The Rookie wrapped up its seventh season with “The Good, The Unhealthy and The Oscar,” a finale that had its highs (Lucy in cost! Miles’ chaos date!) and particular lows (Oscar… once more? And do not even get us began on Monica). The episode had the power of a finale, however it additionally confirmed the burden of a present beginning to circle the identical drained tracks.
Let’s begin off with the stand-out: Lucy lastly entering into her sergeant function introduced each comedy and consequence. Watching her evening shift crew deal with the job like a sleepover till she snapped them to consideration was each humorous and satisfying. She’s sharp, she’s prepared, and she or he’s not right here for video games. The sequence the place she whipped her crew into form to avoid wasting Miles throughout a shootout confirmed precisely why Lucy earned her stripes—and why she’s going to put on them nicely.
Miles had certainly one of his finest storylines but. What began as an ungainly first date rapidly become a harmful setup tied to a gang, and it gave him room to be greater than comedian aid. Celina taking part in intel assist and Lucy swooping in to avoid wasting the day? Chef’s kiss. Truthfully, that subplot had extra pressure and payoff than the so-called predominant occasion.
Which brings us to… Oscar. Once more.
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Oscar displaying up (but once more) to mess with Nolan felt extra like déjà vu than drama. The severed arm map, the diamonds within the desert, the villain monologue—it was all so acquainted, so overly dramatized, that it landed with a thud. There’s no actual concern right here anymore, simply fatigue. Nolan’s in a trunk, then digging, then saved by a drone? It is exhausting to really feel any stakes once we’ve seen all these strikes earlier than. If this storyline was meant to deliver closure, it as a substitute simply dragged issues out previous their expiration date.
And simply once you assume the retread is over, Monica’s again. Due to course she is. One way or the other, regardless of faking her dying, committing a number of felonies, and exhausting the viewers’s endurance, Monica returns with an immunity deal that forces our core crew into her orbit as soon as once more. It looks like a plot pulled out of the recycling bin—been there, achieved that. With so many compelling new villains and instructions the present might take, bringing Monica again feels just like the weakest doable play. She’s not harmful anymore; she’s simply uninteresting.
One other disappointment was Angela’s storyline this episode, which concerned interrogating a lovesick financial institution robber catfished right into a faux relationship by his personal spouse, was yet one more instance of how underused she’s been all season. The case itself wasn’t dangerous, however it felt like filler, disconnected from the primary arcs driving the finale. This has change into a sample with Angela. As a substitute of being woven into the central narrative or given significant improvement, she’s been sidelined into standalone circumstances that hardly register. For a personality with such sturdy presence and historical past, it is disappointing to see the writers frequently give her scraps whereas different storylines, nonetheless drained, get the highlight. Angela deserves greater than being the “side quest” of each episode.
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| “The Good, The Bad and The Oscar” – THE ROOKIE. Pictured: Eric Winter as Tim Bradford and Melissa O’Neil as Lucy Chen. Mike Taing/ Disney ©2025 Community. All Rights Reserved. |
Tim lastly opens his coronary heart to Lucy with probably the most honest confession we’ve ever gotten from him. He’s gone to remedy, he’s grown, he’s prepared—and Lucy? Useless asleep on the sofa. It will’ve been humorous if it weren’t so infuriating. After a full season of emotional pressure and stalling, followers had been lastly owed an actual dialog. As a substitute, we’re given a rug-pull gag. Once more. Sure, we get it. Lucy’s drained. Evening shift. However followers have been emotionally invested on this relationship for seasons, and the chain of command excuse has formally expired. At this level, it’s not pressure—it’s simply cruelty. And never in a enjoyable, slow-burn means. In a “do the writers even want them together?” means. The showrunner continues to mishandle Chenford, giving each different couple well timed resolutions whereas dragging them by means of emotional purgatory.
Lucy’s rise, Miles’ chaos, and a few standout character beats saved this finale from falling flat. However the recycled Oscar plot and the compelled Monica twist dragged it down. And as for Chenford, in the event that they don’t cease baiting us and begin writing them, followers won’t be as affected person subsequent season. Season 8 has loads to repair and first on the record needs to be delivering as a substitute of dodging.
