Season Four ended with a shooter at 15 Division and Detective Sam Swarek (Ben Bass) taking a bullet for fellow officer Nick Collins (Peter Mooney), who also happens to be the current love interest of Sam's former girl, Andy McNally (Missy Peregrym). On the way to the hospital, Andy confesses that she still loves Sam, leaving her confused about which man she really wants.
Meanwhile, Chloe's (Priscilla Faia) life hangs in the balance because she was shot in the neck while she and Andy were on an earlier call and her husband, Wes Cole (Cle' Bennett), and her current boyfriend, Dov Epstein (Gregory Smith) are arguing over her care. Did I mention they didn't know about each other? Talk about awkward.
Because of the debacle at the station, the current Staff Sergeant is replaced by Oliver Shaw (Matt Gordon), who would much prefer to be a cop on the beat and one of the guys. Throughout the season, he struggles with his new temporary role and has to make some tough decisions, specifically some including Andy and her career.
Even though Andy is sorting out her love life, she jumps at the chance to be the new rookie's TO (training officer), something she's never done before. Rookie Duncan Moore (Matt Murray) seems more interested in taking bad-ass selfies than being an actual cop and he proves to be quite a handful. Worse yet, Andy soon discovers that he is the step-son of the Police Commissioner, so even though she is hard on him during his training, he doesn't seem to learn, and she fudges her reports so he doesn't get labeled a failure too early in his career. Unfortunately for her, when she truly needs him, he has a panic attack and ignores her pleas, almost costing her life and that of a 12-year-old witness. When she finally goes to Oliver about Duncan, the tables turn on her and she finds herself the victim of a lawsuit and investigation. Needless to say, Rookie Moore is the least popular kid at the station.
Chris Diaz (Travis Milne) has been on edge a lot lately and people are starting to notice. It seems he has a little cocaine problem which blows up in his face during an attempted illegal weapons bust at a bar when his dealer spots him. He blows the bust by "taking in" his dealer when the man confronts him, only to cover things up later and dig himself in deeper. Chloe notices his odd behavior and clues his roommate Dov into it, who eventually forces Chris to seek help.
Chloe and Dov do eventually resolve their issues, but Dov is treating her with kid gloves since the shooting, especially since she has a blood clot in her neck that Wes (as her husband at the time) decided was safer to leave alone. She struggles with her impending divorce to Wes, which causes Dov to doubt his ability to trust her.
Gail Peck (Charlotte Sullivan) is struggling with having revealed herself as a lesbian to her brother Steve (Adam McDonald), and decides to give herself a radical short haircut. Her new girlfriend and medical examiner Holly (Aliyah O'Brien) is there to comfort her, but their relationship has some rocky times when Holly introduces Gail to some of her friends from medical school and Gail overhears them discussing her and believes Holly is just having fun with her "blue collar" girlfriend. The pair definitely has their work cut out for them if they are going to make it as a couple.
Meanwhile Steve Peck has his own share of troubles with girlfriend Traci Nash (Enuka Okuma) and her custody battle with her ex husband Dex. When Dex decides to question Traci's abilities as a mother and fight her for custody and spousal support, Steve has him investigated, only to discover some dirty secrets that could land him in jail during an upcoming bust. When Traci intervenes, Steve is left with egg on his face and their relationship hanging in the balance.
Finally, as Andy and Sam settle back into their relationship, his old girlfriend Marlo returns to 15 Division to work on a case and she just might have some secrets of her own that could jeopardize their newly-rekindled relationship. So much drama!
Rookie Blue: Season Five - Volume One is a good cop drama and I can see why it has been compared to Grey's Anatomy. It has its share of comedy, but is solidly a drama focused on the lives of a group of young cops as they make their way up the ranks from rookies to full-fledged cops. A lot happens in this first half of Season Five, and while I will admit that it was tough figuring out who was who when I started watching, I picked up on the characters pretty quickly. I enjoy the interactions between the characters and I can see myself going back and checking out the first 4 seasons to learn where everyone came from, since it is clear that they've all had relationships with each other, which is pretty funny to watch as the awkwardness builds. Naturally, Rookie Blue: Season Five - Volume One ends on a cliffhanger, with Marlo having some bombs to drop, a few actual bombs going off (one in the police station, itself), a suspicion of deep-seated police corruption, and Gail and Holly sharing some pretty intense news with each other, both of which could mean big changes for their relationship.
As for special features, there is a featurette on this season and the goings on, as well as a handful of webisodes that pair up the different cops together on stakeouts. Most of these are rather silly, but I found the ones with Chloe in them to be the most enjoyable. These aren't must-see, but they do shed a little light on the happenings of the season.
Overall, I really enjoyed Rookie Blue: Season Five - Volume One and intend to keep up with the show. There's a good bit of action in addition to all of the interpersonal drama, so if you like cop dramas, you'll probably enjoy Rookie Blue.
