Malvado originally debuted in Season 7, Episode 3, “Out of Pocket,” where he was hired by the Southern Front to take out Jason Wyler. The Los Angeles Police Department’s Mid-Wilshire Division was already on a manhunt for Jason after he escaped from prison in Season 6. It causes a dilemma for John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) because Malvado is a hitman who wants to kill Jason, the individual targeting Nolan’s wife, Bailey Nune (Jenna Dewan). Malvado does end up killing Wyler in the Season 7 episode, “Till Death,” and it’s revealed that Bailey was texting Malvado with a burner phone she received from the hitman.
That creates another huge potential conflict, since Bailey’s texts with Malvado could implicate her for criminal conspiracy and as an accessory to commit murder, because Malvado used Bailey’s texts to track Jason’s location. When Nolan confronts Bailey about the burner phone with the texts, she breaks it and tosses it over a building. Later, the couple patch things up, but the show subsequently ignores Bailey’s criminal actions. The return of Malvado provided a potential opportunity to force Bailey and Nolan to confront their actions. What if the LAPD somehow caught Malvado, and he attempted to use Bailey’s text messages against her and Nolan? Bailey would have to deal with being implicated as an accomplice to the murder of her abusive ex-husband, who kidnapped and attempted to kill her. That would have made an incredibly dramatic, compelling storyline.
“Mad About Murder” even hints at Bailey’s past actions being revealed when Nolan informs Bailey that Malvado was back in Los Angeles. The Rookie presents an idea of suspense before building the idea further, only to promptly dispose of it when Malvado is killed in the same episode. The issue of Bailey’s texts to Malvado might resurface later, but it seems unlikely. The main evidence has been destroyed, and now all the parties involved who know about it, aside from Nolan and Bailey, are dead. The resolution presents a missed opportunity for significant dramatic tension involving Nolan and Bailey.
The Recurring Villain Pattern With ‘The Rookie’
The Rookie repeatedly builds up major villains and capriciously tosses them out. The first several episodes of Season 7 build up the threat of Jason Wyler, Jason avoiding the authorities, and how he seeks to return for revenge against Nolan and Bailey. Jason only ends up returning for a brief appearance in “Till Death,” and coincidentally, Malvado is the one who kills Jason. Jason’s previous return to the show felt fairly random in the first place during Season 6, considering he’s shown partnering up with Oscar Hutchinson (Matthew Glave) while in prison. There was an earlier implication in Season 5 that Oscar was going to partner up with Elijah Stone (Brandon Jay McLaren) as they were put in neighboring prison cells. Well, The Rookie brought Jason back, planned his escape from prison, and built up the suspense for his big return in Season 7. Unfortunately, Jason’s return proved uneventful, brief, and anti-climactic, with Malvado quickly finding and executing him.
The same technique is repeated with Malvado, a far more fascinating villain and antagonist for the Mid-Wilshire Division. Here was a proficient hitman who avoided capture for years. What if Malvado’s services would later be procured by the likes of Elijah or Monica Stevens (Bridget Regan)? It would have made for some great television for the series for Malvado to work at the behest of a more powerful enemy. Now that two recurring villains in the series have met this fate, can anyone trust the writers to craft a more serious, fulfilling conclusion with a villain such as Monica, who the show is teasing as a major villain in Season 7? What about Oscar? He’s another character expected to return this season.
If those villains do return and meet similar anti-climactic fates in throwaway episodes, it would be tremendously disheartening, considering all the time dedicated to building them up. Not to mention, Monica and Oscar have remained fugitives at large for most of the season. Their returns warrant bigger storylines and episodes. Hopefully, The Rookie does not make the same mistakes with Monica and Oscar when they return to the show later in Season 7.
Fans of The Rookie can figure out for themselves who their favorite villains of the show are, with every episode of the series streaming now on Hulu in the U.S.
