Warning: The Following contains spoilers for The Rookie: Season 4, Episode 2, “Five Minutes,” which aired October 3 on ABC.
Season 4 of The Rookie kicked off last week with a high energy premiere, but the show killed off Jackson West – an original member of the cast – in gut-wrenching fashion. His death left the cast a member short. So, this week’s “Five Minutes” introduced a new member to the LAPD, and he has a very interesting and well-known past.
With Officer Nolan finishing off his training in the season premiere, The Rookie was rookieless, so its new cast member had to be a new trainee. It wasn’t long into the episode when Sargent Grey told Detective Harper that her new rookie was named Aaron Thorsen. She laughed at the fact that her new boot had the same name as a tabloid murderer, but Grey was quick to confirm that Thorsen didn’t just have an unfortunate name; he was that murderer.
Thorsen was a TikTok star that went to Paris as an exchange student, and while there, allegedly killed his roommate after a fight. At first, he was convicted, but later exonerated of the killing. So, while he was ultimately cleared of killing his roommate, it’s safe to say his infamous reputation definitely preceded him. In fact, Angela and Wesley – who were at home with their newborn baby during the episode – were watching a TV series and debating the truth behind Thorsen’s alleged murder.
From the get go, Harper hated the idea, citing a negative image for the department, annoying press coverage and her own safety as reasons why Thorsen shouldn’t have even been given a chance as a police officer. The issue was that Thorsen had sued to be able to become an officer and had done well in the Police Academy, so Sargent Grey was all about giving him a shot. He said that a wide cache of perspective on a police force was a good thing, so Harper relented and agreed to give Thorsen a shot – albeit with a very short leash.
Harper was very hard on Thorsen throughout the episode. She even temporarily nicknamed him “Five Minutes,” saying that was as long as she expected him to make it on the force. It was apparent that he still hadn’t made it through his past trauma, because he nearly broke down when they found a dead body on his first call. Knowing that things weren’t going to work out for him, Harper gave him an ultimatum as he finished his first day: resign in the morning or be fired.
The next morning, he didn’t come in to resign, and when Harper tried to fire him, Thorsen finally leveled with her. He said that the real reason that he wanted to be a police officer was to make sure that the false accusation and false conviction that happened to him didn’t happen to anyone else. Harper was impressed with his candid response and finally started to accept him. Later, he found a connection between the murder that he and Harper were investigating and the larger case that Nolan and Lucy were working on. His quick thinking allowed the LAPD to take down a career criminal that was wanted in forty high stakes robberies. He may have been an odd choice, but it looks like Officer Thorsen has already proved himself in the LAPD.
To see how Officer Thorsen fits in at the LAPD, tune into The Rookie. New episodes premiere Sundays at 10pm ET, on ABC.
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