A shocking turn of events for the LAPD officers of the Mid-Wilshire division on tonight’s episode was the return of Seth Ridley (Patrick Keleher), who was terminated for failure to follow a direct order after refusing a blood draw to prove he had cancer — and for being a pathological liar in general.
Lucy (Melissa O’Neil) had previously been Seth’s TO, but when he returned, Nolan (Nathan Fillion) got the dubious job of finishing his training.
Ridley claimed he was duped by his doctor into believing he was sick when he wasn’t, and he sued the city for wrongful termination and medical discrimination and won. Rather, the city decided not to fight the claim and he was reinstated with $10,000 back pay.
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Sgt. Grey (Richard T. Jones) told Nolan, “He could still be washed out for cause, but every infraction has to be documented. Otherwise, we will find ourselves with a fresh lawsuit alleging retaliation.”
Tamara (Dylan Conrique) still believed in Seth and she dropped him off at the station, where she ran into Lucy, who explained she was never his friend; she was his training officer.
Tamara convinced Lucy to have dinner with them that night and get to know the real Seth.
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When Seth entered the bullpen from the locker room, the entire station shuned him by turning their backs. As a result, Nolan advised him they were going to skip roll call.
“This is not a do over,” Nolan said. “Your previous errors have been documented, and you bring them with you into my shop.”
Seth still tried to play off his fake cancer as an insurance scam, but Nolan didn’t care, didn’t believe Seth and told him, “I won’t believe anything without independent verification. I am your nightmare TO. I was raised by a pathological liar. The only thing that matters to me is actions. You do your job perfectly and I will have no choice but to pass you.”
They responded to an attempted robbery, but Seth forgot to call in Code 4 and other units responded, so it was a strike against him. But during the robbery, a civilian, Gene Webster talked down the robber and Nolan took his DL info to get a statement from him. When they ran it, it turned out that Gene owed 5 more years prison time in Nevada. He was let out on a clerical error. They went to arrest him.
Seth told him, “You thought you earned a second chance and now it’s being ripped away. But your family knows who you really are.”
Gene hit Seth and escaped out the window. Nolan and Seth made chase, but Gene got away.
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Back at Mid-Wilshire, Seth and Miles Penn (Deric Augustine) got into a fight in the locker room when Seth taunted Miles saying, “At least I’m not a has-been holding on to my glory days. “
Dinner that night was also a disaster. Lucy spotted Tamara’s engagement ring, and when Seth stupidly said he had a little extra money after the $10,000 settlement in back pay from the city, everyone went ballistic.
Back at work next day, Seth managed to track down Gene, who was hiring an old prison mate Jose Segura, a known coyote, to get him out of the country. But there’s one hitch. Gene’s wife didn’t bring enough money and Jose reminded Gene that they weren’t buddies. When Gene got out, he never put any money in Jose’s commissary account.
The tension mounted quickly, and Jose was about to kill Gene and his wife and keep the money she brought. Nolan decided there was no time to wait for SWAT. He and Seth were joined by Tim (Eric Winter) and Miles and entered the building stealthily but Seth knocked over a pipe. A shoot out followed. It almost went South, but Seth saved Nolan by shooting one of the bad guys, but he took a bullet to his left leg from a shotgun blast. A bad person did a heroic thing.
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The doctors had to amputate below the knee.
Nolan told him that this tragedy has brought Seth to a crossroads. You can choose a different path, but it requires complete honesty.
Seth finally confessed. He said, “I don’t know if I can. I’ve tried. I keep promising myself that this is going to be the last time I’m going to lie, and it never is.”
Then Tamara entered the hospital room and Seth told her the truth.
“I lie because I’m a coward. I paid the doctor to say my cancer was back. Instead of owning up to my mistakes or doing better, I did what I always do, I made myself a victim.”
Tamara broke it off with Seth, but it may not be the last we see of him. If he decides against going out on disability, he could return to the LAPD on limited duty once he gets his prosthetic.
The Rookie aired at a special time tonight – 10 p.m. ET/PT – on ABC. Streams next day on Hulu.
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