Friday, July 24, 2015

Rookie Blue 6x05 "A Real Gentleman" (Just Being There) [Contributor: Hope]


"A Real Gentleman"
Original Airdate: July 23, 2015

Can you believe we are almost halfway through season six? Episode five of eleven of SEASON SIX. Can we just stop and give the series a big round of applause for that? It also boggles my mind that I’ve been watching this show for six years already. I guess what I’m saying is I love Rookie Blue, but you guys knew that already.

So far this season, Rookie Blue has been avoiding the standard procedural format (at least, as standard as you can get with a very character-driven procedural), and I’m loving it. This was what normally would have been the mid-season, high-stakes episode that breaks up the normal rhythm of the show. Instead, it was yet another powerful hour where something crazy happens to our characters. Let’s get started.

Traci

While last week focused on Nick, this week was Traci’s episode, and I was glad because we haven’t seen much of her this season. I only wish she didn’t have to have such a terrifying story in order to take center stage. Traci was nervous about her first raid, so the episode started out with her and Steve getting some (foreshadowing) coffee and being adorable. She gave a powerful speech to the precinct, and then things went downhill.

I’ll admit it: I looked up the primetime schedule to see what the episode was going to be about. Just for non-spoiler-y, vague details, you know? Unfortunately, I walked straight into a gigantic spoiler that I TOTALLY SHOULD HAVE SEEN COMING but still. So I knew the creep from the season premiere would be coming back. And dear God, was he creepy. But Traci completely held her own. They had an all-out fight, fair fight that ended in Traci locking herself in a supply closet. She clocked him upside the head with this... well, I don’t know what it was. And when he fought back, who protected her? Not Steve. ANDY! Andy not only gave the dude who broke into her apartment in the premiere a serious elbow to the ribs and a death-glare to match, but also took down the man who kidnapped Traci. Steve and Sam were right behind them, but their physical strength wasn't needed. Steve immediately gives Traci emotional support, and gently pries Traci’s makeshift weapon from her hand once outside.

Things didn’t get too awkward when Leo told Gail she’d make a great aunt, right in front of Traci and Steve. But I do think there was truth to what Traci told Corey: Steve CAN be overprotective (I mean, did you see what he did to the first guy they caught?). This episode not only restated the fact that Traci is (as Gail put it) a superhero and doesn’t need to be protected, but also showed that Steve can just BE there for her as well. I think they could work out.

At the end of the episode, Andy and Traci hug and it’s just a really beautiful moment. Andy tells her "I’m insanely proud of you." Traci had been there for her throughout the beginning of the season, when the plot focused on Andy. Now it was Andy's turn to be there. Could we call these two best friends? I don't think they've ever termed it that way, but they should.

Nick

Nick and Juliet... no comment. I'm going to remain neutral. Actually, you know what? I do have a comment. I’ll admit that I’m not completely on board with this relationship, because Juliet definitely has things she’s hiding from everyone. Nick tried to confront her (without being confrontational) and she lied to his face. Maybe she can't tell him her secret, but she could admit she can't tell him something about herself. I think he'd respect her privacy. I have a theory, though. Remember how the evidence-room bombing case got closed? What if that was a cover? Maybe she’s there investigating it and that’s why she was planted there as a spy. However, since Dov and Marlo (who was absent from the episode because the case was "over") were looking into it, you would’ve thought Juliet would have concerned herself with them. Oh well. I think I just blew my own theory. Moving on.

Chris

WHY is he still seeing Jarvis' wife?! Although, I think this episode might have changed that. Firstly, Gail and Dov were trying to make him see reason again. Secondly, Jarvis’ wife tried to get him to break his sobriety and that’s NOT cool. Chris certainly wasn’t cool with it, either. He’s in an awful situation that’s a figurative ticking time bomb, and he needs to get out of it. Now.

One of the best things about this show is how close the characters are and how much they care about each other. There was a general (mostly controlled – I mean, they’re cops) panic when Traci was missing. Dov and Gail took care of Leo and tried to distract him. Juliet and Duncan stayed at the desk, where Juliet used her knowledge of computers to help figure out who took Traci. Andy insisted over and over that the first suspect they found had something to do with Traci’s disappearance – and if they hadn’t believed that, they might not have figured it out. Steve was there for Traci, from trying to calm her nerves about the raid to quietly supporting her after the events of the episode were over. There are so many characters, and they're often being pulled in at least two directions. It was wonderful to see them all act as a unified force.

Notepad
  • "You couldn’t be more prepared." Sure Steve, jinx her why don’t you.
  • Steve: "Shake it out." *jogs/dances around the car* *accidentally sets off alarm*
  • "Come on, Seaweed."
  • "You’re like a snooze ninja."
  • "And she didn’t even jog around the car!"
  • PSA: Check your car before you enter it, guys. If Traci had taken a second to look in the backseat, the episode would’ve been practically over before it began.
  • Gail before the raid, preparing to be stealth: *jumps up and down* *Andy watches, confused* "Do you hear anything? Keys jangling?"
  • Gail and Dov with Leo was simply adorable. And the banana phone!
  • Dov to Leo: "Will you do me a favor and arrest Gail for being such a ding dong?"
  • They faked us out with the wrong basement! I kind of saw it coming, but that didn't damage the suspense at all.
  • Not much with Andy and Sam and the whole baby thing in this episode. I’m not saying that I’m tired with the storyline or anything, but this show has always had a large cast of main characters, and it’s only gotten bigger over the years. They’re taking care not to completely sideline anyone, and I respect the show a lot for that. Sometimes the only way to include all the characters is to feature different ones each week. And that is working wonderfully for Rookie Blue.

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