The misadventures of Dim and Juicy have reached a surprising conclusion.
It was time for another one of those polarizing mockumentaries, and The Rookie Season 5 Episode 18 was Chenford-based, with a case that involved their doppelgangers.
For the most part, it was fun.
By now, fans of The Rookie either love this frequently used documentary style or loathe it. But one thing that can work in its favor is if the case is interesting enough and the humor is top-notch.
Lucy and Tim’s doppelgangers have been a hit if only because we get to see O’Neil and Winter play different roles and have fun with both this alter ego to their characters and their primary characters’ reaction to them.
Jake and Sava have become staples with some of their antics, so it made sense to revolve a case with this style around them.
The two of them almost always land on top, so setting their sights on scamming wealthy people is on brand for them.
Documentarian: Did it bother you seeing his body?
Tim: What do you mean?
Documentarian: To see a version of yourself dead in a dumpster. No matter how much you protested seeing the resemblance, I mean, it had to be a little disconcerting.
Tim: A little, I guess.
The Lance Bass cameo, with him playing what presumably is a more extravagant caricature of himself, was one of the more fun appearances of The Rookie Season 5.
It was funny when he described how Dim and Juicy had sex throughout his entire house on any flat service that would hold them. It’s what you’d expect from the pairing, even though they’ve obviously had issues.
But the two of them posing as a handyman/nanny combo to get over on these millionaires evolved into some grand conspiracy, stolen artifacts, a connection to the C.I.A., and murder.
The timing couldn’t have been better that the documentarian was there to talk to Lucy and Tim about their doppelgangers and going undercover as them just as a case involving those same people landed in their laps.
Documentarian: Do the walls make it hard to be in a relationship with Tim?
Lucy: No, because I know behind all those walls, he’s a big softie.
You know Sava was on the desperate side of things when she reached out to the cops after Jake went missing. And from there, they got an unusual mystery.
The turning point for everything was Thorsen finding Jake’s body in the dumpster. We knew it wasn’t Tim and that no one would buy that it was, but even the sake of seeing Jake dead in the dumpster sucked.
Did anyone anticipate mourning the loss of Jake? Not just as Dim, but as who he was?
Sure, Jake was a criminal, but the man was entertaining. And aside from Tim potentially having to go undercover to pose as Jake for something in the future, we’ll never have the two of them interacting with each other again.
Tim: They didn’t really look that much like me.
Documentarian: How can you say that? You look almost identical.
Tim: Says you.
Jake got himself into too much trouble this time, and it had deadly results. But there were some amusing moments.
Thorsen’s reaction to Jake dead in the dumpster was amusing. He couldn’t help but say that it was Bradford, even when Tim got on the walkie-talkies with him to remind him that he was alive.
But seeing an identical person to someone you know dead is jarring. They mentioned it with the others but didn’t spend much time on it.
And they missed an opportunity for Tim to face his dead doppelganger or perhaps even Lucy. They would’ve had a lot to play with for the emotional aspect of it.
Dim’s death took them down a long road, but they seemed thoroughly entertained by the whole ordeal.
In fact, during those moments, it was actually nice to have the documentarian making some observations. His inquiries about why they chose to call Jake and Sava Dim and Juicy were valid, and they spoke volumes about how the cops may have viewed them.
On the one hand, you understand the position of the cops who have to find lightheartedness and humor in a job that can get dark, deadly, and dangerous at every conceivable turn.
Dark humor helps a person cope.
But on the other hand, it does call into question how these views of criminals and suspects may cloud their judgment or affect how they approach things.
The documentarian seemed to have fun trying to draw parallels between Lucy and Tim’s relationship with Sava and Jake’s, and there’s no comparison.
None those comparisons amused classic grumpy Tim, but Lucy was a ball of sunshine.
I loved that we got to see more of their different styles of policing and life in general based on what they offered up during the interviews.
Lucy still leads with empathy despite everything she’s endured, and the light hasn’t dimmed for her, making her such a good balance for a more jaded and guarded Tim.
And the inquiries about their relationship dynamic were amusing because it’s true that Lucy sees a different side of Tim that he doesn’t let other people access. So she has no reason to doubt or worry about his walls. She’s already behind them.
Jake’s own transgressions led to his death, from his inadvisable affair with Sava’s best friend Lisa to his going behind Sava’s back with this whole arms deal thing that led to the C.I.A. and the L.A.P.D. coming head to head.
The classic example of the C.I.A. spokesperson claiming that she’d be forthcoming with information and failing to do so was amusing.
Empathy can be painful, but the alternative, at least for me, is unthinkable. I do this job to help people; I have to feel for them.
Lucy
And Grey discovering that picture of a Haitian general who was the spitting image of him was hilarious. It’s enough to have you wondering how many doppelgangers they can introduce to the show and all the hijinks that can happen in those situations.
He’s usually above the antics but was so giddy about the find and lost his mind when that protestor destroyed it. Although, the replacement the gang gave him was almost as good.
With episodes in this style, the entertainment lies in the interactions between the people they interview while this is taking place. They, obviously, tapped into some of the best dynamics and hit gold with some of the one-liners.
But after such a long wait for the show to return and so much happening, did the the hour deliver, or are you just waiting for them to return to business as usual?
This was an assassination. I’m sorry, I need a minute.
Grey
Let us know in the comments below. Also, are you going to miss Jake/Dim? How funny was Grey with his historical figure lookalike? How long before we see Sava again?
Over to you, Rookie Fanatics.
You can watch The Rookie online here via TV Fanatic.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.