Post below contains possible spoilers for The Rookie 4x12:
maybe Iām in the minority here but I kind of read Timās āLucyās not my partnerā thing as a defense to
1) have an excuse to bring her up into the conversation again &
2) to try and convince himself of this working relationship cause he knows they blur the line but he canāt admit it
cause he knows deep down that she is his partner. No other rookieās even made it beyond their rookie year to BE there in another stage on the job w/him!
So he knows Lucyās important. I just think he wanted to downplay it to Ashley so she didnāt get even more suspicious (especially since he already screwed up the date so badly you know?)
I didnāt see it as a brush off or an understatement of her impact on his life. I saw it as tactic to strategically mention her without overdoing it.... a very Tim-like move, if you think about it.
