One of the biggest changes in entertainment is how traditional outlets for movies and shows are being replaced by streaming. While The

Rookie does well on Hulu (for now), it also remains a popular broadcast series with viewers tuning into ABC as it airs (or shortly after on

the DVR). One way the Nathan Fillion-led series maintains this interest is because The Rookie has a unique format, allowing it to explore different genres. “The Red Place” takes the characters into psychological horror with surprising ease.

 

 

In the previous episode of The Rookie, the stalwart heroes of the Mid-Wilshire Division effectively stopped a workplace spectacle killing with no injuries, save to the perpetrator. In “The Red Place,” they again pull off the impossible, this time with a serial murderer who fantasizes about being a literal demon. Knowing the show, it isn’t a surprise Fillion’s John Nolan and Melissa O’Neil’s Lucy Chen saved the lives of two potential victims.

Still, live social media reactions revealed those viewers still didn’t expect it. They also found the episode terrifying in the thrilling kind of way that keeps the horror genre in business. Underneath the dramatic tension, and a side story featuring a returning character, The Rookie continues to examine the many ways trauma can affect people.

David Krumholtz, who played Isidor Isaac Rabi in Oppenheimer, shows up in the first scene with Nolan. Since their interaction lackedThe Rookie’s brand of quirky humor, savvy viewers knew immediately this was no mere cameo. Nolan arrested Krumholtz’s Ezra Kane for breaking into a building after-hours, but one of his fingerprints is tied to a brutal double-murder and a teenage girl’s disappearance. Given that all but two of Kane’s scenes take place in the interrogation room, it’s equally clear why an actor like Krumholtz needed to play this part. His performance is not the usual approach actors bring to a character like this.

Originally the youngest rookie on the force, John Nolan almost made a career mistake (which would’ve tanked the show). He wanted to become a detective, but instead he became the officer training the titular rookies. Asked to interview Kane by the detectives, The Rookie again reinforces that Nolan’s skills are best realized in a beat cop’s uniform. Before Alyssa Diaz’s Angela Lopez and Mekia Cox’s Nyla Harper take over, Kane admits to Nolan his “Aw Shucks” demeanor fooled him.

Of the many unforgivable villains in The Rookie, more than a few are serial killers. Kane is no mastermind, and he believes he’s “Aamon,” a Marquis of Hell named in occult lore. Instead of acting unhinged or quietly sinister, Krumholtz doesn’t alter his performance as Kane when he’s found out. He stops pretending to be a down-on-his-luck vagrant. He has more confidence, but he retains an almost friendly tone and way of speaking. Arguably, that makes Kane even more frightening, because he seems so easy to underestimate.

Quickly in the episode, Chen and Lisseth Chavez’s Celina Juarez find a teenage girl Kane held captive for years. She tells them he called her his “soulmate” and told her he “controlled” the police. Underestimating Kane’s penchant for what can only be called “evil” almost led to this girl’s death. When she overheard Chen say the title of the episode, she reacted violently and almost died. Later, in a call back to one of Chen’s best episodes, she is able to comfort the girl in a way meant to end this story on a hopeful note.

Also, while investigating why Kane was at a public rec center so late at night, Nolan and the others discover a new victim, Julie. She appears in just a single scene, but the search for her drives the back half of “The Red Place.” Kane is, of course, unhelpful, but nonetheless, Nolan gets to be a hero. He finds Julie in the nick of time to save her life. Just like Chen’s time with the other survivor, this part of the episode is meant to first scare the viewer before letting them off the hook.

That no one died in “The Red Place” or in last week’s averted spectacle shooting is, frankly, unbelievable. The Rookie almost mythologizes its characters, because they almost always do exactly the right things. Whether it’s catching the baddies or the characters’ depth of compassion — even for some of the criminals — they are almost “too perfect.” While perhaps a drawback for some, this approach may be why The Rookie is one of the most popular police procedurals currently airing. With the way things are in the world, particularly around the subject of law enforcement, it can be nice for people to pretend cops like these exist.

Good TV dramas often subject their characters to horrible things because it keeps people watching. The Rookie doesn’t always address this in the best way. For example, Nolan experienced more action in his first year than most real-world police see in a full career. Still, the show also can draw on characters’ traumas to showcase a different kind of heroism. Nolan may have saved Julie, but Chen confessing her own experience with a serial killer to the other survivor is also heroic. She tells the character, and perhaps those in the audience who may need to hear it, there is a future beyond the worst day of their lives.

Of course, The Rookie includes a few stories about bad cops, too. Patrick Keleher’s Seth Ridley was one of them in Season 7. A new recruit, he was a liability because of his pathological lying, including about having cancer. Unlike some bad cops, he never lied to falsely accuse someone or rig an investigation. Instead, he lied about a series of traumatic events to garner sympathy and make himself more interesting. He also used these falsehoods as cover for his many mistakes. Despite all the threats made to Nolan and other rookies about washing out, Ridley was the first trainee fired from the force on The Rookie.

After filing a lawsuit to appeal the firing, the controversial rookie came back to the force. Ridley seemed sincere in his desire to be a good cop, and he even saved Nolan’s life. Yet, he took a shotgun blast to his leg and lost it. His friend from the academy, Deric Augustine’s Miles Penn, almost fought him in the locker room in Season 7. In “The Red Place,” Penn reaches out to a depressed Ridley to “make amends” for the way things ended between them. Like every regular character on The Rookie, Penn feels compassion for him and wants to help.

Despite The Rookie’s success, it does sometimes fumble important characters’ stories. This was almost the case for Ridley, who was wholly unsympathetic. “The Red Place” at first maintains that, as he complains to Penn about the people he lied to (including his father) refusing to forgive him. This is a clever choice that builds on what came before. Save for his cancer claim, all his lies to garner sympathy were about how things that happened to other people traumatized him. After suffering a real trauma, he feels he’s owed what he was looking for from others with his lies. After Penn addresses this, Ridley pouts and throws him out.