Richard T. Jones Previews ‘Speed’ Episode, Talks Seth’s Lies

Grey (Richard T. Jones) is the calming presence in the middle of the Speed homage of the March 25 episode of The Rookie.

In the aptly-titled “Speed,” John (Nathan Fillion) and Celina (Lisseth Chavez) find themselves in a hostage situation while undercover for a public safety initiative. While Angela (Alyssa Diaz) and Nyla (Mekia Cox) investigate the suspects, Tim (Eric Winter) challenges Lucy’s (Melissa O’Neil) decision-making skills. Grey is also in the field for this, with rookie Miles (Deric Augustine). We love seeing him outside of the station, and Jones does, too. “Put that in the article,” he tells TV Insider with a laugh. “Alexi Hawley, make sure we see Grey more outside the station. I like that, too. Inside’s a lot more stable. Outside, there’s a lot of things going on.”

There’s quite a bit going on in this week’s episode. “It’s always a challenge doing body cams,” of which there’s a lot, shares Jones. “Everyone else is a little bit more comfortable and used to it because they’re on the street a lot more, so they use their body cams a lot more. When it comes to me, it’s a little bit more challenging for me. One is because I’m a little taller, and two, I’ve got to get into the flow of acting and then also filming.”

He continues, “But when it comes to being outside, being in a travel control center, it was always fun because you’re sitting in the back of a truck or on stage or wherever we do at that particular time and you get the whole effect of everything that’s going on and we have to kind of manufacture everything that we’re seeing, things that we know we’re going to see. So that’s always fun because you get to play a little bit more. You feel like a child.”

Nolan and Celina are the ones in the middle of the danger, since those who take the bus hostage have a bomb. Grey, meanwhile, is “trying to control the way they handle it because there’s so much going on. So I’m trying to keep Nolan calm, but he’s calm already, [and] trying to make sure that Celina’s calm at the same time. We’re following the bus, we’re trying to get everything under control, understanding exactly where the explosion might be. It’s a lot of figuring it out on the go, but at the same time trying to keep the situation at a calm place and keep everybody focused on the task at hand.”

While it was the previous episode that saw Grey have to terminate Seth (Patrick Keleher) after his latest lie — he doesn’t have cancer — that didn’t factor into his decision to have Miles ride with him at all. “Grey likes to spend opportunities riding with the rookies to see where they are in their development,” Jones says. “Seth just never got that far.”

Speaking of Seth, Grey has “mixed feelings about what happened. He actually likes him, but he understands that he’s a wild card. We can’t really depend on him and we can’t really trust him. But I think deep down he has a soft spot for Seth. I think he’s just a soft-hearted guy and he wanted Seth to do well.”

The Rookie, Tuesdays, 9/8c, ABC