Well, The Rookie sure knows how to cram in the maximum amount of stress and pain in 45 minutes or less!
To say The Rookie Season 6 Episode 8 was an adrenaline-inducing, nail-biter, filled to the brim with revelations, badassery, and soul-crushing moments would be an understatement.
While we already knew Monica, the second most interesting redhead to grace this series, was shady as willow tree in July, learning that she’s working alongside Blair was a shock.
But that’s not to say most of us weren’t suspicious of Blair initially.
The Rookie tips its hat as a procedural because it can be formulaic despite all the unpredictable and intense moments.
One thing consistent about this series is that when they introduce a new recurring side character, nine times out of 10, that person is a Baddie or at least adjacent to some nefarious things.
Blair has been high on everyone’s suspect list since she batted those eyelashes when we first met her.
It made little sense that someone with such little experience in her field somehow nabbed the department shrink job. It’s a tall order to give to even the best therapist, but someone still wet behind the ears isn’t your ideal candidate.
It’s not like public defenders, after all. No shade to them; it’s a grueling gig, and For the People was a wonderful example of how they get a bad rap.
Blair has been incredibly inappropriate as a therapist. She hasn’t handled herself well at all with Thorsen.
Regardless of how she wanted to play it off, she flirted with him and led him on, pushing boundaries or downright bulldozing past them.
It was offputting when she welcomed Bradford into the fold because it felt like she had ulterior motives. She’s far too expressive not to suspect something was off about her.
So, by the time she came face-to-face with Monica after the latter killed a man, it tracked that she and that diabolical redhead were in cahoots with each other
Every time Monica pops up again, there’s this wonderful combination of loathing her and enjoying how shady and unapologetically evil she is. She’s kind of a baddie that you can’t help but love, or at least be entertained by.
Opening with her was a great start to an installment that felt like the series got a jolt of adrenaline during the second half of the season.
She put up a fight when that mercenary tried to kill her, and you can’t say that woman isn’t scrappy and has about as many lives as a cat. Evil never dies easily, though.
But then, one thing about Monica is she always comes across as a survivor more than anything else. It makes her a more compelling antagonist from that angle.
And she’s had her work cut out for her being a good one on a series with Elijah Stone and a host of other antagonists that are a few notches about the fray.
She shot that man when she didn’t need to and damn near pulled a move out of that ’90s flick A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, ensuring she went to the hospital with her attacker.
Her determination to get to that man despite all the chaos that ensued was admirable, or unhinged, perhaps both.
But what did she think she’d get out of that? We all know that man wouldn’t tell her who sent him. It was apparent he was a professional, and they never talked.
If anything, the situation was purely her giving into her predatorial instincts and getting to kill the man for coming for her in the first place or maybe to send a message.
It was frustrating that the Hollywood cop left the gunman, but they at least built up enough chaos where the action was forgivable.
Lopez and Harper know she’s responsible for that man’s death, but they have to have all their ducks in a row if they ever have a shot at taking Monica down.
