The Rookieshould stop a storytelling gimmick for season 8. When a show is on long enough, writers will likely try to find new ways to spice it up and break the typical mold. This is how we end up with musical episodes, outings from an outside perspective, or even ones in a completely separate style. By doing this, shows demonstrate the unlimited capabilities of television, even if it does not make sense to that show.
The Rookieseason 7, episode 15gave us one of these episodes. It spun the documentary style as a paranormal investigation, something completely new compared to the previous documentary episodes. Personally, I am not a fan of them, as they are distracting and even too gimmicky. Moving forward,The Rookieseason 8would be better off leaving these episodes in the past and trying something new.
The Documentary Style Episodes Appear In A Few Seasons
This Style Changes The Perspective Of Traditional Storytelling
The Rookie’s documentary episodes started in season 3 when a film crew interviewed the Mid-Wildshire police officers about a case regarding a former child star. In it, we see a different way of telling the"bad guy of the week"story we have grown accustomed to.All the officers sit down and provide their sides of the events of the case, offering only little information at a time.This storytelling attempt was a take on the popular true-crime series in a fictional form.
This style is seen three more times after that — in season 4, episode 16, “Real Crime,” season 5, episode 18, “Double Trouble,” and season 7, episode 15, “A Deadly Secret.” These outings were told through the perspective of the camera crew. Although they were a break from the regular types of episodes, most of them provided very little inside information about the characters. They were used as filler episodes, but did find ways to insert relevant information about the characters. Unfortunately, they were not enough to maintain audience interest in these episodes.
These Episodes Are Not Popular Among Fans
The Episodes Are Some Of The Lowest Of The Series
Breaking the mold does not always work when it comes to procedural cop shows. All the documentary episodes ofThe Rookieare rated less than 5 stars out of 10 on IMDB.Season 7, episode 15, was rated the lowest at 3.6 out of 10. This episode expanded outside reality and pursued the paranormal angle. In a show grounded in reality, the ratings show that this attempt isn’t resonating with viewers. Nothing in it pushed the overall story of season 7 and fell completely flat in tone.
In a show based on reality, this type of angle proved that the documentary episodes have run their course.
There are many ways to expand upon the show while trying new techniques. They should, however, pay more attention to what the audiences say about these types of episodes. The best part of art is trying new things and pushing the boundaries to create something new, but taking feedback from its target audience is also equally important. The ABC procedural is already a popular show, so it shouldn’t be difficult to keep people happy if they are paying attention to the response from fans. PerhapsThe Rookieseason 8can take this into consideration.
