The Rookie

Seasons 1 and 2 were interesting and fun. I'm sure this isn't real life for LA Police but the stories were good and you cared about the characters. Some of it was a bit far fetched but it was entertaining and believable (mostly). My rating is for season 1 and 2.

I'm assuming at the end of season 2 either all the writers and senior staff were changed or they all had a stroke or head injuries because this show starts spiralling downhill fast in season 3. By the start of season 4 the story is absolutely ridiculous and the rookies have become Seal Team 6 (sorry guys probably quite insulting to you).

So .. worth watching seasons 1 and 2 and then pretend that's where it finished.

I loved watching the first two seasons. The acting and storytelling was perfect but then we have season 3. As of writing this, I have watched 6 or 7 episodes of season 3 and it just keeps getting worse. I believe that racism is a problem but the character portrayed by Brandon Routh is a one dimensional caricature of a stereotypical white male racist cop. Whoever decided that Brandon Routh should play this caricature should have been fired on the spot. The only constantly good thing is Nathan Fillion's character, John Nolan and he is the only reason I'll keep watching this show. Currently there are only 4 seasons available on Netflix in my country and reading some of the other reviews on here. I think I'm gonna need a bottle or two of hard liquor to help me finish watching the show. It's sad that they ruined such an amazing show.

Before you write this off as some hater, know that I'm a person of color. I appreciate the attempt at bringing real life issues into the show, but that does not forgive bad writing or a shove-it-down-your-throat attitude. Season 3 has so far been only about 2 things. Women suffering from men and people of color suffering from bad cops. There's no longer policing, there's no longer "The Rookie". This is another show, and it's the wrong show.

This used to be a goody-two-shoes comic relief police show with just enough drama to make us invested. That doesn't go with this. If you want to talk about these issues that deeply then make another show dedicated to them.

And if you wanted to simply give them an appearance in "The Rookie", then you could have done it more subtly and without simply pulling us out of the story and environment we were used to. For example, Officer Smitty would have been a good character to involve in the racism issues. He's a slacker, comic-relief, but what if we show him when he feels endangered, because of a person of color who doesn't show any cause for danger? That could have been a good tip of the hat towards the issue, and showing it through a character we're familiar with.

One other thing is the death of logic in this third season.

SPOILERS IN THE NEXT LINE. (Check below for Spoiler end and start reading there to avoid season 3 spoilers)

The fact that Jackson's TO would be this stupid when he has the IA commander's son as a boot just doesn't make sense. And if he's as smart and cautious about his racism as they make him out to be, he'd have actually acted like a goody-two-shoes in front of Jackson, which the latter could have noticed and created another plotline about that, but we're past that now.

SPOILER END.

At the moment, I'm conflicted about even finish season 3, I'm at episode 5, and frankly I don't want to watch it. I just want this whole mess over with and for us to get back to the story of The Rookie.

The Rookie is one of the better cop shows on tv right now. Nathan Fillion leads a really good cast who all do a good job making this a show worth watching. Anyone who's seen Fillion in a show knows he never disappoints. This show does good job balancing drama, action, suspense and humor. It also shows how tough it is to be a police officer both at work and at home. Some of the negative reviews are from people that don't like that they take real world problems of today and apply them to the show. Everyone knows there are a thousand police shows to choose from but if you're looking for an exciting and original show then give The Rookie a try.

The first two seasons of The Rookie were probably among the best bits of televisison content I have seen in a while. Very fun, entertaining and enjoyable. The only issue I have had from the beginning is that the rookies participate in high risk situations from the very start. I find that bothering as it seems not very realistic. Overall I would still easily give S1-2 an 8 star rating.

With Season 3 the series started to decline. Too much drama, too many high risk missions, officers with little experience participating in SWAT raids and undercover missions and even going on an unsanctioned mission abroad. I find that all to be a bit too much.

This continued for S4 and S5 with the latter having very weak stories and character developement, leaning too heavily on action and seamingly tragic events. The season finales in particular are dissapointing as they continue to descent into unrealistic storytelling.

As of March 24, I have high hopes for S6 which so far is looking good.

Overall, I rate this series 7/10 as it does not uphold the quality of the first two seasons but 6/10 seems a bit harsh since it is still somewhat binge-worthy even in the later seasons.