Rosewood returned tonight with a new Captain, a steady secret, and a murder connected to the mayor. And of course, all of the adorable and fun chemistry between Rosewood (Morris Chestnut) and Annalise (Jaina Lee Ortiz) that we could hope for in the premiere. It’s a soft opening for these two, which is understandable given the new love interest for Rosie that we’ll be getting soon. This is just a news item for now and there’s no sign of this in the season two premiere. And we all know that Rosie and Annalise are meant to be, so, let none of what’s coming phase you. Enjoy the banter. Enjoy the teamwork. You know the phrase! Teamwork makes the dream work!

“But you know what, Doctor? I like you. Really. I’m a big fan. Because I hate the rules too.” – Slade

Now with Captain Hornstock (Domenick Lombardozzi) leaving his position as Captain and being demoted, Eddie Cibrian makes his debut as Ryan Slade, the new Captain of East Miami PD. What an entrance he makes! Having him seek out Rosewood in the off hours to examine him and interact with him in a more casual setting before meeting Rosewood on the job, at the office….clever whether you like his actions or not. But this sets us up for following a Captain who will be shameless in all of his actions.

So, expect the unexpected from this Captain. A stark difference from the last Captain we got. And I love it. Imagine the drama this will bring! Also to note, this Captain likes being out on the field just as much as he works in the office. This may be a tricky balance because we don’t want too much of Captain Slade. Otherwise, he’ll get in the way and we’ll grow tired of him very quickly. And dropping him in that trope of nosy boss is way too easy that way. It’s much better when you can’t guess how he’ll work out being nosy.

“Hey Rosie, you taking a commercial break?” – Mitchie

As for the case of the week? It’s a high profile murder of a 21 year old girl who was found murdered in a parking structure. Turns out, she’s the mentee of a big shot mayor. The case brings for quite the comical moments between Rosewood and Annalise. What we’ve been waiting to see all summer long. Rosewood and Annalise’s chemistry on the job. It’s back. Woo!

Meanwhile, back in the lab, Mitchie (Sam Huntington) continues to fit in well with Rosie and Tara (Anna Konkle) while Pippy (Gabrielle Dennis)  is no longer working in the lab, instead embarking on a singing career. If you’re not a fan of the singing career storyline because that might mean we’ll have to endure more singing, you’re not alone. Less singing, more story, please. But, last season focused a lot on Pippy and with her out of the lab, that leaves little time to give her that focus.

So for now, it looks like we’ll be getting more from Rosie’s mom, Donna (Lorraine Toussaint) whose currently keeping a secret from the family. We all know that secret will come out soon enough. For now, we’ll have to cruise through the “Donna’s keeping a secret” portion of the story before anything more interesting can take place here. Can’t say that her secret story line is really doing anything for me but hopefully there’s more later in the season that we’ll be able to look forward to from her.

Finally, there’s the only case that really matters. Rosie and Annalise solving the case of Annalise’s husband, Eddie’s murder. Rosie says he’s all in. We already knew that. Now, Annalise has accepted it. Game on. Now we can dive right into the case that’s been teasing us all season long. Right on time, great pacing on this. Looking forward to see where we are on the case by season’s end. Anyway, great premiere. Rosewood continues to prove why it’s smart, dynamic, and irresistible. This season is sure to be another stellar one.

Watch Rosewood Thursdays at 8/7c on Fox.