Yahoo Lifestyle Did Nolan and Bailey Find Their Way Back to Each Other on 'The Rookie' Tonight?
John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) and Bailey Nune (Jenna Dewan) were still in the honeymoon phase of their marriage when the news broke that Bailey’s ex Jason (Steve Kazee) had escaped jail and was coming for her. It took a while, especially since Bailey was MIA (due to Dewan being on maternity leave). But when she returned, it was explained that she had been on her annual National Guard service.
The action increased. John tried to install a security system at their home, but that was an epic fail. Then he learned that a hitman, Malvado (Jimmy Gonzales), had been hired to take out Jason. It would seem a solution to the problem, but it wasn’t one that John could live with. The two men came face-to-face during the search for Jason, and Malvado made John an offer to eliminate the problem if he would call him with info on Jason’s location if he found him.
John, of course, turned him down. But later, Bailey confronted Malvado, who was following her. He gave her a number to text him when she knew Jason’s location, which she did. And while John was trying to arrest Jason, who had kidnapped Bailey and had planned to kill her, Malvado killed Jason–and got away.
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That seemed to solve the problem, but it was actually just a set up for a bigger crisis. Bailey was hospitalized for the injuries she sustained while in Jason’s clutches, and when she was finally able to go home, she forgot her sweatshirt. John went back to her hospital room to get it, and her phone fell out of her pocket, and he saw that she had texted Malvado.
“So, I sent a reckless text,” she said when he finally told her what was bothering him.
To which he responded, “Reckless text? That’s criminal conspiracy.”
The argument continued, “The fact that you are mad at me kind of blows my mind,” John said.
“The fact that you are judging me instead of empathizing is blowing mine,” was Bailey’s comeback.
Finally, the tension was too much, and Bailey moved out. When we returned for tonight’s episode, it’s been several weeks since the split, and Bailey was living with one of her fellow firefighters–a woman.
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Everyone at John’s precinct seems to know about the split, as well, and they try to tell him there’s no shame in divorce, but he isn’t feeling that. He still loves her. Yet, the gulf between John and Bailey seems insurmountable. How can he justify her collusion with Malvado? While she didn’t actually shoot Jason, she contributed to his death. How will he reconcile her decision? Will he turn her in?
During a paramedic call, Bailey met a woman who works at a shelter for abused women, who needed to be hospitalized after an attack. At first, Bailey lies to her about her life with Jason. But later, she comes clean and tells her patient the truth.
“My ex was unimaginably cruel. He died trying to kill me. But he never hit me while we were married. Even now, I have a hard time trying to label what he did to me as abuse. I never looked like the women in a Lifetime movie. No one knew I needed rescuing, so I rescued myself. But in the end, none of it mattered, because my ex found me and ripped my life apart again. And even now, he’s dead and he’s still haunting my marriage. My husband, who is the greatest man I’ve ever known, isn’t speaking to me because of something I did out of fear. I was trying to protect myself. If we don’t work, my ex will have taken everything from me. He would have won.”
The woman told Bailey, “He can’t win. He’s dead. You got out alive and you have all the power now. Now you can tell what it was like for real, gray areas included. Especially to this husband of yours that you love so much. He can’t help you heal if he doesn’t know what’s still alive inside of you.”
Later, John and Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) are on a protection assignment together. Tim tells John, “The only way to know if it’s over is to try to fix it. Don’t make the same mistake I made with Lucy [Melissa O’Neil] and quit before the fight started.”
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Both Bailey and John take the advice they've been given to hear. So when Bailey showed up at their home at the end of “The Mickey” episode, John was open to hearing what she had to say.
“There’s a lot I haven’t told you about my marriage to Jason. Not because I wanted to keep it a secret from you but because I was in denial about a lot of my experiences. I made a new friend recently who let me see that denial is no longer serving me and reminded me that you are the best ally to help me fix what happened and heal it. For years, I’ve only acknowledged the emotional abuse Jason put me through because it kept me out of the battered wife category."
“But when he escalated to framing me, stalking me and trying to kill me, so did I," she continued. "Malvado was a desperate move for safety. I was scared. So scared that it broke me and I did a stupid thing.”
John responded, “And then I made you feel judged instead of supported. I wish I could go back and do it all over again and show you that the fear that I was feeling for that phone was for you, for the danger you put yourself in, but all I can do is apologize for making you feel alone because you are not alone. [He took her hands] You are loved.”
“Now I know how we fix this,” Bailey said.
John responded, “The answer is together.”
The Rookie airs Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Streams next day on Hulu.
