Who’s Best for Andy McNally, Sam or Nick?

Rookie Blue 4×11 Focus Review: Who’s Best for Andy McNally, Sam or Nick?

There was so much going on in the Rookie Blue episode called “Deception” that one recap/review can’t cover it!   This review is on the aspect of Rookie Blue that is dear to the hearts of  many fans: the romance of officer Andy McNally  (Missy Peregrym) and detective  Sam Swarek (Ben Bass).  Stay tuned for a full episode recap/review this weekend, but this week I felt Sam and Andy needed their own special analysis.

SPOILER WARNING! Spoilers for Rookie Blue episode 4×11, “Deception”

After three years of rooting for “Sandy”/ “McSwarek”  I know Sam and Andy fans aren’t happy about the Andy and Nick Collins (Peter Mooney) relationship.  Remember though, everything happens for a reason, and in this case it’s Andy’s own self-division.  When the man Marlo Cruz (Rachel Ancheril) has been stalking as a possible child molester is found beat up in his house,  Andy calls Sam to let him know Marlo could be in trouble.   When they realize Marlo’s fingerprints are going to be found inside the victim’s house, Sam asks Andy to sneak out Marlo’s logbook and add an entry placing Marlo at the victims house when it was being searched for a different case.  Andy is horrified, but she does it.   That night, when Sam starts to thank her, Andy cuts him off:

   - what if I don’t want to follow your rules, Sam? What if I just want to follow…the normal ones.  To be straightforward, honest, and… open?

After voicing those thoughts to Sam, Andy seeks Nick out and to tell him all about her day.  Being that before she’d lied and shut Nick out, it’s a choice that is a clear rejection of Sam and his values.

Andy McNally hates lying, deception, and  jeopardizing her job, which are things she equates with Sam.  Nick represents the “normal” for her.  The part of McNally that believes in pure honesty and goodness is the part that Nick sees and loves, and it’s why their friendship works…and it’s part of their attraction.  (I’m sorry guys, but Nick and Andy do have chemistry.  It’s not that of Andy and Sam, but the actors have definitely made it clear that McCollins does have heat!)

The problem Andy has is that her beliefs don’t always match her actions.   She does do things to protect others that aren’t exactly on the straight and narrow – with or without Sam.  She didn’t report Marlo as bi-polar to begin with.  Marlo’s unauthorized surveillance and spinning out of control doesn’t cause her to report Marlo.  Instead she calls Sam Swarek as Marlo’s boyfriend  - not her superior officer.  Sam pushes her to cover for Marlo – once again jeopardizing her job.  Sure, she’s furious at him for putting her in that position (aren’t we all!) but she did it. She tells Sam she didn’t do it for him, but for Marlo. Well, guess what – so did Sam.

What Andy has in common with Sam is a sense of loyalty to those she cares about  - to the point of wanting to protect them at all costs. However, she can’t acknowledge that about herself.  This may be why her first instinct was to not tell Nick about her day. She knows that her behavior, although coming from good intentions, was unethical.  I would love to know Nick’s reaction to her report!  Assuming she tells him everything, she’s putting him in the position of having to keep the secret as well.  I think that he will, but being that this really isn’t Nick’s style, it could cause conflict later.

Would Nick have covered for Marlo?  I’m not sure. Yes, he broke the rules when he dived off the pier to save someone, but that’s very different from a cover-up.  Take a look at his behavior around his feelings for Andy.  When Nick developed a crush on Andy, he didn’t act on it.  Instead, when he came back from being undercover and found Gail was still there waiting for him (as opposed to spending a year in France) he continued their relationship and brushed off any conscious romantic thoughts about Andy.  It’s only when he found out Gail cheated that he’s able to admit to himself and to Gail his crush on Andy and pursue it.  Nick tried to do the right thing in the relationship – even though it wasn’t right for him.

Being that Nick left Gail at the altar once, I guess that Nick tries to do what he thinks is right at the expense of his own feelings – just like Andy.  He does it until he’s so backed up against a wall he’s got to break out or be crushed, causing more of an explosion than if he’d just done what he’d felt to begin with.  It’s that wanting to do the right thing that connects Nick and Andy.

I suspect  in upcoming episodes we’ll be seeing consequences of Andy and Sam’s covering up Marlo’s actions.  Whatever they are, they will likely be worse than had they just let Marlo be disciplined or fired.  If so, it will  raise another point.  As noble as the desire to help their friends is, how healthy is that instinct?  Is the attraction between Sam and Andy based on a trait that’s good for a person, or on something more self-destructive?

Ultimately, whether the attraction is healthy or not, it’s proven to be a strong one.  To borrow a phrase from another ABC show, “The heart wants what the heart wants.”   Nick very well could be the better relationship for Andy.  I’m just not sure if it’s the one she can stick with.  That will depend on what is more true for Andy.  In her heart is she a more of a rule keeper, or does she prefer to make up her own rules the way Sam does? Andy needs to find a way to accept and integrate these different aspects of herself.   Only time will tell which is behavior is actually more true to who she is.

Who do you think Andy should choose – Nick Collins or Sam Swarek?   Leave your choice in the comments!

katrine a écrit:En fait je me demande vraiment si l'un ou l'autre sont mieux pour Andy, tout le long de la série elle ne semble pas vraiment savoir elle même ce qui est bien pour elle et ce qui la rendrait heureuse. Au début malgré le fait qu'elle ''apprécie'' vraiment Sam, elle reste avec Luke car elle croit que cela représente mieux la ''normalité'', après pour pas rester seule elle se couple avec Nick car elle ''pense'' que c'est mieux pour elle..... j'ai l'impression qu'elle agit plus selon des règles sociales que ce qui la rendrait heureuse. Et Sam lui on dirait qu'il aime souffrir ..... il ne se bat pas vraiment lorsqu'elle est avec Luke, et il la voit se rapprocher de Nick mais continue à faire comme si de rien, et du coup à souffrir. On a l'impression qu'il souffre depuis le début de la série.... sauf les quelques épisodes où ils ont été ensembles et là il semblait heureux.... le seul qui me semble vraiment sincère avec lui-même c'est Nick