Cellar Door

I've tried to forget that movie as much as possible.

Gizmo

It was a very woke episode.

bunkaroo

I remember when this show was fun. I don't mind a "very special episode" once in a while but no way they keep their audience if this is all season.

Gizmo

The show runner said they plan to keep the storyline the entire season.

It’s pretty clear the season premiere was meant to stretch several episodes but was ended quickly to allow the current woke storylines. I really like(d?) this show, but I don’t know how much longer I’ll stick around. Seems a lot of fans are not happy with the current direction either

Eric F

I liked the show when it was lighter. One more episode and I’m out.

Count Dooku

Interesting that people thought the show was lighter and more fun when Nolan shot and killed a suspect, there have been multiple attempts to murder Nolan, Chen was kidnapped and buried alive, all the cops have been involved in several shoot-outs.

Reactions back up the criticisms of the genre.
Viewers are positioned to be on the side of the police because the show's regular cast are all presented as heroic good guys. Lazy and ineffectual cops exist but they don't stop the good cops from getting the job done. And the true bad apples are taken down by the good cops, demonstrating that the police force as a whole is devoted to justice, not protecting the shield or "blue lives."
The genre doesn't just avoid critiques of law enforcement, it discourages critical thinking about law enforcement.

bunkaroo

Even though those events weren't light, they were still escapism for the viewers, which is why I think the show was popular. Now we're getting too much reality in the show. I don't think people really want or need a reality reminder right now when they watch this show.

DJariya

I just got caught up with Sunday's episode. I didn't mind it. yes, it had a darker theme with the Routh being the racist cop. But, they still mixed in a little of what made the show what it was with Nolan dealing with his Mom coming into town. Frances Fisher was great as his Mom. The C plot with Lopez still dealing with the struggles of being a rookie detective was also interesting IMO.

I didn't get why Grey treated West like he was being insubordinate by reporting Stanton. I thought Grey was being kind of an asshole. That was quite a departure for Routh playing this character.

I get it. Some of you watch scripted TV to avoid the stress of dealing with real life and social issues can be a turnoff for you. But then again, this is a show about the LAPD and you can't ignore stuff like that. I think it would be interpreted by some as being tone deaf and this is not some "fantasy world" where nothing we see in real life doesn't exist. Just my 2 cents.

Count Dooku

Maybe people DO need a reality reminder even if they don't want it.

If people need pure escapism, there is A LOT of television for them to watch. This is a show depicting the police enforcing the law in 2020/21. Yes, it is fictional, but that does not absolve the show of its moral obligation to address its subject matter with self-awareness of its role as an authoritative voice in society.

Like I alluded to in a previous post, every medical drama from Dr Kildaire to The Good Doctor has been fiction, but never has anyone of them presented a world where cancer was cured.

Noonan

My "issue" is that it's loud and right in our face. Like the cop isn't even trying to hide his racism from anyone but we're to believe he was a "good" cop for many years prior? No way West would be the first person to call him out like that with how he was acting.

I fully expected every cop/law show to tackle racism head-on this year.

Cellar Door

I think it's appropriate for this show to deal with the issue of racism in policing.

But let's be honest--this show has never been very subtle about anything, so it certainly feels 'preachy' the way they are presenting the issue. I enjoy the show, but it's never been very nuanced or deep. So, yeah, when they confront racism and police brutality it feels like an afterschool special. This isn't The Wire.

bunkaroo

Yes, and this show got popular being one of them. They could have easily been tackling these issues all this time. Perhaps they knew it wouldn’t be as popular?

This is coming from someone who considers The Wire to be the greatest TV series of all time. I have ZERO problem with social issues in a show. I just think myself and others don’t appreciate the tone shift in this show.

Count Dooku

There was no social pressure to tackle those issues before. Cast members weren't threatening to quit if the show didn't address these issues. 2021 isn't 2019.

bunkaroo

I get that about the cast members - they can take responsibility for the problems the show will have with viewership. As far as 2021 not being 2019, and I'm not trying to be sarcastic at all, but I think the LAPD might have had these issues before the past two years. We've been seeing these kinds of issues dealt with in entertainment for a while now. I maintain this show could have been dealing with the issues all this time.

The showrunners have every right to change the tone - it's their show. But they shouldn't surprised when people abandon it as a result.

Count Dooku

There wasn't pressure to deal with them before, and I don't watch enough police procedurals to know how much systemic racism in the police force is talked about.

I don't watch Blue Bloods. Does that police family get together for dinners and talk about murdering black people as a normal part of a day's work?

DJariya

No they do not. The Reagan family dinners have them discuss rationally things that happen in their day and things that they agree with and disagree with in the judicial system. The eldest daughter is an attorney, the oldest son is a detective and the youngest is a patrol officer. So there's three different perspectives. And the Dad is the NYPD police commissioner and the grandfather is the former police commissioner from the old school days. So they have rational discussions.

I know you were being facetious, but that's what happens on that procedural.

davidh777

I just watched the third episode and can finally read why this thread kept getting bumped.

I thought it was a dark, intense episode but like some others have said, I didn’t mind it. Not comfortable to watch, sure, but the show has always been more intense than Fillion’s previous cop show, Castle. That was a lot lighter with occasional episodes that were completely dark. So this was more real-life than, say, Lucy getting buried alive, but that just made it, for me, a different kind of uncomfortable. Do I think the show is going to effect meaningful social change? No, probably not. But I don’t think it’s bad that they’re trying. I’ll keep watching.

Cellar Door

Based on his conversation with Lucy, I have a feeling we're in for a special scene in which Tim will have to recognize his white privilege.

I thought the twist with Routh's former trainee was pretty good. I bought that he didn't want to speak up and ruin his career, but I didn't expect him to rat out Lucy and Tim to Routh.

The side-plot with Nolan's mom was dumb. Frances Fisher deserved a better story. Speaking of Nolan's family, I wonder if we'll see his son again.

Also, the more I think about it, the more I wonder why they wrote off Ali Larter's character. There was a lot of screen time spent developing her and Nolan's relationship, but then she just exits pretty abruptly--no drama, no payoff.

Gizmo

We all loved that very special White Privilege chat at the police station. I totally bought that.

Ali has a new show coming out, so she left.

mwbmis

I think the problem was that the Rookie was always a silly show masquerading as a serious one. (i.e., how many of them have kidnapped, held hostage, poisoned, shot, etc in a year?) Like was mentioned earlier in this thread, this isn't the Wire. As a "super cop" show, which it kind of was, it was always going to have direction issues coming back this year no matter what tact they took.

bunkaroo

Wow they’ve turned Routh’s character into a full blown caricature.

If they’re going to keep going down this path the least they could do is write it well.

Count Dooku

Haven't you heard that Blue Lives Matter?

[It's interesting that they are keeping Nolan/Fillion separated from the BLM-inspired storyline.

Are they keeping Nolan clean from the controversial business of addressing systemic racism in policing on behalf of the viewers who are fans of Fillion?

This episode, it wasn't like there were just multiple plots; it was two different kinds of shows happening at the same.

Eric F

I have no idea what this show is supposed to be now.

bunkaroo

Neither do the show runners.

Gizmo

Woke with a side of woke.

Bradford was a tough as nails cop and is now apologizing in every single episode for being a Man.