The Rookie episode 'The Red Place' praised for dark, intense shift

Collider called The Rookie's Season 8 episode "The Red Place" one of the series' darkest, most intense installments and suggested it may be among the show's best, marking a notable departure from its usual dramedy tone.

The review highlighted the Mid‑Wilshire Division's investigation of Ezra Kane (David Krumholtz), a seemingly meek unhoused man who proves terrifying, and noted the episode's near‑total absence of comedic subplots. It said Nathan Fillion's John Nolan "leveled up," praised Krumholtz's chilling turn, and described a harrowing hospital scene in which a kidnapped survivor repeatedly harms herself — a depiction the piece called visceral and unusually dark for the series. The review also emphasized Lucy Chen's (Melissa O'Neil) emotional counseling of the victim, including Chen sharing her own past kidnapping trauma from Season 2, with O'Neil's performance singled out as a strength.

The writer argued the series doesn't need to make episodes like this the norm but that the experiment demonstrated the show's ability to handle serious material, and suggested a lighter episode might be needed afterward as a palette cleanser. The piece added that the episode underscored the strengths of veterans Fillion and O'Neil, and noted Season 8 is moving to Monday nights at 10/11c on ABC.

Key Topics

Culture, The Rookie, Ezra Kane, David Krumholtz, Lucy Chen, Melissa O'neil