‘The Rookie’: Nolan & Bailey’s Solution to D.C. Is a Bad Idea

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Rookie Season 8 Episode 6 “Burn 4 Love.”]

There’s an explosion in the Valentine’s Day episode of The Rookie Season 8, and we can’t help but feel that’s an omen of what’s to come for Nolan (Nathan Fillion) and Bailey’s (Jenna Dewan) relationship.

Nolan and Bailey talk to Grey (Richard T. Jones) and his wife Luna (Angel Parker), respectively, about their current issues, stemming from her wanting to move to D.C. for a new job and him not. Bailey says she’s trying to come up with a solution that makes them both happy, but Luna warns her that sometimes marriage is about one person making a sacrifice for the other, like she did when her and Grey’s daughter was born. Grey, meanwhile, is happy to support his wife in her new chapter but doesn’t like it leading to canceled plans and him waiting for her to come home. (Later, the couple makes plans to have date nights.)

Things get awkward when Nolan and Bailey run into each other during an arson case. When he wishes her a Happy Valentine’s Day, she remarks, “I guess that depends on your definition of happy.” But she then gets a cover for her shift so she can spend the holiday with him, only for him to remind her they’re hosting a fundraiser for Wesley (Shawn Ashmore), who’s running for D.A. It’s there that Bailey gives Nolan his gift: a note reading, “Good for a lifetime of cohabitation with Bailey Nune. ‘Til death do us part.” She’s not going to D.C., having realized how hard it must have been for him to tell her no and that she hadn’t been listening. “You are the love of my life, John. I don’t want to be anywhere you’re not,” she says, and he feels the same way.

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But after a bomb goes off at the station — an arsonist targeting a fellow arsonist and her girlfriend — and they emerge with newfound respects for each other, Nolan tells Bailey to go to D.C. He says they’re strong enough to navigate the separation and he knows she really wants it. He took it personally, but he knows it’s not about them. She thinks he thinks she’ll get bored of the new job in year and return home for a new challenge. They seem to have found a solution, but how long can that really last? Is a long-distance relationship sustainable for them? Something tells us that this will just cause new problems sooner rather than later.

Speaking of that bomb, everyone survives, with some minor injuries. Miles (Deric Augustine), whom Celina (Lisseth Chavez) is convinced is cursed after they interrupted a conflict at a crystal shop, gets the worst of it, but he’s going to be fine.

Meanwhile, Lucy (Melissa O’Neil) and Tim (Eric Winter) both struggle with their Valentine’s Day gifts — because she can’t remember where she hid his (an autographed baseball) and he orders hers (a skin care line) but it hasn’t been delivered. And so both come up with replacement gifts: She gets him a signed copy of the sci-fi book he used to read over and over again when things were bad, and he gets her earrings … then tries to book them a trip to Paris after seeing her present. Both confess about their troubles, and it turns out that he found the baseball where she hid it behind the washing machine. She also is the one to free him when he’s trapped following the bomb.

Elsewhere, Wesley and Nyla (Mekia Cox) are preparing for the serial killer Liam Glasser’s trial, and they’ve already hit a snag before her deposition: They have to hold back prosecuting him for one of his murders because of a lack of evidence, and the victim’s father is so upset after learning about it from a reporter, he goes after Wesley at the fundraiser. (He’s subdued.)

During her deposition, Glasser’s lawyer, Malcolm (Sean Patrick Thomas), pushes Nyla about not seeing his client during the attack and especially on her threat after “jumping to conclusions” about his involvement without any evidence, namely that she’d find a way to hang the murders around his neck and lock him away forever. The damage of that is “catastrophic,” Wesley tells Nyla after, with how Glasser’s lawyer will paint her in front of a jury. Furthermore, as an officer of the court, he must report her conduct with Glasser to Internal Affairs; if he doesn’t, Malcolm will and Wesley will be disbarred for covering it up.

Disney/Mike Taing

Angela (Alyssa Diaz), of course, isn’t happy with her husband on her best friend’s behalf, but Wesley tells her he’s trying not to blame Nyla because she’s their friend but he might lose the trial and Glasser might walk free because of her. Then, Angela tells Nyla as she waits to hear from IA that they have to keep things professional until it’s over — only for the bomb at the station to change that. It can start the next day, the three decide, as Angela and  Wesley sit with Nyla in the hospital waiting room.

What did you think of the Valentine’s Day episode? Do you think a long-distance relationship is sustainable for Nolan and Bailey? Let us know in the comments section below.

The Rookie, Mondays, 10/9c, ABC

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