Season 7, Episode 11: How ‘The Rookie’ Masterfully Reintroduces a Fan-Favorite Antagonist

The Rookie Season 7, Episode 11, “Speed,” makes clear what it’s about. Just like the famed Keanu Reeves movie, there’s a bus, a bomb and no stopping for anything. Keanu even gets a name-check during the episode. The plan in the ABC drama isn’t as neat as the one in the movie, but it does bring back a villain fans of the series have been waiting all season to see.

The episode cleverly ties into the central premise of the series, too. Celina Juarez is sent onto the bus with John Nolan, her former training officer, because the mayor wants to do something about bus crime. They are the first two plainclothes officers meant to ride the bus all day and catch pickpockets, fare jumpers and other sorts of petty criminals. Yet this is The Rookie, so a pair of brothers board the bus to hold it hostage with a homemade bomb. Engaging almost the entire ensemble, “Speed” is a thrill ride that doesn’t ignore character moments either.

The Rookie Successfully Goes Over theTop With Its Action Storyline

The Episode’s Take on a Hit Movie Is Inspired

 

The best episodes of The Rookie have a small scope, focusing on how the beat cops help ordinary people. When the show goes for spectacle, with big action and bigger threats, it doesn’t always work. “Speed” is a case where it does. Trying to maintain their covers, Nolan and Juarez help ensure the rest of the Los Angeles Police Department is on the case almost immediately. Information gets doled out at a dramatically interesting clip — faster than real life, but not so fast that the tension gets undercut. The background actors on the bus do a great job of convincingly being terrified.

Guest star Jacob Pitts also does a great job portraying the hapless and slightly disturbed hijacker, Joe Hauser. He’s a patsy for a larger player, demanding $100 million from some arms dealer’s crypto wallet, but he doesn’t know it. Some viewers may feel that both Juarez and Nolan take down their respective suspects a bit too easily when the time comes. But the real fun of the episode comes from the slow drip of details during the investigation, including discovering that pregnant bystander Cassie is actually Denise Summers, and she appears to be the mastermind. It’s a fun thriller that seems wrapped up neatly — until Denise contacts a familiar face fans will recognize.

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