Villainess Review: Erin Cole (The Rookie)

It's arrived; it's finally arrived. The dust has settled, the strikes are now a thing of the past, and many, many shows are back on TV. Among the shows returning to TV is The Rookie, as tonight begins the sixth season of the hit series. I love The Rookie. I've watched since Day One. It's an amazing show that gets better and better as it progresses. It was a Tuesday show for the first season, and the next four seasons would air on Sundays in that 10PM slot. It was perfect for me, because in the first half, The Rookie served as that show that I would enjoy after an amazing day of NFL action, while the second half saw the show as a calming outlet for this fan of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The sixth season will see the show back on Tuesdays, but not at the 10PM slot. Like most crime dramas, The Rookie has an impressive crop of villainesses, and with the new season on the horizon, I thought I would focus on one of my favorites from the series.

The episode, "The Q Word," kicked off with a vast majority of the LAPD officers at a bar, with two of them--Jackson West and Chris Rios--engaged in some heavy competition. Another one, Erin Cole, was shown with Nolan talking about Chris, who she happened to be dating. Regarding the episode's title, it centered on a word one cop should never say on duty: "quiet." Unsurprisingly, Nolan innocently makes the mistake of saying that they were in the verge of a "quiet" day, with Nyla reminding him that the word's a big time no-no, as when that word's uttered, that's when the insanity starts.

Unfortunately, the insanity came in the form of a shots fired call, and the victim was none other than Chris Rios. As for Erin, she was immensely distraught at the scene and at the hospital, as the medical staff worked to save Chris, but their efforts were futile; Chris ended up dying of his injuries. As for the identity of the shooter, it was revealed as Serj Derian, a member of the notorious Derian crime family. The gun was recovered by Nolan, but it was suddenly missing afterwards. It was also revealed that the Derians had police files, and that led to the conclusion that, as the saying goes, "there's a polecat in the henhouse."

So someone in the LAPD is on the Derians' payroll, and that led to interrogations and searches of every officers body cam. Nolan was shown consoling Erin again, as she felt some semblance of responsibility. As the investigation unveiled, she was responsible: Erin's body cam had nothing showing, it was turned off. So Erin was the corrupt mole, and once Nolan remembered Erin stating that she wanted to travel in an RV, he and the other officers found Erin inside the vehicle making her getaway.

Erin drove all the way to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, and she was found placing a gun to her own head by Nolan. The villainess confessed everything; she had been working for the Derians due to the family paying off her debts, and she had stolen the files and delivered them to the Derians, while also taking the gun used in Chris' fatal shooting. She also revealed that the shooting was a response to Erin wanting out of her arrangement, and she carried a lot of guilt regarding Chris' death. Nolan attempted to convince Erin to testify against any other corrupt conspirators, but in what appeared to be a strange response, Erin called out Nick Armstrong's name and held Armstrong at gunpoint, only for Armstrong to shoot and kill her.

So that's that, right? Not so fast. The episode ended with Nolan realizing that Erin called out Armstrong's name before he appeared, and it was followed by Nolan making another shocking realization: Armstrong was in league with the Derians, and killed Erin to silence him. Wowza!

"The Q Word" is the penultimate episode of The Rookie's second season, and aired on May 3, 2020. Hannah Kasulka appeared in the episode as corrupt villainess Erin Cole, and we would briefly see her in a flashback scene in the following episode (the second season finale). I remember being excited to see Hannah Kasulka in this, because I loved her on The Exorcist TV series a few years prior. I also remember not expecting her to be the villainess, so that was a nice surprise. From what we see, Erin's warmth is genuine; I truly don't think that's just a front. Even so, it doesn't take away from the fact that Erin is also corrupt, calculating, and deliciously sinister. For Erin to commit the crimes she carried out, she had to have had some semblance of evil under her warm demeanor. Erin's corruption resulted in the death of her significant other in Chris, and she knew that; she carried that guilt with her up until she was killed.

Overall, Erin Cole was quite a fascinating villainess; it was absolutely amazing that a sweet-hearted human being could become such an opportunistic villainess. At least she did one last good thing: she exposed an even worse mole in the LAPD. Kasulka's performance stole the entire episode. She was so stellar when it came to her early scenes, and the climax where Erin confesses everything was played out very, very well, especially the emotion and guilt from Erin during that very scene. Other than this and The Exorcist series, Kasulka appeared in an episode of CSI as Debbie Logan, the episode's main victim, and she also appeared in episodes of True Blood, How to Get Away With Murder, and All Rise.

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Check out Erin Cole's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!