Serve, Protect & "shots fired!"
Hi everyone, I've been lurking on this site for a while but have decided that it's time to have more of a presence. This is my very first blog post ever.
This site is such a great way for TV fans to connect with one another I thought I would write about my favourite show- Rookie Blue.
For those of you not familiar with the show it's a Canadian creation airing on ABC in the States & Global TV in Canada. It follows the training period (which can be as long as five years) of five new police recruits or 'rookies' as they find their feet in 'fifteen division' in Toronto. The show has a stellar cast of mostly Canadian talent, I first started watching this show when it aired here at the start of the year & it quickly became my favourite, the thing I like about Rookie Blue is that it's very character driven, the stories are well executed & there really is something for everyone, it has action, drama, humour even romance thrown in for good measure. The first season did extremely well, it was picked up for a second season after only three episodes had aired & it was the most watched debut season of any previous Canadian scripted show in the last twenty years. I thoroughly enjoyed the first season & I encourage you to rent/buy the DVD's & give it a chance, don't write it off as 'just another cop show' cos it may just surprise you.
At the end of last season Officer Diaz played by Travis Milne was stabbed during a surveillance task with Gail Peck played by Charlotte Sullivan. Andy McNally played by Missy Peregrym had just completed an undercover sting with her now former TO (training officer) Sam Swarek played by Ben Bass, Traci Nash played by Enuka Okuma had reconciled with her former partner to make a go of it for her son & Dov Epstein played by Gregory Smith had been dumped by his stripper girlfriend. Eventhough there's undeniable chemistry between Andy & Sam she chose Detective Luke Callaghan played by Eric Johnson & they were just about to move in to their own place together.
So bring on season two; And man did they? The season premiere, titled 'Butterflies' was simulcast last Thursday at 10pm on ABC & Global. It was written by head writer & executive producer Tassie Cameron, I was also on twitter at the time of watching.
The episode begins with Andy dancing around the kitchen in her & Luke's new home, the episode appears to be set a few weeks after the season one finale as Chris Diaz is about to return to his first day back at work.
Gail is living with Dov & Chris & it is not going well, Dov dislikes having Gail there & seems to want his bromance back with his roomie. The cast has such good chemistry & there's some good biting lines from Charlotte Sullivan between Gail & Dov.
So we enter back into fifteen division, Andy is telling Traci she knows where everything is in her life now & that she's settled. Andy's former TO Sam Swarek is having a meeting with Sergeant Frank Best played by Lyriq Bent & Boyd who we met briefly last season, who is trying to convince him to return to where he was in the pilot of season one; 'guns & gangs.'
The catalyst for the episode is a free concert where too many wristbands have been given out for the number of people allowed in, so naturally a police presence is required. Andy is put in charge of the task & is instructed to take her former rookies with her. Special mention here for the line "who's playing?" from Andy which receives a scathing look from her boss, a look which I believe says 'I don't know or care.'
Andy & her fellow officers are in charge of crowd control & seem to have everything in order, particularly like the line from Gregory Smith "wait now, tweet later", back-up arrives in the form of Sam & Oliver Shaw played by Matt Gordon. Sam & Andy or 'Sandy' as dubbed by the fans are teasing each other, the tone is light & as Traci said earlier; "just another day at the office."
As you can probably guess by my participation on this site I am a spoiler junkie, I try so hard not to be but it's a fact, I had seen the promos & read the spoilers but still found what happens next shocking.
Andy gives preferential treatment to one of the girls queuing up as she likes her & no sooner has she done so gunfire rings out & Andy is spattered with blood, a second bullet is fired & she falls to the ground. At this point I really have to give a shout out to David Wellington the director, the angles & shots he used to capture the complete panic & hysteria of the crowd & the situation were brilliant. I have to echo the sentiments of my fellow fans on twitter, where the general consensus for this scene was, holy crap!
I should at this point mention that I am firmly on 'Team Sam' & did enjoy the scene of Swarek rushing to Andy, with seemingly little regard for his own safety straight into the line of fire, we find out Andy has been shot in the vest & though in quite a bit of pain will be ok. The other girl is not so lucky as she's been shot in the head, Sam tells Andy "I've got to be the boss right now" & goes about the business of organising the crime scene. Officer Shaw who was Andy's TO in the pilot stays with her & tells her that the vest she has on is evidence & she has to stay put. The girl's friend rushes in & is embraced by Sam who looks pretty shocked himself, to me it looked like this event has affected him much more then he's letting on.
In walks a new character Jo Rosati played by Camille Sullivan, a detective, who is responsible for helping out as Luke is in court. She takes Andy's statement, removes any evidence & at first seems like a likable character, taking care of he understandably shaken Officer McNally.
Andy emerges from the mobile unit & is pulled to the side by Sam, she tells him how she's feeling, he's actually the only one she tells the truth & there's a nice moment (sorry but I am a girl) of him looking into her eyes trying to reassure himself that she's still with him, I must confess to a little squee! at that moment because it looked like they hadn't been interrupted he was about to kiss her. They are interrupted though when a young lad is spotted by Andy & after a pat down from Sam it's revealed he's packing.
Sam takes the suspect back to the station where Jo, Jerry Barber played by Noam Jenkins & Traci are waiting, here we see how they are learning as Traci quickly thinks on her feet & plays good cop to distract him from as Sam put it "thinking lawyer."
Meanwhile Andy is being taken back to the barn by Shaw who tries to convince her to let him take her to the hospital, I really can't speak highly enough about the next scene where there is a nice throw back to the pilot as Shaw gives McNally 'the talk' they were supposed to have on her first day. Missy Peregrym & Matt Gordon stole the show for me last week & this is why; Shaw was telling Andy how she might think of him as a hard-ass but it's his job to protect her & to make sure they both get home at the end of the day. Matt played the scene with so much emotion you could really tell that how deeply the character cares for the rookies.
They return to the station where Andy is greeted by Luke who looks genuinely concerned for her (first time for everything) ok that was kind of mean but he hasn't exactly been the supportive, doting boyfriend in the past. Luke tries to get her to go home but Andy is determined to stay & work on the case, they are interrupted by Jo who catches them in an intimate embrace & seems affected by it & you get a sense straight away that there's history there.
Andy is questioning the friend in the squad room & she is blaming herself for what happened, it begins to get heated which makes Sam emerge to check on things. Sam is so Andy's knight in shining whatever & always concerned for her wellbeing.
Jo, Jerry & Luke (all detectives) are standing outside interrogation debating on how to question the suspect, Jo is taking shots at Luke about his relationship with Andy "unless she's not & you just like making out with every cute officer who takes a bullet" ouch! Eric & Camille played the frostiness between the characters really well, something tells me she's trouble. Jo frustrated by standing around decides to grab the bull by the horns & charges in, Jo definitely does not take the same approach as Traci earlier, softly-softly is so not her style.
The girl who took a shot at the scene has been taken to hospital accompanied by Dov, who has been made responsible for gathering all the information about her treatment. He is in the lobby when a frantic mother arrives asking lot's of medically related questions, I can so relate to this scene, I have some medical knowledge & I often think that it's worse to understand, sometimes ignorance is bliss, I am not very popular with the staff when someone I love is in hospital. I have to give a shout out to the show for what comes next, it is revealed she has suffered brain damage & will not wake up, devastating news for the mother but she really would like her to be an organ donor, Grey's Anatomy also has done storylines on this thread & I have to commend them both. Carrying that card is such a small thing but it can save so many lives, I carry mine with pride.
We return to fifteen where Diaz & Peck are marching in the other people from the scene, the commentary indicated that one of the writers, Noelle Carbone writes the snarkiness from Gail & this episode was no exception when one of the suspects belches closely followed by "don't judge me" to which she replies "too late."
Traci finds out that the prime suspect has an alibi & the story & the case move on.
Dov returns to the station to implore to his boss in person to get help granting the mother's wishes, due to the chain of evidence this is a problem as it would officially make the case a homicide, Jo convinces Best that she can get a confession by the end of the day.
Sam & Andy are in the squad room where Andy is relaying to Sam the information she's gleaned from talking to the room mate, that the victim was a straight A student, Sam, like Luke tells her she has to go home, Andy gets annoyed with him & tells him the same thing she told Luke. The scenes with Ben & Missy alone are so good, he's a very clever actor & does what I call re-acting very well. Even in previous episodes Sam knows when she needs him & when she doesn't & realising he's not going to win the argument, relents & allows her to drive the friend home, even though you can see the concern etched all over his face.
Back at the barn the other rookies are still questioning the suspects as there are quite a few of them & Diaz is taking some stick from a guy who is studying a master's degree & getting more & more cheesed off doing it, they are getting no where fast. Dov walks in & rallies the troops, reminding them that they only have the day to solve the case.
This is another thing I like about Rookie Blue, the ingenuity, Dov has the idea to ask the suspects if they'd tweeted or text pictures whilst waiting in line, given this awesome world we now live in of social networking everyone steps up.
Jo thinks the crime is gang related but Luke doesn't & comments that "if it aint revenge & it aint money" finished by Jo who says "it's love."
Andy is with the room mate back at the dorm & ascertains that the victim had on her coat & gets the idea it may be a grisly form of mistaken identity.
What follows is a clever scene of Dov, Chris & Traci the rookies looking totally at home (as would I) linking data cables to the suspects phones & uploading the pictures from the scene & checking their social networks. This was a particularly neat story telling device given that recently life imitated art when the police were trying to find the perpetrators of the riots in Vancouver in exactly the same way. Nice comment from officer Noelle Williams at this point played by the lovely Melanie king who comments "not a clue what you're talking about" us crazy kids today eh? Dov then brings the suspects into the room asking them to point out anyone they saw with the victim, someone is spotted who has a relationship with the room mate Andy took home, another nice line from Matt Gordon, a bit of what I like to call, 'Shaw Wisdom' a Mr Miaggi moment when he comments " & the student becomes the master."
In the mean time Andy has been using her initiative & is investigating on her own, it's revealed the guy in the photos has been harassing the room mate, Andy returns to the dorm to find said guy in the room presumably returning to finish the job he'd attempted earlier. The guy flees to the roof with Andy is pursuit he climbs the ledge & Andy's tough love approach taught by Sam really shows, she gets him talking & while doing so takes the opportunity to get close enough to take out his legs with her baton, proving no one messes with Andy McNally anymore, drags him to the railing & handcuffs him there.
Just want to mention at this point another thing I love about this show as well as others, the music, the music on Rookie Blue is provided by a Canadian company called the Vapor Music group they have introduced me to some terrific bands & tracks last season & this episode featured some more treats for my iPod.
Dov & Andy have a quick heart to heart in the locker room, let's face it, they've both had a hell of a day & Shaw tells Andy she'll be ok. Dov gets called into Best's office as the confession is done & the mother's wishes can be fulfilled, in a symbolic gesture Shaw hands Dov the keys as a police escort is needed & he knows he will jump at the chance to be the one to do it, he looks on proudly as Dov runs through the station. We learn a bit more about Dov when Chris reveals to Gail that his brother hung himself, poor Dov, Gail tells Chris that she will move out & leave the two guys alone but Chris says he likes having her around, awww.
Andy is looking for Luke when she discovers him & Jo all cosy in interrogation (being team Sam I really didn't mind) they don't know she's there obviously & are having a candid conversation about when they used to live together & obviously still have a rapport.
We end the day as with most episodes of Rookie Blue in the 'Black Penny' the local haunt of the officers once they're off duty, Chris still seems quite shaken up by what happened to Andy & Traci puts him straight as the voice of reason, gotta love the way she's always so level headed, I like to think she's resilient because she's a parent. Gail gives Dov a compliment about his actions that day but doesn't mention his brother as she knows that would make him uncomfortable, she just gives him some Gail snark but they both seem to know she doesn't mean it.
Andy confronts Luke with what she overheard & to his credit he doesn't deny it, she asks him if there are any regrets to which he says no, she then kisses him in a somewhat, possessive 'you cheat on me & you'll be sorry way.' Luke obviously doesn't know how she took down the suspect on the roof.
Sam is sat in his usual spot at the bar nursing a drink, Jo tells him that she's put in for a transfer, hmmm, I wonder why? Luke looks on, obviously still having feelings for Jo. while she asks him if he's going to swap to guns & gangs to which he replies he hasn't decided yet, another nice throw back to the pilot is Sam looking behind him at Andy, damn Swarek you got it bad & might I add, yay!
Would like to give a special mention to Eric Johnson who was keeping us all entertained on twitter, a very nice guy who's pretty funny too.
I have to say this episode was awesome, as 84% of SpoilerTv users agreed, a wonderfully written episode by Tassie Cameron, can't wait to see what else they have for us.
Rookie Blue airs Thursday nights at 10pm on ABC & Global, check it out cos the fun's just getting started!
Written by Sam: no I really am, self confessed Rookie Blue junkie :)
