Summary
The Rookie Episode 20, “Free Fall”, gives the series finale an apocalyptic feel to it, giving it that season-ending closure.
This recap of The Rookie Season 1, Episode 20, “Free Fall”, the Season 1 Finale, contains spoilers. You can check out our thoughts on the previous episode by clicking these words.
Here we are, the first season of The Rookie ends with Episode 20, “Free Fall”, with the rookies preparing for their final exams. What could go wrong in a season finale? Talia Bishop is now free from the investigation, John (Nathan Fillion) wants his new girlfriend Jessica to meet his son, and Angela Lopez (Alyssa Diaz) is giving Jackson West (Titus Makin Jr.) the cold shoulder, squeezing every last drop out of him while he’s still a rookie.
Well, it does go wrong, after John and Talia (Afton Williamson) are tasked to investigate a dead body; his girlfriend and detective Jessica turns up with multiple cop cars and explains the body is of a man from a terrorist cell, and a group of people is going to attempt to attack LA biologically, and the virus forces you to bleed out until you die. Of course, the Sergeant explains to his officers that the final exam is delayed while they deal with this mess. “Free Fall” is a finale-feeling episode.
The officers are at liberty to tell their close ones to stay away from populated areas but without giving specific reasons, but John is annoyed that Jessica did not tell him of her knowledge of a prepared attack, especially as he vowed to bring her son to town. “Free Fall” also sees Angela Lopez unwilling to tell her lawyer boyfriend about the impending attack, as he will scream the law at her. In the end, she has to reveal the mission, forcing her to arrest him temporarily due to his big mouth.
The turning point of “Free Fall” is when Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) and Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil) turn up at a house about a lost backpack. Tim soon realises that this guy has accidentally taken one of the terrorist’s gear and that he’s infected. The man coughs blood all over Tim, forcing him to shut himself in a room to make an instant quarantine. For the rest of the episode, we worry about Tim’s chances of getting infected, as he watches the man splutter blood and die a painful death, while Lucy demands the experimental vaccine is brought over to the house as soon as possible.
Eventually, they catch the suspects; Jackson shows his heroics by baiting one of the terrorists, almost getting killed in the process. Meanwhile, John and Jessica take down the other suspect, but John is concerned that the man surrendered, but Jessica shot anyway.
All seems well in “Free Fall”, Tim receives his vaccine, and the rookies rejoice in a moment of victory. As Tim walks away from the house he has just been quarantined in, he collapses. If there is a Season 2, we will find out what happened to him.
