ROOKIE BLUE “In Plain View” Season 2 Episode 6 – Last week was a pretty lacklustre episode of Rookie Blue, so I was delighted when this week’s episode now only picked up the pace, but became a major game changer for the show in terms of shifting relationships, strengthening and disintegrating them, exploring the characters in new ways through the prism of the cases they work on. This was an episode which showcased Rookie Blue at its dramatic finest.
I really like Rosati, both the way she’s played and the way she’s written. She’s not an evil, scheming harpy out to steal our beloved heroine’s man. She’s just an ambitious, no-nonsense woman, who happened to have a relationship with Callaghan. Sure, she stoked the flames, but the show doesn’t put her under the spotlight for it: that fantastic scene, when McNally pieces together that Callaghan lied and that she had been at the same hotel with him, could have easily turned into a shrieking fest; instead it just became uncomfortable and awkward and sad.
I also love how ambiguous Rosati is: my first reaction to seeing her carelessly toss out the matchbook labelled with the name of the hotel where she and Callaghan had their little romp immediately had me rolling my eyes. But the more I think about it, the more I think that she did it on purpose. The writers and actress offer us no clues: her reactions afterwards, a mix of regret and guilt, were perfectly played. Does she regret her romp with Callaghan? Or does she regret indirectly telling Andy about her romp with Callaghan? Or does she regret that she caused Andy such hurt?
I also love that their differences, whilst causing a noticeable rift between them, did not interfere with their more important work. When McNally leaves Callaghan at the end of the episode, she doesn’t blame Rosati with a lame “how could you pick her over me?” demand: she rightfully blames him. Peregrym’s emphasis on the word “found” when she tells him that she returned her engagement ring back to the locked box tells all we need to know about their soured relationship and her own realization of her sadly romantic delusions.
The case of the week was also very good: McNally and Rosati had to protect the girlfriend of a criminal. Main problem is, the girl is seventeen and still in love with the guy, who is nowhere to be found. Gerry’s reaction to finding his missing informant (shot dead in his car) was as funny as it was callous.
The primary subplot dealt with the welcome return of Gail’s mother, Elaine Peck (Lauren Holly) as Gail had to deal with a case of a boy she and Epstein found in the street crouching under a pile of rubble. I like Epstein, I like Gregory Smith, but boy was I glad the show decided to focus its attentions elsewhere for at least one episode. Gail’s relationship with her mother was perfectly mirrored in the kid’s tense relationship with his adoptive parents. Sometimes these parallel stories (like McNally’s dealings with the woman who lived in her car last week) are way too on the nose. This was far more subtle and therefore more powerful.
Gail is able to relate to the runaway more than others. His adoptive parents are not malicious; they love him, as Gail’s mother loves her, but their parenting methods are…let’s say, questionable, to say the least. They tie him up for his own protection; Gail’s parents, particularly her mother, requires that she be the best, something which she has rebelled against. When they made her find her way home through a forest when she was a child, it wasn’t a punishment: it was more like a misguided attempt at training her for her future.
This was my favorite episode of the show so far, offering plenty of stakes, lots of unexpectedly rapid changes, and lots and lots of character work to enjoy.
What did you think of this episode? Sound off in the comments below.
Follow me on Twitter @CiaraMoyna
Please make sure to read our comment policy before posting a comment.