Editor’s Notice: The next accommodates spoilers for The Rookie Season 8, Episode 5.The Rookie Season 8, Episode 5, “The Community,” marked a serious return to the collectionbecause the significantly missed Officer Aaron Thorsen (By means of Valentino) was again on the scene, showing for the primary time since Season 6 ended. As nice because it was to see Thorsen again on the scene within the Mid-Wilshire Division, the occasions of this week’s episode proved how poorly the writers dealt with Thorsen’s exit from the collection. Contemplating the circumstances of his exit and what occurred this week, we will study how “The Community” proves why Thorsen by no means ought to have left the hit ABC collection.
Thorsen’s Exit From the Sequence Was Badly Dealt with
One of many issues with Thorsen’s exit is that the character was written out of the present off-screen with just one line of dialogue. Within the Season 7 premiere, “The Shot,” Celina Juarez (Lisseth Chavez) offhandedly mentions to John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) that Thorsen transferred out of Mid-Wilshire to the North Hollywood station as a result of the officers there would not know that he was a affected person of Dr. Blair London (Danielle Campbell), the corrupt police psychiatrist who was promoting officers’ secrets and techniques to Monica Stevens (Bridget Regan). That was an iffy, haphazard, and convoluted method to write Thorsen out of the present, since he was a outstanding character and one of many fundamental solid’s rookie recruits within the final three seasons.
Over his three seasons on the present, Thorsen proved to have an attention-grabbing and compelling character arc. He was a wealthy, privileged child and social media influencer who was wrongfully accused and imprisoned for the homicide of his buddy. Thorsen turned a police officer as a result of he wished to make sure that all suspects would obtain honest and neutral therapy and never get railroaded by way of the system as he had. To not point out, throughout Season 6, Thorsen had taken to shadowing Detectives Nyla Harper (You could have a cox) and Angela Lopez (Alyssa Diaz), turning into their protégé. Turning into a detective is a part of Thorsen’s aim to deal with suspects pretty, so his character arc all the time felt woefully unfinished. Writing him out of the present in such a inconsiderate, arbitrary method was disrespectful to such an essential character and viewers who grew to like him.
How “The Community” Jettisons Thorsen’s Reasoning for a Switch
In “The Community,” Thorsen returns to Mid-Wilshire to help Lt. Wade Gray (Richard T. Jones) and FBI Supervisory Particular Agent Matthew Garza (Felix Solis) with their activity power, utilizing intelligence from Monica to take down different criminals as a part of her immunity deal. Wasn’t the entire purpose Thorsen left Mid-Wilshire primarily based on his connection to Monica by way of Dr. London? So now, he is returning to the station to work on a activity power with intel from the prison related to Thorsen’s previous LAPD psychiatrist. It demonstrates the flimsy reasoning behind Thorsen’s switch out of Mid-Wilshire within the first place, earlier than his character arc may really come to fruition.
Moreover, a number of different officers at Mid-Wilshire have been additionally sufferers of Dr. London, together with Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) and Detective Keith Graham (Ivan Hernandez), the detective who revealed his attraction to Detective Lopez in his remedy periods. There have been no points with gossip or some other issues of their very own respective connections with Dr. London, and Wesley Evers (Shawn Ashmore) reviewed all of the recorded periods to absolve different officers of any wrongdoing. Bradford and Hernandez confronted no discernible points in the fallout from the scandal brought on by Dr. London working with Monica. Due to this fact, Thorsen by no means wanted to go away within the first place, and contemplating the circumstances of his return, the writers by no means supplied a robust sufficient foundation for his poorly executed exit.
Thorsen Ought to Proceed as a Recurring Character
Whereas Thorsen doesn’t must rejoin the principle solid of The Rookie, he ought to undoubtedly proceed recurring as a particular visitor starjust like this week’s look. The FBI’s Monica activity power seems to be an ongoing storyline, and it is also been revealed that Monica has a secret contact, proving that she is engaged in one thing nefarious proper beneath the FBI and LAPD’s noses. Might this be the beforehand unseen villainous crime-lord and mastermind of the Federal Reserve Heist within the Season 6 premiere, “Strike Again?” It might make excellent sense, and Monica is to not be trusted.
Thorsen, in a guest-star capability, may assist expose Monica and her contact’s crimes, which might go a protracted method to serving to Thorsen obtain his aim of turning into a detective. Finally, it might be good to see Thorsen proceed showing in future episodes, permitting the character to advance in his legislation enforcement profession. The character confirmed a lot promise when he joined the solidso his return to the collection, even when it is just for one episode, supplies a welcome and joyous second.