The Rookie Season 4 Episode 4 Review: Red Hot

Things are heating up on The Rookie Season 4 Episode 4!

The team found that everything was not what it seemed, from a call that went wrong to a hit and run turned into a kidnapping, which turned out to be connected to the suspect they’ve been hunting.

It was entertaining to see them finally progressing on some of the storylines brought in earlier in the season. Although there is still no mention of La Fiera, it’s hard to believe she is actually dead.

Nolan and Bailey bickered for the opening scene, continuing their cop versus firefighter argument once again. But, luckily for us, this argument is over after this (or so we hope?).

Smitty is nominated for Union Rep, though does it count if he’s the only candidate? The team encouraged Nolan to run for union rep near the end — though there was a fantastic foreshadowing of his decision throughout the episode with how he shared ideas.

Harper: What… is that?
Thorsen: It’s my snack!

We finally get to see Lopez back in action as she returned from maternity leave, though it was refreshing to witness her struggle with things most women do as they return to work.

The breast milk debacle was probably the most realistic moment in the entire episode.

One thing that is noticeable for The Rookie is that they have street cops doing the oddest jobs. So it’s easy to understand that sometimes a call or case may turn sideways, though the street cops are never the ones to solve it indefinitely.

Perhaps things work differently through the LAPD.

Wesley dug himself a giant hole, something akin to a grave at this point, as he dealt with Elijah. Then, finally, it got to the fact that Elijah made sure the client was killed.

Loyalty above all. You should write that down.

Aiden

Elijah didn’t want to take the chance on the client betraying him; according to word on the street, the client was ready to testify against Elijah due to Wesley’s influence.

As any sane man would, Wesley swears on his family’s life (sarcasm). But, as if breaking his oath wasn’t enough, this poor man felt the need to throw Lopez and Jack into the mix.

The paranoia is rational, though how much is Wesley willing to sacrifice in an attempt to “repay his debt” to Elijah? It’s uncomfortable to think about.

Are human traffickers usually this sophisticated?

Nolan

Nolan got another weird call, initially thinking that he responded to a domestic. However, it was easy to believe that this call was more than just a simple misunderstanding or domestic — the whole situation was odd.

Why would a health care aide be in civilian clothes, not scrubs, if he was actively working? Why would he be so insistent that nothing was wrong instead of searching for his wife by himself?

The answer is simple: Russian spies.

Yeah, that made no sense to most of us. It was unsatisfying that they teased for this to be a big storyline, only to solve it in one go. It felt reminiscent of The Rookie Season 4 Episode 1 in Guatemala.

One major issue with this show is that it takes on massive plots only to shrink their severity and make them fit the 45-minute timeslot. For example, the story with Katerina would have been so much more interesting if it spanned over at least two episodes.

Hell. The plot with the Russian spies feels like it should be a side plot rather than the serial arsonist and murderer they have going. Could there be a bias? Maybe. I love Kathryn Prescott, especially as Katerina.

What is with the team and investigating dangerous scenes without backup? Harper running in with her gun drawn after seeing a potential suspect was irritating. Sure, it was called in, but Harper barely waited for a response before jumping into action.

She should count her graces because it seemed inevitable that she would find herself in more peril than the show gave her.

Perhaps the showrunners are scared to put another character in peril due to the timing being close to West’s death. Which, they did bring up again! Though it felt sour, as it was in an attempt to bring Thorsen and Chen closer together.

Lopez: Thank you for not participating in the society-wide conspiracy theory.
Wesley: Don’t mention it?

Isn’t it also very illegal for Nolan to be blabbing all those case secrets to Bailey? Even if he wanted to prove a point — that is sensitive information, mainly when it contains information about spies.

Who trusted Nolan? It’s honestly not a shock that Bailey ended up as Katerina’s hostage due to Nolan’s oblivious nature.

It’s also hard to believe that Bailey was just allowed into the vehicle storage for evidence with Nolan so quickly. Perhaps these are personal pet peeves, but it’s hard for them not to affect the show.

The only satisfying thing that we got was the continuation of the serial killer storyline, though there isn’t much to keep us hooked on that. As stated before, the plot with the Russian spies had more legs on it than this one.

Give me the drive and I’ll let her go.

Katerina

Sadly, we lacked Chenford content, and it was replaced with yet another Nolan and Bailey scene. They feel forced, and the characters think dry together– there are so many jabs you can make at each other before it gets tiring.

If they try to force Thorsen and Chen on us, it will be the catalyst that causes Chenford shippers to break finally. It’s been four seasons! Give us what we want, ABC!

You can watch The Rookie online to catch up on all the action!

What did you think of the episode? Do you agree with anything said? Or do you share other opinions?

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Caylynn Demings is a staff writer for TV Fanatic, who you can follow on Twitter.