WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Rookie Season 3, Episode 12, "Brave Heart," which aired on ABC.
The trailer for The Rookie Season 3, Episode 12, “Brave Heart” teased a character’s death, and while someone important dies, it was not the character everyone was afraid of. The previous episode titled, “True Blood,” left off on a cliffhanger where Rookie John Nolan’s son, Henry, collapsed in their home. Now, “Brave Heart” opens with Nolan rushing Henry to the hospital.
Viewers quickly find out that Henry has a preexisting heart condition that necessitated five surgeries before his first birthday. Unfortunately, the valve that was implanted between his heart and lungs to counteract his TOF (Tetralogy of Fallot) has started to leak. It's called pulmonary valve regurgitation, and Henry knows that he's in trouble when Nolan calls him “kiddo,” something he hasn’t done since he was little.
After the doctors run multiple tests, they determine that there are two options to fix the heart valve. The first is to do a minimally invasive surgery that would stabilize Henry, but he would need open-heart surgery in about five years to actually fix the problem. The second option is to do the open-heart surgery now, but because of his condition and prior surgeries, there is a twenty percent chance of mortality. Henry wants to risk the full surgery now because he doesn’t want to have to go through this again later, but his family is not convinced.
The doctor warns them that they need a decision quickly because Henry’s heat is very unstable, and sure enough, he ends up being right. Before they can make a decision, Henry’s heart stops. The doctors revive him, but Nolan is forced to make a decision for his now unresponsive son. Against everyone else’s opinions, he chooses to honor his son’s wishes and tells the doctors to proceed with the open-heart surgery. Nolan feels good about his decision, but Henry’s mother is annoyed with her ex's “compulsive optimism."
At the same time, Detective Angela and her fiancé, Wesley, are also at the same hospital for one of her maternity appointments. But along the way, she stumbles on La Fiera, a well-known leader of a drug cartel. The two already have a history, and while La Fiera says that she is only in town for her son, Diego’s, surgery for a sports injury, Angela knows better.
As it turns out, La Fiera's there attempting to take over Senor Madrigal’s drug ring because he is on his death bed, and she is able to make the deal. However, Madrigal’s son is not happy with the arrangement, so he and his goons try to take La Fiera out in the hospital’s parking garage. Their first shots gun-down her son, Diego, who is freshly out of surgery and in a wheelchair. Angela and the other cops at the hospital are able to save La Fiera, but she soon gets away.
Fans spent most of "Brave Heart" worried about Henry, but by the end, it's apparent that they should have been focused on someone else. While Henry is expected to make a full recovery, Diego’s murder could have major ramifications in the coming episodes. Even though he was a relatively minor character, he was everything to La Fiera, and now that he's gone, she has nothing left to lose, which could lead to an all-out war in the streets of Los Angeles.
The Rookie stars Nathan Fillion, Alyssa Diaz, Richard T. Jones, Titus Makin Jr., Melissa O'Neil, Eric Winter, Mekia Cox and Shawn Ashmore. New episodes premiere at 10:00 pm on Sunday nights on ABC.
0 Comments