CDN Television: Rookie Blue, Episode 1.10 "Big Nickel"

Rookie Blue
Season One, Episode Ten, Big Nickel
Original Air Date:  August 26, 2010


The rookies spend some time with Shaw at the shooting range for re-certification.  McNally is the only one who qualifies.  Swarek and McNally are assigned to transfer a prisoner.  Peck and Epstein are assigned to the case of a naked John Doe claiming to have amnesia.  Detective Barber has lost the case notebook for a case he has coming up and Nash and Diaz help him try to reconstruct the case in his mind.  The four rookies who didn't qualify go back to the shooting range for a second chance.


McNally doesn't like the thought of spending 10 hours in a car with Swarek and even he begs Williams to take over for him.  Williams refuses, of course.  Swarek doesn't want to talk at all and Andy is uncomfortable with that.  While at a diner, the atmosphere between the two gets very awkward so to ease the tension a bit, Swarek makes some old jokes with the waitress that McNally gets a good laugh from.

The prisoner they pick up appears to be a very nice and courteous man.  He makes innocent conversation with them, thanks them for letting him have the cuffs in front rather than behind his back and critiques Swarek's attitude.  He proves himself to be less than charming when they pull over to the side of the road for Swarek to head into the bushes to go to the bathroom.  He fakes an allergic reaction to the hot dog he's eating and when McNally opens the back door to help him, he kicks the door, knocks her down and escapes.

Swarek is livid when he finds out the prisoner is gone and reads Andy the riot act.  They head into the woods looking for him knowing that if they don't find him they're both in major trouble.  They finally find him and catch him by working together.

Swarek proves he's a nice guy when he genuinely compliments Callaghan to Andy.  He even goes to Callaghan and tells him that he tried something with Andy and she shot him down and that he shouldn't screw the relationship up.  Callaghan and Andy end up back together.

While going through the case paperwork with Barber, Diaz notices a difference in numbering on two evidence sheets.  The differences lead Barber to realize that the prisoner Swarek and McNally are bringing in isn't a witness but the shooter.

I liked that Detective Barber had a larger than normal role in this episode.  His character is pretty cool but you don't get to see much of him.  A precious few episodes have had him in them for more than a few minutes total which is a shame.  Noam Jenkins is a great actor and I'd love to see an episode with his character as the main focus.  I know, I know.  Missy Peregrym is the star so that will never happen but I can hope, can't I? 

Epstein genuinely wants to try and solve the mystery of their amnesiac John Doe but Peck wants to hurry him off to the the doctors and let him be their problem.  Peck has issues and is apparently using her bad attitude to hide them and not have to deal with them.  She really should face them head-on.  She'd be a much more likable character in my eyes.  As much as I've disliked her this season I am interested to see just how the writers will end up handling her.

For more information:
Official Site:  http://abc.go.com/shows/rookie-blue
Hulu:  http://www.hulu.com/rookie-blue
The Internet Movie Database:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1442065/
TV Rage:  http://www.tvrage.com/Rookie_Blue