'The Rookie' Season 3 Episode 1 Spoilers: Nolan's arrested as Harper gets framed by dirty cop Armstrong
'The Rookie' Season 3 returns to answer some very important questions after how we left the show at the end of Season 2. While attempting to prove that his mentor, Detective Nick Armstrong (Harold Perrineau) was a dirty cop, John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) finds himself snared in a trap. While he found out where exactly evidence against Armstrong was hidden in his home through Rosalind Dyer (Annie Wersching), who happens to be a serial killer, Nolan decided to snoop around Armstrong's home. However, what he didn't realize was that the Detective had spotted him leaving the house right after his snooping expedition, which put Nolan's plans on Armstrong's radar.
Right after this, we saw Armstrong call Nolan for a man to man talk to be able to resolve any misunderstanding but what really happened was a shootout with guns going off on both ends. After this, Armstrong boasts gleefully about how Nolan had just fallen into his trap, further corroborating the set up that he had in mind for him. He had planted evidence at Nolan's residence to point to him as the second dirty cop who was in cahoots with the late Erin Cole. Now, Nolan being caught while snooping and the resulting gunfire attack would only serve as evidence against him. All of this because Nolan had attempted to out Armstrong for doing the bidding of crime lord Serj Darien.
Upon hearing that he was being set up, Nolan had hurried home to find the evidence and maybe destroy it if he could or hide it further; but just as he finds it hidden in a secret panel on the headboard, cops arrive outside his apartment. With that, Season 2 came to an end and we had to wait all this while to see what would really happen to Nolan in Season 3. Will he be arrested for being on the take and will his reputation be tarnished? If not, it would be one hell of a pickle that he is in to get out of unscathed.
The official synopsis of 'The Rookie' Season 3, Episode 1 titled 'Consequences' gives us no clue as to where Nolan would be headed in the premiere episode but we are definitely going to see a lot of conflict between Nolan and Armstrong. The promos however give us a lot more deets as we see both Nolan and Harper get framed by Armstrong while he is being admitted in the hospital for gunshot wound. Of course, the new development baffles the team because until that very moment, everyone had believed the best of both Nolan and Armstrong. Then in another clip, we see Nolan call Harper as cops end up outside his door. He collects the evidence and stashes it in a bag, and a different montage released by ABC revealed Nolan stepping out of his home with his hand raised, surrendering to let law make his case for him.
'The Rookie' Season 3 premieres on Sunday, January 3, on ABC at 10 pm ET.