#tim and lucy content is always a great thing

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy weekend Fandom :) Per usual we have a few high content eps then the next is a little lower. Still a good ep to be had though. Seeing a softer side to Tim for Angela. What a good friendship they have. And the continued reasons to dislike Lucy’s parents so much. I go off on her mom so be prepared. They spend this episode apart which always makes me sad. But it’s a great episode regardless. Let’s get this started.

3x10 Man Of Honor

We start off the ep with some flashbacks to the academy. At first I thought my clip was shaky, then I realized its Nolan's shoddy camera skills not mine LOL This is the one moment I wanted to highlight out of the academy shots. Lucy’s reason for becoming a cop. It’s prominent for later in this episode. Especially with her bloody mom….Her feeling adrift since college and not knowing where she belonged. That when she stepped into the LAPD It finally clicked.

Saying she didn’t feel the time she spent before this was a wasted effort. Which is amazing most people regret the wasted time. To me I agree with her. It’s that time before you find your thing that eventually leads you to it. That need to want to protect others from harm as part of her reason. Fantastic and very Lucy. I do love her finding her place as a cop. It’s why she fights tooth and nail at everything she does with this job. What Tim saw in her from day one. That fire and drive to succeed. Love our girl.

The scene in roll call is hilarious. Jackson’s dad told him when he got P2 he got bottle of whiskey. That he was called up to the front and given this. They are both operating under this assumption when Grey mentions them. It’s too damn funny. I love their friendship so much. It truly one of the best parts of this episode. Jackson gets tongue tied so Lucy steps in for them both. Telling Grey it's their first day as P2's all exicited.

He asks them if they want flowers? Cupcakes? It's why Grey asks Lucy what the reward is for making P2 above. They’re insanely embarrassed by the time Grey is done with them. They get to ride together which is the highlight after all that. It’s so weird to have roll call without Tim there though. I feel his absence but I guess even T.O.’s get days off. Boo.

We catch Jackson and Lucy in their shop. Jackson keeps getting ‘Congratulations’ texts from his family. You can see the slight jealously on Lucy’s face. I totally get it. For the most part I relate to Tim. When it comes to poopy unsupportive parents I'm right there with Lucy. She and I are alike where I too have tried on a lot of hats. Just trying to find myself as well. My parents being judgy unsupportive jerks the entire way.

Lucy has finally found what her calling is and just wants her parents to be proud of her. Makes me wanna cry just writing that out. Because even when you don’t have good relationship, there is still a part of you craves that approval. When really is should be the other way around. They should be vying to be in your life.

Jackson invites her to his family tradition dinner. So sweet he really takes care of her so much. Lucy declines because her parents are supposed to come over for dinner. She thinks they’re finally coming around to her being a cop. Jackson is so excited for her and says that’s great. I love this scene. They’re so excited to be riding together it’s adorable. Getting to use ac and listen to music haha It's precious.

We cut to Tim on his day off. Yelling at Kojo to move when he’s given up on their walk LOL It's the way Tim whines at Kojo that makes me laugh so hard. Kojo refusing to get up even though they are close to the house. That dog clearly runs that relationship and it makes me giddy to no end. I adore any scene we get with Tim and his dog. Ovary explosion for me. I’m a huge animal lover. To have a dog and Tim in a scene? Phew lord. Gimme. Tim gets a text from Angela saying she needs him ASAP. He finally gets Kojo to move by asking him if he wants a steak? Lmao Spoiled Fur-baby.

Tim gets to the address and it’s a wedding dress shop. He enters hesitantly wondering what is going on... He asks the employee where she is? They tell him she is currently in the changing suite. She’s gone through half their tissue supply. Aww poor thing. Tim sighs and makes his way to her. Once inside asks what’s wrong? Is she going into labor? Lmao No love. Nothing like that. He is straight with her when she asks if she looks fat. I love how he tells her like it is while also being sweet about it. The Tim Bradford special. Telling her who cares what her stupid friend thinks. If she's not ashamed of her baby bump then screw everyone else.

Angela is still upset she can’t hide her belly in her dress. Then we get to see protective/supportive Tim come out. Mmm one of my fav flavors. Asking her ’Who said you have to hide your belly?’ Angela tells him her bridesmaids did. The dress she’s in was supposed to camouflage it the best and its not doing that.

I adore him building her up when she’s down. Look at him taking the skills he learned from Lucy. Using them in this scenario. I love it sfm. Tells her to show off her baby belly. To be proud not ashamed. To wear what she feels confident in. Ugh my heart Timothy. He’s doing exactly what she needed. This is why she texted him. To be that emotional support friend. Her face says it all in that gif above.

What I love about this scene we get to see another side of him. Not just work Tim. A supportive and thoughtful friend. If Lucy could see him right now she would be dying haha He asks her what her dream dress is? Angela tells him what she wants. He says he’ll go get the dress lady and they’ll start there.

I love this man so much. It’s insane. She looks so at ease and taken care by the end of their scene. What a good bestie does. Can only hope we can have scenes like this when Tim marries Lucy. Angela helping him out but giving him crap in a loving way baha Good man right here. Already loved him before this but this only adds to it. Like a sundae that was already delicious and adding on more yummy toppings. Only makes it even better.

Angela is trying on more dresses. Tim asking her if she’s doing ok? I’m loving this soft version of Tim. If he’s this sweet and supportive with Angela. Can only imagine how he would be with Lucy and their plans when they get there. Angela says hard to get dress on over her bowling ball. Naww Tim’s face when she finally comes out is so cute. Once again all I can think of is his face when he sees Lucy in hers someday. I'm sorry I can’t help it LOL My brain is wired to go there now with them together.

Tells her ‘Whoa.’ building up her confidence even more. It’s so sweet. Angela agrees it’s perfect and thanks Tim for doing this with her. He does the sweetest smirk and lets her know ‘Of course’. A crash interrupts their little moment. Two ladies are fighting over a dress. Tim and Angela come out to see the fight. The dress lady says she’s called the police. Not to worry. Tim starts to film it in case they need it for evidence.

Then his future wife and her bestie show up on the scene. Tim couldn’t be more delighted to watch her and Jackson handle this. Lucy is distracted the minute they enter the scene. Tim Is in a dress shop for one and two with Angela. Her reaction couldn’t be more pure and adorable. Asking if he’s there to help her pick out a dress? Just the thought of it is making her so happy and proud of him. The immediate joy on her face.

The thought of him doing this makes Lucy so damn giddy. Jackson doesn’t have time for her work flirt and goes after the suspects LOL Tim’s reply is classic Tim. God forbid she get to see another soft side of him. Which is exactly why she’s so giddy BTW. Tim replying to her question 'All he’s doing right now is watching her not do her job.' Ha God Tim you could’ve at least said hello. She gets nervous and side steps before helping Jackson. It's adorable. She's totally lost her place in her excitement and is clearly distracted by it.

The more the situation escalates the more Tim and Angela enjoy themselves. Angela commenting ‘They grow up so fast don’t they?’ One of them tries to take off with the dress. Tim helps Lucy out cause he can’t help himself. Sticks out his leg tripping the suspect. He could not be enjoying himself more if he tried. Just being a proud hubby filming her arrest and making comments along the way hehe Lucy's face while he does this. She is not amused at all. I’m cracking up. God I love these two idiots so much. Act more married please. You are fooling no one.

Her dinner will her parents Or really parent has arrived. Lucy being a wonderful daughter her mother doesn’t deserve. She's made lotus root soup which is her favorite for their evening Trying to curry favor with her before their dinner even begins. I get it. Her mom shows up solo…. Congratulates Jackson before he leaves. She is nicer and more of a supportive parent to Jackson than her own daughter… ugh been there…Lucy asks her where her father is?

Her mom says off handedly like it’s no big deal he’s at his book club. Like this dinner meant nothing to him. Her face kills me. Trying to just shake off the hurt. Melissa crushes this scene btw. My heart breaks for her over and over. Lucy continues to brush it off and say they can have a girls night to celebrate then. Her mom drops the hammer very early. Doesn’t even try to pretend to be happy about her graduating to P2. Says she isn't there to celebrate.

Saying how they need to talk about this whole police thing. Like it’s just been some random hobby the last year or so for her. Even gives a sarcastic 'Brava.' Like she didn’t almost friggin die from this 'hobby' last year. Telling her to do something meaningful with her life. To get a real profession. The emotional abuse happening in this scene hurts to watch. It gets under my skin as the hits keep coming. Basically saying what she’s doing doesn’t mean anything. Once again Melissa is wonderful in this scene. Watching how it slowly escalates and her body language through out. Trying to take what her mother is telling her and not let it affect her. It works for a little bit but not long...

States she wants Lucy to do something she’s proud of. One of the rudest things to tear your child down with. To only think of yourself and how their decisions make YOU look. Pisses me off so much. Just because my parents are the same damn way. To only think of themselves and not of their child. Such a narcissistic way to view Lucy and what she’s done with her life. How her career embarrasses them and they'd prefer her to just leave the last year or so behind. Just because it doesn't puff them up around their friends.

My parent's are obsessed with status as well. If I'm not using my degree (which I only got for them BTW) for a job it's not something to be proud of. Even though the job I currently have gives me independence to live on my own with no roommates (which is not cheap these days), pay all my own bills, and take care of me and my dogs with no help. But since it's not what they consider a profession to be proud of they aren't proud of me. So I relate painfully so to Lucy in this scene. Also the school thing such a boomer answer. My parent's are the same way.

To think school is the only answer to everything. That obsession with status and only wanting your kids to do their approved career choices. What makes them look good and smell good in front their social circle. Instead of thinking hey my kid is happy, they’re providing for themselves, they love what they do. They’re independent. No they only think how it negatively impacts them. I'm so mad for Lucy because I’ve lived this. The heartbreaking way she asks ‘Can’t you just support me?' Thinking why is this such a big ask?

This is why the support she gets from Tim is EVERYTHING to her. Why she lives and breathes for it. When you’re torn down your entire life it’s hard to have self esteem. Hard to believe you’ll ever be good at something. Even if you are you don't truly believe you are until someone tells you repeatedly. Emotional abuse growing up leaves lasting scars. You can see where it all stems from for Lucy in this one scene with her mother.

Her mom goes on to tell her to find a career that really helps people. Like a doctor. Uh she has. You just don’t like it. Says she doesn't mean to be blunt, but really she does. If her mom would take her head out of her ass for two seconds. She would see Lucy already has all the things she’s harping on her to achieve. I want to hug Lucy so much while her mom berates her. Giving me flashbacks to my own mother. The pot shots leave wounds that are hard to heal.

The way she says ‘They'll always love her but’ and there’s the emotional manipulation. Basically saying our love has a price tag and that tag is the job of OUR choice. Not the one that makes you happy but the one that is socially acceptable for them. The way she cringes and moves away from her mother's touch. Knowing it’s manipulative. Hurts my soul to watch. Last thing she wants right now is fake affection.

I do need to commend her for having the backbone to tell her mom to give her space. I've never had the guts to stand up to my mom. I just avoid her like the plague these days. Rarely interact with her. Easy when she lives on the other side of the country. All the way in Alaska and can stay there. So huge props to Lucy for being overwhelmed and setting a boundary in this moment.

That if she’s done expressing what a disappointment she is that she can just leave. Her mom doesn’t fight her in the least really. She does a little stomp trying to exude some power over her. It doesn't work. Then Lucy yells at her to go and she finally takes off. Phew. Hard scene to watch. The shot that pans out of Lucy is a great one but a heartbreaking one. Makes me so emotional to watch this scene. This scene resonates with me so much in the worst way. I wanna hug her so badly in that last gif. Wishing Jackson was there to do it for me.

The cuteness continues for Tim and Angela while they taste test cakes. This is a much needed contrast to Lucy's SL atm. Angela sighs and says this is stupid. That no matter what she picks Patrice will overrule her. Tim is sitting there all arms crossed. Has become one of my fav poses for him. Yum Tum. Says all authoritatively ‘Don’t let her.’

What I’m loving about theses scenes is we’re getting background on Tim. Which I always love getting. Why am I not surprised his dad got drunk and ruined his wedding? That his whole family seems like one giant disaster zone? (Other than Genny) I love him taking his past experience to help guide Angela with her wedding. Such growth. Saying a million things like what his wedding had you can’t control. But this she can. So to pick what she really wants.

Angela says she wants a Tres Leches cake, but Patrice will think it's too ethnic. SMH ..Tim goes into protect mode once again. I love it sfm. Letting her know ‘Screw Patrice. If she has a problem with Tres leches or anything else for that matter she can answer to him.’ Side note anytime Eric says any Spanish word I wanna climb him like a tree. He says it with the right inflection and it’s sexy af. You know he learned all that from his wife and I love it. Feral Caitlin will cool down now but hot damn. Protective Tim and a slight accent with a Spanish word? Lord help me. Also in the black hoodie? He’s trying to kill me.

Angela replies really? Tim nods his head and says 'Hell yeah.' Then proposes to him with a cookie to be her man of honor baha I love this episode for them. He tells man of honor isn’t a thing...She says yes it is. Lets him know he’s only person who’s made her feel sane. That she needs him to get through this wedding. He caves and says fine hehe Angela tells him his first duty is to fire her current made of honor Gretchen LMAO His reply ‘What?! ‘ I’m rolling. I love this man so much.

We catch Lucy and Jackson at the station next day getting their war bags loaded. Lucy saying he got in late must’ve had a good time. He shows her the necklace they gave him. St. Michael. Patron saint of cops. Lucy looks jealous and asks if his parents will adopt her? Jackson immediately sensing something is wrong. He asks if she had trouble with her folks? Picking up on Tim’s habit of being a lying liar who lies. She isn’t truthful with him and he can see right through it. The concern written all over his face.

Angela invites Gretchen to the station to be fired by Tim. It’s too funny. Tim asks why she can’t fire her? She says she’s working a case and has to go. Tim calls her a coward when he see’s Gretchen arrive lol. Another fun piece of history for Tim. He was at Angela’s nieces quinceanera. It’s how he introduces himself to Gretchen seeing as they met there before. Love them being close enough friends for him to attend that.

Gretchen is legit eyeing him the entire scene. Her eyes checking him out up and down. Can’t blame her look at the man. He is a sight to behold. Low key hits on him asking him if wants to make a little extra cash as the stripper? LMAO Too bad Lucy isn’t around to see this interaction. He always gets so flustered when someone does. I swear he doesn’t know the gorgeous creature he is when they do this.

Tim tells her she’s been fired from MOH. His cute little look when he says Angela picked him to be her man of honor. He’s happy to do it for her but doesn’t want anyone to hear it....lol You think she’s gonna be mad. Nope just relieved. Telling Tim it’s been a nightmare. Pulls out this massive book of ‘Patrice’s picks’ and the anti-anxiety meds that come with it. My god. Also the phone just for wedding needs. Tim’s face is hilarious he looks so very overwhelmed.

Lucy and Jackson get to end their day on a high note. They were able to link up with Nolan/Harper on their OP. Rescued a little girl and got her safely back to her mom. This scene is so validating for Lucy. Reminding her despite what her parents think this is her calling. That this is the right path for her and she’s helping people like she wanted to. May not be the way her parents approve but she is. Grey telling them that little girl wouldn't be here without their hard work. They're being put up for an award too from Grey as well. That is the icing on the cake for her in this scene. She needed this after that horrible fight with her mother.

We find Tim and Angela on the rooftop walking toward something. She asks him what he’s doing? He tells her ‘Being your man of honor.’ They walk up to a trashcan that has the 'Patrice picks' book in it. He tells her he has one job. Give her the wedding she wants. He douses it all in the lighter fluid. Hands her the lighter and asks if she cares to do the honors? Then Angela praises him and calls him amazing.

He could not be cuter when she says this to him. Being Tim he deflects it with sarcasm saying ‘All the time.’ Ha! It’s much different than the smile we get out of him in 5x13 when Lucy calls him amazing. But it is different when the love of your life calls you that vs your bestie. Still I love this for him. The Patrice phone rings and Angela tosses it in the fire. Tim has them step back cause the battery in it is gonna explode LOL Such a damn cute episode for Tim I can not stand it.

Best part of the episode for Lucy is this next scene. I love Jackson so very much for his loyal and loving friendship. Also for how he handles this whole thing. Knowing something is off with her. He called her mom and was told what her mom said. Tells Lucy he told her mom if she didn’t apologize to her she wasn’t going to set foot in their apartment again. Such a good friend. That’s a true blue bestie right there.

Then he follows it up with something even sweeter. Handing her a jewelry case saying this was from the West family. To remind her there are people out there who are proud of her. Proud of what she’s accomplished. I’m melting this is so damn sweet. I might get a cavity. He helps her put it on. Then tells her he’s taking her to dinner. For baseball steaks. She asks if they can do sushi instead? LOL Jackson easily concedes and says ‘Deal.’ He'll do whatever she wants.

Jackson takes care of Lucy so well. Filling that role until Tim is ready to step in and take his place. He would’ve been SO SO happy for her and Tim. To see Lucy be taken care of and treated like a Queen. Which she so very much deserves. To see her properly loved and happy. Makes me emotional thinking he’ll never get to see how happy Tim has made her.

Such a good episode even though Chenford were apart their SL’s separately were so good. What makes them so great. Can have amazing SL’s even when apart. Although I prefer them together heh.

Side notes-Non chenford

Getting to see Capt Anderson in their graduation flash back. My heart. I miss her.

The flashbacks to them at school were every cute. Lucy kicking ass in their combat classes. Of course she did. Nolan even commenting 'Think twice before taking on recruit Chen’ Obviously.

Nolan had a SL but I didn’t care about it until it involved Jackson and Lucy 😂

Thank you as always to those to like, comment, reblog and support these reviews. They’ve helped me a lot getting through this extended hiatus. I hope they’ve been helping you all as well. Shall see you in 3x11 :)

[mostowa]

Talk Shop Tuesday -

It’s almost been a week since the break up.

How are you doing?

Has it affected how you read or write?

Hello and sorry for my extremely late answer. Talk shop Tuesday on Sunday? Hell, that souds like a good summary of the week I've had.

Thank you so much for the ask and for caring for all the fandom. I'm sure it's been a rough week for every one of us and we tried to figure out if it's even okay to feel the emotions that we are feeling towards fictional characters and a fictional plot.

The thing is, I think Eric, Melissa and all the writers has always developed Chenford in a way that it always felt real. Relatable on so many levels. The pining, the longing, the misunderstanding. And even the breakup felt relatable that I had to revisit some of my own biggest relationship traumas. And this only means they did a great job.

As much as I said that, I've come to peace with the fact that I don't necessarily like this plot. You posted this fantastic analysis about the breakup that it romanticizes break up for personal growth. And this is everything I stand against. I love when people grow into better people within the relationship and navigate through traumas together. I wish they'd stick to that, because both Tim and Lucy deserve that. But that's not what Alexi and the team went with. And I respect that.

Where I am at now is that I really want to see more content of them being apart and I really keep my fingers crossed for the rational and healthy development of their plot. I still can't really read fluff (but I really love to read angst). But 6x06 made me want to write something myself and it has ben AGES since I did that, so yay, I guess :D

Thank you again! For being here and having wonderful insight :)

[makeitastrength]

Throughout season 4, I feel like there was a lot of confusion about Lucy’s character development (or lack thereof). It’s something I’ve been trying to make sense of, too. Initially, I thought maybe the writers just didn’t know what to do with her. And maybe that was the case. But now that we’re seeing her be a total badass in season 5, I’m wondering if maybe it wasn’t. What if Lucy’s seemingly random and sometimes out-of-character behaviors and her lack of professional progression throughout season 4 was intentional?

Between the barrel, the fallout with her parents, and the loss of Jackson, Lucy had a year from absolute hell. It’s completely understandable that she’d be struggling to come to terms with everything and to find her place in this world where she’s basically estranged from her parents and her best friend is dead. For as much as we know that Tim is closed off, Lucy is actually very much the same. Yes, she’s bubbly and friendly and empathetic and she likes to talk things out, but she doesn’t truly open up to just anyone. And she’d just lost one of the few people she felt comfortable opening up to.

I’ve always felt like part of the reason she fought so hard to be Tim’s aide was because he was the one remaining constant in her life and she really craved that security and feeling of safety. She needed someone she could talk to. She needed support. She needed a reminder of the more confident and capable woman she’s become. Once she was riding with him again, I think she was content to just cruise along in the comfort and familiarity, and to find little moments of joy wherever she could (making bets, teasing him, etc).

And then Chris happened, and although I don’t think she ever truly opened up to him, he certainly helped with the loneliness part (which is probably also why she was often too eager to forgive him for certain things). Between Chris and Tim, Lucy found some semblance of normalcy and happiness, and given how much upheaval she’s faced, I think she spent season 4 living within the confines of that stability. I think she wasn’t ready to challenge herself, professionally or personally.

Don’t get me wrong. Lucy deserves a promotion. She’s an absolute badass and a damn good cop, and I hope we see her move up by the end of this season. But she’s also always been a person who struggles to commit. (Which, by the way, makes sense for her character. When you grow up with parents who force you into a certain mold, it takes time to break out of that and figure out who you actually are and what you actually want to do with your life.) From what we know of her backstory, Lucy flailed around for a few years before finding this job she loves. And then after losing Jackson, she (justifiably) fell into the routine of riding with Tim, which didn’t really allow her to stretch her wings. Now that she’s riding solo - which has been so good for her - she’s having the chance to expand her skills and find her own path.

Along those lines, I actually don’t find it to be bad writing or out of character for her to be stepping into so many different roles in season 5 - not just UC, but also helping the feds, acting as watch commander for a day, teaching citizen’s academy, etc. Lucy has always had a diverse skill set and she’s a quick learner, and I think it’s great that she’s getting to try on all these hats and decide which will be the one she ultimately wants to pursue.

I also think the heartbreak of losing Jackson coupled with the stability provided by her friendship and working relationship with Tim is part of the reason Lucy was so afraid for them to become anything more than friends. There’s so much for her to lose if it doesn’t work out. I know I’m not the only one who was surprised that Tim was the one to push things forward, but in retrospect it makes so much sense. It had to be him. I think he was scared too. But what Tim has that Lucy doesn’t - because he’s been in love before and she hasn’t - is an understanding of how much they have to gain from being together, and that was enough to push him to take the leap. Because he knows they’re worth the risk.

Anyway. This is just my thought process. I’m interested to hear what anyone else thinks!

[sylvies-chen]

alright nobody asked for it and yet somehow I feel like this fandom needs it so let’s put our thinking caps on and talk about the women of the rookie, flawed female relationships, and where exactly the rookie falls short in terms of representation:

so I should start with the positives and affirm that the rookie does show very well the systematic barriers that a lot of women face in the workplace, from professional perception to workplace advances to insubordination due to sexist thinking in a largely male dominated field. and all of this makes for really great and sadly relatable content for us viewers, because almost any woman with a pulse has had an experience with a shitty workplace environment and discrimination. these barriers and prejudices are as old as time and it’s naive to think they don’t exist, so to see our experiences validated and recognized, especially with three women of colour at the centre of the show, is rewarding and is part of what makes the rookie sooooo good.

at the same time, how the rookie deals with those barriers narratively can be troubling. there doesn’t always seem to be a sense that the environment, the attitudes, or the system will or should change, but rather that these women will learn how to adapt to the circumstances around them and overcome the odds. instead of the hurdles being pushed to the side, the woman molds herself into someone able to jump over them, which then undermines the idea that the systems should change at all. and this feels good to watch on a surface level— watching a woman like nyla harper literally hold her breath underwater and then point a gun at a criminal after having just given birth, or angela prove she’s right on every case, lucy winning the shooting champ or being top of the class for UC school, bailey being flawlessly trained in practically every useful skill— but it becomes a problem when it doesn’t leave enough room for error.

and the only thing that truly bothers me about this show is how it writes its women into a standard of perfection that is simply unrealistic. nyla, angela, lucy, and bailey all have moments where they might seem a little fashion-obsessed, hypersensitive, sassy, or demanding, but these moments are mostly exaggerated for comedic effect (in a way that is stereotypical in and of itself). however, at no point are these women ever WRONG. save for celina making honest mistakes as a rookie which could easily be pinned on nolan too, the women of the rookie have seldom if ever had to genuinely apologize to their male counterparts. their reactions to events and circumstances they face have been nothing but proportioned and appropriate, they never leave a loose end hanging, they don’t crack under pressure or lash out. things often, to me, feel very contained when it comes to the women of the rookie, and I can’t help but feel like the rookie is subscribing to this more neoliberal, performative version of feminism that— where true feminism says women should be equal to men even when they’re imperfect or unlikeable or flawed or in the wrong or make mistakes— turns around and says feminism means women can be just as strong as men if not stronger and watch this impeccable girlboss make zero mistakes in heels and eyeliner prove our point.

this is where fandom reaction also plays a part in things. there is a tendency in this fandom to protect lucy at all costs, but because of the slightly one dimensional way the show writes women, this protective instinct often ends up protecting lucy from ever being wrong or flawed. and not flawed as in she has baggage or pain, but in that she makes a rash decision or lashes out or judges someone too quickly or gets too cocky, which are all normal things we’ve all done at one point or another. the storyline with tim kind of illuminates this well, because the one storyline which focused on lucy having to deal with a genuine mistake and learning to move on from it professionally was turned into a haranguing on tim for allegedly not being cool with her going into uc and letting her make the mistake when she asked for hardass TO tim instead of helping her. so the storyline which could have been about how an overthinker like lucy finds a way to let go of the guilt of a mistake and show growth from a previous flaw becomes a storyline about how she actually didn’t do anything wrong, and the system is against her. then the standard of perfection is maintained in fandom and in canon, because no one will admit where lucy has shortcomings… so she just never has them.

case in point also goes with nyla and angela!! because they are pretty much always in the right and are allowed to be as short as they want with people because of it. and they’re not necessarily good with people all the time (at the very least this isn’t shown to be a strength of theirs) but that could have been developed as character flaws in need of developing and instead it wasn’t. and now people in the fandom insist that nyla and angela are mean, vindictive, and hateful towards lucy because they looked at her wrong— which, again, leaves them no margin for error. but also I honestly believe the reason that fan reactions were so strong was because we never see this women be anything but supportive to each other, and we never see them be anything but badass!! lucy can’t be in the wrong and they need to be understanding, there just isn’t any flexibility in our perspective. they don’t have enough moments of humility or shame or recklessness or weakness. and real equality comes when women who are messy and imperfect can easily access that kind of power and respect, not just women who try to remain flawless.

[thechenfordanalysis]

The Chenford Analysis: Season 1 Episode 11

With an incredible lack of Chenford content from the tenth episode of the season, we jump right back into it with episode 11, which, if I do say so myself, more than makes up for its antecedent.

Following our analysis from episodes 8 & 9, we are revisited by Tim's more resolved and stable persona. He has really stepped into his rightful role as a training officer and is now, fully, without distraction, involved and cognizant of his responsibility towards Lucy. By definition, the biggest side effect of this position is undoubtedly Tim's protectiveness of Lucy. Surely he has been protective of his other rookies in the past, but the added element of Lucy's tact and tolerance when it comes to dealing with Tim makes their relationship a much more even playing field. His abrasive power dynamic is more complimentary to Lucy's empathetic affect than it is intimidating. She has shown time and time again that she can not only handle his harshness but use it to gain her own insights into him. He definitely notices this about her as well.

As I said in the last analysis, Lucy's involvement and interest in Tim's well-being are becoming more apparent. Thus, when it comes to Tim being protective, the audience can be sure that his concern is indicative of not only his commitment to his job but also his awareness of Lucy's emotional capabilities and potential value in his life.

Season 1 Episode 11:

This is the Redwood episode. An absolutely glorious emotional roller coaster and one of the most iconic Chenford episodes in existence.

We start off with an introduction to the case: the vice president is coming to town, and every existing and able cop in the department has been tasked with making sure the visit goes smoothly and without difficulty. In a world of fiction, of course, that instruction almost guarantees problems.

Lucy and Tim's first order of business is to ask a streetful of homeless people to move themselves and their belongings away from the VP parade location. A peaceful request turns into a scuffle in which Lucy is stuck with a used hypodermic needle. Any prospects of "smoothly and without difficulty" have now gone out the window.

With Tim back in the saddle as the all-knowing and calculated T.O., he quickly notices the needle and jumps into the execution of proper protocol to ensure Lucy's safety.

A couple of things to note here; first off, I love the writers' attention to the show's central plot and main story arc. They always do such a fabulous job of combining and maintaining all purposes of the show. The juxtaposition of wanting to enhance Tim and Lucy's interpersonal relationship but also, at the same time, wanting to show the audience why it's important to understand what's happening for training purposes is a concept that is well embedded into the script. The show writers definitely know how to use these opposing goals to their advantage, and they bring this conflict to life by turning it into emotion. Specifically, Tim's emotions - which brings me to my second point.

Lucy undoubtedly is experiencing the greater rut of emotional conflict here. Expectedly, she's dazed, terrified, and in shock. Even so, she's holding her own and doing everything she can to keep herself from shutting down or having an overblown freakout. It's killing her, yes, but what I wanna talk about is Tim's reaction to her pain.

Eric Winter does a great job bringing these conflicting emotions of worry, urgency, anger, and instruction to life in Tim. We can see it all come together on his face. He first gets Lucy to focus, his stance firm, strong, and protective yet, dangerously close to hers.

He bats his eyes demandingly up and down her face. "What do we do now?" he asks. He's intense. His words, his eyes, his presence; all of it: intense.

She recites the next steps of the protocol robotically, almost like a mantra. He watches, his gaze nervously shifting between her eyes and lips, occasionally pausing and then darting back as if he has to remind himself to look away. Then, there's the grimace. The tightening of the jaw, the pursing of the lips, that swallow.

It's the kind of thing you might notice initially, but its meaning only becomes obvious and contextualized through a rewatch and the knowledge that Chenford eventually does indeed become canon. It really helps to put his reaction into perspective.

He's presenting as calm, his voice smooth and stable. Exactly what Lucy needs him to be at this moment. This is that give and take I told you about before. She's once again inadvertently given him a chance to become emotionally available for her in the same way she has been for him.

He'll take take that chance.

He'll be her strength.

Her voice of reason.

At the hospital, he becomes Lucy's advocate. He lashes out at staff for not prioritizing an officer and waits with her while she's getting tested. One of their other defining moments from this episode is in the hospital room when she begins to panic and descend into the hell that is the WebMD doom spiral. He snatches her phone out of her hand and fights her worry with logic.

Lucy responds to rationalization and logic pretty well, so she complies, and then, in an unprecedented yet endearing display of empathy, Tim manages to make a joke. Yes, that's right, a joke. As in, he made her laugh. Well, it was more like an entertained scoff, but the important thing is that it made her smile. He made her smile.

In all ways, he's everything a mentor should be. Demanding as a trainer, commanding as an instructor, and even understanding as a leader. In this episode, though, he becomes sympathetic as a person.

As a human being, rather.

This feels like the first episode where Tim really lets himself feel bad for Lucy. This is different than just feeling responsible for her as her T.O. This kind of sympathy forced him to humanize Lucy as someone simply going through a hard time who he can help. You can see a shift in how he shows concern for her in this episode. The way he can put aside his hard outer shell for a moment, to just let her feel her own worry and not force her through it. He lets go of his demanding nature because he can realize that, at that moment, all Lucy needs is comfort. In a way, this interaction humanizes him as well. Showing Lucy and the audience that there is a softer, more sensitive version of Tim is a great way to add depth to his character and more meaning to his relationship with Lucy.

It is also necessary to consider that this sympathetic and compassionate side of Tim has probably not been in use for a while. Isabel hadn't been a part of his life in over a year, and your wife leaving you in the middle of the night and disappearing for years doesn't do much for your emotional health or capacity. If anything, it probably decreases your ability to show kindness and compassion. There is solace and satisfaction in knowing that Lucy may have been the reason for the restoration of Tim's emotional awareness. In other dramatic words, she taught him how to feel again.

You would think that things would start to fall into place after all that has happened in this episode so far, but our last little climax comes when Lucy meets a suspicious woman in the bathroom. She follows her out and into a room where she finds her just seconds away from taking her own brother's life via bleach-filled syringe (real original smh).

Lucy is quick and responsive, and this little shtick has seemingly brought her out of her slump. Tim's pep talk about risking it all for the job is still lingering in the air and has clearly rejuvenated Lucy's passion to protect and serve.

She's alert and careful.

Confident and urgent as she tries to talk this woman down from the proverbial ledge of murder.

She's focused. Her weapon; aimed. Her eyes; locked on her target.

Tim arrives. He reads the situation in a split second, and suddenly, he's focused. His weapon; aimed. His eyes; locked on his target.

His target being Lucy, of course.

Some glances are indicative of one specific emotion. Others are a mix of many. All are important and mean something more than words can say. This particular glance, personally, gives me notes of concern, awe, shock, and reassurance, with maybe a touch of confusion; all valid emotions given their circumstances.

Just when the threat is neutralized, and the audience is convinced that there couldn't possibly be any other surprises, we are proven beautifully incorrect as Tim cracks yet another joke. This time Lucy seems less than amused, but this joke felt more meant for Tim's amusement anyway.

"Can't leave you alone for a minute," he says. Shameless, truly.

As the episode comes to an end, we get one last little gem of an interaction from our two favs. Tim is out to make his way back to the station with their arrest but urges Lucy to stay at the hospital and wait for her results. Before he walks off, she stops him. He turns around at the mention of his name, and after a momentary hesitation and lack for better words, she thanks him.

"For what?, Doing my job?" he smiles.

He walks away, and I die forever. Lucy seems flattered.

Season one is obviously focused more on setting a dynamic between Tim and Lucy in a professional capacity, but this dialogue helps us accomplish more than that. Yes, Tim might be acknowledging that her gratitude is needless because it will always be his job to look out for her, but on a more personal note, her gratitude is needless because it is the least she should expect. Nothing extra went into his ability to sympathize with her. He just did. And so long as he's doing his job, he always will.

A reassurance for the ages, in my opinion, and a heartwarming way to end the episode, too.

Of course, Lucy ends up being okay, and all is well with the world, but if I had a complaint, it would be that I would have liked to have seen Tim make it back from the station in time to hear Lucy's results. I think it would have been a cute moment to see on screen and would've been a nice payoff to the tension of the whole episode if they got a joint triumph over her clean bill of health.

Either way, this was a masterfully crafted episode in regard to Tim and Lucy. We had angst, protection, concern, pining, and soft smiles of gratitude. All the makings of an effective build-up of tension between two leads.

A solid piece of work, both in its writing and execution, but then again, did we ever expect anything less?

General PSA: One of my followers helped me realize that I used some gifs in previous posts which went uncredited to the original creators. I apologize for this and promise to give credit moving forward. Assuredly all gifs and videos in this post are my own, but if anyone recognizes the original credits for any of the outsourced gifs used previously, please credit them in the replies. Thank you, and happy reading!

[wafflesinthe504]

The Rookie 5x18 Thoughts

Spoilers for The Rookie 5x18 below. If you've watched the episode or don't care about spoilers, please enjoy!

Lights! Camera! Action! Its documentary time with Dim and Juicy back for one final time.

This episode had me cracking up the entire time. It was such a fun and chaotic episode. The only thing that could have possibly made this episode funnier was Smitty being included somehow.

I always love the one on ones with Grey and how it allows him to be so funny. We really got to see peak comedic Grey this time around I loved it. Everything from him taking a picture with the painting to him tackling the guy who ripped the painting to him grieving the loss of the painting and then reacting to the new painting that the team got for him was just comedic gold.

I actually enjoyed seeing a little bit of what Sava and Jake's relationship looked like while they were together since the first time that we saw them was pretty much only while they were in a holding room. I'm a little bit sad that we won't be able to see them continue to be their chaotic selves together since Dim is dead. Maybe we'll get to see Sava again since she's out there still living life. It could be really fun to see an episode where Lucy and Sava end up having to go undercover together if Sava gets into any really big trouble. Or maybe Lucy ends up going undercover as Nova again and she ends running into Sava and they have to quickly come up with a reason for explaining their similarities and they go with being twins.

Just because Jake is dead doesn't mean that this has to be the last time we see Sava. I guess we'll see how everything pans out.

I will say that as much as I enjoyed the episode I do wish that they didn't go with the whole jealous side chick decides to kill Jake. They had setup what I would consider a more interesting storyline for Jake and a plausible reason for him being murdered and I wish that they had gone with him being involved with the weapons dealers and that being the reason he was killed instead of a jealous ex.

The Chenford content that we got was pretty good even though they were interviewed separately for most of the episode this time around. I do think that the fact that they were interviewed separately this time around helped to show/ remind of us of who they independent of one another.

As we saw Tim was much more of his gruff and grumpy self. His edge returning as soon as he's alone in a room filled by strangers that he can barely stand. While Lucy is her regular sunshine self but sometimes became a little bit unsure of herself. But when they are brought back together Tim's edge is softened by Lucy from a simple touch or look because he's comfortable with her and Lucy is more of her confident self when she's around Tim.

Their ending scene was great. A place of honesty, respect, and love is where their relationship is at I am so excited to continue to get the chance to continue to explore their relationship and how they grow as independent characters and as a couple. When Lucy said 'if you don't know by now then you haven't been watching' felt more like a nod to us as the audience acknowledging that anyone who has been watching for a substantial amount of time knows where Lucy and Tim are at in the relationship.

I'm hoping that we'll get a love confession in this season's finale.

_____________________________________________________________

Hope you enjoyed. If you want come chat with me in the comments about anything The Rookie related.

Until next time have a good day or night!✌🏾

[my-shields-are-down]

Heyyy

Did you enjoy the Valentines episode of The Rookie yesterday? Did you like the chenford content we got?

Hello -

Popular question! I have thoughts.

Generally speaking, I liked the episode. I thought the story lines were great, I loved the "found family" vibe, I am very interested in Celina's murdered sister story, I laughed at all the couples having fights on Valentines Day, and I loved the Chenford content we got.

My big complaints/issues. I'll address these first and then move onto what I loved.

one - I want more smooches between Tim and Lucy. Even a quick kiss here or there would be great. I don't need tons of sex scenes - there are a couple of fan fic writers who have that shit locked down. I can get any variety of smut on AO3.

two - while the main action stories were good and interesting, they weren't great. There was a lack of urgency and excitement (a/k/a "oomph") in both the Ebola and the sarin gas story lines. The episode could have been better in that regard. I felt like these stories were "scratching the surface" of the topics.

three - as usual they were cramming 4+ stories into a single episode instead of focusing on just 2-3. Trying to include everything left a lot of unanswered questions and dangling storylines. Whether or not they are addressed in future episodes remains to be seen, but we don't have that many episodes left this season.

Now for what I really enjoyed about the episode.

+ I totally get why Bailey was mad at John. Him swooping in to save the day was annoying. That said, I want to hire him for the next time I have to call my mail-order-prescription delivery service. 9 times out of 10 I end up yelling at the imbecile who is not taking notes during our conversation and not expediting the order. I would love for him to just handle that for me.

+ I loved the Chenford content we got. I've basically wiped out all of my expectations for these two fictional characters, so I am always grateful and surprised at what new tidbits we get in an episode. We now know that Tim sometimes sleeps in a shirt - why god why! - and that he defers to let Lucy sleep on HIS side of the bed. Tim's a romantic that somehow found time between his new demanding job and Lucy to go jewelry shopping!!! He's a bigtime softie - especially for Lucy. He basically let her off the hook for keeping him in the dark by accepting her non-apology. they have an active, active sex life requiring fuel for extended sessions, they go out to eat as much as they eat in, Tim notices her outfits. Tin got them a reservation out on the busiest restaurant day of the year. Lucy flirted with other men at UC School. Lucy was first in her class at UC School. I'd bet $$ that Noah hit on Lucy and she turned him down - not because of Chris, but because of Tim. Lucy openly touches Tim now. And many more juicy tidbits.

+ I liked that all the couples were fighting. I personally am not a Valentine's Day fan. I think it's a stupid event to generate sales for multiple industries. but whatever. One of the writers is an Alias fan with the Charlie Bristow character. Another secret sister to Sidney. Hello! + I am very interested to see where things go with Celina's sister's murder. I thought it was a little pompous of Nolan to pre-screen the file for her. But as she is his trainee, I guess it makes some kind of sense.

I loved the found family random conversation generator event on open mic.

I loved that grumpy Tim, and slightly jealous confused Tim was back.

I am glad they found a way for Tim to ride with Lucy - they have such a great rapport.

But there are some issues lurking in the darkness and which likely will pop up again before the end of the season:

Tim stressing about not being able to handle multiple calls. How does he manage that? Metro still has the potential as a stressor on this relationship. We need more information about what Tim heard and what people are saying about Lucy's maneuvers.

If Lucy was #1 in her UC Academy Class - you can bet she was recruited as an UC officer right out of the gate. Why didn't she go that way, why did she go back to patrol? She and Chris were still together at that point.

The whole UC career thing will be a stressor - what happens when Lucy is offered or asked to go on a long term assignment. We know Dm/Jake comes back. Will Juicy? Will she have to stay under for longer time without him? What will that do to their relationship? Won't be as hard now as later when kids are involved but could cause some stress for Tim.

Chris Sanford comes back next episode - I'm guessing because he's the only DA left who can prosecute Elijah. I'm also guessing there won't be any Chenford angst there. too much action other places to focus on that.

But generally speaking, I'm happy. and if I wasn't? I'd either rewatch one of the earlier episodes, or read through the 2500+ fan fic stories on AO3. Plenty of stories abound to make me happy, not all of them visual, on tv, or on Tuesday nights.

[saralayne]

This Love ~ Part 11 🩵💜

That’s The One

Tim has some shopping to do. He takes his best friend, Angela and unofficial kid Tamara for this very important purchase.

Days after Lucy walked away from UC had been blissful. She had never felt more happy and content with her decision. She was back on patrol. Sometimes alone and on occasion with Aaron when he wasn’t helping Angela and Nyla. Lucy still wanted at some point to take the detectives exam. However, with a bitter officer who got moved out of Metro with Lucy’s five player trade on Tim’s behalf and was blocking her. She knew she needed to just let it be for now. She just wanted to be happy right and was perfectly happy on patrol. Life was so good. Everything felt right. She had a great family at Wilshire and was living a dream with the love of her life. Whatever the future held professionally for her. She had Tim by her side and that was priceless to her.

Tim had been so overwhelmed by the sacrifice. Lucy had made for him. For them. No one in his life had ever put him first like that. Not his parents. Not Isabel. Rachel. Ashley. No one. This woman has surely changed everything for him since day one. She had long become so much more than his hot shot rookie. Tim had talked to Pine and had asked to scale back too much overtime. He obviously had to be on call on occasion as he was the sergeant. Lucy had made such a sacrifice for him, he wanted to be with her at home as much as he possibly could.

After Lucy had changed career paths. They had a serious talk about taking the next step. Because they were both transitioning professionally. They had decided it wasn’t the right time to buy a house. Tim decided to sell his house. It was time. He shared that house with Isabel and it had long not felt like a home since they divorced. The house was in a nice area of LA, it didn’t take long to sell. Tim moved him and Kojo into Lucy’s apartment. They had a long talk with Tamara before making this move. Always wanting to make sure she was comfortable. Tamara is in college full time. On the road to becoming a lawyer. Both Lucy and Tim were so proud of her. She had gone from having nothing, no path to being at the top of her class in college. She had a lot of great friends. She was thriving. Tim had grown fond of Tamara and even considered her an unofficial daughter. They truly were a family. Tamara was elated with Tim moving in. Even more excited that she would be able to steal Kojo. Tim had been strict with Kojo not letting him sleep on the bed but he knew full well all those rules would be thrown out the window with his girls.

It was time for Tim to go and purchase a ring for Lucy. He had many ideas about the proposal. One thing at a time. He was clueless when it came to rings. He never even bought Isabel a ring as they got married on a whim. Lucy was the love of his life. He wanted to get the perfect ring for her that showed just how committed he is to their future. Tim was starting to feel overwhelmed. It was time to bring in reinforcements. Tim pulled his phone out.

From: Tim Bradford

To: Angela Lopez

“Hey, I need your help”

From: Angela Lopez

To: Tim Bradford

“Of course. Let me guess. Time to buy a ring?”

From: Tim Bradford

To: Angela Lopez

“I really can’t anything past you, can I?”

From: Angela Lopez

To: Tim Bradford

“Bradford, I am the best detective this city has ever seen. Meet me at the food trucks for lunch”

From: Tim Bradford

To: Angela Lopez

“See you soon”

Tim and Angela arrived at basically the same time. As they sat down. Angela couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.

“Are you gonna stare at me the whole time”

“Maybe, I am just so happy for my best friend. No one deserves this happiness more than you, Tim. I know after Isabel and everything that happened took you to such a dark place and you never thought you would find happiness again. Enter Lucy Chen”

“Isn’t that the truth. It’s unreal how she changed everything for me. The best rookie I ever trained. In more ways than one. Honestly, Ang. I know I was a hard ass at first because I had to be to properly train her. But she was gonna be a game changer for me from that first day. Thinking of everything we have been through together. Caleb, Rosalyn which for the record I have NEVER been more terrified in my life when I pulled her out of that barrel. I couldn’t lose her. I truly was in love with her back then if I’m being honest with myself. So many obstacles prevented me from pursuing anything past a platonic relationship but I got to build a friendship with her. Ashley was just a distraction but I really stayed with her for way too long. Everytime I saw her with Chris, my heart shattered into a million pieces. I am just so happy we got to this place. Lucy Chen is the brightest light in my life. All the ways she has given me a new life. Risking everything on many occasions. Getting me into Metro and now being blocked from moving forward on becoming a detective. Her giving up the UC life. No one has ever prioritized me”

“She truly is the love of your life. Just so you know. Lucy will be able to become a detective. Nyla and I will move mountains to back her. Just let the dust settle a little. So, are you ready to buy a ring and get down on one knee”

“I sure am. How about Saturday? Lucy is working this weekend. I want to talk to Tamara as well. Maybe bring her along?”

“Of course Tim. Tamara is an amazing girl. She truly is yours and Lucy’s kid. She may be an adult but Lucy changed her life and I know she has worked her way into your heart as well. I know she will feel honoured to be included in this. I have to get back to work. Talk to Tam and I will see you on Saturday. Let’s pick out the perfect ring”

Tim had texted Tamara asking her to meet at a coffee shop, knowing she had a break from classes. Tim had become invested in Tamara’s life. He pretty much knew her schedule. Tamara walked into Nevin’s to a waiting Tim.

“Hi Dadford”

Tim annoyed with that name at first, it now had completely grown on him.

“Hey, Kiddo”

“So where is the ring?”

“What?”

“Oh please. I have known this moment was coming for a while now”

“Right. So, I have your blessing to ask Lucy to marry me?”

“Of course, Dadford. It feels like that moment where a kid prays her parents would get married already”

“Good. We love you so much kid. I hope you know that”

“I do”

“Ok. Do you have plans on Saturday?”

“I don’t think so. Probably some studying”

“Could I steal you away from studying for a few hours. Join Angela and I to pick out the perfect ring for Lucy”

“I can’t think of anything I would love to do more. Thank you for having me be a part of this”

“Of course, kid. Lucy is working on Saturday so we can go shopping in the morning”

“Sounds perfect”

On Saturday morning, Tim sent Lucy off to work. He told her he was going to have a relaxing day, taking Kojo for a hike. A little white fib for the greater good. Tim and Tamara made their way over to Angela’s.

After many hours to many jewelry shops. Tim saw many rings he liked. It wasn’t until the last shop, he felt he had found the perfect ring. It was a rose gold, oval shaped diamond. The ladies also thought it was perfect and was definitely Lucy’s style. He had truly found the perfect ring. Tim paid. It was quite a dent in his credit card but he could care less. There was no amount of money that could measure how worth it she is.

As they all sat down to enjoy a smoothie. Angela was the first to notice the pure happiness written all over Tim’s face.

“So you got the most perfect ring. When is the proposal going down?”

“I want something that’s us. I have a few ideas. I am gonna ponder it for a few days but I want to propose very soon”

“Dadford. Anyway I can help. I am there”

“I second that, Bradford”

Tim and Tamara headed home with his priceless purchase. He was going to lock the ring in his desk at work, not trusting there was a good hiding spot in the apartment. Tamara headed to the library to study. Tim took Kojo for a long walk. Lucy had texted and told him she was headed to a call. Tim quickly drove over to Wilshire to lock the ring in his desk. As Tim was driving home, a million thoughts swarming through his head about how he was going to propose. As he was pulling into the parking lot. His phone chiming.

From: Lucy (My Love)

To: Tim (Babe)

“Hi babe. That call was a doozy. Drunk college kids. Made me think of how lucky that “our kid”isn’t living that kind of college life. We kinda hit the jackpot with her {winky face emoji}

From: Tim (Babe)

To: Lucy (My Love)

“She will never live that life. If I have anything to say about it. Not “our kid”

From: Lucy (My Love)

To: Tim (Babe)

“I am heading back to the station to finish some paperwork and then will be home. I just want to cuddle with you and Kojo with some top chef”

From: Tim (Babe)

To: Lucy (My Love)

“Your boys will be waiting for you baby”

As Tim walked into their apartment. Tim felt joyful thinking about the future ahead of him. He finally had found true happiness with the most beautiful and amazing woman.

[outrunningthedark]

I'm so glad that a famous blog like yours (at least for me and regarding buddie) talks about being concerned with bt and Lucy. 'Cause I am too, and I feel like some ppl in the Fandom kinda look down on and belittle people who are not 100% positive about every aspect of the storyline and the show in general, so thanks I guess.

I still believe in buddie canon ofc, but I'm generally very easily stressed out about everything. And I loooove angst and conflict in my ship, however I also like getting hints that everything is gonna be ok hahaha. Like I wouldn't mind there not being any explicit romantic buddie scenes in 5b, and I don't think there will be any 'cause I feel they're not there yet, I want them to be ok when they start something, but I'd love a scene for example in 5x18 where everything is starting to get back to normal and maybe they all have a get together or are in a bar or something and eddie asks hen how she knew she was and she just smiles and says something like when I fell in love with my best friend and he just ducks his head and smiles or even glances at buck or something.

Sorry for the rant I'm just very excited every time we get a new piece of information about the show ahhaah

Have a great day!!!

Hey, nonnie <3 Thanks for the well wishes. I hope you have a great day also. :) I might not always answer right away, but my inbox welcomes almost all questions/concerns about the future of Buddie - the exception being asks that seem to be hoping for an outburst of some kind. ;)

I've seen the blogs you're referencing (I'm sure we've all seen them), the ones who find positives in practically everything the show did to Buck and Eddie during 5A. While it's nice for them that scenes played out in a way *they* liked because their interpretations/expectations were validated, that doesn't mean you or anyone else isn't allowed to feel disappointed, annoyed, concerned...maybe even bored. I think the perception of Buddie (as a couple and as individuals) after 5A depends on what people are watching for. If you're part of Eddieblr, you're looking forward to his time away from the 118 because it means he's getting his own storyline (that should involve dealing with past traumas). If you're a Buck girl first, you probably don't like TayKay as much as you did last season because it's obvious she doesn't make him as happy as he deserves to be and you're ready for the relationship to be over. And, if you're a Buck girl first, you might be more open to the idea of him getting with Lucy because you'll settle for the backup plan (aka "anyone but Eddie") as long as he appears to be content. (The guaranteed screen time for your fave is a bonus.) If you're like me and your main interest is watching the Buckley-Diaz family continue to evolve and eventually become official? 5B will be a tough watch, at least until we can send The Reporter on her way. Yeah, yeah. We know the relationship has an expiration date. But we don't have an exact timeframe, and we still have to sit through BT scenes to reach that point. Then there's the addition of Lucy. I'm not worried about her and Buck ending up together, but I am most definitely not looking forward to the flipflopping a la 4x08 when TayKay returned. There will undoubtedly be folks in Buddie fandom that won't want to let her go. There will be fans that want more scenes between her and Buck because "they look so good together". And then, of course, there will be the fans that worry about Lucy's "real" purpose from the very first minute she and Buck share a scene. Eddie doing his own thing + Lucy being a first responder (unlike TayKay) will lead to assumptions/fears that *this* is how Tim, Kristen & co. plan to keep Buddie from happening. (TPTB struggle with writing relationships when one half is a non-first responder. Lucy would be the first LI of both Buck and Eddie to not pose that problem. 1 + 1 = 2. Duh.) TL;DR I don't think I'll be able to get excited about anything until Eddie is back with the 118.

[doomedship]

Episode 7

So here is my usual thing of breaking down post episode thoughts. As you can guess, I'm neither surprised nor pleased with where we got to. I'll save the Chenford chat this time because honestly, it's the same comments as before and I'm covering it in the asks I'm getting. It's not like there was much to look at.

I think the major issue with this season is the level of disconnect among the characters. It is so at odds with the closely interwoven stories of s1-2 where we really felt everyone in the core cast was playing for the same team, working towards the same goal.

What has changed?

Nowadays, everyone is off doing their own thing in visually very separate settings with completely unrelated plotlines.

When they used to all go out on patrol, there was a synchronisation, a unity to the way an episode was framed. Even if they were in different local storylines, the core six would be shown within the same routines, the same parameters of action. There was body cam and shop cam footage reminding us they were all in the same boat. They'd call on one another as backup, and they'd typically regroup at some point to link everyone back up by the end of the episode.

Now we watch three or four distinct siloes, separately, with too many non-police characters to make this cohesive.

We have the main bucket which is always Nolan, who takes up the bulk of the screen time and is typically doing 'policing', albeit not as we used to see since he's now some kind of 007 action hero instead of rookie cop. Bailey is his entirely unnecessary bond girl. They're typically seen out in the field in a range of settings, interacting with new guest characters every week, and there's an air of holier than thou about them that's suffocating the ensemble dynamic.

We then have a further bucket with Wesley and Angela who have this season's B-plot. Wesley's scenes are mostly with outsiders and feel quite manufactured to give a reason for Wesley to even be on-screen at all - which he is. He's effectively the second leading man right now. He's the only one besides Nolan with a heavy storyline. Meanwhile, Angela's scenes are at a desk in the precinct or with Wesley at home. She is no longer a roaming agent and most of her content relates to home and family, so she feels cut off from everyone else and underinvolved.

We then have Harper, who fluctuates a bit. She almost got set up to be the only remaining classic T.O., but this has largely been sidelined. Thorsen hasn't appeared in a while and even when he did, half the dialogue was about personal relationships. The police scenes were limited. So the only remaining link to the rookie dynamic we know was so successful isn't even being explored. Most of Harper's content is about her love life and family too. So she feels cut off from everyone else and underinvolved.

Then finally, there's Lucy and Tim. I said I wouldn't get into it with Chenford but it's glaringly, painfully obvious how they've decimated the role Chenford had in this show. Lucy and Tim combined on patrol showed the light and the dark of the job. Tim's experience and Lucy's empathy. Together they teased out the conflict that simply being alive brings, all the difficulty and the wrong turns and the doing your best but losing anyway. None of that exists in the show anymore. There aren't any moral dilemmas, there aren't any moments of true pain. I've spoken at great length about the way Lucy has been treated, but suffice to say, she feels cut off from everyone else and underinvolved.

A further point is that the show has lost its physical grounding in the city setting. I don't know if anyone else has noticed this but we don't see much of the everyman's Los Angeles anymore. Everything has been dialled up on the extravagance scale. Criminals aren't ordinary people anymore, they're master criminals and gang bosses and serial killers and ex-secret service and... group of rich wives? There aren't any grey areas, either. Everyone is either rotten to the core or they're a joke criminal.

Before, we'd see our characters delving into run down and regular homes and businesses, we'd see poverty and pain and mediocre crime and futility and grey areas. We'd see genuine loss and subverted expectations. Now I'm not surprised, I'm not intrigued, I'm not relieved. I'm just... nothing.

This show has lost sight of what it set out to do. And that wasn't give crude, trashy scenes based around getting a flash of an actor's chest. It wasn't about virtue signalling or clear cut morality either. But that's where we've landed.

[literali1110]

Chenford vs Chris and Ashley

I am going to preface this by saying, that I am not of the “if they can’t be together yet, let Tim and Lucy date and be happy with other people who are worthy of them” opinion. I personally don’t have an interest in other love interests for my ship - unless those love interests serve a greater purpose.

So while I wasn’t crazy about other love interests being introduced - I think Chenford has enough obstacles without them - I tried to see them for what they were: plot devices. I don’t care that Tashley and Chucy have no chemistry or that they’re totally wrong for each other. In fact, I seek it out. I want to see it highlighted that they’re wrong for each other because it will only highlight why Tim and Lucy are right for each other. (And, ok, some jealously would be great too but that is apparently too much to ask for!)

At times, I’ve been happy with the content, and at times, not. Let’s break this down:

4x06 - Ashley is introduced, Lucy is not involved at all. I’m skeptical here.

4x08 - Tim mentions he’s not single and we get to see Lucy’s reaction. Not quite jealousy, but ok, show. You’re giving us something here. (And then this girlfriend is absent for all 4x09, meanwhile Lucy does not leave Tim’s side).

4x10 - I was pretty much thrilled with the use of Ashley here, because they involved Lucy (and Kojo)! Ashley SCREAMED plot device. She was uncomfortable in Tim’s home, but her true purpose was for her phone call to Lucy and Lucy’s glance at Tim. This is what we’re looking for!!

Then Chris got introduced, I didn’t like him, but again, I’m not looking to like Lucy’s boyfriends.

4x11 - We could possible read into how Tim loomed large over Chris, but that is probably asking too much from us viewers. I’m not seeing the point of Chris here!!

4x12 - Need I say anything? Chris and Ashley served their purpose and more here, on that double date. Only question is why they go on to date Lucy and Tim after that display...

4x15 - Here’s where I got bummed again about Chris. Why was he not serving his plot device purpose? Why wasn’t there more played off Tim? Why did Lucy have to touch his chest all “cute”?

4x17 - I absolutely loved Lucy’s SL this episode! And I loved how they used Chris. The episodes are always more enjoyable for me when they do something amazing that I didn’t see coming, as they did here by revisiting DOD.

Chris was DUMB. He did something HORRIBLE. He did EXACTLY what I wanted him to - showed how wrong he was for Lucy. He paralleled a SERIAL KILLER. Tim wasn’t part of this exchange but his presence was definitely felt, because we know how Tim reacted the last time this happened to Lucy and he was present. No break up, but I think it was clear to all that Chris is not long for Lucy’s world.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, it is frustrating that neither of the couples have broken up yet - especially in 4x12 and 4x17 when I thought that’s where they were heading (for Tashley and Chucy, respectively). But I guess I have to remember that this is Tim “finished what he starts” Bradford, and Lucy “no quit in her” Chen. There’s a lot more to get into about these characters, and their previous relationships, but what it comes down to is they’re not ones to give up so easily. They don’t want to “fail” at these relationships.

So all in all, I came out of this episode happy with the use of Chris (and Ashley) as plot devices to move Chenford along - for the most part...because I do have my qualms. I just hope they continue to use them as such and that we actually get break-ups this season and that it leads to a significant *moment* for Chenford!

Sorry this got long! Feel free to chat with me in the comments. Have there been times you liked the use of Chris and Ashley? Guesses for how things will “wrap up” in 4x21?

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Tuesday all. Yay for writers strike being over. Now we just need to get the actors a good deal as and we'll get our couple back hopefully soon enough. Or have some kind of premiere on the horizon. Till then let's continue on with our rewatch. :) Getting to the crux is this whole Stanton SL. Their moments get better as we approach the climax of this whole ordeal. We don't have a ton of content but its pretty solid what we do get. Off we go.

3x05 Lockdown

We start out with our couple already in process of booking someone. Lucy is telling Tim that Stanton gave Jackson a blue page with leaving the drugs behind. She see's the guilt wash over him. She immediately stops Tim from blaming himself. Says it’s not his fault. Tim is riddled with guilt regardless and says it is. It was his fault because it was his idea to reach out to Doug's old rookie.

Then Tim sees Stanton enter the building and goes into aggressive protector mode. I’m here for it. If looks could kill oooh boy. That look in his eye is like a fight on sight clause. *fans self* Nothing love more than protective/aggro Tim. Lucy spots where his eyes are going. Quickly tries to deescalate Tim from knocking Stanton out cold immediately. Saying they don’t want to make things even worse for Jackson. Tim doesn’t hold back in the slightest when he comes up to Stanton. Asking if he wants to brush up on any arrest control techniques. Get em Tim. (Tim would've totally owned his ass if they had)

First off I love Lucy trying to ground Tim by touching him. Bringing him back to earth by saying hey we’re on duty… let's go. Doing what she does best by de-escalating him in the moment. He is ready to throw down with this putz. He doesn't care the consequences at this point. Lucy is very aware of this and is trying to head it off as quickly as possible. Doesn't want to risk Tim in the war they are waging against Stanton. She is doing her damndest to protect him from himself in this moment. Then Doug makes his next mistake... Trying to incite Tim by using Lucy and saying very inappropriate things about her.

Tim doesn’t have to step in because Lucy is gonna stand up for her damn self. Goes toe to toe with Stanton. Just like Tim does. Suddenly it's not just Tim. It's Lucy ready to take him down as well. Tells Doug he’s the one who is going to need rescuing. Whew lord This is getting good. Pass me the popcorn. Stanton is messing with the wrong couple. Separate they'll kick his ass. Together? Utter desolation. Fool of a man to try and take them on. Had no idea the hornets nest he just kicked.

Lucy telling Stanton she has a great hair pull takedown she’s been dying to try. LMAO Amazing. Don't mess someone they care about. Tim then becomes the one to ground her with his touch. Having them walk away before either of them do something they’ll regret. The fact that both of them wanna kick his ass in this moment is *chef kiss*. Best part is their natural instinct to protect one another.

Could care less about themselves but always instinctively shield the other. God I love them. Let's talk about how casual and natural they are about the touching to calm each other. Especially in front of others. My heart. Friggin love how they both wanna take Stanton down but also want to protect the other. Lucy calmed Tim down and then when Doug went after Tim through Lucy he had to be the one to calm her down. What a pair these two.

Tim can't help but give her crap about going after Stanton after she made him stand down. Lucy cracks me up with her testosterone line. How she got a contact high off of it LOL It was that and she was protecting both of the men in her life. The most important relationships to her. He threatened both in one moment and she was not going to have it. Ugh so good. Great opening scene for them hot damn. I will take this kind of content all day.

They follow up with a hilarious scene with the girl they booked. She’s asking for the bagels she stole back. The balls on this chick my god. Tim tells her they’ve been disposed of. She goes on saying how bad that is for the environment. His eye roll and his head tilting back LMFAO. I love this man so much your honor. He's in no mood to deal with this person. Lucy steps in and offers some logic to her ‘whole ethos’ Adore her stepping in and trying to run interference for Tim.

They’re both so over this girl by the end of their interaction I’m dying. They have much bigger problems today than her. She continues her obnoxious annoyance and says she doesn’t believe in money. But wants them to call her a cab. Sassy Tim arrives on the scene and he is most welcome. I’m laughing so hard at his reply. He is beyond done with this girl and her BS. Forever love how sassy he is now. Thank you Lucy haha

Lucy turns around and asks Nolan how his exam was. He says he passed but doesn’t seem psyched about it. Lucy notes this and Nolan says Grey just confirmed he’ll never make detective. Tim does this deep chuckle that does things to my insides and says ‘You mean you still thought you had a shot?’ LMFAO He’s so mean to Nolan and I love it sfm. Legit brings me joy how constantly underwhelmed he is by John.

His body language the whole scene has me rolling. Legit tickled pink Nolan with his letter of reprimand thought he still had a shot at detective LOL It’s the giant laugh that proceeds his line that kills me the most. Tim can't believe John could actually think he still had a legit shot at it after what he did. He’s such a jerk to Nolan and it makes me happy. I’m a bad person I know haha

They get pulled away by their freegan. She goes and gets herself arrested again by breaking into a car in their parking lot. John follows them out and quickly gets pulled away by a man in a van while they arrest her again. Nolan of course gets caught in a bomb threat outside the station. Leaving Tim and Lucy stuck there until the threat is neutralized. Hence the name of the ep. They're locked down till this mess is resolved.

They bring everyone in the lobby and in holding down to the parking garage. I love the chat they have about it. Lucy is voicing her concerns and anxiety for Jackson. Tim is instantly the calm presence she needs. He knows she is stressed because now they can’t be Jackson’s backup. Advises her the best he can till they are out of this current mess. The more they focus on the task at hand faster they're back out there to help him. I just can’t get over them being this united front to protect Jackson best they can. Makes my heart happy.

Once they're out of the garage Tim and Lucy do some digging on Graham their bomber. They find out he has a GF Kelsey Adams. She set up a page to fund his medical bills. Yet they haven't asked for money. Another thing is she’s going under an assumed name and they have no pictures of her. She wasn’t home when Lopez tracked her address down. All their leads aren’t going anywhere. It’s not about money or about the convict this man pretended to want release at first. So feels like they're back to square one. All they know is Kelsey must be involved in this circus. That they're close enough for her to have a hand in this with Graham. The issue is figuring why they're both doing this.

Lucy then has an epiphany and says what if it’s meant to distract them? Since this isn't about money or releasing someone. That the real reason is to pull their focus outside the station. When it should it really be focused inside. Harper then asks what kind of crazy person would be inside while her BF threatens that same building with explosives? I love this beautiful look between them. Their silent communication at its finest right here. All she has to do is look at Tim and they have the same thought. Their Freegan who got herself arrested twice in one hour is crazy enough.

They go to confront Freegan Freida and I love their dynamic. How confident they are and the back and forth they display. Trying to get her to break. Tag teaming it. Explaining how they caught her and her reasons why. Until they realize she’s not Kelsey Adams…. It was real good till then guys haha The real Kelsey takes off and breaks the keypad trapping them down there.

Harper is able to catch Kelsey in the evidence room and figure out why she’s there. They’re trying to get her fingerprints before they’re scanned into the system. Her ex-husband was abusive and has cops on his payroll. Why she was under an assumed name. Harper also finds out the bomb is a fake. Only needed them to think it was real to buy time. Also get him arrested so his medical care could be paid for in prison. With this mess resolved Tim and Lucy are finally able to return to their shift.

Lucy tells Tim about a text she receives from Jackson. Saying everything came to a head with Doug. That Jackson pulled his dad running IA card. That Jackson thinks he'll back off now. Hearing this sets Tim on edge. He wants to go find Jackson ASAP. He’s worried about what Doug is going to do since Jackson pulled his dad card. Say's he's not the type of guy you can back into corner and not react. Tim is afraid of what he’s going to do now that he is. Has them leave the station immediately to find him.

Tim and Lucy hear a call come over the radio. It’s the exact situation Tim was worried about. He’s having him and Jackson go into an area where they should have serious backup. Doing a ‘premise check’ solo. Doug is up to something and it’s not good. Sounds like he’s leading Jackson into the lions den. Which is exactly what happens. They split up and Jackson gets jumped. He is overwhelmed by 4 guys. Makes a call over the radio and Stanton says he’s coming to help then leaves him there be beaten to death.

Tim and Lucy show up on scene and run into Stanton and he “claims” to have lost Jackson. They quickly find Jackson and rush over to him. Tim calling in ambulance and RA. Beautiful thing about this moment is Jackson grabbing for his body cam. The cam footage that ends up condemning Stanton.

Watching Tim march over with Grey to suspend him. Phew lord Tim telling him 'Give me a reason'. Yum. Stanton gets the ending he so richly deserved. That ends quite an intense episode. Loved the United Front that is them in this episode. The way he fiercely protects Jackson the entire episode while keeping Lucy calm. So damn good. Not a ton like I said but enough goodies to enjoy especially the beginning.

~~~~~

Side notes none really this episode was truly intertwined. Glad to see Stanton finally get what’s coming to him. Awful that took Jackson nearly dying to get it done but glad he was finally removed.

As always thank you to everyone who supports these reviews. Been so fun for me to Analyze and share with you all. All the likes/comments and reblogs mean a lot ❤️ see you all in 3x06

[myrandomfandomramblings]

Angela’s “Baby Shower” - a The Rookie Fanfic

At 35 weeks pregnant Angela was over it. She was sick of always having to run to the bathroom.  She was done with the fogginess in her brain interfering with her work. She was over the sore back and hips and feet that came from carrying an extra 30 pounds in her abdomen and she was tired of being so tired after being unable to find a comfortable sleeping position. But mostly she just no longer wanted to feel so different. She hated being too exhausted to go out with her friends after shift and even if she was feeling up for it she always had to get water while everyone else got their cocktail of choice. She was frustrated at being unable to bend down easily when investigating crime scenes and having to rely on others to find all the evidence. She also disliked the attention she got because of her pregnancy. Everybody always seemed to be looking at her belly, asking her when she was due, how she was doing and cooing about the joys of parenthood. She was excited about the baby and couldn’t wait to meet her little bundle of joy but she also craved normalcy, to just feel like herself and be a part of the group instead of sticking out like a sore thumb. So when Wesley pitched the idea of a baby shower to celebrate her and their little one, yet to be born, she vetoed that idea fast and hard. When she shared her reasoning her Fiancé nodded.

“I understand where your coming from but you actually gave me a really good idea for a baby shower that I’m sure you’ll love. Do you trust me?” he asked.

She had nodded and agreed to let him throw her a baby shower with the caveat that she could pull the plug at anytime.

Which brought them to the day of the baby shower, a Saturday, two weeks later.  

Wesley had kept the entire thing a surprise so Angela was thoroughly confused as she watched him unpack a number of crates and garbage bags from the truck and bring them into the downtown park where she sat.

“What is all this?” She asked. 

“You’ll see,” he replied giving her a wink. “Once everyone gets here.”

20 minutes later everyone was there. Lucy, Jackson, Tim, Nolan, and Harper. Grey wanted to come but had to work.

“Welcome everyone,” Wes announced, “today we will be competing to see who is the most badass pregnant person.” At this point everyone including Angela was looking at Wesley like he had grown a second head but he pushed on. “There will be three challenges: an escape room, laser tag and a contraction simulator and you will be divided into two teams. Angela as our guest of honour you get to pick your two teammates.”

“Nyla and Lucy,” Angela said immediately. She still didn’t really understand what they were doing but she had the feeling girl power was the way to victory.

Lucy and Harper excitedly moved over to Angela, giving each other high fives.

“Guess that means we’re a team,” Nolan said draping his arms around Jackson and Tim’s shoulders.

“Great,” Tim replied rolling his eyes. Angela wasn’t sure if he was mad because she didn’t choose him or because he wasn’t on the same team as Lucy either way she was looking forward to kicking his butt.

“OK now the last thing to do before we start the competition is to pregnify everyone,” Wesley stated.

“I feel like I should make some sort of joke about how babies are made but I think I’ll wait to see where you’re going with this,” Nolan offered.

“First everyone put one of these on,” Wesley said as he reached into a garbage bag and brought out a handful of wrap baby carriers which he handed out. Once everybody had theirs on he opened the lids of several storage containers.

“Now everyone, come grab a balloon and put them in your carrier.”

“Wow these are heavier than I expected. What’s in them?” Jackson asked as he lifted a balloon out of the tub.

“They’re full of water and some sand,” Wesley answered, “and they each way exactly 30 lbs, the average amount of weight gained in pregnancy. I weighed them myself.”

“Is that why you asked me where the scale was the other night?” Angela asked

Wesley confirmed before moving on. “Next everyone grab a hoodie to put over your bundle of joy,” he said opening another garbage bag.

“It’s at least 80 degrees we don’t need hoodies,” Tim complained.

“It’s to replicate the heat generated by a growing baby,” Wesley replied, “plus I had a lot of fun with them.”

Tim rolled his eyes but obediently put on the last hoodie.

All the hoodies were bright neon colours (Lucy pink, Harper purple, Jackson green, Nolan yellow and Tim blue) and had pregnancy announcements written on the front in thick black letters: ‘Baby on Board’, ‘Coming summer 2021’, ‘Eating for two’, etc. 

“There’s one for you too if you want it Ange, but you don’t have to wear it,” Wesley said. “Now the last thing, well things,” he added bringing out a bottle of Benadryl and stack of medicine cups, “since I can’t give you brain fog I’m just going to make you drowsy. Everybody take a medicine cup and wash it down with one of these,” he said opening a cooler lid to reveal a stack of 1L water bottles, “the whole thing.”

“I’m going to have to pee so bad,” Lucy joked as she started to drink her water.

“That’s the idea,” Wesley replied.

They spent the next 20 minutes finishing their waters, waiting for the Benadryl to kick in and admiring their new ‘bellies’.

Angela laughed as Jackson yelled “belly bump,” while running then jumping towards Lucy who met him in the air before the force knocked them both off their feet. She laughed even harder watching them try and fail to get up on their own until Wesley came to help them. She happily accepted a belly bum from Jackson once he had taken them down a notch (or several) as did everyone else but Nolan who was excessively protecting his fake fetus, shielding his stomach with his arms and body whenever anybody approached. Angela watched her friends, thoroughly entertained by their antics. She was especially enjoying the effect a visibly pregnant Lucy was having on Tim.  He was constantly stealing glances at her and when she smoothed her hoodie over her stomach and asked him how she looked his cheeks flushed and Angela was pretty sure she heard him stutter. This was confirmed by Nyla who had come up beside her and after a quick poke at Tim started reminiscing about her own pregnancy with Lila, which got the two woman talking and comparing notes. She was vaguely aware of Lucy who had taken her phone out and was now taking pictures and videos of everybody but didn’t fully turn her attention back to the others until Wesley said it was time for the first challenge: the escape room.

They walked to the escape room place which was only about a block away with minimal whining and a lot of perplexed looks from passers by. Once they got there they split into their teams and went to their respective rooms. The girls’ room was sorcerer’s lair themed and overall they got through it pretty smoothly. They had a few bumps in the road: by 20 minutes in they were all crossing their legs trying to hold their pee, Lucy fell asleep once while sitting at a table trying to decode a message and Nyla debated trying to use one of the magic wands in their room to pop her balloon. “Now I remember why I only had one. This was not easy,” she said as she slid down the wall to sit on the floor. But overall they worked together really well and had a lot of fun just talking about anything and everything as they solved all the puzzles and escaped the room. 

 When the girls were done, after a quick trip to the bathroom, they joined Wesley in the control booth to watch the guys via video and they seemed to be having a much harder time.  Jackson was trying to decode the message Lucy had but was becoming visibly more and more frustrated as he rubbed his temples and verbally demanded and pleaded with his brain to work. Nolan was trying to bend down to open a trap door (Angela had opened theirs with a broom handle) but couldn’t quite reach it without nearly falling over. After many failed attempts he eventually used the chair as a support bar to lower himself to the ground then push himself back up once the door was open. Meanwhile Tim kept swearing under his breath as he accidentally knocked various things off shelves and tables with his fake belly when he forgot how far out it reached. Luckily one of the things he knocked off opened when it hit the floor to reveal a key they needed to escape the room, which Nolan was able to retrieve with his new chair technique. Shortly after, Jackson succeeded in decoding his clue and from there they proceeded to finish the room pretty quickly and easily.

After another bathroom break they headed to the food trucks for a quick lunch where they mostly sat in content silence as everyone happily shovelled food into their mouths. This silence was only punctuated by the occasional comment that was either gloating or trash talk or by Tim barking “What are you looking at?” at people eyeing the group.

Next they headed to laser tag. Which Wesley had booked privately, so they had the whole place to themselves. The rules were simple every time you shot a member of the opposing team your team earned a point. First team to 30 won. Everybody seemed to have a good time. Angela laughed at her friends as they tried to sneak up on or out run each other, both techniques that were being significantly impacted by their fake pregnancies. Nolan at one point declared that the more aggressively you waddled the faster you could go and spent the rest of the game darting around like a mad penguin. He was ultimately successful in getting 6 points for his team using this technique which was significantly more than the 1 point he got before implementing it. Jackson on the other hand found a good hiding place in a high traffic area and would shoot the opposing team anytime they came by. Although initially this strategy was very successful and he quickly racked up 10 points, once the ladies realized their vests always lit up red when they passed that area they made a plan and were able to all find and corner him in his hiding spot. By the time he got away they had got 10 points themselves. Tim tried to use a lot of the same techniques he used at work or at paintball but unfortunately for him, although  they were efficient Lucy knew all of them and was able to use that knowledge to her advantage. The girls took a different approach and worked more as a team. They used some techniques from work and also had fun designing and implementing crazy plans, including one of them acting as bait to lure the guys in and the other two blind-siding them. When all was said and done the guys won 30-29. The girls attributed this to Tim and Nolan’s height advantage. They were able to see over all the obstacles but it could also be that the girls were having a little to much fun making elaborate plans that weren’t necessarily the most practical (the gun tricks looked cool but significantly decreased their shooting accuracy). Nonetheless, Angela had the greatest total points with 16. 

Following laser tag everybody was really happy but also extremely exhausted and they outright refused to walk the ten minutes back to the park despite the fact that because they were downtown it would take twice as long to drive their in traffic. While everybody went pee again Wesley walked back and brought the van. 

“I call middle row,” Harper yelled as Wesley pulled into the parking lot. 

“Me too,” West added. 

Angela took the passenger seat which left Nolan, Lucy and Tim to squeeze into the back row. Because Lucy was the smallest she was forced to take the middle seat but it didn’t seem to matter to her as she fell asleep almost immediately and spent the 20 minute ride leaning against Tim, head on his shoulder. They woke her up once they were back at the park but only after they had taken a couple pictures. 

Once they all got out of the van Wesley told them they could take off their hoodies and fake bellies. Tim and  Nyla quickly took off their stuff and helped Wesley set up for the labour simulation. Meanwhile the three newly minted P2’s goofed around. Nolan pretended to be giving birth taking quick breaths and squeezing Lucy’s hand as he pushed his balloon out the bottom of the carrier where Jackson caught it. Then working together the three of them lifted the balloon above their heads and belted out ‘The Circle of Life.’ Following the end of their song they too quickly shed their layers then went to join the rest of the group gathered in front of a folding beach chair that had been set up. 

“Alright everyone welcome to the final and tie-breaking event,” Wesley announced.

“Tied?” Angela questioned. “We beat the guys by at least half an hour in the escape room and they only beat us by one point at laser tag. We are winning.” 

“That’s not how this works babe. But don’t worry because you will be sitting this one out because you have to go through real labor in a couple weeks, I will be taking your spot and I will make sure your team wins.”

“You better,” Angela replied teasingly.

“Alright this is the labour simulator,” Wesley explained holding up a small device, “We stick these electrodes to your stomach and this machine will deliver electricity which will result in fake contracts that range in intensity from 1-10,” he pointed to a dial on the machine. “According to the instruction book 1 is like mild period cramps, 4 is Braxton-Hicks contractions, 8 is full blown labour and 10 is just full blown torture. Whichever team can tolerate the highest combined score wins. Oh and tolerate means experience that setting for at least ten seconds without ripping the leads off your body. Any questions?” When everybody shook their heads he continued. “Who wants to go first?”

“I will,“ Jackson offered making his way to the chair. Wesley stuck the electrodes to his abdomen then he was ready to go. 

He jumped initially on the first setting since he had no idea what to expect but after that he was pretty calm just clenching his jaw as the pain was increased. That is until he got to 6.

“Can I hold somebody’s hand?” he asked, “That’s a thing, right?”

Both Lucy and Nolan immediately stood up.

“How about two hands,” Nolan suggested seeing this.

“Even better,” Jackson replied intertwining his left hand with Nolan’s and his right with Lucy’s. 

This was enough to get him through 7 and 8 as he channeled all his pain into his friends, crushing their hands, but one second into 9 and he immediately pulled the leads off.

“Great job Jackson,” Wesley said as everyone patted him on the back, “Who’s next.”

Lucy went next and didn’t so much as flinch until 5 at which point she decided she was going to try meditation. This helped her through 6 and 7 at which point she too wanted hands to squish. Although both Jackson and Nolan offered, Lucy’ teammates decided it was their job. Between crushing her friends hands and focusing on her breathing she got through 8 rather easily. She clearly struggled more with 9. Jackson, Nolan and Wes were counting down. “Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven,” Angela felt Lucy’s grip loosen in her own. She was going to pull off the leads that is until Tim spoke up, “Come on Chen. You’ve got this. You’re strong,” he said and Lucy’s grip tightened back around Angela’s. “Three, Two, One, Done.” Everybody cheered as Lucy released her team mates hands and opened her eyes. “Sorry team but that’s enough for me I’m not trying 10,” she said as she removed the electrodes from her stomach.

“You did great,” Angela said and patted Lucy’s shoulder.

Tim went next. Rather than closing his eyes he fixed his glare on the machine in Wesley’s hand as if he could intimidate it in to giving up.  He also refused to hold anyone’s hand and instead gripped the armrests of the chair. By the time he got to 8 he was gripping so hard he broke the arm of the chair but still some how managed to maintain a near neutral expression throughout the entire experience. At this point Lucy insisted on holding the hand that had broken the chair. When he pointed out that he was worried he would hurt her she stubbornly grabbed his hand in both of hers, “I’m strong, remember.” With Lucy’s help Tim too made it through 9 and like his former rookie decided to end it there.

Harper went next. Although she was clearly in pain she was able to do 10 by focusing on her breathing, holding her friends hands and thinking about Lila. 

“How did you do that?” Jackson asked awe in his voice.

“When I was in labour with Lila I had contractions that were at least the intensity of 8 that lasted a minute each for like eight hours. One ten second one is a piece of cake.”

“You didn’t have an epidural?” Nolan asked

Harper shook her head, “I was being stubborn. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.”

“You’re very impressive, but I have nothing to prove to anyone. I’m getting an epidural,” Angela offered. 

“You do what’s right for you,” Nyla replied patting her friend on the back, “ You’re going to do great.”

Nolan went next. He was practically jumping out of the chair by the time it got to 6 and at 7 he was writhing around so much he actually managed to tip the chair over. The fact that he ended up in a tangled mess on the ground was probably the only reason he made it through 7 without ripping the electrodes off. He did his best on 8 but despite having everyone around him either holding his hand or holding him down he only made it five seconds.

“OK the guys got 7+8+9 that’s 24. We already have 19 so all you have to do is get through 6 babe,” Angela said to Wesley.

It should have been easy. The pain wasn’t that bad, but it was in his abdomen and it was just a little too similar to the pain he experienced when he was stabbed. He was starting to get flashbacks but he wanted to do this for his fiancé, the love of his life and mother to his unborn child. He was going to do this for Angela even when she told him it was OK, that she understood, that he didn’t need to push through this trauma for her but he wanted to. So despite the fact that his whole body was pale, we was dripping with sweat, dizzy and short of breath with tears streaming down his face he pushed through his ten seconds at 6 with steely determination. At this point Angela pulled off the electrodes for him then pulled him into a hug. All her friends wrapped themselves around the couple and they stayed like that until Wesley was feeling better. 

“I didn’t get any prizes so bragging rights will have to be enough,” Wesley admitted.

“The day was prize enough,” Lucy offered, “I had a blast, we should do stuff like this more often.”

“Does that mean you’re not going to rub it in?” Jackson asked.

“Not a chance,” she replied.

“How about because we won we get to meet the baby first?” Nyla suggested.

“That’s fair,” Angela agreed, “but what do I get?”

“Presents,” Nyla said handing Angela her baby shower present. 

After Angela opened her presents which mostly consisted of clothes and books and toys for the new baby everybody headed home to get some rest.

“Thank-you,” Angela said giving Wes a quick kiss, “For today. I really needed it.”

And she meant it. She had been feeling alone, helpless, and inadequate. But today reminded her about all the people who love her, about the strength that comes with working together. It reminded her that it’s ok to be imperfect, stressed, struggling but also to be goofy, to let loose and have fun. After today she finally felt like her self again and that woman was going to be a great mother.  

[blris96]

What do you think will happen in the upcoming episodes #chenford wise?

Hi lovely anon!

I think we will get some great content! Lucy doesn’t like Ashley (in my opinion based on the sneak peek, others have differing opinions), so it’s only fair to assume Tim won’t like Lucy’s new potential LI either.

Rachel and Emmett were generally handled well by Lucy and Tim respectively. Now that things have ratcheted up? I don’t think the new ones (Ashley and maybe Chris if we’re all correct) will go over that well.

I did an earlier post on what my theories are for what we could be getting, that can be found here! The more I think, the more I lean towards theory #1 with Tim realizing he needs Lucy, him breaking up with Ashley and then finding out Lucy is in a new relationship. As such, Tim would keep quiet as to not wreck it for her. That’d set up a possible confession scenario for finale with potential to be the cliffhanger.

Either way they dice it, this will only mean good things for Chenford! New LIs always shake things up, and at this point, only will help Chenford realize things.

[sylvies-chen]

Chenford is canon babyyyyy. Also I adore how much we got from Lucy in regards to how important Tim is to her bc I feel like we were more in the dark about her thoughts than Tim. Her saying he's the most important relationship of her life left me on the floor. Her saying he's not ... *Looks at Tim*. Breaking up with Chris bc it's not working out but essentially admitting she was still with him bc she was scared of being with Tim and ruining things. Her going straight back to the precinct to tell Tim that they broke up. Like she loves him so much and I love that. Also I love how these two episodes ended with them, they've been doing that frequently lately. Usually the episodes almost always end on Nolan and he still get the most screentime but they are actually balancing the ensemble well and giving us decent chenford screentime. Obviously we need a couple of episodes where the focus is mostly on them but what they're doing rn is great.

CHENFORD IS CANON!! Anon you’re so right, Lucy had definitely been using Chris as a shield to avoid exploring her feelings for Tim and exposing those feelings, and I think that had very much been translated into her thought process and emotions being slighlty blocked from the viewers as well as from Chris and Tim so it’s SO nice that we finally got to see that dam break and all of her real desires, fears, and struggles come out onto the surface.

And the MOMENTS they had in these episodes that you’re describing! They were fantastic! Like yeah, Lucy absolutely implied that she doesn’t love Chris because he’s not Tim, and in that sense sort of implied that she loves him??? SO WILD. I have a feeling those big L bombs are going to be saved for later in the season though, like I think the writers are gonna save them to actually saying it to each other for something big. (Not that this isn’t big, of course, but they’re still very new and in the beginning stages of a relationship and so I think that love word will be brought up in a more intense or serious situation as opposed to this sort of light and happy version of them we get to see right now.) Still, this content is EVERYTHING TO ME. And you’re right, I feel like these episodes did a very good job of balancing out the storylines so that the scales weren’t tipped in anyone’s favour in terms of screen time. Quality of the screentime, however, goes to Chenford hands down! And they’re smart because the Chenford stuff is the emotional and sweet parts of the episodes, as opposed to the very interestingly random pairing of Nolan and Genny, or the slightly traumatizing storyline involving Grey’s daughter. They know that Chenford is always a really good note to end on so I’m really glad they had that inclination to make them the ending scenes for both episodes.