I've been watching it, but normally my taste is usually not the boards, to say the least. I think this show is more like Nashville or Empire than NCIS: Los Angeles. It's not really a solve a murder in 60 minutes show, but more about the politics of being a cop, and the ends and outs of it. It should be pretty good for a while.
How does it compare to Castle? I like Nathan Fillon but don't know if I could handle him in another police show. I stopped watching Castle when it was ruined after he and Beckett crossed the line. Just didn't work for me. In fact, the whole eccentric/unique guy + woman cop sidekick formula is stale.
It's not like Castle at all. Castle focused on the leading duo, with Espo/Ryan/Lainie as complete side characters. Through the first two episodes of The Rookie, I'm more invested in the other 2 rookies and their TOs, than I am in Fillion's character and his TO. To me, it's almost like Fillion's character is just one of the ensemble, instead of being the actual focused person.
In my opinion this show isn't going to last. It's actually like Pitch. It's very similar to that show. In fact it is exactly like that show. Except instead of sports it is cops.
All the scenes from every commercial zero in on Fillon. I'll take a pass for now. Please post your thoughts again after 6-7 episodes.
Zeroing in on Fillion is strictly for marketing services. People on ABC are used to him, so him as the foundation for eyeballs to the show, is a good idea. Also, from the get-go, he has the most character descriptions (40 year old trying to acclimate to a new job) vs all the newbies on the team. From your earlier post, it doesn't seem like your problem is with Fillion dominating the show - it's with Fillion getting the most to do, while Katic was the straight-cop. And that hasn't been the case at all, after the first two episodes. But yeah, I'll definitely revisit this thread in about a month.
@A_3PO just checked the third episode. Fillion was basically a side-character for the majority of the episode. They mostly focused on one of the other rookie's training officer who got shot and whose wife is a junkie. They're doing this show the right way, so far. Developing multiple characters simultaneosly. It's not ground-breaking television, but definitely a decent show.