The Rookie – Season 5 Episode 5 “The Fugitive” Recap & Review

The Fugitive 

Episode 5 of The Rookie Season 5 starts with Nolan and Bailey discussing whether it is the right time to get back to work. Nolan thinks it is too early, as it has only has only been a week. Bailey understands where he is coming from but she knows Nolan respects her decision to get back to work.

Meanwhile Lopez and Wesley are running late as they wait for Lopez’s mom to show up and babysit. Their nanny is currently on vacation.  As she gives up waiting and opts to leave, Lopez finds her mom passed out at her door bleeding and immediately calls for an ambulance.

Lopez’s mom is not badly injured and she sets about trying to get the hospital staff to date her sons. Who needs Tinder or Grinder when your mom is cupid’s little assistant? Lopez gets  a statement from her mom about the incident . She says a big man walked up to her , shoved her and told her to ,”tell her son he is out of time.” She has four sons so they need to figure out who is the miscreant.

Lopez calls on Harper to help her with the case and calls her brothers to the station for an interrogation. The first one is one smoking hot priest , Father Damien. The second one is Benjamin , a business man and the third one is Cruz, the black sheep of the family. Unfortunately, we didn’t meet Bruno , the youngest who is in New York. We, however, can rest assured that good looks run in the family .

Lopez goes hard on her brothers as she wants to know who is doing anything shady and endangering their family. Wesley, on the other hand chooses to represent her brothers in an effort to get in their good graces. During the investigation we learn some juicy family drama like Damien the priest is sleeping with someone’s wife. I guess we all fall short of the glory.

The important discovery is Benjamin is having some money trouble and he took a loan from a loan shark. The loan shark came collecting when he delayed the payment and Mama Lopez got the brunt of it. They arrest the loan shark and he learns the hard way not to mess with the Lopez women.

Later in the day, Nolan and Juarez handle a case of a car accident. Bailey is among the first aid responders and she rides with the victim to the hospital. As she is treating him in the ambulance, she realizes that he has an open gunshot wound and radios it in. The victim wakes up when they arrive at the hospital and tries to escape forcing the hospital to go into lockdown.

Bradford hurts his back when arresting a suspect and Chen takes him to the hospital. The doctors inform him that a fragment from an old gunshot wound has moved closer to his spine and he will need surgery . Bradford being the trooper that he is agrees to get the surgery without even asking about the risks. Chen ,however, is quick to ask and there is a risk that the surgery can leave Bradford paralyzed. Sometimes , I wonder what Bradford would do without Chen!

He is joined by sergeant Grey who is suffering from food poisoning . This leaves Smitty in charge and Grey and Bradford fear for the worst so they send Chen to take the helm. Chen proves she has the leadership skills but she is relieved to hand over the reins to Grey once he feels better.

Ashley visits Bradford in the hospital and she starts talking about all the possibilities that can happen if Bradford retires. It seems she is already thinking of it being a possibility and deciding vacation destinations in her giddy excitement.

With the hospital in lockdown, the police and hospital security work overtime to arrest the perp. Bradford has an altercation with him when he randomly meets him in the hallway and the fight leads to him having an emergency surgery but he asks everyone to keep it a secret from Chen. In the end, Juarez saves the day by drugging the suspect when he holds her hostage in the ambulance.

After his surgery, Ashley breaks up with Bradford as he tells her he is not going to retire. She says she watched her mom suffer worrying over her dad who was also a cop and doesn’t think she can do it again. Chen goes back to the hospital after the end of her shift and keeps Bradford company. He doesn’t tell Chen that he was dumped by Ashley and he doesn’t resist the idea of her keeping him company as hard as he normally would.

After work, Nolan and Bailey celebrate her first day back to work after surviving the Rosalind ordeal. Bailey proposes to Nolan and he says yes.

The Episode Review

Lopez heralded this episode today and it was nice that the writers explored her character further and deepened her backstory. We got to see her as a daughter and a sister but she is still an amazing protector of her family and we love her for that.

Bradford and Ashley breaking up was a long time coming . I feel like she disappeared in the cracks but I am just glad she is gone. It is worthy to note that Bradford told everyone not to tell Chen about his emergency surgery because he didn’t want her to worry. He wanted her to do well as an interim captain. This man was about to go under the knife and might end up paralyzed but his concern was Chen.

As for Bailey and Nolan, I am happy for them. Bailey says it herself, they have a healthy loving relationship and they are happy. It is only natural that they want to spend the rest of their lives together. I just wish Nolan did not respond with, “try to stop me.”  After everything he has seen and been through, why would he dare the universe?