La Fiera

Nolan is in a difficult moment in his department when out of the blue his mother Evelyn arrives at his home. During a firearm exam in a shooting range, Nolan pays attention on a man shooting wearing a scuba gear and fails the test. Chen gives her car to Tamara and soon she finds that the teenager has sold the car to buy clothes and other stuffs. West witnesses the racist Doug mistreating a black family and he decides to report to Sgt. Grey that intends to retire. Lopez finds the connection between the shooter in the scuba gear and the notorious La Fiera that is visiting a college in Los Angeles for her son.

"La Fiera" is so far, the worst episode of "The Rookie". How a forty-six-year-old police officer accepts the awful treatment of his mother like Nolan does? The mushy relationship between Chen and Tamara is also terrible. The racist segment is despicable, and West should have paid an informal visit to his father to have some advice. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "La Fiera"

While I am glad that the show is addressing the issues of police brutality, systemic racism and intersections of oppression, I fear that it is also harmful. The narrative suggests that it is a indeed a "few rotten apples" within the police rather than the institution itself that is the driving force of police brutality (particularly against BIPOC). I mean maybe I shouldn't watch a police show when I believe in defunding rather than reforming, but I am interested in how fiction relates to reality (and how our view of reality is influenced by fiction).

Sure, it's mostly a fairly light-hearted show, bits of excitement and aomehwat soapy...

But certain events over the last year had put me off any modern cop procedural, even this one.

Television shows not only entertain, they also can reflect, and I, for one applaud the intentions behind the ongoing plot thread with Brandon Routh playing against type (major props to him for that), and the scene where it all goes sideways was quick, nasty and from my experience, pretty accurate as to how things can escalate in the blink of an eye.

NOT to run this plotline would be irresponsible showrunning, so absolutely ignore all those who condemn this as 'woke'... Then look up the definition which states that it's being aware of problems of others and in society as a whole.

I'm old enough to remember the brutal impact Roots had on my parents' generation - even people who thought they knew stuff and weren't racist had their eyes opened.

I think we all need to relearn those lessons... And shows like The Rookie can be at the forefront, and rightly so.

Every episode, Nolan (and others) is either fired at, tortured, or both, but rarely gets off with barely a scratch.

This is becoming rather boring.

I'm not an American cop (nor a cop from any other country), but I find it interesting that personal calls can be made and received while on duty.

And why wouldn't retirement discussions occur at home, especially when they are meant to be kept under wraps??

We're only three episodes into a season that begins amidst a great deal of turmoil in our country, politically, legally, socially, you name it. I think The Rookie writers/producers are doing their best, and I hope that folks who complain of heavy-handed social justice themes will try to remember that. (Also, I saw the doctor/patient scene as a man dismissing a woman as "hysterical", typical of many such interactions, before I saw the potential racial aspect. So it fails on several levels.)

I did have a problem with Harper getting preachy about Nolan's mom when she doesn't know anything about her situation.