The Rookie ratings prove more high-stakes storylines are necessary

The Rookie Season 2, Episode 11 delivered a high-stakes storyline, one that gripped us until the end. Now the live ratings prove this is needed for success.

There’s no denying The Rookie has struggled to keep its audience. Even during the first season it struggled, leading to viewers not knowing which way ABC would choose to go. The move to Sunday night seemed like a death knell, although it could be just what the show has needed to survive for a third season.

Should the series get a third season, there’s one thing for certain. The Rookie needs to up its game. Recently, the show has been coasting on the idea that Nathan Fillion will bring in the viewers, but it’s coasted on cases-of-the-week. There have been the odd attempts to draw people in, such as with the threat of the nuclear bomb, but viewers need something more gripping.

That’s exactly what The Rookie‘s winter premiere offered, and the ratings make it clear that more episodes like this are needed. Okay, we don’t want to see our favorite characters buried alive, but we do want to see some real threats against them; something that leaves us wondering from start to finish about whether they’ll live or die.

The Rookie Season 2, Episode 11 live ratings

According to TV Series Finale, which pulls the Neilsen ratings, the winter premiere pulled in 4.923 million viewers and a 0.8 demo. Those figures are up 33% and 35% respectively from the winter finale. Fans needed to know what would happen to Lucy Chen.

Not only were the ratings up from the previous episode, but they were the highest of the entire season. In fact, the demo is at its highest since the third episode of the first season. The audience it at its highest since the pilot episode. That’s telling a lot.

Fans are interested in these types of storylines. We’ve come to love Lucy and definitely don’t want anything to happen to her. That’s something that compelled everyone to tune in to see what could happen. We could see something similar with other characters we care about.

Can’t happen all the time

One of the issues is that doing this too much could lead to the storyline being a little too ingenuous. You just have to look at the likes of NCIS and CSI to see how our favorites have been put in the firing line only now and then. It helps to balance some of the drama and put the focus on cases of the week.

The Rookie needs to find that sort of balance. One of the ways to do it would be to offer some three- or four-episode storylines. We could see this moving forward as it’s clear this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Rosalind. Will the reminders of the intensity of this episode be what we need to tune in for more of Rosalind’s story when it crops up in the future?

However, I’ll admit that I expect to see a big drop in the ratings on Sunday. That’s purely because we know that Lucy is now alive. There isn’t the high-stakes storyline that drew us in during Episode 11. But this will be a sign for the writers that they need to up their game should The Rookie get a third season.

What did you think of The Rookie Season 2, Episode 11? Was it what you needed to see from the series? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The Rookie airs Sundays at 10/9c on ABC.