The Rookie Season 8 Episode 5 Review: Aaron’s Epic Return, Nolan’s Backbone & Bailan’s Downfall

Critic’s Rating: 4.4 / 5.0

4.4

Aaron Thorsen’s return made everything better.

Seriously, Thorsen’s return was one of many highlights from The Rookie Season 8 Episode 5, and given that he’s involved with this Monica task force, let’s hope this isn’t the last we’ll be seeing of him.

All that action and Thorsen’s return certainly made up for Bailey being obnoxious as heck.

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We need to get the Bailey of it all out of the right now because it’s freaking annoying. What is the deal?

While it’s realistic for couples to have fights, and this could just be a bump in the road for Bailan, in the ideal world, they’d end it now, and we could move on.

The most satisfying moment for them was at the end of the hour when Nolan told her he wasn’t moving to DC.

We’ve watched for years how Nolan tends to tiptoe around Bailey’s feelings and always tampers down his own to prioritize hers.

It’s a miracle he isn’t still pissed about that hitman situation that she somehow managed to turn on him.

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And for a bit, it seemed as if he’d once again submit to her somehow, and we’d have to sit through him fretting over how to please her at his own expense.

But it was a great hour for Nolan. He was ballsy at work and in his personal life, and it was thrilling that he didn’t back down from Bailey and even called her out on her constant desire to move on to the next thing.

It’s been the hallmark of her character since her introduction, and it was bound to cause some issues for them at some point.

Most likely, The Rookie will try to use this as a launching pad for some deeper exploration of Bailey to round out her character and address longstanding criticisms of her. It doesn’t interest me, but if they’re attempting to spin it, so be it.

But as it stands, she’s even more obnoxious than usual with this specific arc. Bailey promised they wouldn’t make decisions unless they both agreed, but she immediately went back on that and has been pressuring Nolan ever since.

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Asking him if he could find a way to switch to the FBI? Is she serious? Although I did have to chuckle when Garza mentioned the age limit, as if we didn’t watch The Rookie: Feds.

I’m glad Nolan stood his ground and finally expressed how he really feels instead of obliging Bailey to avoid making waves.

For the life of me, if she interrupts him in the middle of an operation for stupid crap one more time, I might actually scream.

Nolan also kicked butt in the field. Yes, I rolled my eyes when he knocked out Arroyo because The Rookie often makes Nolan the hero. But he was quite the badass throughout the entire hour.

I especially loved how he used his contractor background for the case, and how critical it was to figuring out how to access that super-encrypted phone.

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The series is at its best when it organically leans into Nolan’s strengths, and the flexing of his contractor skills was a prime example of that.

He was also instrumental in everyone getting out of that underground facility alive. Nolan was definitely the MVP of the hour.

But the frustration with Monica remains. She’s like a nasty rash that never goes away.

The Rookie always has an issue with overusing their villains until they overstay their welcome. And Monica, as gorgeous as she is and as great as Bridget Regan is at playing her, has long since overstayed her welcome.

It was predictable that, after all their work, she’d call whoever and tip them off about the investigation. If The Rookie were smart, they’d just be using that final scene as a red herring.

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We’d find out that Monica was doing that as part of an elaborate plan with the Feds. But if that’s not the place, then it’s frustrating that they keep playing the same beats with Monica.

She isn’t trustworthy, and she’s always self-serving — nothing good ever comes from her antics. Monica is always playing an angle. How many times can we tread this same water?

My concern is that Thorsen’s involvement, which included tipping off the criminal who protected him in prison, could put him in danger.

If it’s evident that Thorsen wasn’t actually warning him but instead trapping him, thenhe might have it out for Thorsen.

Thorsen was such a breath of fresh air, and it was nice having him back on the series. I especially loved Thorsen and Miles crossing paths.

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They got along as well as one could have imagined, and everyone seemed thrilled to have him around again.

He brought humor and levity and stole every scene he was in. And he didn’t need that fancy sports car or flashy shirt to do it, either.

I’d love to know more about what he’s been doing since he departed. But he was an asset in the field, especially when things got tense between shootouts and the building exploding.

The other case was pretty intense, too.

For one, two cops shooting each other over their affair is really out there.

It’s ridiculous that they thought they’d get away with pinning it on Arroyo. The forensics alone told most of the story, just based on the cast-off and how far apart they were.

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Plus, they could have gotten cops hurt or killed because of that lie. Although I enjoyed every second of our gang brawling in a cemetery with Arroyo and his crew.

When the action and the humor collide, it’s top-tier entertainment from this show.

Case-wise, the hour-balanced things nicely, including character screentime. It was a major reason this installment was so enjoyable.

Bringing Garza back into the fold and Thorsen’s big return didn’t mean there was less of the other characters, or that anyone had to take a backseat.

That’s the time of balance that’s missing on way too many ensemble shows these days, so I’m very much appreciative of The Rookie knocking it out of the park.

Carpool Chatter:

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• The carpool scenes were the absolute best. I love that each pairing brought their own fun energy to everything and matched so well, too.
• Aunt Angela cosigning Lila’s ClipTok videos until she remembered she was supposed to be backing Harper was hilarious.
• James writing Wesley a revolutionary ACAB speech for his DA announcement was so peak him. I love their brotherhood every bit as much as Angela and Nyla’s sisterhood.
• Happy James and Nyla. Domestic Wopez. They’re finally serving us the good stuff this season.
• I will happily ship Celina and the tech guy if it means we can drop Rodge like a bad habit.
• That scene of everyone dirty, sooty, and banged up from their mission waiting in the waiting room for word about Martin was a great shot.
• Shoutout to Martin for apparently chlorafyom a bystander and carrying her around his torso like a koala. He took Stealth Mode seriously.
• Only Aaron would bond with the leader of an international narcotics operation over love for a Nigerian boy band. Stay charming and unsesrious, Thorsen.

Over to you, Rookie Fanatics.

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