The Rookie – Season 7 Episode 1 “The Shot” Recap & Review

The Shot

Episode 1 of The Rookie Season 7 starts with Juarez checking in on Nolan to see if he is ready for the upcoming mission. She is not the only one worried; Grey is also concerned. It has only been a day since Nolan returned from his sick leave after taking a bullet to his rear end. As expected, he says he is ready and wants to capture Jason as soon as possible. The only silver lining in this fiasco is Bailey is outside the country, and currently deployed.

Presently, the whole LAPD team is planning to breach a target house where a confidential informant claimed  Jason is hanging out. It won’t be an easy raid, but they are prepared for the worst. Unfortunately, they manage to breach the house after an intense gunfight, but Jason is nowhere to be seen.

The next day, Juarez celebrates being upgraded to wearing short-sleeved uniforms. Bradford aims to intimidate the new recruits, Miles and Seth. Miles is a transfer from Texas and doesn’t scare easily. Seth scares easily and makes poor quick decisions. Before the shift, Grey asks Chen to consider training one of the rookies.

He promises it is a temporary job, and he will let her focus on becoming an undercover detective if a position opens up. Given the corruption scandal, Grey is now the new lieutenant and is trying to figure out the new responsibilities. Bradford is happy to hear that Chen will be training a new rookie, and they make a bet to see which of their rookies will do well.

In the meantime, Juarez happily welcomes the new rookies. Grey assigns Miles to Bradford and Seth to Chen. At the same time, the LAPD continues to look for Jason and Oscar. Wes is brought in to review arrest reports and ensure the police are following protocol after that big corruption scandal broke.

On their first field drive, Miles makes a few mistakes in his excitement to prove he is ready. On the other hand, Seth contaminates a crime scene after encountering the body of a person who has overdosed. . He later explains to Chen that the sight brought up memories of how his high school girlfriend overdosed on prom night.

In the meantime, Juarez and Nolan come across a gun robbery; Nolan hesitates to pull the trigger, and a shootout ensues. The robber flees the scene in a stolen car and shoots the car owner. Nolan feels guilty about it and talks to Grey about the reasons behind his hesitation. Grey asks him to wait until they review the body cam. Unfortunately, while Nolan helps the couple by picking up their daughter from school, the dad dies on the surgery table.

Back at the station, Wes reviews Blair’s patient files and comes across Detective Graham’s confession that he is in love with Lopez. He starts acting jealous but is unable to directly confront Graham since it would be illegal to do so.

As Juarez and Nolan leave the hospital, they get a call from Grey and Garza. Garza reaches out to the LAPD to help with an ongoing case after a battlefield nuke goes missing. Garza and Grey order Nolan and Juarez to surveil the suspect’s house while the FBI and SWAT mobilise themselves. As they wait, Juarez tries to comfort Nolan since she knows he is feeling guilty about not taking the shot.

As they wait, Nolan and Juarez realise that two of the suspects have turned against their third partner, and he is injured. They ignore their orders, and Juarez disguises herself as a damsel in distress to breach the house.

Once the FBI and SWAT get there, the situation is under control, but no sign of the nuke. They take in one of the suspects and push him to give up the ringleader. After retrieving the information with only a few minutes to spare, the LAPD and FBI team up to catch up with the nuke. After another intense shootout and car chase, they manage to secure the nuke. Mostly, thanks to Nolan taking the shot.

At the end of the shift, Bradford gives the new rookies one of his intimidating motivational talks. He and Chen agree that their rookies messed up and hope for better results the next day. In the meantime, Garza assures Grey he deserves the promotion. Nolan heads home and calls Bailey on his way.

He leaves a voicemail, but he misses her terribly. Meanwhile, Wes asks Lopez if she is happy and she says yes. The episode ends with Miles sleeping in his car. What is his story?

The Episode Review

We are so back! Of course, things feel different, almost out of place. Aaron Thorsen’s character has been written off the show with a simple transfer to a new station storyline. It makes sense, but we will miss his friendship with Juarez. Alexi Hawley, the show’s creator, said that Aaron Thorsen’s character might return in the future, so hope remains.

Unfortunately, it looks like Jason, Oscar, and Monica’s storyline will take a few episodes before we get closure. All we know is that Jason is out to get Bailey. Monica has managed to stay low and avoid getting on any international police radar. As for Oscar, we don’t know what he is up to, but it won’t be anything good.

This season is gearing up to portray Detective Graham as a potential source of conflict between Lopez and Wes. We also have two new rookies, and it is good to see scary Bradford in action again. As for the rookies, Miles’s story seems intriguing, but we didn’t get to see much of it in this episode. Why did he leave Texas? What is the importance of the cowboy hat he was holding in the closing scene? Why is he sleeping in his car?

Of course, we have to talk about Chenford. Ooh! The angst and torture as they subtly flirt while talking about their rookies! Their separation breaks our hearts, but we have hope that they will find their way back to each other soon.