ABC’s The Rookie spinoff is finally here – and it’s been worth the wait. The Rookie: Feds sees Niecy Nash-Betts return as Simone Clark, a former guidance counselor with a bucket full of confidence who has retrained as an FBI agent and is ready to join Matthew Garza’s newly formed rapid response unit.
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In the first few minutes we see Nathan Fillion‘s Officer John Nolan on screen, gently reminding us that although these are new characters it’s a world we already are familiar with and love, before the show dives into what will clearly be an ongoing issue for Simone as she moves back in with her father, Cutty, who is concerned his daughter’s new job will lead to distrust from the community with whom he has been working.
WATCH: The Rookie: Feds coming this fall
But soon it’s the first day for Simone and she meets Garza’s team – Carter Hope, a promotion-hungry traditionalist, Laura Stenson, a talented agent in desperate need of a second chance, and her friend Brendon Acres, a former actor who graduated from Quantico with Simone.
We also meet our antagonist, Garza’s boss Tracy, who we quickly discover thinks his special unit, which he hopes will allow the agency to jump in quickly to new cases, runs “counter to the ethos” of the FBI, and has recently visited headquarters in Washington DC to complain.
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It’s clear Tracy’s frustrations run deeper than not liking the idea of a rapid response unit – and it soon becomes even clearer she’s willing to go to any lengths to get it shut down.
With the exposition in place, the episode moves on to the case of the week – the murder of a federal employee – but Simone is quickly bought back down to Earth wth a bump when she finds herself placed on desk duty, and not with Garza and the team.
Simone and Brendan are friends from Quantico
In classic Simone fashion, she hears what she wants to hear and discovers that to impress Garza and get out from the paperwork she will need to utilize her skills from the classroom and her old network of counselors to help take down the killers.
Yes, it’s completely unrealistic. Yet it’s exactly what we love about The Rookie.
Niecy’s charm and ability to hit a one-liner keep the story moving, but it will be interesting to see how it plays over the course of a season with her colleagues more straight-laced, and their own personal dramas ticking time bombs.
The supporting cast have ennough chemistry to sustain the show
Laura (played by Britt Robertson) has recently ended an engagement with a fellow agent but there is some fun chemistry between her and Brendon (Kevin Zegers), which hints at a future workplace romance.
The premiere ends though, with our new cast of characters suddenly with their worlds turned upside down – Brendan gets an offer he maybe can’t refuse, Carter is given a big decision to make by Tracy, and Simone and Cutty coming to an understanding about their new living arrangements that will see Simone realize that despite being the rookie, her life is about far more than the agency.
The Rookie: Feds airs on ABC on 27 September at 10/9c
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