heavy situations along with the civilian personnel working with them, after all.

When the Case involves a Minor

Christopher Willard/ABC

One can never get used to having to deal with children involved with crime. Unfortunately, Tim and Lucy become the ones who come across a strange circumstance leading to murder. Of course, the cops come up with an adult suspect at first, but soon, they dreadfully realize the truth. Malcolm Tucker (Clark Furlong), son of the murder victim, is the suspect. Malcolm had the urge to admit the truth, and no lawyer anyone hired for him could defend Malcolm. One can see the anger in Malcolm as he narrated how he stabbed his mom. Subsequently, Malcolm’s statement caused his lawyer, Wesley, to have flashbacks of his stabbing experience. The scene is perhaps the most intense in the episode, showing two sides of an eerily similar story: one form the perpetrator and one from the victim.

Undercover– Again

Byron Cohen/ABC

For someone who retired from being undercover, Harper seemed to use her alter ego, Crystal, quite often. Quickly, however, John deduces her reasons behind hiding the false identity. Handling danger, Harper is good at, but she is nervous when it comes to spending a weekend with her daughter, Lila (Carsyn Rose). Harper finally earned the overnight visit but is worried that she would mess things up. As usual, John ‘Pep-Talk’ Nolan does his best to encourage his training officer and to keep her from doing undercover work, the same thing that took her time with Lila in the first place. Still, Harper is as stubborn as she can, but John chooses to be with his Training Officer. True enough, John’s presence comes in handy when their target, Ripper (Devan Chandler Long), decides to take Crystal on a joyride. It was a call too close but successfully made as John pretends to be Crystal’s gangster dad to keep her from harm’s way. John almost always has the best partnerships with his peers, and this transcends beyond work–  they become his friends, too, whether they admit it or not.

The Past Catches Up

Christopher Willard/ABC

The past can either bring back god or bad things to the person. Initially, it delivered back a washed-up man named Howard Green (Geoffrey Rivas) to John’s doorstep. Howard lost his family, wife, and kids, as well as the house that now belonged to John. John’s instincts were to help Howard find his family, but he gets no leads. However, Howard breaks into John’s home as he did not have a healthy state of mind, inflicting pain on himself using the same screwdriver he used to get into the house. This sequence ends with John incapacitating Howard, but one cannot help but feel sorry for the man. Howard probably was getting his life in order after leaving a life of crime, as implied by his story. Fortunately, John’s troubles pay off when he lands himself a date with his college ex-girlfriend, Dr. Grace Sawyer (Ali Larter). Three events in one evening sounded ambitious, but John is a man of adventure. Besides, the pair deserves such a break after their long shift at work and complicated romantic history.

‘The Rookie’ Season 2, Episode 9 ‘Breaking Point’ Final Verdict

The Rookie approaches its fall finale, and it does not fail to bring more stories of police work to life. While some are arguably too specific to be realistic, others perfectly capture the intensity of living the life of serving and protecting the general public. Also, it never runs out of its fair share of emotional dilemmas and adequately cheesy romances. The characters have made it so far in their journey as police officers, and one cannot help but feel proud of what they have become, modern-day examples of honor and bravery.

The Rookie continues Sunday, December 8th, with ‘The Dark Side’ at 10/9c on ABC.