S05.E08: The Collar/S05.E09: Take Back

[WendyCR72]

Two episodes are airing back to back, the fall finale. Airing December 4, 2022.

Description for "The Collar"

Quote

Officers John Nolan and Celina Juarez are in a race against time to stop the source of an explosive rampage.

Description for "Take Back":

Quote

Officer John Nolan and the team investigate the unexpected death of a suspect in police custody. Their search also uncovers a very delicate loose end that could jeopardize Officer Celina Juarez’s career. Meanwhile, Sergeant Grey and his wife, Luna, go to New York to visit their daughter, Dominique, only to realize she never made it home from the night before.

[Raja]

I have no problem with Jenna Dewan or Firefighter Bailey  but on The Collar episode I think they should have broke normal format and dispensed with the comic relief scenes as soon as the first bomb, or at least after the murder

[Proteus]

I'm so tired of Celina. 

[Brian Cronin]

9 minutes ago, Proteus said:

I'm so tired of Celina. 

Sooooooo tired. And it kills me that the show sort of needs her to be a success or else Nolan is a failure as a trainer. Boo!

[Height-Nonchalance]

I missed it: Why was Dominique kidnapped?  Also, her roommate seems nice (ha ha).

Edited December 5, 2022 by Height-Nonchalance

[Msample]

Can we have Nolan dump Bailey and hook up with Tim’s sister ? She’s WAY less annoying.

[JamieLynn832002]

1 hour ago, Height-Nonchalance said:

I missed it: Why was Dominique kidnapped? 

I'm not sure they ever said directly but she mentioned the kidnappers having a history of stalking so I think it was just ranom psychos.

Edited December 5, 2022 by JamieLynn832002

[Raja]

1 hour ago, Height-Nonchalance said:

I missed it: Why was Dominique kidnapped?  Also, her roommate seems nice (ha ha).

Seeing they had Dominique for hours without a sexual assault I was going with the for profit sex trafficking as the Grey's applied their particular set of skills, skills acquired over a very long career to rescue their Taken daughter.

Nice gag that Officer Smitty, being new transfer to the bureau, came late as he rushed to back up Sergeant Grey

[milkyaqua]

Yes, Celina is a bit much and TPTB need to tamp it down but their record so far tells me that won't happen.

Also, how does know-it-all Bailey not know she trapped coyote?  Seriously, I recognized what it was as soon as they zoomed in on it.  I'm also tired of the marriage/honeymoon talk.

I also appreciated the Officer Smitty gag.

[Raja]

🗣️ As a TV lord I think that every TV police department should have an appearance by their Smitty

[Snazzy Daisy]

Chenford is finally happening. Am glad that we can now move on from this.

Why is Nolan spending much time with Tim’s sister??! 🤨

[Brian Cronin]

45 minutes ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Chenford is finally happening. Am glad that we can now move on from this.

Why is Nolan spending much time with Tim’s sister??! 🤨

By the way, how in the world did Chenford becoming official take place in the FIRST episode of a two-episode bloc? That seems like poor planning. 

[milkyaqua]

1 hour ago, Brian Cronin said:

By the way, how in the world did Chenford becoming official take place in the FIRST episode of a two-episode bloc? That seems like poor planning. 

Poor planning is this show's mantra (Nolan and Tim's sister? what is that about?).  I hope the Chenford fans are happy.  I'll be sitting on the other side hoping their relationship shenanigans don't become any more of a focus than it already is...just no.  It's enough of Lucy looking  forlorn/puppy dogged eyed...

[SonofaBiscuit]

Bye, Chris. I've been side-eyeing you since you hummed Lucy's death song. Don't care that you've been dumped!

OMG, I hope Celina is not sticking around beyond this season. Auras and dark energy and interpreting your dreams to solve your case, etc...nope! It's such a strange choice made by the writers???

Sadly, Nathan Fillion has not had chemistry with any of his love interests on this show, and I think Bailey needs to go. I don't find the character interesting, and the Bailey/Nolan scenes are boring. Peyton List (Tim's sister) seems too young for John, but strangely, I was more intrigued by their scenes than I ever have been with John/Bailey 🤷‍♀️

I like Lucy and Tim and think the actors have great chemistry, so I'm happy with it. As the writers started writing them towards becoming an actual couple, some of it was cheesy, and I wonder if maybe Lucy/Tim should have shared a kiss earlier (like when she was staying with Tim after Jackson died), but whatever. They are pretty much the only romance on the show that I have any investment in. 

[Raja]

3 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Why is Nolan spending much time with Tim’s sister??! 🤨

I too was wondering, all the time thinking way to soon for her.  Just by chance I saw an episode of The Rookies for the first time in a long time and it featured the recently widowed wife of an officer going for the married rookie Officer Danko while he was around helping her out.

2 hours ago, Brian Cronin said:

By the way, how in the world did Chenford becoming official take place in the FIRST episode of a two-episode bloc? That seems like poor planning. 

I saw nothing to suggest a two hour block was expected, they are probably saving those for the Feds spinoff. 

[dargosmydaddy]

I only tuned in for the second episode, and came in ten minutes late at that, but... WTH was that "baby in a box" subplot??? Like, he was keeping his kid in a box that appeared to be the size of a large cooler... and it was "soundproof," which must mean there weren't any air holes, no? But the baby was fine for multiple hours... he somehow had the money and know-how to engineer some kind of ventilation system for his soundproof baby box??? And I love how the baby was all smiley when they got him out, like lying around all day (in your own filth) at eight months old in a box that appeared to be lit with Christmas lights isn't going to mentally scar a baby for life... My jaw literally dropped during that scene, and none of the characters seemed at all perturbed by the actual box. Like, I know this is The Rookie and a willing suspension of disbelief is a requirement of watching, but this was a new all time low for me...

[Brian Cronin]

3 hours ago, Raja said:

I saw nothing to suggest a two hour block was expected, they are probably saving those for the Feds spinoff. 

That, in and of itself, speaks to poor planning, though, right?

[Msample]

Yeah I think after Christmas the show moves back to Tuesday nights to be paired with the execrable FEDS spinoff. 

[Raja]

Which suggest that ABC wanted a specific episode for that event when the match with their FBI is made  but decided to go with something besides new The Rookie episodes for the balance of the holiday season.

[WendyCR72]

Still think it will be interesting to see how this franchise will fare against the darker, straight-drama FBI franchise.

Still can't decide if ABC is making a mistake or not...

[JamieLynn832002]

She does seems a little young but I'd have no problem with Jenny and Nolan except he's engaged and she just got divorced and has fairly young kids, at least one of whom already isn't handling the divorce well. This has disaster written all over it. Not to mention the added awkwardness of Lucy and John's secret (is it still secret? I know Bishop and Jackson knew but I don't think anybody else does) past if both they and Chenford worked out long term.

[LizDC]

1 hour ago, JamieLynn832002 said:

Not to mention the added awkwardness of Lucy and John's secret (is it still secret? I know Bishop and Jackson knew but I don't think anybody else does) past if both they and Chenford worked out long term.

Maybe we’re supposed to pretend it didn’t happen. Everyone on the show seems to have forgotten about it. 

Edited December 6, 2022 by LizDC

[WendyCR72]

1 hour ago, LizDC said:

Maybe we’re supposed to pretend it didn’t happen. Everyone on the show seems to have forgotten about it. 

Which would be a shame, IMO. It was one of the few fairly realistic things on the show. Not talking about the relationship itself as much as the potential fallout with the LAPD and how it could impact careers, etc.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, JamieLynn832002 said:

Lucy and John's secret (is it still secret? I know Bishop and Jackson knew but I don't think anybody else does)

Well, NF is a also an Executive Producer, and he did get his start in soap operas, so maybe that was all a dream.🤣

[Brian Cronin]

3 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Which would be a shame, IMO. It was one of the few fairly realistic things on the show. Not talking about the relationship itself as much as the potential fallout with the LAPD and how it could impact careers, etc.

It's a shame, but so is ignoring it, which is happening already, so I think they're probably going to lean towards pretending it never happened. It's not like Bishop is around anymore, anyways. And Lopez is all for the relationship, so they sure seem like they're just going to pretend it never happened. 

[Madding crowd]

14 hours ago, dargosmydaddy said:

I only tuned in for the second episode, and came in ten minutes late at that, but... WTH was that "baby in a box" subplot??? Like, he was keeping his kid in a box that appeared to be the size of a large cooler... and it was "soundproof," which must mean there weren't any air holes, no? But the baby was fine for multiple hours... he somehow had the money and know-how to engineer some kind of ventilation system for his soundproof baby box??? And I love how the baby was all smiley when they got him out, like lying around all day (in your own filth) at eight months old in a box that appeared to be lit with Christmas lights isn't going to mentally scar a baby for life... My jaw literally dropped during that scene, and none of the characters seemed at all perturbed by the actual box. Like, I know this is The Rookie and a willing suspension of disbelief is a requirement of watching, but this was a new all time low for me...

That freaked me out too. The guy was gone long enough to rob a jewelry store, get taken to the hospital, had tests, get arrested and booked , and then it would have taken them hours to find the baby after that. The baby would be dehydrated and terrified. Not to mention there were bright lights on the inside of the box which would have been an inch from the baby’s eyes. Horrible idea.

[Raja]

6 hours ago, Brian Cronin said:

It's a shame, but so is ignoring it, which is happening already, so I think they're probably going to lean towards pretending it never happened. It's not like Bishop is around anymore, anyways. And Lopez is all for the relationship, so they sure seem like they're just going to pretend it never happened. 

The show sort of soft rebooted further away from reality and LAPD culture first when Afton Williamson left and the all the way when pandemic protocols went into place

[Clanstarling]

On 12/5/2022 at 5:48 AM, Msample said:

Can we have Nolan dump Bailey and hook up with Tim’s sister ? She’s WAY less annoying.

I liked them together in the scene, they seemed like two people who had a lot of similar life experiences and could relate to each other. Took me a moment though to remember who she was.

19 hours ago, SonofaBiscuit said:

Sadly, Nathan Fillion has not had chemistry with any of his love interests on this show, and I think Bailey needs to go. I don't find the character interesting, and the Bailey/Nolan scenes are boring. Peyton List (Tim's sister) seems too young for John, but strangely, I was more intrigued by their scenes than I ever have been with John/Bailey 🤷‍♀️

I like Lucy and Tim and think the actors have great chemistry, so I'm happy with it. As the writers started writing them towards becoming an actual couple, some of it was cheesy, and I wonder if maybe Lucy/Tim should have shared a kiss earlier (like when she was staying with Tim after Jackson died), but whatever. They are pretty much the only romance on the show that I have any investment in. 

I thought he had good chemistry with Tim's sister, and I'm hoping Baily who has no idea of the difference between a puppy and a coyote is out of there soon. I mean, I'm no animal expert, and haven't even seen one up close, but I knew right away that was a coyote. Maybe if it had been a really young pup (or whatever they're called as coyotes) it might have made more sense.

I've never been a Chenford fan, mostly because of the inappropriate work power dynamic, but I did have a "be still my heart" moment when they were talking and Tim had a relaxed, easy grin on his face.

Yes, the stories were over the top - but since I watch while I'm exercising, it works for me. 😉

Edited December 6, 2022 by Clanstarling

[Snapdragon]

Chris thinking he and Chen should buy a house together is just dumb.  Is this because he almost got killed by a serial killer?  Is he having some kind of mental break where he thinks buying a house with someone who he's never even discussed long term plans with is a good idea?  And I feel bad for the actress that plays Chen.  It must be frustrating having to play a character that went from being a fully functioning adult to a teenager with no self esteem.  

[shapeshifter]

7 minutes ago, Snapdragon said:

Chris thinking he and Chen should buy a house together is just dumb.  Is this because he almost got killed by a serial killer?  Is he having some kind of mental break where he thinks buying a house with someone who he's never even discussed long term plans with is a good idea?  And I feel bad for the actress that plays Chen.  It must be frustrating having to play a character that went from being a fully functioning adult to a teenager with no self esteem.  

I'm still not entirely convinced that Chris is not a serial killer in training. 

There are very few TV romance moments I can get on board with, so I may be alone in this reaction, but I did really appreciate Tim's last line (which is also the last dialog before the the 4-week break) of "Do you want to go out on a date?" instead of "Do you want to get dinner?"

[Snapdragon]

So Grey's daughter got kidnapped by two random men late at night and wasn't found until the next day and somehow she didn't get assaulted?  Okay then.  That entire storyline was just really weird. 

And I'm glad the guy Nolan and Juarez arrested died.  What kind of asshole puts a baby in a box? 

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Snapdragon said:

And I'm glad the guy Nolan and Juarez arrested died.  What kind of asshole puts a baby in a box? 

A Baby In A Box is a terrible plan, but they made it clear the baby was okay, and according to the girlfriend of the dead jewelry store robber:

• "He has a kid. The mom bailed."

and the baby box was only for:

• "When he does jobs, he has this soundproof box he puts the baby in. . . So the crying doesn't call attention."

It seemed like he did quick smash-and-grab burglaries and then ran home to get the baby out of the box.
And he was in a hurry to get arrested and bailed out, presumably to get to the baby:

• Just arrest me already.
  Oh, you're for sure under arrest.
  Then let's go. I just gotta call my girlfriend. She'll post bail.
  Ah, well, I'm glad you got a plan, but you took a pretty hard fall. First, we're gonna take you to the hospital and get you checked out before we can process you.
   
• This is taking too long.
  We'll get you in front of a judge just as soon as we can.
  I don't care what they charge me with. I need to post bail and get out of here.
  Just calm down. You'll get your turn.

So, the jewelry burglar was not a great dad, but there are worse. 
The cooler/baby box had a vent on top, similar to some masks:

• 
   
• 

ETA:
I thought the jail riot was going to be some sort of pre-planned event orchestrated by the jewelry thief to break out some important Big Wig Criminal. 

But, no, it was to a Plot Point to have Lucy take the baby out of the box.
Do Tim & Lucy maybe act as temporary emergency foster parents? 
Probably not, or they wouldn't have introduced the baby plot before the winter break.

More ETA:   
Was Lucy glowing as she finds the baby in the box intended to be a version of the Christmas story of the Baby In A Manger? 

Edited December 6, 2022 by shapeshifter

[Madding crowd]

Any way you look at it, putting a baby in a soundproof box and leaving it alone is a cruel and terrible idea. Especially if you are committing a crime and could get arrested or shot.

[eel21788]

On 12/5/2022 at 3:09 PM, Raja said:

I too was wondering, all the time thinking way to soon for her.  Just by chance I saw an episode of The Rookies for the first time in a long time and it featured the recently widowed wife of an officer going for the married rookie Officer Danko while he was around helping her out.

He wasn't an officer. He was mistaken to be one of the criminals, and Danko shot him. "Recently" doesn't begin to describe his demise. The day he was buried she turned Danko into her errand boy which he complied with out of guilt for having killed the guy.

[eel21788]

On 12/5/2022 at 7:38 PM, JamieLynn832002 said:

She does seems a little young but I'd have no problem with Jenny and Nolan except he's engaged and she just got divorced and has fairly young kids, at least one of whom already isn't handling the divorce well. This has disaster written all over it. 

That is the kind of romance scenario that Nolan would thrive on. The more baggage the better, especially if it involves a kid that only Nolan can tame.

On 12/5/2022 at 7:38 PM, JamieLynn832002 said:

 Not to mention the added awkwardness of Lucy and John's secret (is it still secret? I know Bishop and Jackson knew but I don't think anybody else does) past if both they and Chenford worked out long term.

Hilarious that everyone who knows The Secret was murdered. Is this The Rookie or The Mafia?

[eel21788]

On 12/5/2022 at 5:11 PM, dargosmydaddy said:

And I love how the baby was all smiley when they got him out, like lying around all day (in your own filth) at eight months old in a box that appeared to be lit with Christmas lights isn't going to mentally scar a baby for life...

Years from now, the kid is going to have no idea why he has the most severe case of claustrophobia known to man.

[eel21788]

On 12/5/2022 at 12:34 AM, Proteus said:

I'm so tired of Celina. 

On 12/5/2022 at 12:43 AM, Brian Cronin said:

Sooooooo tired. 

I knew it was futile, but I was really, really hoping she had been responsible for killing the guy, so she could get sent up the river for manslaughter and we would only have to see her on Nolan's visiting days when he brought her more sage to smudge the prison.

[yourmomiseasy]

So I guess they didn't have a medic check out the folks in holding after the mini-riot?  You could see the bad-dad thief getting stomped during most of the scene. 

I can't even with the ridiculousness that was Grey's daughter's kidnapping.  I forgot what show I was watching and thought the guy's tail light was just going to be legitimately out, causing Grey to look like a loon and lose all credibility.  Was the one guy legit her Uber driver or did he force her into his car, or did she just jump in a rando's car?  I wasn't paying enough attention.

I hope Tim and Lucy aren't as annoying as Nolan and Bailey.  We see other couples on the show that aren't that bad, so maybe we'll get lucky.  

[eel21788]

On 12/6/2022 at 11:17 AM, shapeshifter said:

I'm still not entirely convinced that Chris is not a serial killer in training. 

. . . or at least a major stalker. He knows how to go about tormenting her while still staying within the law.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, eel21788 said:

Years from now, the kid is going to have no idea why he has the most severe case of claustrophobia known to man.

Or the Baby In The Box will grow up to join a vampire cult that spends their days in pink-satin-lined coffins.

[Raja]

2 hours ago, eel21788 said:

He wasn't an officer. He was mistaken to be one of the criminals, and Danko shot him. "Recently" doesn't begin to describe his demise. The day he was buried she turned Danko into her errand boy which he complied with out of guilt for having killed the guy.

That's what I get for coming in on the last third of an episode. But she did put it out she was willing to take him from Kate Jackson

[Zaffy]

I think the worst thing series like The Rookie do is to involve the police officers families into crime drama, serial killers..etc etc
It is so cliche and so boring like the plot with the Greys and their daugther.

I do not mind Lucy and Tim as long as they writing them like adults and not like teenagers.

I really like the actress but Celina has become really annoying!

[Mrs. Stanwyck]

What I didn't understand is why the assumption was that Selena was to blame for the guy's death.  They took him to the hospital and had him checked out and he was determined to be fine.  Then he gets beaten severely during the riot and subsequently dies.  I understand confirming and dotting the i's and crossing the t's but wouldn't the initial assumption be he died from his injuries in the riot that just happened?  And, frankly wouldn't LA still be open to a law suit because the riot happened under the LA PD's watch?  And by the way, it seemed like it took way too long for other police to respond.  Was no one watching the holding area?

I just didn't understand the tone directed at her.  I would have expected more "He was beaten pretty badly during the riot and that is most likely the cause of death but until that is confirmed, we need to suspend you.  We need to do this by the book to protect the City from lawsuits."  Instead, they were treating her like there was no other possible explanation.

[JamieLynn832002]

23 hours ago, eel21788 said:

Hilarious that everyone who knows The Secret was murdered. Is this The Rookie or The Mafia?

Bishop's still alive, isn't she? She took a job at the ATF between seasons 1 and 2 and pretty much disappeared without a trace but I thought last we knew she was alive and well.

[Raja]

54 minutes ago, Mrs. Stanwyck said:

What I didn't understand is why the assumption was that Selena was to blame for the guy's death.  They took him to the hospital and had him checked out and he was determined to be fine.  Then he gets beaten severely during the riot and subsequently dies.  I understand confirming and dotting the i's and crossing the t's but wouldn't the initial assumption be he died from his injuries in the riot that just happened?  And, frankly wouldn't LA still be open to a law suit because the riot happened under the LA PD's watch?  And by the way, it seemed like it took way too long for other police to respond.  Was no one watching the holding area?

I just didn't understand the tone directed at her.  I would have expected more "He was beaten pretty badly during the riot and that is most likely the cause of death but until that is confirmed, we need to suspend you.  We need to do this by the book to protect the City from lawsuits."  Instead, they were treating her like there was no other possible explanation.

I think the tone was for us. While all the boots are supposed to be living with the fear that the LAPD can drop them for any reason during that probationary year once all three stars made it through including one who did not engage out of fear at first leaving his partner in fights alone, and both on Feds so far we really don't fear that Nolan can't bring his Boot onto the force.

25 minutes ago, JamieLynn832002 said:

Bishop's still alive, isn't she? She took a job at the ATF between seasons 1 and 2 and pretty much disappeared without a trace but I thought last we knew she was alive and well.

Bishop got tired of waiting for time in LAPD service to become a detective and then they leveled Lopez up early as the show said later with this stuff it ain't a documentary. And Nolan got stripes along with his Golden Ticket job.

[eel21788]

36 minutes ago, JamieLynn832002 said:

Bishop's still alive, isn't she? She took a job at the ATF between seasons 1 and 2 and pretty much disappeared without a trace but I thought last we knew she was alive and well.

12 minutes ago, Raja said:

Bishop got tired of waiting for time in LAPD service to become a detective and then they leveled Lopez up early as the show said later with this stuff it ain't a documentary

I thought Bishop was the one who died in the swimming pool in one of the season finales. It's hard to keep track of the turnover.

[Raja]

1 hour ago, eel21788 said:

I thought Bishop was the one who died in the swimming pool in one of the season finales. It's hard to keep track of the turnover.

That was the unreplaced station  commander Captain Anderson (Mercedes Mason) who maybe alone in the LAPD wanted Nolan while his watch commander, Sergeant Grey was scheming to bounce him early in the Boot year

[eel21788]

2 hours ago, Raja said:

That was the unreplaced station  commander Captain Anderson (Mercedes Mason) who maybe alone in the LAPD wanted Nolan while his watch commander, Sergeant Grey was scheming to bounce him early in the Boot year

got it!

[bros402]

just watched this

what even was that Grey's daughter kidnapped plot? I thought it was going to be that she was a totally different person in NYC, maybe afraid to come out to her parents over the phone - something like that. Not "oh yeah she got kidnapped"

With part 1, they should've just made it serious the whole way through after the bomb exploded, no "oh hi i am bailey crawling under the house" (honestly I thought it was going to end up that she had tracked the bomber and was crawling to them or some BS with how magical and perfect Bailey is.

I want Nolan and Bradford's sister to become a thing. Or, just anything and Nolan. Maybe a hammer and Nolan. Or a 2x4 and Nolan.

[domina89]

On 12/13/2022 at 1:04 AM, bros402 said:

I want Nolan and Bradford's sister to become a thing. Or, just anything and Nolan. Maybe a hammer and Nolan. Or a 2x4 and Nolan.

I do not understand what the deal is with Nolan.  I know it can't be Nathan Fillion.  He had chemistry with anything that moved in "Firefly."  But his character is like a black hole on this show and nothing they try seems to work.  It confuses me.  I'm glad to see they are chemtesting him with others, though.  Maybe they will eventually strike gold.