PILOT REVIEW: The Rookie

THE ROOKIE













Starring: Nathan Fillion, Alyssa Diaz, Richard T. Jones, Titus Makin, Mercedes Mason, Melissa O'Neil, Afton Williamson, Eric Winter

Created by Alexi Hawley
Written by Alexi Hawley, Directed by Liz Friedlander

IN SHORT: Nathan Fillion is Old!

THE PREMISE:
Although much of the promotion for this show focused on Nathan Fillion's return to TV as a 40 year old rookie cop, this show is actually centered on several rookies and their training officers. Besides Fillion's John Nolan, the other rookies are the son of a commanding officer, Jackson West (Titus Makin) and a smart and eager rookie, Lucy Chen (Melissa O'Neil). Nolan's training officer is ambitious Talia Bishop (Afton Williamson). Chen's training officer is the overbearing Tim Bradford (Eric Winter). Rounding out the main cast is Sergeant Wade Grey (Richard T. Jones), Commanding Officer Zoe Andersen (Merecedes Mason), and West's training officer, Angela Lopez (Alyssa Diaz).

THE REVIEW:
This is not a slam, but this is probably the most by the books entry of the entire fall season. It's a routine cop show through and through and that can be a good thing or a bad thing. I think it has the capability to be a good thing. After all, Blue Bloods is basically a standard cop show and that has had a successful run creatively and with audiences. Sometimes it's a little bit refreshing to see a show that simply wants to be a generic cop show and isn't trying to aim for anything higher. I know that is probably the reason this will not have critical love, but I think it can be appreciated for what it is.

As I said in the premise, this show is much more of an ensemble one than the promos made it appear. Fillion is of course the center and does a good job, although making fun of his age gets, ahem, old very quickly. The rest of the characters are stock characters: overly ambitious, tough guy, stronger than she looks, result of nepotism, etc. But they are played well with Afton Williamson a standout when she's not forced to say ridiculous things like how she wants to be police commissioner in her first minutes of working with her rookie. Maybe the most annoying "stock" character was Richard T. Jones who is playing the gruff boss who says things that a boss would never actually say to a new rookie.

The smartest thing this show did in the pilot was get us in the squad cars right away and get cases going. It let us get to know the cops more naturally and allow the partners to start having chemistry together without getting too bogged down in exposition. Although the plots and cases were pretty thin, there was enough natural focus on the relationships. This show seems to be heading in a good direction but I'm going to be annoyed if the gimmick about Nathan Fillion being old last much longer than 2-3 more episodes. A joke here and there, of course. But major plot points? I hope the show stays away from that.

BOTTOM LINE:
The negative opinion of this show is its super generic but I'll take the positive route and say this show does a pretty good job at being what it is. It doesn't aim high but it clears its low bar and that's not without its merits.