The Rookie: Farewell, Monica

I still can't believe what I saw in the final moments of the latest episode of The Rookie. Playoff overtime kept me from watching on the airdate, so I went to Hulu, and I'm still stunned. The crazy thing is, I predicted this, but even when it happened, it was still quite shocking:

Monica Stevens is no more, folks.

I still remember when Monica made her debut in Season Five. I knew she wouldn't be one-shot, but even as she was revealed to be immensely corrupt and aligned with Elijah Stone, I figured that we'd only see Monica during that season. I definitely figured that once Elijah was locked up, we wouldn't see Monica again. Boy, was I wrong, and thank God I was.

We would still be treated to the deliciously beautiful wickedness that is Monica Stevens, as we would learn by Season Six that she's basically a criminal mastermind. She had her alliances, but she definitely had her underlings for sure. One such underling was Dr. Blair London. You remember Blair; the LAPD psychiatrist from Season Six. It was during the near end of Season Six that Blair was revealed as a planted mole within the LAPD, and it was Monica who did the planting. So yeah, that shortened season pretty much told us fans what we already figured about Monica: she is a high-level piece on the proverbial and sinister chess board.

Though Blair and other cohorts were caught, Monica got away, because of course she did. Monica was similar to the Queen in Chess, but has a lot of the powers of the King; she does what she wants, she moves as much as she wants to, and she is highly, highly important. The FBI certainly thought so, as the Season Seven finale (one of only two S7 episodes that Monica appeared in) ended with the revelation that Monica would be in an arrangement with the Feds and the LAPD to take down some high-level baddies.

All of that gave me Legends of Tomorrow vibes, but unlike Leonard Snart and Mick Rory--who actually tried the heroic route, Monica had no plans on discontinuing her villainy. She was a big time double agent, going back and forth dealing with the LAPD and FBI, while also continuing her dealings with high level criminal Aiden Warner. As we saw in the recent episode, "Dead Ringer," it would finally bite Monica in the posterior, as her attempt to remove Cooper Johnson from the board would see her in danger. Also, Monica's actions were discovered by the LAPD and FBI, so yeah, her back was really against the wall.

Knowing this, Monica paid one last visit to Wesley Evers, her former colleague and former boyfriend, as we all remember. What we saw were two rarities from Monica. One, vulnerability, and it wasn't manufactured this time. And two, self-awareness. We never saw that from Monica. She actually asked Wesley if he truly loved Monica before she became the monster standing in front of him. Wesley said that he did, that everyone loved Monica then. Monica said her goodbye to Wesley and headed off inside a van looking to be driven to the LAX Airport.

I knew that would be her last ride, and not the one she wanted. Monica knew it too, or had to have known. The driver drove past the entrance, and that's when it happened--she held Monica at gunpoint.

Monica's final words: "Not in the face." She didn't scream those words.

19 episodes. That's how much we Rookie fans got to enjoy and/or loathe Monica Stevens, 19 episodes. We have Bridget Regan to thank so much for bringing so much to this deliciously evil role, and we got so see Monica's villainy evolve to such a massive exponential level. I loved so much about Monica; the big things like her ruthlessness, her arrogance, and her drive, and even small things like her wardrobe and those manicured nails of hers. Monica reminds me a lot of Carmen Sandiego; I do get that vibe from her, but there's a huge difference between the two. While Carmen is a criminal, she's not purely evil, not even close. Monica, however, was as diabolical as the day is long, and that's an understatement.

I was (and still am) a Bridget Regan fan long before The Rookie. I still remember first seeing her as Dottie Underwood on Agent Carter, and I've seen Regan on so much since then. One thing I can't help but gush over: Bridget Regan has done the villainess thing a lot. Let me see if I can list them all--or at least the ones I know of. Daphne Tucker (a vehicular villainess) on New Amsterdam (the crime show, not the medical drama). Evil political villainess Victoria Ryland in two episodes of Perception. Criminal mastermind Rose on Jane the Virgin. The underrated Poison Ivy on Batwoman. Criminal gang leader Charlotte Cole on the MacGyver reboot. And of course, there's 9-1-1, the two-parter from last season. Regan appeared as Moira Blake, a crazed scientist whose actions ended up causing the heartbreaking death of Bobby Nash. That's seven villainous roles from Regan, that I know of.

Among many other credits, Regan appeared in the season finale of the Matlock reboot (an episode I have yet to watch) which aired just days before her Rookie demise. The Rookie has really pleased me with their collection of long running villainesses. First La Fiera, then Rosalind Dyer, and now Monica Stevens. Monica was quite the character and quite the villainess; I'm still shocked by her demise, despite the fact that I saw this coming before this season started. Regan absolutely nailed it big time, and I am very grateful that I got to see such a deliciously epic villainess show out in such grand fashion!