Taking to the show’s subreddit for a discussion of “The Rookie” Season 5 episode “The Naked and the Dead,” user u/AbulNuquod applauded the overall storyline of this installment of the series, but didn’t hold back concerning their feelings about McLaren’s character: “Good episode. Please for the love of Christ, let this be Elijah’s last story thread.” Redditor fan u/Devilslion, on the other hand, singled out McLaren to praise his role as Customs Agent Dale Jakes on “Graceland,” but also expressed his Elijah-fatigue, writing, “LOVED HIM ON ‘Graceland’ but he gotttttaaaa go on the rookie.”
Meanwhile on Twittter, the anti-Stone contingent was also out in full force, with @MidwestAvengers making their position crystal clear, going all caps to say, “SO SICK OF ELIJAH ITS BEEN TOO LONG.” Likewise, series’ fan @LadiiJessica21 went with a bit of irony to post, “Great Elijah is back [frowny face emoticon].” Similarly non-plussed with the character, Twitter user @photoskunk was also on board the No-Elijah-for-me train, writing, “Ugh damn Elijah still.” And while the cast of “The Rookies” may include plenty of characters for fans to root for, a long-enduring, villain-we-love-to-hate like Elijah Stone can also get viewers so riled up that they just can’t resist coming back for more – i.e., this bad guy could be around for a while.
