Rookie Blue’s Marlo “Knows what she’s in for”
|
For one of Rookie Blue’s main couples, Det. Sam Swarek (Ben Bass) and Officer Andy McNally (Missy Peregrym), Season 6 has gotten off to a rough start thanks to the bombshell dropped by Sam’s ex-girlfriend Marlo Cruz. Life has thrown McSwarek a giant curveball after Marlo revealed that she was pregnant with Sam’s baby. Will the couple be able to successfully work together with Marlo to create the loving environment this baby deserves? Will Marlo allow Andy to be involved in the baby’s life as much as she’d like?
To get the answers to those questions, as well as how Marlo will deal with the pregnancy, The TV Junkies spoke with Marlo herself, actress Rachael Ancheril. Ancheril gave us her take on Marlo’s pregnancy, dealing with McSwarek fans, and a look into the bombing investigation Marlo is leading up with Dov during Season 6. Read on for her answers.
The TV Junkies: What was your reaction when you found out Marlo was pregnant? Were you as surprised as everyone else?
Rachael Ancheril: I think the first thing that hit me was how awkward that would be. When you think about it, it’s so complicated. Marlo is not expecting to return, she’s not expecting to have a baby. How do you tell your ex, who’s been shot and almost died, and is still in love with Andy, is now with Andy — how do you tell him that you’re going to have a baby? Then how do you deal with that? I was struck by how awkward it would be. I even get uncomfortable now talking about it. Oh my God it’s so awkward! I jumped right in and thought “how would I deal with this if I was Marlo?”
TTVJ: How will Marlo and Sam work together as co-parents who aren’t actually in a relationship? What struggles will they face?
RA: They’ll be facing the struggles of being new parents, which in itself is a shock to the system. You may think you know what to expect but you don’t necessarily know what to expect. There’s going to be this new little person that’s going to come out and have it’s own personality. The best analogy I can come up with is this is a wheelbarrow. You have to maintain the load and figure out a way to work together. I believe Andy is just as a part of this as Sam and Marlo are. Marlo knows what she’s in for and that this process is going to include Andy as well. I think that’s very clear. So it’s just finding that balance and being able to all three work together and sort it out.
TTVJ: What’s it been like working with Missy this season?
RA: I have always, since Season 4, always enjoyed working with Missy and the dynamic between Andy and Marlo. They are very awkward together and I think that’s what’s so great. You don’t know what to expect. There are little jabs in their back and forth, it’s girls. At the same time I think there’s a real sense of honesty between Andy and Marlo. That totally came out in Season 4 when Marlo let her guard down to Andy, and understands that you can be totally honest with her. When Andy listens you feel like you’re confiding in a friend, though they aren’t friends. There’s a real sense of honesty between the two of them. As awkward as the communication is I think knowing that honesty is there, even though it’s awkward, it makes it OK.

TTVJ: Andy was always the one that Marlo was honest with about being bipolar. She seems to have that under control at the moment. Will we see any signs of her illness surface during the pregnancy?
RA: I think after the devastation that happen to her in Season 4, literally losing everything, that was a huge wakeup. I think more the message for Marlo, in regards to suffering from bipolar disorder, is a more positive message this season, in a sense that a woman who suffers from mental illness is able to have a child and is capable at being very successful at her job and keeping it all together. When they asked me back that was the biggest worry for me, “what is the message that’s going to be going out about bipolar disorder and people who suffer from it?” Because I was so attentive to it in Season 4 and I have a huge respect for mental illnesses. It was mentioned in the premiere, yes, the doctor told her that she should stay on her meds and it’s better for the baby. I think Marlo is taking those steps to ensure that she’s OK and doing everything in her power to do what’s right for this child. She’s responsible and she’s very aware of what works for her.
TTVJ: Marlo has obviously taken a lot of heat from the McSwarek fans out there. How hard is that on you playing a character that you know people are going to hate and how do you deal with that?
RA: Season 4 was my first time being a series regular on a show, so that was my first introduction to the fandom. I had never heard of them before, pardon my ignorance. There were fans I met in person that were really skeptical of me, but they were so very kind to me and so helpful. I have fans that reach out through Twitter and they are like “we hate your character but you seem like such a nice person.” I’m so grateful to them for having that level of respect and knowing the difference between the character and myself as an actor. I’m just doing my job. I can’t do anything to change it. In real life I do like to be liked, but it’s the character so you have to roll with the punches.
I think to be honest with you that Marlo is really getting it because of the pregnancy. I hear it as well. There are people who take personal jabs and that kind of hurts. I had to learn how to handle that, but now I don’t give any energy to it and it tends to go away.
TTVJ: Marlo and Dov are leading up the investigation into who was behind the bombings at the precinct and they seem to have a pretty good lead at the end of the Episode 2. How will this investigation continue to affect everyone at 15 Division throughout the rest of the season?
RA: I don’t want to give anything away and I have to be really careful. It’s going to affect everyone. You don’t know who’s responsible, even when I was reading the script I was like “did Marlo do this?” It was a total guessing game. I didn’t know what the situation was and was talking with Tassie [Cameron] one day and she said “who do you think it is?” I really didn’t know. I think it’s going to be awesome and I’m so excited for that overall arc. I think it’s such a cool thing and it’s going to affect everyone. EVERYONE! It’s going to be great.
TTVJ: It’s great seeing Dov and Marlo working together. Will we see their friendship continue to grow and what was it like getting to work more with Gregory Smith this season?
RA: I was really excited when I read that Marlo and Dov were going to work together. I think it’s a very unexpected pairing, that they are partners working on this investigation together. If you look back to Season 4 Dov was the one that Marlo dropped her armour for and I think Dov is as good to his friends as he is his coworkers. I could be wrong, but from my perspective he roots for the underdog. He just tries to be supportive and tries to help and I think that’s really awesome. Marlo has never really had friends at 15, that’s just the character she is. I think being a little more open and having Dov there is just awesome.
Greg is such a fantastic person. I’ve talked to him about some other things regarding the business and he’s been so generous with me and so good to me as a person as well as working on set as an actor. He’s just overall fantastic. I’m so fortunate to be with that group of people. They are wonderful people.
TTVJ: Anything else to add about Season 6?
RA: A solid injection of 15 Division! It feels like I’ve waited forever to see this season. I’m as excited as the fans.
Do you think Sam, Andy and Marlo will all be able to successfully work together? Who is behind the bombing investigation? Make sure and add your thoughts in the comments below!
Rookie Blue airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Global and returns to ABC on Thursday, June 25.
This story is just awful. I don’t care to see this child or see Andy and Sam be forced to parent it with Marlo. Andy and Sam deserve this. Not Marlo. I will never accept this child as part of Sam’s life. I will just ignore it. I can’t believe the writers would do something so foolish. I’ve lost all respect for them.
I wish you had asked her how Marlo received the promotion to an elite unit without even a suspension after her actions (the timeframe doesn’t allow for that). I have a mental illness and this isn’t realistic at all. She lied on her police application and gun permit as well as to her superiors and endangered the public she swore to protect simply because she did not like the accommodations that the department had made for her illness. She was aware of her condition and the possible impact and just chose to disregard all of the potential fallout. While most people can certainly sympathize with her motivations/decisions; it should not absolve her of responsibility for the outcome. Ultimately an innocent man died because of her choice and the guilty party can never face trial because of her illegal actions in the case.
I sincerely feel that it is disrespectful to the mentally ill and unrealistic to show that there are no consequences for her actions in season 4. Mental illness is a treatable chronic health condition like many others; it is not a “get out of jail free” card. If another officer deliberately concealed a health condition (of any kind) that led to crime and injury, they would face repercussion. To treat mental illness differently just furthers the stigma that those of us with the condition face.
THIS! THANK YOU!
This is not realistic at all. Marlo shouldn’t be working. Marlo shouldn’t have a job. They completely pass on reality when it suits their needs! Terrible on the part of the writers.
Police are part of a union, like it or not there are police that suffer from PTSD which can also create an unsafe condition to the public but they are still working. She was put on a desk, doesn’t have a gun and is working in intelligence which makes sense. Intelligence requires an obsession over details. If Marlo was to be in any sort of department this would be the best fit don’t you think?
Most cases of PTSD in cops is due to the job (what they see and experience as first responders etc), so them keeping the job while seeking treatment is totally acceptable. Some of those who have it might not even be aware of it, so they can’t really be Held accountable if something happens because of an illness they had no idea about. So them knowing about it and hiding it on purpose while being a cop that’s the real dealbreaker.
Marlo knew about her mental illness and didn’t disclose it to the force and she didn’t get it because of the job. She knew the risks and just choose to ignore them, because she felt that the rules shouldn’t apply to her. She knew what would happen if she discloses it, that’s what ultimately happened but the thing is due to her lieing cops got shot, a civilian died not to speak of the medical bills Chloe and Sam acumulated because they got shot. Who’s paying that? So M not even being suspended for her actions is laughable. She did choose to not take the medication that she knew would keep her mental illness in check. So what happened is on her. So her getting investigated for like 3 min and reinstated isn’t what I’d think is the right Thing in this case. It’s not about the mental illness itself, it’s how she choose to hide it and lied. And even commited criminal acts like B&E and probably misused police intel and databases to get the stuff about Kevin Ford. She even went door to door to warn his neighbours.
I’m sure obcessing over CORRECT details would be desirable in the inteligence unit. In Marlo’s case she certainly knows how to investigate the wrong man. In future they should arrest the suspects brother….
If the writers are going for realistic, it leaves me baffled how she managed to get into this unit. But clearly they are not going for realism….
Wouldn’t that apply to Andy and Sam too seeing as they covered for her as well?
I don’t like her character but I like in person. But don’t forget it’s fiction. Don’t hate the writers and actors. They have given us several years a great show. And I hope they continue. I’m absolutely a McSwarek shipper. Maybe her illness and the way she’s back in the job isn’t the way it should be in real life, and maybe the writers have to bring it this way. But that’s the it is, it’s in the past. Having a child with your ex is happening so many times. Also the way how 3 adults act to get along with each other. It definitely brings up the best in both Missy and Ben. Also Rachel. Beautiful act work. I like it. A lot of stuff to use for more then 1 new season Rookie Blue.
Yes it’s fiction, but Tassie herself said they wanted to bring real life situations to season 6(5b). Sorry, but you can’t pick and choose when real life suits and when it doesn’t. You lose credibility, and fans that way.
I have several friends who are police officers and bottom line, she would no longer be on the force after the “reality” that was season 4. End of story.
Not true. They can’t fire her over having a mental illness. It’s against human rights. They have to put her on a desk job. End of story.
They’d fire her for being incapable of being a police officer, not because of a mental illness. She chose to go off of her prescribed medication.
I have to agree. I she would’ve disclosed her mental illness without it getting found out because she investigated a private person without him being implicated in any crime/unsanctioned by the superiour, then her getting send to Police approved therapists and all those things she mentioned in 4×5 it would’ve been acceptable for her to keep a job in law enforcement. But with a death she caused and getting fellow officers shot, so that they nearly died? I mean it’s not like she had no idea about her mental ilness or didn’t know about the risks off stopping her medication on her own.
I am a former (retired) police officer and will tell you right now she would be put on a desk after her suspension. Which is what happened. Like someone else said it’s possible that she was diagnosed after she was on the force, there was even a celebrity recently that’s well into their 40s who just got diagnosed. I think Frank knew she had bipolar. I think that’s why she came off of Swat or bomb squad, to return to the street. My two cents but in my experience this is what would happen.
Tim,good to hear from an ex-cop who has experience and insight in to this situation. Maybe Frank got let go by Inspector Jarvis cuz he also was in the know about Marlo’s Bipolar condition. Marlo came on board in S4 as Noelle’s mat. leave replacement.
You did say she may have been diagnosed after joining the force but wouldn’t she have to disclose this and be assessed,even checkups from her psychiatrist and reports sent to the powers to be? For public safety, she should have been monitored ,yes or no?
Do you think that Jarvis and/or PC Santana maybe part of the dirty cop squad? I would really like to hear back from you regarding my comments and thoughts.
i love our McSwarek they love each other,they will work this out,they are EndGame,things like this happen,I still have faith in Tassie….
Me too Christine. This show has stuck around for 6 seasons for a reason. its keeping people talking.
good interview I like this and really like dov and marlo working together and I hope they can all make this work. I love this show and I hope that we just get more and more seasons.
Rachael seems like a sweet person, but the way they’ve taken this season’s storyline… It’s so full of inaccuracies and is a big slap in the face to fans. Lazy writing I guess.
the very last thing I would ever want to see on this show is sam and marlo co-parenting a child. horrible idea.
Tassie had been bombarded with the whole timeline issue many times on Twitter, usually in a not so nice way. She recently said to trust the show and wait to see how it unfolds. I know it’s driving us all mad, but I personally think there will be a twist none of us expect.
Loni, I am hoping that what Tassie has said and see how it unfolds. Marlo appears to me to be too devious and selfish to not care about anyone else but herself. She’s very disliked but I do believe that in the end, she’ll be devastated by the outcome. My gut feeling, she’s not telling the truth about Sam being the father. Maybe it’s one of her co-workers or a high ranking cop!
To those who say Marlo can not be fired for having a mental illness,; that is correct. But she can be fired for lying about it (or any other health condition that impacts the job) I have the same mental illness and there were provisions made to accommodate our condition. She just didn’t like them and chose not to use them while making the choice to go off the medicine that made her stable. It’s like insurance, you can’t deliberately not use it and then claim it after the accident.
@M how do you know she lied? My sister was diagnosed in her mid twenties so it’s possible she was diagnosed after she was already on the force. It’s also possible her superiors did know. She was a senior officer and quite capable of doing her job. When she went off her meds she thought she could handle it. I say this with authority because my sister went through a similar phase (not to the same degree of people getting shot) but I see with my sister how scary it is to have to rely on meds. The thought of not being able to control a part of you without medication is scary. She had this need to “handle it on her own” but she couldn’t and it was really hard for her and for me and my family. But in life she’s a great person, and I feel the same about how they used Marlo. I’m sorry for the rant but I hate that Marlo gets crapped on all the time when I feel like I get her if that makes sense? If she was intentionally a horrible person I wouldn’t stick up for her but I think she’s only tried her best. Maybe I just see something I want to see, who knows.
I appreciate your viewpoint and the information on your sister. In this case I am going based on what happened on the show alone. Marlo specifically talked about her condition, the provisions made and that she was not disclosing it to her superiors. I do understand why she would feel that way and can sympathize with her need to “handle it on her own” but the fact is in this fictional case, her condition had a direct impact on others as well.
I don’t think she is a bad person but she DID make poor decisions and conceal an illness that led to a man’s death and in the real world there are consequences for that. It’s difficult to explain but if no responsibility is accepted, then to me it is like saying, she is not a capable adult that just happens to have a treatable illness and made a mistake. It just seems like they are saying whether she is on meds or not, she will never be a regular person and is always in need of special protection. Yes, it can be a struggle at times, but part of being “normal” is making mistakes and accepting the consequences, not being treated as fragile and a liability. In reality, I believe both Marlo and your sister would feel as I do but it wasn’t depicted on screen and I feel did a disservice to those of us who are mentally ill.
I have to agree M!
Battling with a mental illness myself it’s known that no case can be compared to another. But if we look at it from what we were shown on the show. Marlo knew what she should’ve done: Disclosing her illness. After that she would’ve been subjective to a bunch of tests etc to determine if she’s capable of doing the job as a cop. But she didn’t want to take the risk of a possibility to not be on the streets. So she decided to ignore what was expected of her as an upstanding cop who follows the law and the rules. I mean serving and protecting should include from themselves if there not up to the job. Disclosing it and then have something happen isn’t unheard of in law enforcement, but if someone knew about M’s mental illness the signs would’ve been discovered earlier and she wouldn’t have gotten a civilian killed and two follow officers almost killed.
Plus from S4 we do know that she has been diagnosed quite some time ago. She even mentioned that it good really bad a few years ago to Andy, and her therapist reminds her about something that happened the last time. So her hiding the mental illness was a very deliberat decision. Also she was on SWAT where in most countries the officers have to get through mental evaluations so she clearly mingled her way through that by ignoring the rules.
So my problem with her having the job isn’t about her having a mental illness. It’s about how she choose to handle it and maybe didn’t even take it that serious. She only thought about herself, not something I’d expect from a cop who takes his/her duy serious.
M, I agree with your views about Marlo and her dishonest and concealing her mental illness which isn’t something that is treatable. In season 4 ep.5, “Poison pill”, Marlo was forced to disclosed to Andy her bipolar condition that she stated the police and Sam weren’t aware of. Imagine filling out an application form for a job with the police dept. as well as a gun permit and deliberately omitting that section on the forms.
In season 4 Ep.11,” Deception”‘ she openly admitted to Andy in the cop car that she just wanted to feel the love because she was falling for Sam. Maybe it was during this time frame, she decided to go off her Rx drugs including her BC pills.??
Marlo shouldn’t be perceived as “poor me”‘ I didn’t want to get pregnant by a guy who dumped me, etc. Sam never dumped her, she ignored him after the shooting, no hospital visits and didn’t return his phone calls so didn’t pursue it any further.
Sam and Andy will prevail and Marlo will lose out!
This show has been since first season, cops pushing the boundaries when they need to. many of the characters on this show have done things they should answer for that put people’s lives in danger by knowingly and willingly continuing with their actions and Marlo is the one being called out because she has a mental illness? Oliver was going to kill someone and Sam was going to cover it up. Andy put SAMs life in jeopardy when she kept seeing him while he was undercover, Sam and Andy covered for Marlo too and it goes in and on. Why are none of the characters ever responsible for their actions? Oh wait that’s right because it’s fiction!
C speak for others but I have criticized other characters and thought their actions were wrong. This article is about Marlo however so my words here pertain to her. Yes, she had an illness but she did not manage it well and as a result a man died. In the other cases you mention, there were possibilities but no actual fatalities. If Marlo had not wrongly fixated on Ford, he would still be alive. I do think there was shared responsibility and others should have been accountable as well. Remember Frank did lose his job as a result of the incident and Sam would have had he not been injured.
Abigail – FYI
Sam and Andy were both suspended after the undercover at the end of Season 2.
Marlo was too after season 4. Luke alluded to it in the finale. They aren’t going to show her off work sitting in her house doing nothing where’s the entertainment for a tv show in that except for the witch burners that would like Marlo on a stake.
Great interview!
This story line is a complete joke. For the first time, I’m embarrassed to admit I watch this show (well, I don’t watch faithfully this season anymore…) The writers want “intelligent viewers” (Tassie’s words), well the thing about intelligent viewers….they need intelligent writing. And this show is lacking that lately. Maybe they ran out of ideas? I don’t know, but the quality has dropped and that saddens me. They are always saying how they want to keep the show real but they put no effort into the details that make a story realistic (like Marlo getting promoted after her MAJOR screw up and the time line for the pregnancy are just a few examples). They drop the ball on those details in order to get their ideas to work quite often, ironically, intelligent viewers notice those details. Comments like that (about realism) are what make viewers annoyed because they are so far off realistic it’s laughable. Even if there is a twist ahead which could possible save face for the genius who crafted this lame story, a little effort into making it seem plausible would have been appreciated. I would much rather a story line where Sam (who is NOT the father) and Andy mutually decide to support Marlo with raising the baby because they are good, compassionate people. Otherwise, a baby with an ex who is mentally ill (I won’t bring up the innocent person who died and the three others who got shot or the damage to the barn and will ignore the possibility that while division 15 was searching for a man who went off the deep end because he was being wrongfully stalked by a cop, probably kept police off the streets where they could have been much needed…oops, I just did….), while getting married to someone else makes me wonder if my TV guide glitched and I’m actually watching Days of Our Lives or Young and the Restless….
It’s always disappointing to see a quality program go downhill. This story line is truly beneath the quality this show is capable of. 🙁
love your comment. This storyline stinks.
i LOVE this show. Haters keep on hating and STOP WATCHING if it bugs you so much, good riddance!
Writers keep doing what you’re doing! You’ve kept the show on for 6 seasons! Ignore the idiots that assume they can do your job better, I would like to see them try.
I LOVE THIS SHOW! MY NAME IS ABAGAIL AND I LOVE THIS SHOW!
Bridget do you know if we are going to get a season 7?
Amber Dowling has the latest here.
i think that the baby should have been some one else i do not think marlo his a bad person she need some one for her self and sam was not that person because he had always want andy from season 1 you could see how sad he was when she was with luke and he was hurting every day and also he was the one how help her with every thing that why marlo would never made him happy sam just did not want to be on his owen that why he want totry and move on but he could not when andy came back you could see he was happy she was back .how they are married after six years they need no one in there way now they just need to be happy i just hope in season 7 that the baby his some else so sam and andy can be happy toghter for good you could see at the wedding that everyone was happy to see them there toghter and all there friends knew that they should have done this a long time a go. marlo and the baby should move on like she said she wants to move away and she want to do it on her owen because of what sam did thats why i hoe that the baby was some one else so she can be happy with that person to i was hopeing that it was a game marlo was playing to split andy and sam up again with some one how want to split them up to and i am happy that nick found some one to she made him happy i know she lyde to him at first but she talk to him about it and she help him and the other to get oliver out off trouble and they work it out and he went with her so he was happy again and he over andy and gail all we need to see now his marlo and ? happy now that why the baby needs to be some one else but not sam. like what sam said in season 2 when people go of there tables they need to take what the do one there owen and not bring other into just like what happen in the ep call bad moon rising .
ANDY AND SAM FOREVER XOXOXO
SORRY MARLO BUT SAM WANT ANDY FROM SEASON 1 YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER COME OF YOUR TABLES AND ALSO NEVER GOT WITH SAM BECAUSE YOU WHERE JUST GOING TO GET HURT AND NO ONE SHOULD BE MADE TO DO SOME THING THEY DONT WANT TO DO THAT WANT YOU ARE MADING SAM DO WITH YOUR BABY KNOW YOU CAN SEE THAT SAM JUST WANTS ANDY AND KIDS WITH HER AND NO ONE ELSE I AM SORRY BUT YOU NEED TO MOVE ON WITH YOUR LIFE NOW I JUST HOPE THAT IN SEASON 7 THAT YOUR BABY HIS SOME ELSE AND YOU AND THAT PERSON CAN ME HAPPY AND SO CAN ANDY AND SAM I JUST HOPING THAT YOU AND ? CAN BE HAPPY TO AND YOU MOVE AWAY LIKE YOU SAID TO ANDY IN SEASON 6 EP3 I JUST HOPE IT WAS A GAME YOU AND ? WERE PLAYING TO GET SAM AND ANDY TO GO BACK TO YOU BUT WE WILL SEE IN SEASON 7 I HOPE
ANDY AND SAM XO