‘The Rookie: Feds’ Recap: Season 1, Episode 9 “Flashback”
In the midseason finale, Garza has to face a difficult part of his past when he gets framed for espionage.
Garza Gets Framed
As Garza goes to leave the office one night, he gets a call. He immediately flies out to Washington D.C. where he uncovers a car and digs in the trunk. As soon as he sees what’s inside, he calls Simone to tell her that he’s about to be arrested and passes along a few code words that imply that he’s framed. Before he can even hang up the phone, multiple cars roll up with lights and sirens.
Secrets of the Past
Back in L.A., Simone informs the others on the team and they get to work on figuring out what’s happening and how they can help Garza. With some digging, they learn that an operation that he was a part of 5 years ago went wrong and the agency covered it all up. The woman that Garza loved was working on it with him and died in an ambush that happened due to a mole in the op.
With this information, they try to figure out who is framing him. There’s a rumor of a VIP guest on the sixth floor that they’re also trying to figure out. With the help of Laura’s friend Mark, they find where one of the guys that Garza worked with on the op is hiding out. It takes a little convincing for the man, Link, to trust Laura and Brendon as well as them trusting him. They learn that Link thinks that Garza is framing him and Garza thinks Link is framing him.
While they’re talking to Link, the others learn that the VIP guest is the person that Garza was interrogating when the op 5 years ago went wrong. Once they learn that Link isn’t actually involved, Simone tries to get him on the phone with Garza, who is being transported back to L.A. in their private jet. He’s in the custody of another agent on the plane who he knows.
Simone calls one of the pilots on the plane and asks her to let her talk to Garza. The pilot fights the idea at first before caving. She sneaks a phone into the bathroom for him. When Garza slips into the bathroom, Simone fills him in on everything and that Link isn’t framing him. Before they can talk more, the agent catches him on the phone, but Garza and Simone convince her to listen.
Clearing Garza’s Name
When Garza lands in L.A., they give him a chance to clear himself. He connects the dots on who was in on this if it wasn’t Link. He ties it to another agent and goes to talk to the “VIP guest”, Rice, to get answers.
After some pressure, the guy admits that he didn’t want to be stuck in Russia anymore which is where he landed after the op went bad. In an attempt to get out, he reached out to the other agent who said that if he ratted on a mole, which is the framed Garza, then he could come to the US and be in witness protection. They get him to admit it over the phone by having him think it was just a call with Rice. Garza and the others swoop in to arrest the other agent and Garza is cleared of all charges.
The Aftermath
After everything is over, the team and Simone push to ask why he called her. He tells that that she was the most recent on his call log, but in private he tearfully admits that he needed a “torpedo” as he called her on her first day.
Garza leaves to go to his lost lover’s grave. A flashback shows that he made sure to get her body from the ambush to bury. While leaving flowers on her grave, he collapses.
The Rookie: Feds is on break until January when it’ll be back at a new time of 9 p.m. The next episode will be a crossover with The Rookie!