The Most Unrealistic Aspect of The Rookie Still Makes It a Painful Watch
Fans disagree with one unrealistic aspect of the show.
Without a doubt, ABC's The Rookie is one of the most exciting primetime shows on the air, all thanks to Nathan Fillion's heartfelt performance as John Nolan, the oldest recruit the LAPD has ever seen. But even though the writers do their best to make the weekly crime scenarios as interesting and unique as possible, they are unable to fix the show's biggest problem — how unrealistic the shootout scenes are.
Instead of depicting the way real cops would approach shootouts with suspects, The Rookie's producers force the characters to do the strangest and most unnatural things to move the narrative along and make the story feel longer, which really bothers some fans.
'I know this is TV, and the writers will do whatever they want to do to advance the storyline how they want to… But some of these gunfights are just so painful to watch. I've lost track of how many episodes I've watched, where if it was the real LAPD, every officer on scene would be mag dumping towards the target like their life depends on it, because it does,' one fan pointed out on Reddit.
Obviously, the creators are just trying to make the show more interesting and unpredictable. If every single gunfight were handled the same way, as described above, this would ruin the story for most viewers, and even the diehard realism fans would probably be inclined to drop it.
'I get it though. With how big of a deal they made that fatal shooting, it would distract from the show to have to show that every time someone gets killed.' another fan noted. 'But still, the show shows some seriously dangerous shootouts where real cops would not hesitate to end the threats.'
Some people also say that even if the writers can't use the same scenario for every gunfight, they can change the way they approach storytelling, using more chases, interrogations, and ambushes to move the story along without gunplay.
This way, the writer will please both the fans of realism and those who love exciting action in The Rookie.
Source: Reddit.