The Rookie - TV Drama Series 2018 - ...

This post has a double aim: writing a short review of the series I enjoy currently, and testing the CineTV community and Outpost

Here we go, with a few background facts: I used to be a big fan of cinema when younger, but as I grew older I became "blasé". With a keen eye for patterns and a good memory, I tended to see most new movies as either bad or knock-offs of older movies.

My favorite action movie is "Heat" (1995) by Michael Mann. I also like Christopher Nolan's movies (e.g. "Memmento"). Another favorite is "Starship Troopers" (1997) by Paul Verhoeven

I enjoy Netflix when I need to "watch trashy TV and shut my brains off", to quote Officer Jackson West (The Rookie). Although coming to think of it, I prefer documentaries to series.

And yet here I am because I was surprised by how good and enjoyable "The Rookie" is.

The Rookie is an atypical series about American cops. I've seen perhaps hundreds of movies about cops and criminals in the US, but none like this. The first thing that stroke me is the extra-fast pace. Most series are built around the simple schema "one story per episode" ... or less : the episode would start, a new crime would happen and we would watch the police character work toward solving the crime. "The Rookie" is built instead around 3 pairs of "training officer - boot (slang for rookie)". Sometimes three things happen in parallel, sometimes only two, but it's generally at least twice as fast-paced and action-packed as a typical cop series.

Because of that, the screenplay can easily accommodate all types of "crimes" from relatively gruesome (it would quickly get tiresome if there were only those kinds) to the trivial (but funny) ones. And this is the second characteristic setting "The Rookie" apart: the variety of stories being told - from multiple episode spanning serail killer hunts to "community policing" and short "goofy policing" scenes. Most series find a style and then start churning episodes based on the same pattern. Not "The Rookie" which, by the third season, keeps reinventing itself at all levels and exploring new topics that give the characters a lot of "flesh", including couple dynamics, "parents-children" relationships, romantic (both straight and gay), etc.

The acting is very good, with a special mention for Alyssa Diaz playing "Officer Angela Lopez" who is a really great actress in my opinion.

I'll stop here for the time being with a recommendation: give this series a shot, you might be surprised by how good it is. It's even got an 8/10 on IMDB, which is saying something.