DJariya

ABC'S PRIMETIME SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK OF FEB. 19, 2024

TUESDAY, FEB. 20

9:00-10:00 p.m. EST - The Rookie: "Strike Back" (601) (Season Premiere)

In the aftermath of the assaults in the explosive season five finale, the team must now try to understand why they were targeted and if there is a bigger plan in place. Meanwhile, Nolan must survive his last shift before his wedding to Bailey. (TV-14, LV)


Read more: Listings - ROOKIE, THE on ABC | TheFutonCritic.comListings - ROOKIE, THE on ABC | TheFutonCritic.com

GuessWho

I LOL'd at Nolan's neighbor.

Time Warrior

Staggering action sequence with a bad guy fully consumed by fire running screaming down the street whilst bullets fly everywhere and vast amounts of cash are floating in the thick smoke. Very ambitious for network tv.

Noonan

Wife and I both thought they would show that the they were on a movie set or something similar. Neither of us that awful burning person would actually be part of the show. We were wrong.

Joe Schmoe

The wedding episode was beyond stupid even for this show. Why did Tim tell John to take his tie off before they stormed the bad guys' hideout at the end? John hiding in plain sight by wearing the boss' coat and simply pushing one of the bad guys out the window was ridiculous. Next week looks silly too: no matter where any of these cops go (a bank, party, honeymoon), trouble finds them.

GuessWho

Didn't air in Chicago due to storm coverage. I'll have to check it out on demand soon.

Noonan

Yeah, it was pretty bad. So many things that would just never happen. And I'm pretty sure Nolan committed assault when he pushed that guy out a window unprovoked.

I assume they wrote off the friend/roommate of Chen? I don't recall if she had a send-off last season.

HeIsTheZissou

I enjoy this show for what it is, but will say it's interesting how the show has transformed from the original "guy with a midlife crisis becomes a beat cop" to "super cop with a really nice house in LA."

Noonan

I know the house was explained away via his rich friend from earlier seasons but I'd imagine a cop couldn't afford the yearly property tax on that house/land.

Count Dooku

Nolan moved out of his friend's house when they dropped that character from the show. This house is one he bought when it was run-down, and he renovated it.

Noonan

I remember him renovating it but I thought the friend bought it for him. If that's the case, it's even more crazy. The land alone is worth millions.

HeIsTheZissou

A quick Google search of the house used for the exterior shots shows it's easily a $2M property. It's been awhile, but did the first few episodes establish that Nolan was relatively rich from selling his business or something?

Count Dooku

I imagine the show is playing with the fantasy that someone in the middle class who works hard (and can do their own home renovations) will be able to live in a beautiful home like that, and no one is supposed to think about the Los Angeles real estate market, just like we're not supposed to think about the reality of a cop getting shot at with a machine gun on a regular basis.

HeIsTheZissou

I suppose so. But at least the PC's multi-million dollar home in Blue Bloods has been in the family for decades.

Count Dooku

So you're saying that compared to Blue Bloods, Nolan's living situation on The Rookie is a fantasy, just as I described it? Okay.

HeIsTheZissou

There's a general change of tone and mood on DVDTalk as of late.

davidh777

Should I post in this thread or am I supposed to keep bumping last season’s thread?

Anyway, the first episode had kick-ass action (I like to think the “Strike Back” episode title was at least a nod to the Cinemax series), though it had been so long since last season that the recap wasn’t enough and I had to rewatch the end of the season finale. But then they follow it up with a couple comedy-centric ones, though I realize the wedding and honeymoon probably lent themselves to lighter fare. Maybe they can get back on track with the action soon, or maybe I just need to watch other cop shows.

Count Dooku

They are rerunning the season premiere from a few weeks ago, already!?!?

Joe Schmoe

I don't get it either. Why is ABC showing reruns for a few weeks when the new TV season was delayed by months and already shortened? NBC is doing it too with their Chicago franchise taking a few weeks off.

GuessWho

It's not like the full season's episodes are sitting on a hard drive waiting to be aired. They're making these things as they go and even the crews and actors get days off. Let them catch up a bit.

I'm on the extras list for Chicago Fire. The call for extras at the recent wedding scene was only about 2 weeks before the show aired. They're working at a frantic pace to record & edit and deservedly get a week or two off now and then.

Count Dooku

That's the explanation, but I still think it is a bad idea for ABC (or NBC) to go this way. It would have been better to delay the start a few more weeks, so that they could go with no reruns, and even advertise that. But network TV is hard these days.

Noonan

This has turned into a show that my wife and I watch mostly to make fun at this point. I think Thorson's therapist is trying to blackmail some of his money out of him.

davidh777

I like how the show has returned to its action format, but yeah, the therapist stuff was weird and unprofessional. It might make sense if there was something bigger going on. (I haven’t watched this week’s episode yet.)

Noonan

Yeah. The way they showed her turn a camera off at the end was what gave me that feeling. Also haven't watched this week's yet.

davidh777

Right, my first thought was that she was recording herself saying no for ethical reasons, but that’d be pretty dull.

This week had nothing new on the therapist, but more of Thorson being an aggressive moron. They’ve also predictably turned the foster-care incident into a baby storyline, which has the potential to be really annoying.