Monica’s Big Return to ‘The Rookie’ Is Setting Up the Show To Resolve a Major Mystery
Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for The Rookie Season 7, Episode 11.The diabolically sinister Monica Stevens (Bridget Regan) made her long-awaited return to The Rookie in the latest episode, the aptly titled “Speed.” She was revealed as the mastermind behind a harrowing heist on a bus, where the undercover officers, John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) and Celina Juarez (Lisseth Chavez), deal with two brothers, Joel (Jacob Pitts) and Tommy Howser (Josh Pafchek), who hijack a Metro bus with a bomb. The reveal of Monica as the true culprit of the bus heist has grave implications for the officers in the Mid-Wilshire Division and, perhaps, additional victims. It’s time to unpack the blockbuster return of Monica Stevens in The Rookie.
Monica Stevens Orchestrated the Bomb Threat as a Decoy
Monica Stevens made her last appearance in The Rookie during the Season 6 finale, “Escape Plan.” In her last scene, Monica flees from a shootout in Argentina. Earlier in the episode, the Mid-Wilshire Division was building a case against Monica since she was using compromising data from patient sessions with police psychiatrist Doctor Blair London (Danielle Campbell). Monica would then sell the information to the criminal underworld to disrupt LAPD activities. She also enjoyed having corrupt police officers in her pocket and acting in her interests. Nolan and Nyla Harper (Mekia Cox) saved Dr. London from being traded by Monica to an underworld money launderer in Argentina, Jakob Olmstead (Casper Andreas), as the LAPD needed Dr. London as a witness to expose Monica. After that, Monica was lying low and under the radar, not appearing again in the series, until now.
During “Speed,” the Howser brothers hijack a Metro bus with a bomb threat, where Nolan and Juarez were already undercover to monitor activity on a high-crime-rate bus line. However, the entire event was merely a ploy concocted by Monica. She employed another agent on the bus, Denise Summers (Molly McCook), who posed as an innocent and pregnant bystander. The true goal was for the Howser brothers to create havoc with the bus threat and distract the LAPD. During the chaos, Denise steals the ID of a government worker who was also traveling on the bus. When Denise is unknowingly released, she data mines the government worker’s card and sends all the data to Monica before the LAPD catches on to Denise’s involvement. It is unknown what type of login data was taken, but it’s clear from Monica’s dialogue with Denise that the information is quite valuable and extremely sensitive. Additionally, if Monica is involved, her intentions are seldom good.
Related
Chenford Shares a Steamy “April Fools” Kiss in ‘The Rookie’ Season 7, Episode 12 Promo
Is Chenford getting back together as the city plunges into “purge” territory?
Monica’s Current Whereabouts Are Unknown
Interestingly, during her short scene, Monica appears to be lounging at a lavish resort, and she has a smartphone handy while in public. Based on the setting, she didn’t appear to be keeping a low profile. It’s unknown where Monica is currently situated, but she is probably taking refuge in a country that doesn’t have extradition laws for U.S. fugitives. It looks like she is staying in an opulent resort, and she does not appear to be struggling or living in squalor, despite her fugitive status.
To add another layer to her devious nature, Monica warns Denise that the life of Denise’s child is contingent on her silence. That means Monica is likely holding Denise’s child hostage. Monica has completely shed any ambiguity as a character at this point. She belongs behind bars for threatening a child’s life. The LAPD catches and arrests Denise during the episode, but they still have no idea about Monica’s involvement with the bus heist nor the information she stole from the government worker.
Monica’s Current Plot Should Tie Back Into an Unresolved Season 6 Mystery
Now that Monica Stevens is back on the board, it’s the perfect opportunity to tie up an unresolved mystery with the Federal Reserve heist from the Season 6 premiere, “Strike Back.” The LAPD apprehended the culprit of the heist, Boyd Taylor (Kristian Bruun), but his attorney, Monica, prevented him from revealing whom he was working for. This indicates that another mastermind and inside man orchestrated that heist, and Monica knows the identity of this shadowy individual, who knew how to hack into the Federal Reserve’s secure servers. The mastermind of the heist had Taylor murdered by a sniper before he could confess the identity of his boss. Curiously, the actual goal of the bus heist in “Speed” concerned Monica stealing a federal government worker’s ID card.
It would be surprising if the Federal Reserve heist from Season 6 and the bus heist in Season 7 were completely unrelated. Monica knew the mastermind behind the Federal Reserve heist, and she likes to deal in stolen information. She used Dr. London’s patient sessions to broker information to LA’s criminal underworld and corrupt officers within the department. Monica’s connection to the mastermind of a Federal Reserve heist and the fact that she stole information from a government agent constitute foreboding developments. Whatever Monica’s ultimate plan turns out to be, it has dangerous implications for the officers of the Mid-Wilshire Division.
Monica Stevens Returns With a Vengeance
Depending on the level of sensitivity of the stolen information, Monica’s current plot could have greater implications for a larger group of victims, and potentially, the entire United States. Considering Monica’s associates were able to organize a heist on the Federal Reserve, causing chaos to distract the LAPD, and create a false decoy heist with a bomb threat on a public bus. That means her accomplices are well-resourced and incredibly dangerous. Hopefully, the Mid-Wilshire Division uncovers the scheme and determines how to save Denise’s child, whose livelihood is under threat from Monica. The message in The Rookie is clear: Monica will be back with a vengeance before Season 7 comes to a close.
The Rookie has seven more episodes to go in Season 7, and we can certainly expect the threat of Monica to grow even bigger before the season ends. New episodes of The Rookie debut on Tuesdays on ABC. Every episode of the series is available to stream now on Hulu in the U.S.
