- Title: The Rookie – Pilot
- IMDb: link
As the show opens, contractor and recent divorcee John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) is lost. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, he helps stall a bank robbery long enough for the police to arrive. Fast-forward nine months later and Nolan is on the other side of the country as Los Angeles’ oldest rookie cop. Although the harsher tone of the show limits the amount of jokes Fillion can come off with (this certainly isn’t Castle 2.0) its a good role for actor who is easy to root for despite the obstacles put in his way, first for being a rookie, and secondly for being an old rookie. Nolan isn’t the only new rookie in the department, the “Pilot” also introduces us to Nolan’s secret girlfriend Officer Lucy Chen (Dark Matter‘s Melissa O’Neil) and the smart, but not very street savvy, Officer Jackson West (Titus Makin Jr.).
While the precinct’s Captain (Mercedes Mason) is more than willing to give Nolan a chance, Sergeant Gray (Richard T. Jones) dislikes everything the “midlife crisis” stands for (going so far as to push all respected, and possible legal, boundaries to see Nolan off the force as soon as possible). The cast is rounded out by the rookie’s training officers: the dickish Bradford (Eric Winter) and the competitive Lopez (Alyssa Diaz) and Bishop (Afton Williamson). If the first episode is going to be any indication, there’s plenty of work for Nolan to handle (the day runs the gamut from Nolan saving a young boy to having a man die in his arms). If the show can pull back on Sgt. Gray’s ageism a bit, and hopefully not get too far down the rabbit hole on Nolan and Lucy’s secret relationship, there’s a solid basis here for an intriguing show.