The Choice

**"The Choice"** is the fourth episode of the fifth season of *The Rookie*. This is the eightieth episode of the series overall.

## Summary

Rosalind Dyer returns with a vengeance and Bailey’s life is left hanging in the balance. With a ticking clock, the LAPD and the FBI join forces, and Officer John Nolan is forced to make a deadly decision after a harrowing ultimatum.

## Plot

Firefighter Bailey Nune and her team are called to an abandoned house, where Bailey falls into a chamber that turns out to be a trap. There's an electrified grate across the top of it and the message GOT YOU scrawled on the inner wall; Bailey suspects that Rosalind Dyer is behind the trap, but doesn't know why. She calls John Nolan, who mobilizes LAFD and LAPD personnel to rescue her.

Nolan arrives at the scene and gives some insight to the possible construction of the trap; before he can make too many suggestions he gets a phone call which turns out to be from Rosalind. She tells Nolan not to give away anything to his colleagues and to follow her directions, or Bailey will die.

Nolan goes outside and down the street; Rosalind tells him to ditch his equipment, weaponry, and phone, and to drive away in an old, unassuming vehicle. She wants Nolan to meet with her in person but will not explain why, so he complies, very much against his will. Shortly thereafter, Chen and Juarez realize Nolan is missing, follow the echo from his ditched communicator, and start searching for him while still trying to determine how to free Bailey.

As it turns out, the trap has several potentially lethal gadgets that get set off one by one: besides the electrified grate, there are spikes that rise from the trap floor, a pipe that starts to flood the trap tank with water, and a powdered substance that catches fire when it's released onto the surface of the water. Through it all, firefighters and the LAPD team work to figure out a way to release Bailey without tripping any further booby traps. They manage to find a motion sensor under the floor, disable it, and lower Bradford and Chen down to find a basement that houses the body of the trap.

Detective Lopez finds a similar crime record from Colorado, and she and Detective Harper interview the victim and get a few details that were overlooked at the time of her escape. Agents Stensen and Acres arrive at the station to provode more data and to help build a profile of the suspect who might have built the tank. Officer Thorsen finds out where the suspect bought their materials, and where the materials were delivered. The detectives, agents, and Thorsen search the warehouse and find plans and materials (and a dead woman in a water tank). They find the suspect and give chase, but he sets off an explosion in his workshop and escapes.

After several attempts on Nolan's part to leave clues for his colleagues to follow - some of which have been anticipated and thwarted by Rosalind - Nolan arrives at an estate in a hillside community and is greeted by Rosalind Dyer, who is wearing a stylish dress, a glass of champagne, and a gun.

## Cast

### Main

* Nathan Fillion as John Nolan
* Shawn Ashmore as Wesley Evers (credit only)
* Mekia Cox as Nyla Harper
* Jenna Dewan as Bailey Nune
* Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez
* Richard T. Jones as Wade Grey
* Melissa O'Neil as Lucy Chen
* Eric Winter as Tim Bradford
* Tru Valentino as Aaron Thorsen

### Guest starring

* Britt Robertson as Laura Stensen
* Kevin Zegers as Brendon Acres
* Annie Wersching as Rosalind Dyer
* Lisseth Chavez as Celina Juarez
* Thomas Dekker as Jeffrey Boyle
* Brent Huff as Quigley Smitty
* Melissa Marty as Kayla
* Freya Adams as Tracy Urteaga

## Trivia

* This is a crossover event with *The Rookie: Feds*, as the characters Laura Stensen and Brendon Acres appear. The storyline started in this episode concluded in Season 1, Episode 4 of *The Rookie: Feds*.
* While also serving as her exit from *The Rookie*, this episode ultimately proved to be Annie Wersching's final acting role before her death in January 2023 from cancer at the age of 45.

## References

1. ↑ The Futon Critic
2. ↑ DGE Press
3. ↑ Annie Wersching Dies: Actress In ‘24’, ‘Bosch’ And ‘Timeless’ Was 45