ROOKIE BLUE “On The Double” & “God’s Good Grace” Season 2 Episode 12 & 13 – The series finale of Rookie Blue is upon us and after such a surprisingly stellar sophomore season for a show which, frankly, I was not at all impressed with in its first year, the back to back ending leaves much to be desired.
It’s unfortunate I feel this way, since I think Rookie Blue was certainly setting up some wonderful storylines: Peck’s stolen identity could have been such a psychological thrill ride instead of just a rote crime of chance; Swarek’s kidnapping should have been far scarier than it was; Andy being driven out to the middle of nowhere…ok…; and the new rookie was introduced so blandly it’s hard to remember what his role was.
There were a few things I really liked about this episode: Andy’s voiceover at the end of the episode as she’s describing the difficulties of searching the house. In fact I wish she’d given a few more tidbits, since it really ramped up the tension. I also loved, at the end of the first episode, Gail’s relationship to Epstein and Diaz, and how she sort of reset their dynamics.
My main problem with these episodes is that they had so much potential insofar as relationships and dynamics and cases went that I think I might have expected much too much. I thought there would be a much more interesting reason why Peck’s uniform was stolen, or I thought the episode would go in a more cerebral direction in exploring the theft of her identity, but instead the case was a humourless, cut’n'dry affair which served neither the show nor the audience.
In the final episode there was so much at stake: Swarek was in a position where he could be killed, certainly in a position where he was being brutally tortured. But it was weird seeing him jump to his feet after getting thwacked in the kneecap with a hammer. And Andy’s role in saving him was so coincidental that it totally slowed down the pace of the chase and the episode lost its beating heart quite early and settled for mediocrity. It wasn’t bad, by any means, but I was bored watching it. Maybe the show isn’t suited for a double episode slot. Forty minutes is fine, but eighty minutes seriously tests my attention span.
My favorite moment had to be the exchange between Nash and Barber at the beginning of the first episode:
Nash: “I actually believe in the fundamental goodness of human nature.”
Barber: “You called a seven year old a bitch.”
What did you think of this episode? Sound off in the comments below.
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