Heart Beat

Heart Beat
Season	4
Episode	10
Air date	January 2, 2022
Written by	Fredrick Kotto
Directed by	SJ Main Muñoz
Previous	Breakdown
Next	End Game
	Gallery
	Transcript

"Heart Beat" is the tenth episode of the fourth season of The Rookie. This is the sixty-fourth episode of the series overall.

Summary

Now that John Nolan knows about Bailey’s past, he must decide if they still have a future. Meanwhile, when a plane crashes in the middle of the city the team races to find out why.

Plot

LAPD discovered the fingerprints are a match to Levi Lincoln, a former millionaire who murdered his wife and was sentenced to a decade in prison. The squad assumed Lincoln escaped prison but note on the lack of report being made and decide to visit his prison.

At the prison, Harper and Nolan meet the criminal until they discover he is actually an impostor. The man is Lamar Sheff, who underwent plastic surgery to resemble Lincoln and do his time for him after being paid $5 million and was promised another payment of that amount after the sentence was up. The squad question on who was in on it but Sheff refuses to talk, out of fear of being harmed by those higher up. Nolan gets an idea, despite Harper's reservations. They then meet Oscar Hutchinson, who was incarcerated in the prison and he agrees to help in exchange for a prison transfer on a recommendation Harper write, since John has a troubled status. After she agrees, Oscar then reveals that Lincoln bribed most of the prison staff such as the warden and guards.

Meanwhile, Wesley is in slums about losing his job before he bumps into James. The two friends catch up, after James asks for his legal expertise for helping troubled youths.

At HQ, the squad realized Lincoln used his wealth to escape the country to a remote area, where he wouldn't be recognized until his sentence was over and it worked before he ran out of money. They note he had returned for the gold but had crashed his jet, explaining earlier. They go to his old home, where his old housekeeper tries to deny his location but the cops hear a commotion and the keeper tells them that Lincoln was at the house and is forcing another employee dig up his buried loot in the backyard. LAPD find him yelling at his employee to hurry but when Lincoln sees the cops, he opens fire on them and promptly flees the house on his motorcycle.

Afterwards, LAPD decide to trap Lincoln by having his business associates and possible sources are put under surveillance. However, they see Lincoln is still being quiet until Nolan brings up they haven't accounted for one last resort: the money that he gave his double Lamar Sheff. Harper follows up by mentioning how Sheff told them he was promised another $5 million if he helped Lincoln out and deduces that Sheff's family probably hasn't spent all the initial payment. Grey has the squad look into Sheff's family to be sure.

While Nolan and Harper are driving, they discuss his situation with Bailey about Jason and how she probably has a reason for not talking of him. Nolan has confirmed from Oscar that Jason is everything Bailey described, and Harper vouches if Jason tries something, Bailey can handle it.

Back to Harper and Nolan, the two receive a report that Lincoln had broken into the Sheff's house and held Lamar's wife at gunpoint and forced her to wire him the money. Having the money, the two deduce he is preparing to flee at a private airfield not too far from them. Once they arrive, they find him at a hangar. Seeing the police, Lincoln entered a shootout with Harper and Nolan, stating once they were gone, he was free to escape. As this goes on, Bradford contacts Nolan saying they are on scene and is told by Nolan to cut Lincoln off when he makes his move to escape. After running out of ammo, Lincoln tries to flee out the backdoor only to be boxed in by Bradford and Chen. He surrenders and Harper slaps on the cuffs, while remarking that because he is broke that he will be looking at hard time in prison, something he bitterly agrees with before he is loaded up.

Cast

Main

• Nathan Fillion as John Nolan
• Shawn Ashmore as Wesley Evers
• Mekia Cox as Nyla Harper
• Jenna Dewan as Bailey Nune
• Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez
• Richard T. Jones as Wade Grey
• Melissa O'Neil as Lucy Chen
• Eric Winter as Tim Bradford

Guest starring

• Steve Kazee as Jason Wyler
• Matthew Glave as Oscar Hutchinson
• Arjay Smith as James Murray
• Helena Mattson as Ashley McGrady
• Ross Partridge as Levi Lincoln
• Kanoa Goo as Chris Sanford
• Sharif Atkins as Processing Officer
• Corbin Reid as Sharon Rice
• Flula Borg as Skip Tracer Randy (voice only)
• Jamil Walker Smith as Curtis Jones

Co-starring

• Nicholas Duvernay as Tyler Stent
• Carol Saragusa as Meredith
• Jennifer Saygan as Jade

Trivia

• Jenna Dewan is now credited as "Starring" instead of "Guest Starring" beginning with this episode.
• Flula Borg, who provided the voice of Skip-Tracer Randy, worked with Nathan Fillion in the 2021 film The Suicide Squad.