S04.E10: Heart Beat

[HurricaneVal]

I did like the spark between Nolan and his community college professor.  They were age appropriate, challenged each other in good ways, and actually had chemistry.  But that potential got dropped like a hot potato.  What, did Nolan complete his degree in a big fat hurry over summer quarter and we'll never hear of it again?

[shapeshifter]

6 hours ago, CooperTV said:

Tragic backstory (especially regarding abuse and said abuse being kept secret) combined with a female character being great at everything ever and also incredibly attractive is what makes female character a Mary Sue.

I hope there's a writer who will convince the others to name Nolan's next love interest Mary Sue Smith.

 

6 hours ago, Netfoot said:

You know, when I get a new girlfriend, my first conversational gambit is not the details of previous relationships I've had.

Heh. Yeah.
I can see why Bailey didn't want to bring up the sordid story of her ex. 
And, to be fair to her, haven't Bailey and Nolan only known each other a few months? 
Quick proposals may work when couples are 30 or younger, but after awhile, there's going to be some baggage—some skeletons in the closet.
Nolan and Bailey weren't even living together, were they?

And when has it ever been a good idea to "surprise" someone with a marriage proposal? 
Even in 18th century Jane Austen books that never turned out well. 
No wonder Nolan is still single.
 

[Surrealist]

28 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I hope there's a writer who will convince the others to name Nolan's next love interest Mary Sue Smith.

 

Heh. Yeah.
I can see why Bailey didn't want to bring up the sordid story of her ex. 
And, to be fair to her, haven't Bailey and Nolan only known each other a few months? 
Quick proposals may work when couples are 30 or younger, but after awhile, there's going to be some baggage—some skeletons in the closet.
Nolan and Bailey weren't even living together, were they?

And when has it ever been a good idea to "surprise" someone with a marriage proposal? 
Even in 18th century Jane Austen books that never turned out well. 
No wonder Nolan is still single.
 

Technically, they've only known each other for a few months or so.

FWIW, I prefer to know whether a guy I'm seeing is still married, even if we're just dating. 

[shapeshifter]

5 minutes ago, Surrealist said:

FWIW, I prefer to know whether a guy I'm seeing is still married, even if we're just dating. 

Oh. Yes. That goes without saying.
Especially since usually if someone is married and seeing someone else, it's not because the secret spouse is a psychopath they are hiding from.
More often the secret spouse is at home doing the cooking and laundry (or at work all day) and oblivious that their spouse is "seeing" someone else.

Now I'm wondering if a writer on the show cooked up this story to use as an example of how "sometimes" it might be okay to not tell the person you're seeing that you're married. 

Hopefully there was no such real-life, behind-the-scenes drama, and it was more of a philosophical idea the writers were tossing around about whether there could ever be a reason for Nolan to be dating someone who was married.

I think one of Bonanza's Cartwright boys was "sweet" on a married woman, but that might have been another western—possibly The Virginian.
And I think it's been a plot point on other shows with single, male cast members—including instances when it was a secret.
This situation just seemed a bit more draw-dropping, which is probably what they were going for.

[chaifan]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

I can see why Bailey didn't want to bring up the sordid story of her ex. 
And, to be fair to her, haven't Bailey and Nolan only known each other a few months? 

At a certain age, and I'd put it somewhere in your mid 30's, a very normal early question is "have you been married?".  Maybe not on the first date, but by the time you're seeing each other regularly, that question will be asked, or the information volunteered.  By the time you're in your 40's, that practically a given.  So, for it not to have been outright asked by this point in their relationship is just weird. 

 

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

At a certain age, and I'd put it somewhere in your mid 30's, a very normal early question is "have you been married?".  Maybe not on the first date, but by the time you're seeing each other regularly, that question will be asked, or the information volunteered.  By the time you're in your 40's, that practically a given.  So, for it not to have been outright asked by this point in their relationship is just weird. 

Heh, I recall in my 20s making out with a guy I'd recently met and saying to him: "I bet you have a wife at home," 
to which he replied: "Now why'd you have to go and say that?"

You're right, @chaifan, they should have had that conversation—well, at least the "have you ever been married?" version—but I can fanwank that with the nature of their jobs and that it's only been 3 months, they might not have gotten around to it. 
So I guess we're left with this Most Awkward Proposal Ever in which the guy proposes without them having EVER talked about whether or not she was ever married.
But she knows about his ex, right? That would have been the time for it to have been brought up. Except, yeah, how does Bailey work into the conversation about Nolan's tame ex-wife and kid scenario that she (Bailey) has an ex too, oh, and, BTW, he's a sociopath?

Okay. I'll stop now. Unless all y'all want me to continue dissecting this fictional relationship, LOL.

[Brian Cronin]

9 hours ago, Netfoot said:

You know, when I get a new girlfriend, my first conversational gambit is not the details of previous relationships I've had. Especially difficult and painful ones that I'm trying to forget myself! They will come out naturally, over the passage of time, with the troublesome relationships surfacing last.

They've been dating for over three months. You simply have to tell your partner about the psychopath that you're STILL MARRIED to by that point. Again, obviously they just came up with this plot which is why it doesn't fit, but boy, does it not fit. 

[paigow]

3 hours ago, Surrealist said:

Technically, they've only known each other for a few months or so.

FWIW, I prefer to know whether a guy I'm seeing is still married, even if we're just dating. 

She moved into Casa Nolan for rehab...probably a month

Present tense being far more salient than past tense...

48 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

But she knows about his ex, right? 

She had a Zoom call with Nolan Jr.

[shapeshifter]

45 minutes ago, paigow said:

She moved into Casa Nolan for rehab...probably a month

Just to clarify:   
“rehab” was a house “reno” (renovation)—not like Bailey needed to go to "rehab" for addiction, right?   
Or…?

Edited January 7, 2022 by shapeshifter

[Megras]

After her leg was broken, wasn't it.

[MrWhyt]

12 hours ago, Netfoot said:

 

But didn't he spring that proposal on her? How much time did she have in which to come clean? Yes, she should never have accepted his proposal while still encumbered with a husband already. But I don't think there is anything wrong with being his girlfriend without mentioning it.

 

perhaps i looked away at the wrong time, but he didn't actually get to proposing did he?

[Zaffy]

On 1/6/2022 at 3:07 AM, Thomas Crown said:

 NF struck gold on Castle but that was a long time ago.  None of his romances on the Rookie have been interesting or made me want to root for them.

In Castle he was an adorable goofy dork working in a territory where the "Alpha" was Beckett and he was trying to win her. 
In The Rookie, Nolan is also an adorable dork but at the same time he is  the series Alpha. And that doesn't really work well.
Nolan was a man full of qualities from the beginning, but the writers had him evolved to some kind of supreme being. He is the "Michael Burnhum" of The Rookie! (for those who know about ST Discovery).
I think the ideal pairing would be a dynamic woman that doesn't has to be another Supreme Being (not like Sahti's character was and not a Bond Girl like Bailey).
That professor was indeed a nice choice. 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Zaffy

[Clanstarling]

10 hours ago, Zaffy said:

Nolan was a man full of qualities from the beginning, but the writers had him evolved to some kind of supreme being. He is the "Michael Burnhum" of The Rookie! (for those who know about ST Discovery).

But in no way (for me) as annoying.

Edited January 7, 2022 by Clanstarling

[BlakesMomma]

13 hours ago, MrWhyt said:

perhaps i looked away at the wrong time, but he didn't actually get to proposing did he?

No, he never proposed.

[Netfoot]

11 hours ago, Zaffy said:

and not a Bond Girl like Bailey).

She couldn't be a Bond-girl even if Bond needed a white stick!

11 hours ago, Zaffy said:

He is the "Michael Burnhum" of The Rookie!

Gave up on that after about 3 episodes in S1. Can't believe it's still going after four seasons!

[femmefan1946]

Quick proposals may work when couples are 30 or younger, but after awhile, there's going to be some baggage—some skeletons in the closet.

 

DH's grandmother's advice "Don't make it a long engagement if you are over 90."

She accepted a proposal at 92, and he died on her a few weeks later.

[paigow]

41 minutes ago, femmefan1946 said:

Quick proposals may work when couples are 30 or younger, but after awhile, there's going to be some baggage—some skeletons in the closet.

 

DH's grandmother's advice "Don't make it a long engagement if you are over 90."

She accepted a proposal at 92, and he died on her a few weeks later.

Was the guy 30 years old?

[KittyQ]

I thought that whenever Nolan mentioned he was divorced, she should have eased into telling him she was still married. Not necessarily all the details, but he's a cop, so telling him her husband was incarcerated shouldn't be that much of a shock. Later, when they share more details about their earlier lives and relationships, she could tell him about the "problem" with the not-yet-ex.