Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for The Rookie Season 7, Episode 17.The world feels like one big dumpster fire right now, and last week’s episode of The Rookie did not offer any breaks from that feeling. Seth Ridley (Patrick Keleher) coming back was bad enough, but then he actually scored sympathy points with me after saving John Nolan’s (Nathan Fillion) life and having to get his leg amputated. Episode 16 just felt really dark, and I found myself in need of a palate cleanser. Enter fun, recurring character, Skip Tracer Randy (Flula Borg). Randy first popped up in Season 4, and he’s been a welcome addition to the episodes he’s appeared in since then. This week, he gets a whole main storyline to play with, and the levity provides viewers with a much-needed break from conniving police officers and all that Chenford tension.
Skip Tracer Randy Has a New Love in ‘The Rookie’

Randy starts out the episode by announcing to Nolan and Bailey (Jenna Dewan) that he has actually become a Bitcoin billionaire and that he is in love with Chastity (Meg DeLacy). Chastity is still Pete Nolan’s (Pete Davidson) girlfriend, but Randy wants to profess his love to her anyway. He asks Nolan and Bailey, and then Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil) and Celina Juarez (Lisseth Chavez), what to gift Chastity with to win her love. He decides to go with diamonds, pops over to the club where Chastity works, and proposes. Chastity says she might be open to considering a sugar daddy-type situation, and after showing off the diamonds, Randy is then promptly approached by criminals who were tipped off to his wealth. Randy is able to successfully fend them off, but then Chastity is kidnapped (because bad guys know an opportunity for a ransom payout when they see it).
Randy is an extremely silly character, and, of course, he bungles every step of the ransom negotiations (although bringing in celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck to cater at the station is a brilliant move). Randy foolishly offers a reward for Chastity’s safe return, which inspires vigilantes to get in the mix. In a video call with the kidnappers, Chastity proves that she is way smarter than people give her credit for, and uses sign language to tell the police she’s being held at an abandoned mall.
By the time the police arrive, Chastity has basically rescued herself. The Mid-Wilshire crew still gets into a shoot-out with the vigilantes who have shown up to get that sweet reward cash and with the kidnappers themselves. As per usual, the police officers take down all of the criminals. Unfortunately, Randy realizes he has forgotten his Bitcoin password, essentially making him penniless once more, and Chastity takes the sugar daddy offer off the table. I’m always pleased to see Randy because of his hilarious antics, and this episode makes me even more of a fan of his goofy comedic timing.
‘The Rookie’ Gives Sean Del Monte a Compelling Storyline in Season 7, Episode 17

Sean Del Monte (Michael Trucco), the Assistant District Attorney who works with Wesley Evers (Shawn Ashmore), hasn’t had a whole lot to do before now. In fact, I kind of forgot his name when the episode started referring to him. In Episode 17, Sean is pursuing charges against a member of the Eastern Front gang. The gang has evidence that Sean’s son, Logan (Benjamin J. Young), has been using drugs, and they threaten to release this info to the public unless Wesley persuades Sean to drop the case. Wesley says that Sean shouldn’t back down and that Logan should head to rehab.
At first, Sean dismisses this option, saying that it would completely ruin his chances of being elected District Attorney. Wesley talks some sense into him, and Sean decides to do the right thing. However, on the morning that he’s taking Logan to the rehab center, the gang surrounds his car, and a shoot-out ensues. In the scariest moment of the whole episode, Logan is shot in the neck. Luckily, Logan ends up surviving, and Sean makes the difficult decision to drop out of the race so that he can focus on his family. Although Sean hasn’t always been the most memorable character, this storyline did provide a good amount of suspense throughout the episode.
We Get To Meet Angela and Nyla’s Moms in ‘The Rookie’

Another side storyline in this episode revolves around Nyla Harper’s (Mekia Cox) mother, Ruth, getting an eviction notice. Turns out, Ruth has been the victim of title fraud, but the best part of this plot is that Ruth and Angela Harper’s (Alyssa Diaz) mother, Emilia (Rose Portillo), are actually besties. I got a kick out of seeing these two older ladies’ friendship, and it’s fun to see where Nyla and Angela get their sass from. Nyla and Ruth argue at one point because Nyla is frustrated with her mother being so trusting all the time. They eventually make up, because although the two women are pretty different in how they view the world, they’re both able to see each other’s strengths.
Angela and Nyla decide to work together to track down the woman who duped Ruth into signing her home away. They opt to use Emilia as a pawn to lure the woman out. Emilia is more than happy to go undercover, especially because wearing a wire reminds her of The Sopranos. The sting works, and the woman is arrested. I’m incredibly glad that they’re able to catch this fraudster because these types of crimes against the elderly break my heart. And the best part is that Emilia gets to take action to help her friend and prove to her daughter that she is still capable of being a badass.

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‘The Rookie’ Needs To Make This Character the Next Mid-Wilshire Rookie

It’s time to make this scene-stealer the next rookie.

Elsewhere in the episode, Celina feels like a bad girlfriend because she can’t think of a good birthday present for Rodge (Zander Hawley). She eventually writes a really bad song for him (that literally made my ears bleed), but then Rodge announces that he’s going on a European tour with his band. Does this spell the end of their relationship? Celina seems happy for him, but we don’t really get any full-on closure here about her future with Rodge.
Finally, in more exciting news, the sergeant exam results are finally posted, and Lucy passed! It’s a great day for Chenford, since Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) also gets to meet his baseball hero, Kiké Hernandez, who plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers. I’m actually not sure whether he was more excited about that or about Lucy passing. The only downside to this: Lucy is being assigned to the night shift. Not sure whether this will put another wrinkle in the Chenford saga, but I’m just relieved that Lucy doesn’t have to face even more disappointment this season, and that I got to watch an episode that actually made me chuckle.
New episodes of The Rookie air on Tuesday nights on ABC, with episodes available to stream on Hulu in the US.