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An impromptu evalutaion, crime scene bioremedition and two guest stars from two of my all time favorite shows descended upon The Rookie Season 2 Episode 8.
Nyla Harper’s early review, although entertaining, took up far less screen time and created less drama than I expected.
However, watching Harper talk down the half-naked man wielding the nail bat against unseen zombies was definitely a plus.
Although it did make me wonder if having him and the woman being held for possible a DUI in the back of the same patrol car was a good idea?
If the guy decided she was some sort of a zombie then things could have gotten ugly, even while he was wearing cuffs.
Of course, keeping them separated would have made it more difficult for the pair to comment on Grey’s daughter who wanted to go to college on the east coast, something to which her father was very much opposed.
The man with the nail bat agrees with you, just take that in for a minute.
Harper
Cornell University is a fantastic school, but does the southern California girl know that Ithaca, New York averages about five feet of snow a year?
Anyway, though I would have enjoyed seeing more of Grey and Harper as a team, this was a nice way to have them bond and give each a bit more insight into the other as both cops and parents.
Harper: You know, I’ve wanted to say you did a great job with your daughter.
Grey: Yeah, the fact she wants to move across the country speaks volumes.
Harper: Actually it does. It says that she’s brave and confident. You gave her a home, a safe place to launch from and retreat to, same way you do for us. I hope I can become half the parent you are.
Grey: Laying it on pretty thick, aren’t you?
Harper: Yes, Sir.
As much as I’ve appreciated Harper having the chance to interact with the other officers so that she’s more a part of the team and less of an outsider, it feels like forever since Harper has been paired up with Nolan
It will be good to see Harper working as Nolan’s training officer once again and I hope we get back to that soon.
Speaking of Nolan, he was stuck babysitting a crime scene that had yet to be cleared which apparently took several hours.
During that time he played on his phone causing the battery to go dead. I know he was bored but perhaps he should have thought that one through a little more.
Thankfully he had Elroy Basso, a crime scene cleaner otherwise known as a bioremediation specialist, to keep him company.
Elroy was played by Alan Tudyk, an actor who I still can’t look at without hearing the words, “I am a leaf on the wind.”
If you’re not a Firefly fan you might not understand.
Elroy was a somewhat shy man whose personal tragedy drove him to know everything there was to know about cleaning up gruesome crime scenes.
I walk into a tragedy but when I walk out, everything is as it should be.
Elroy
I admired how Elroy explained to Nolan the details he saw in the blood splatter and how the two of them steadily made their way through the office until they found another dead body.
My only grievance was when Nolan and Elroy blocked the door to give them more time to get away from the bad guys, only to hide instead.
I find it difficult to believe that the entire floor didn’t have another exit on the opposite side and if it didn’t, wouldn’t it have been smarter to go back to the door and try and shoot the bad guys as they struggled to open it?
But that’s probbly me being nit picky.
Later, Nolan introducing Elroy to Nell made me incredibly happy. Elroy seemed like a guy who could use a break and Nell, being a police dispatcher, wouldn’t be put off by his line of work and appeared thrilled to finally meet him.
Elsewhere, Bradford and West had so many issues trying to get to the ceremony where they were being honored with commendations that I wondered if the event was jinxed.
Bradford may have been distracted but the way he slammed into the back of that woman’s car felt off from the beginning.
But this story had two highlights I never saw coming.
First was guest star Adam Busch as sleazy con artist, Mike Garvey.
It took me a few scenes to figure it out, but Busch once played Warren on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
You know Busch played a memorable character because I continue to have flashbacks to his performance over 15 years later.
The second high point was when the officer in charge of inspecting the cars involved in the accident disrespected Bradford.
When he referred to Tim as “Beach Boy” and tried to blow off Chen’s concerns about the brake lights, it lead to this The Rookie quote…
You’ve got time now. This is important. Officer Bradford is a 12-year veteran, he’s been shot five times in the line of duty. He deserves your respect, not whatever macho crap this is, Sir.
Chen
That’s one of the most endearing characteristic of Officer Lucy Chen, she steps up at times when most people assume she can be intimidated.
And Officer West took a detour to the hospital to get checked out for possible PCP exposure.
Even though Lopez unloaded his weapon, it looked as though she failed to remove the two clips from his belt and I was relieved that didn’t become a much larger problem.
Leave it to Jackson to have the power of suggestion and too much caffeine cause him to act loopy for hours.
Finally, some of the cutest scenes were for Nolan’s birthday.
The man was obviously over the moon that Grace had remembered his birthday even after all of these years.
And Nolan’s sentiments to his friends and colleagues were clearly heartfelt…
A year ago I never would have believed this would be my life. I mean, new beginnings are rare and rewarding ones even more so and here I am surrounded by the best people I’ve ever known and Lopez.
Nolan
So what did you think TV Fanatics?
Has Nyla Harper earned herself a permanent place on this team?
Did you enjoy Alan Tudyk’s guest role as Elroy?
Personally, I found this guest appearance much more satisfying than the one’s from Fillion’s Castle alums on The Rookie Season 2 Episode 3. (That has nothing to do with the actors and everything to do with the storylines they were given.)
Are there any other guest stars you’d like to see visit The Rookie or is the core cast who you tune in to watch?
Hit the blue SHOW COMMENTS button below and leave me your thoughts and then check back in for my review of The Rookie Season 2 Episode 8.
Until then, feel free to watch The Rookie online here at TV Fanatic.
C. Orlando is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.