'The Rookie' Season 3 Episode 3 Spoilers: Will Jackson stand up against Stanton's racist view of civilians?
In episode 2 of 'The Rookie' season 3, we saw how Jackson (Titus Makin Jr) was assigned to training officer Doug Stanton (Brandon Routh), who had tackled a young Black man to the ground without checking and had even gone to the extent of attacking the man's family. Of course, Jackson had been extremely hesitant while bringing this up with detective Bradford, but when he does, the reaction to Stanton's actions was not what you would consider being on the right side, considering how systemic bias within the police department has resulted in wrongful arrests and apprehension in real life.
Bradford explained why Stanton was the cop he was and tried to bury the entire incident under the rug of a backstory. However, no tragedy excuses racial bias; and this is the stand the show must take and that is what we expect will happen in the next episode when Jackson brings Stanton's treatment of the civilians to officer Percy West (Michael Beach), who also happens to be his father.
In fact, Percy tries to explain to his son that every officer has the right to make arrests in their case and that is not something that Internal Affairs should interfere with. However, Jackson makes his point loud and clear - silence can also mean complicity and standing by Stanton, who Jackson addresses as a bad cop, will be doing wrong and hence the episode titled ''La Fiera' will see Jackson placed right at the center of the plot.
In the meantime, after having learned about what it really means to serve the neighborhood, Nolan (Nathan Fillion) might be of some help to Jackson. One of the first people that Jackson had reported Stanton to was Nolan, and in a fervent attempt to prove that he was an ally, Nolan tried to act as if he was a savior, which only aggravated the situation with James.
Of course, Harper's dialogue with James about why it would be dangerous for her to serve the neighborhood that she stays in is a reminder that the show may go the extra mile to portray all facets of cop life. The official synopsis of the episode on the other hand has no connection whatsoever to Jackson and instead concentrates on Nolan and reads, "Officer John Nolan's mom makes an unannounced visit, which complicates his life; Sergeant Grey considers retiring."
'The Rookie' season 3 will air every Sunday at 10 pm ET on ABC.