The Rookie Season 2 Episode 2 Review: The Night General
Christine Orlando
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Zero to 160 in the span of a heartbeat.
That's how John Nolan described his college fling with Grace on The Rookie Season 2 Episode 2.
Twenty years later, the heat and the heartbreak were still visible.
The way Dr. Grace Sawyer's smile lit up her face when she saw John, only to slide into a scowl a moment later spoke to how upset she still was with her old flame.
And Nick Armstrong, being a trained detective, was quick to pick up on it.
Grey: You ever heard of a Night General?
Nolan: No, Sir.
Grey: Night general detectives. They respond to any crime scene after normal business hours. They work the case until it’s assigned. They have to be a master at everything because they see everything.
Nolan: Sound impressive.
Grey: It is and most of them got the attitude to go with it.
Hearing that Nolan was getting paired with a detective right after losing his training officer had me worried, but Nick and Nolan were a good fit.
Both have had to start over, Nick because his wife passed away, Nolan after his divorce, and the two became friends almost immediately.
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Given that Ben, and his gorgeous house, have been missing since the start of The Rookie Season 2, Nolan could use a friend to talk to and share a beer with.
And someone to tell the story of he and Grace to in this The Rookie quote...
We’d been friends for a few months and there’d always been a spark but it went off like a bomb. Crawled all over each other for two weeks. It was zero to 160 in the span of a heartbeat.
Nolan
The chemistry between Nolan and Grace was so hot during their brief scenes together that it had me asking, "Jessica who?"
Nolan is a stand-up guy and he's not about to cheat on Jessica, plus he knows Grace has a child, and he saw a ring on her finger.
But Grace never actually said she was married and she gave off a vibe that says there's a lot more to her story.
Was Nolan clueless about why Grace might still be upset about their breakup or did he just want to be clueless?
Either was possible, but his apology for leaving a note and bailing on her was long overdue.
I left you a note because I wouldn’t have been able to go through with it if I saw you in person. And I don’t regret marrying Sarah and I have loved every minute of being Henry’s Dad but what I did to you was selfish and you deserved better and I’m sorry.
Nolan
Nolan loved Sarah, and he adores his son, Henry. He has no real regrets but what if Nolan and Grace are each other's proverbial one that got away?
And now they're back.
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But enough about John Nolan's love life. There was a case to solve.
Detective Nick Armstrong gave Nolan some good advice while they worked the home invasion that turned to murder.
Don’t do that, speculate. Making up stories is how innocent men go to jail and guilty men go free.
Nick
Matt and Marylin's misery went steadily from bad to worse to slipping into the abyss. As much as I empathized with Matt's obsession for revenge against the people who murdered his son, it was clear that this was the road to madness.
If only he had let Nick do his job.
I will hunt the men who did this. I will hunt them to the ends of the earth and I will not stop until I find them.
Nick
What Nolan told Matt was true. Matt's actions would cause Marylin to lose the two people she loved the most and she'd never be the same.
But Matt was already drowning in his guilt and his pain, much the way he'd tried to drown his son's murderer in liquid cement.
As much as Matt's suicide was a tragedy, it seemed more realistic than having Nolan ride to the rescue or being able to talk him down.
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Many stories don't have a happy ending.
Elsewhere, Chen realized that Bradford learned more quickly when he heard something than when he read it.
There was a moment where it looked as though this revelation would create a rift between them, but Tim seemed truly grateful when Lucy created her own audio version of the book he needed to read for his sergeant's exam.
Of course, there were still calls to respond to while he studied and my favorite was the two brothers who bought bulletproof vests online and then decided to shoot one another at point-blank range to see if they worked.
Bradford's response made me laugh because it was what I thought as I watched these two idiots fire.
Have you been drinking or are you normally this stupid?
Bradford
But I appreciated Bradford the most when he stood up for Lopez as Jackson appeared particularly naive about how his father's ire could affect Lopez's future.
Jackson: My dad was getting all in my business for getting extended. I literally had to stop him from coming down here and lighting up Lopez.
Bradford: The hole you’re in has nothing to do with Lopez but she’s going to pay the price when the Commander’s son goes belly up halfway through training.
Jackson: I told him it’s not her fault.
Bradford: So tell him again. Lopez bent over backward for you. She protected your ass when any other T.O. would have sent you packing. You owe her your career.
Jackson: I know.
If Jackson West had been paired with Bradford during his first few weeks of training, he would have gotten bounced out of the LAPD.
Angela knew if the Commander's son washed out on her watch, she would feel the heat, but even given that fact she went the extra mile for Jackson in a way that most T.O.s wouldn't have.
Jackson needs to make sure his father knows that.
Lopez was probably right about West feeling something akin to the seven-year glitch.
He's had tunnel vision about become a police officer since he was a kid. He's been working towards that goal since he was a teenager.
It was only a matter of time before he ran out of steam.
Moving into Smitty's RV lot for single cops wouldn't have made that any better and probably would have made it a lot worse.
Jackson needs to find some balance in his life while still keeping focused on being the best cop possible.
Will he find that living with Lucy? I'm not sure but I can't wait to find out how the former golden boy and the daughter of two psychologists cohabitate.
So what did you think, TV Fanatics?
Are John and Grace on their way to a hot and heavy romance and is Jessica on her way out?
Is there more to Grace's story than she told Nolan?
Do you want Detective Nick Armstrong back and should our rookies spend some time on the night shift?
And will Jackson and Lucy be roommates made in heaven or somewhere further south?
Check back next week for my review of The Rookie Season 2 Episode 3 and until then, you can watch The Rookie online here at TV Fanatic.
C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.
