Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Rookie Blue 6x03 "Uprising" (Truth and Promises) [Contributor: Hope]


"Uprising"
Original Airdate: July 9, 2015

This week took a break from the typical procedural case-of-the-week thing, and I LOVE it when procedurals do that. It’s not that I don’t like the normal formats – don’t get me wrong – but any show I watch, I watch for the characters and not the weekly mystery. That’s just the way I am, so when the characters are shaken from their normal(ish) routines, I love to see what happens. This week, it seemed pretty simple: Andy and Juliet would transfer one problem prisoner to a maximum security prison. Nick and Gail would take another one, dubbed the “nice” one, to another prison. Well, as usual in television, when something’s going to be simple, it never, ever is. A total fight broke out and spiraled out of control until everyone fought for no apparent reason. They clearly had a lot of pent-up issues with each other and took the opportunity to take it out on their arch nemeses/nearest person.

Nick

Nick got stuck with the "nice" inmate, Rochelle, who actually turned out to be a psychopath with a keycard and an "aura." She went on about how she’s an "indigo child" and how the light only falls on her and… wait, what? I couldn’t tell if it was an act to trick Nick or if she actually believed all this (actually, I’m pretty sure it was the latter). He should have been way more attentive. They all judged their prisoners by their covers, and – especially in his case – it was a very bad call.

Gail

She got separated from Nick and stuck in a cell with an inmate named Odelle, and Gail wasn’t exactly thrilled. However, she really seemed to bond with the woman, who had a lot to say about parenting. I don’t think she scared Gail away from adoption, but it made her think more seriously about how much of an impact having a kid will leave on her. As someone who normally keep others a bit of a distance, is Gail prepared to suddenly love someone that much? When they say goodbye, she tells Odelle: "I’ll see you around." Gail knows she probably won’t see this woman again, who (if I’m remembering correctly) was in for life. And yet Gail still says that because this woman left an impact on her. It was a poignant moment.

Dov, Traci, Duncan, and Chloe

They all stayed at the precinct, where they pretty much stayed out of the way, except for some investigating/interrogating. Also, Duncan seems to think that Chloe likes him? Chloe was in a good place this episode, happily and optimistically babbling. Somehow Duncan read too far into it, and you just know he's going to make a fool of himself before he realizes it's not true. Dov’s reaction was pretty ambiguous, but I think that’s a good sign. He wasn’t all that jealous, but he certainly wasn’t happy about it. Dov also had good reason for being on the sidelines – the actor, Gregory Smith, directed this episode, and I’ll be rambling on about that a little later.

Andy and Juliet

I don’t think Andy and Juliet are going to be friends, guys. Andy tried. She started off the car ride with a five-second rundown of the mess her life is right now, and Juliet wasn’t all that fazed, which was a good sign. Or maybe it wasn’t, because it turns out that Juliet’s life used to be a wreck, and maybe nothing fazes her now. Andy pointed out that Nick doesn’t have any character flaws, a fact she first used to argue on his behalf. By the end of the episode, she pretty much decided Juliet wasn’t good enough for him. I just love how protective Andy still is of Nick. It will be interesting to see if she tells Nick the truth about Juliet, or if she keeps it to herself. I could honestly see it going either way.

Andy and Juliet were stuck with the problem inmate, Kenzie, who stabbed herself and then took the both of them hostage. She led them to the prison infirmary, where her best friend was recovering from injuries Kenzie was being framed for. So Kenzie shook her friend in anger and almost killed her for real this time. When Nick’s “nice” inmate ran off and found them in the infirmary, she grabbed a knife and was probably going to kill them all.

Then backup came to the rescue, and one of the most awesome pieces of camerawork I’ve ever seen followed. Suddenly, everything’s upside-down, we’re looking at Andy lying on the ground, with everything out of sorts, voices muffled… The whole thing just conveyed the disorientation and suddenness of the scene PERFECTLY. The scene went from a crazy-intense hostage situation to everything be resolved, and this visually represented the shock of that moment. We got to experience that, and it was truly what they refer to as television magic. I had literally blinked, maybe jotted down a note, and suddenly, I wasn’t sure what was going on. I was disoriented, just like Andy. Gregory Smith (aka Dov) has directed episodes of the show before (in addition to other things) and has truly proven himself to be multi-talented.

Now that I’ve sufficiently geeked out over the cinematography – the last header:

Sam and Marlo (and Andy)

In the very first scene, Marlo is at the doctor’s having the baby checked on, alone. Until Sam shows up unannounced. He’s so excited, and you can tell by the way he announces his entrance: “I’m the daddy. Um, father.” He also has a couple of serious conversations with Marlo, saying: “I’m not going anywhere. Unless you want me to.” While half of the cast is stuck in a prison, Sam and Marlo are stuck at the doctor's office. There’s something potentially wrong with the baby, and Marlo tells him not to tell anyone. He agrees, but says he’s telling Andy. “How’s this supposed to work?” Marlo responds. She points out how terribly complicated everything is, and basically everything that Andy and Sam dealt with in the last episode. Sam had already kind of come to peace with it, and it was a wonderful thing to watch. He promises that he's going to be there for her and the baby, but that Andy isn't going to come third. He's prepared to stay true to that, too.

At the end of the episode, Sam tells Andy it’s going to be a girl. “Wow, that’s amazing... She's going to adore you, too,” she replies, and you can tell she's incredibly happy for him. But she also looks like she’s about to cry. When she asks: “Where are things going to go with us?” Sam answers: “Up.” I just HAVE to point out that this episode was called “Uprising,” which was clearly in reference to the prison riot, but which also perfectly ties in with the last word of the episode. Whether things will go up from here or not, it was a beautiful place to end the episode.

In summary, the episode did a great job exploring the theme of truth -- almost every storyline tackled it -- and how situations can be misjudged. It was fast-paced, funny, and at times, touching.

Notepad:
  • LOVE.
  • Duncan: “Is it true that Peck has retractable fangs?” Dov: “Yes” The whole Duncan/Dov scene was hilarious.
  • Oliver: “No one’s ever seen a pirate in a cop costume before?” I wonder why the eye patch became a part of the episode. Did Matt Gordon have a real-life cat fur incident?
  • Bad puns FTW.
  • Gail’s prisoner friend: “Welcome to my lair.” Gail: *blank look that simultaneously says WHY ME?*
  • Rochelle: “I’m an indigo child.” Nick: “Excuse me?”
  • “Two words.” “Eye patch?” “Depth perception.”
  • “Hey, if you’re looking for a good reason to not date Nick, I’ve got one for you. You’re a liar.”
  • Marlo: “That’s a very big promise you’re making.” Sam: “To you or to [Andy]?” Marlo: “To both of us.” Sam: “I’m okay with that.”

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