The Rookie Finally Found a Character More Annoying Than Bailey, and I’m Over It

There are certainly some mixed feelings regarding The Rookie Season 7.

Some of the plots have ranged from problematic to ridiculous, some of the series’ most compelling characters have spent most of the season on the bench, and what even is happening with Chenford?

But one thing The Rookie has succeeded in, to the surprise of many, is producing a character that’s more irritating than Bailey.

It’s no secret that Bailey Nune is a polarizing character. Poor thing, she has certified haters in all corners of the fandom.

Let the record show that it has nothing to do with Jenna Dewan, but some characters will rub people the wrong way, and The Rookie’s answer to Malibu Barbie fits the bill.

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Even when she makes some strides and heads toward tolerable territory, the series will shoehorn her into situations where she’s not needed, or we get that abysmal, terribly executed hitman arc.

You know, the one — where we were supposed to summon compassion and empathy for a woman who, on paper, has a troubling background as a domestic abuse survivor that should make us care more.

However, lost in the realm of The Rookie‘s quirkiness, odd tonal whiplash, and one-dimensionality of Bailey, the arc doesn’t land well.

So maybe their next move was to shove in a more annoying character than her to distract us from criticizing the current love of Nolan’s life.

Enter freaking Rodge.

It took me a while to realize that Rodge Bronson is none other than the son of showrunner and creator Alexi Hawley.

Oh.

Well, that explained a lot, and hey, it’s not like there aren’t some endearing Nepo Babies out there who are totally slaying it on television these days.

It’s just that Rodge is such an obnoxious character that he did not need to appear as frequently as he has.

Do you know when Rodge shone best? It was when he gave us that catchy earworm, “Daddy Cop,” which captured the fun and whimsy of the series and led to one of the show’s most iconic moments.

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His introduction during The Rookie Season 5 Episode 13 was fun. It was a cute little bit that stuck with most fans, and we’ve been singing that song ever since.

But then he reappeared, performing the song in his garage in another episode. It was an okay nod to his first appearance, but it should’ve ended there.

Of course, it didn’t because The Rookie ran this recurring character into the ground by forcing him on us for a more extensive period.

It was genuinely irksome when the series revealed that Celina was dating Rodge. For one, Celina’s love life has been practically non-existent throughout the series.

The closest we came to something of substance was when the series teased what amounted to an unrequited love situation between her and Thorsen.

Given that some of us are still bummed about Thorsen’s exit, the last thing anyone wanted to see was Celina finally getting a love life outside of the station, and it’s with that annoying guy singing in his garage.

Rodge’s entire personality is based on writing stupid songs at the worst possible time and taking up space (not to mention screen time that could go elsewhere).

For all the time we could’ve spent solely on Celina and Lucy navigating their home life together as roommates, we got Rodge weaseling his way into Lucy’s apartment and taking over.

It was all played up for laughs, but there was absolutely nothing funny about this random man. Few of us like or care about him, so having a storyline about his being a roommate’s annoying boyfriend who overstays his welcome wasn’t appealing.

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Rodge has no boundaries and doesn’t listen to anything or value anyone.

One of his few decent moments all season actually belongs to the inmate who tackled and started pummeling him for being stupid enough to start singing a song about dangerous criminals right in front of them.

For the life of me, I still don’t understand why he went to that football player’s mansion with Lucy and Celina during The Rookie Season 7 Episode 13.

Every time he came into the frame when we could’ve been watching literally anyone else, it was irritating, not funny.

Rodge is supposed to provide comedic relief for this series, but nothing is amusing about him. He’s just a nuisance — a bit that overstayed his welcome.

It’s like a joke that lasts too long, and the person telling it isn’t reading the room.

If The Rookie’s objective was to collectively unite viewers against a single character while detracting from another polarizing one, like Bailey, congratulations! You got us there!

But seriously, can we take a break from Rodge now? Ideally, it’d be permanent, but at this point, I’d settle for him making a cameo once a season, tops.

How do you feel about Rodge? Let’s discuss this below!

If you read this whole thing — you must be just as annoyed by Rodge as we are.
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