Did The Rookie Kill Off This Character Too Soon? Fans Say It Was a Big Mistake

The premise of the hit ABC television series, The Rookie, has allowed changes to the main cast over the last seven years. The first season followed rookie recruits John Nolan (Nathan Fillion), Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil), and Jackson West (Titus Makin Jr.), fresh out of the police academy, as they embark upon their careers as officers in the Los Angeles Police Department’s Mid-Wilshire Division. Sadly, Jackson West was killed early in Season 4, but John and Lucy have since completed their probationary periods and moved up in their careers. In more recent seasons, the show has included new rookie recruits, such as Celina Juarez (Lisseth Chavez), Aaron Thorsen (Tru Valentino), Seth Ridley (Patrick Keleher), and Miles Penn (Deric Augustine). However, the character Zoe Andersen (Mercedes Mason), the late former captain of the Mid-Wilshire Division, was taken out of the show way too early. It’s time to explore why The Rookie killed Captain Andersen at an inappropriate time.

Captain Andersen Was Mid-Wilshire’s Tough, but Fair-Minded Captain

A military veteran and former Pentagon Police officer, Andersen stood out as the tough-as-nails, but compassionate and fair-minded captain of the Mid-Wilshire Division at the LAPD. Early on, Mid-Wilshire’s Watch Commander, Sergeant Wade Gray (Richard T. Jones), was highly skeptical about John Nolan, a divorced single father in his 40s, switching careers and joining the LAPD. However, Captain Andersen saw something special in Nolan, believing his life experience could benefit the department. Despite her military background, Captain Andersen provided a warm, nurturing presence to her division and rookie recruits. Andersen genuinely cared for all the officers under her command, and she wanted to see all the rookie recruits succeed. Her bond with Nolan made her exit from the show that much more shocking.

Captain Andersen Died Protecting Nolan in Season 1

Sadly, Captain Anderson meets her untimely and tragic end in the sixteenth episode of the first season, “Green Light.” During the episode, Nolan is the subject of a gang hit by the Southern Front after arresting the gang leader’s girlfriend. Unfortunately, Andersen and Nolan are later taken captive by Southern Front member Cole Midas (Grant Harvey). Andersen manages to break free and takes out one of the perpetrators, but she is fatally shot in the process by Midas. Midas is brought to justice before the end of the episode, with Nolan making the arrest, but Andersen’s death remains the show’s most shocking moment. Up until this point, Mercedes Mason was a main cast member and had appeared in every episode of the first season. No one watching the show saw Andersen’s death coming. It was an unpredictable event, especially for a police procedural drama airing on ABC, and in the long run, it did not benefit the series.

Captain Andersen Left a Huge Void in ‘The Rookie

Nobody could have predicted the unforgettable moment of Andersen’s death, especially in the first season when The Rookie was still finding its feet. The death of Andersen plays out like a tragic event that normally would happen deeper into a show’s run, since she was a main cast member and less expendable. After Andersen’s passing, Sgt. Grey (who became a lieutenant in Season 7) took over as the show’s main authority figure. Even though Grey generally works fine as an authority figure, Grey and Captain Andersen shared a strong working dynamic that came off as though Grey was the stricter and more disciplined parent, while Captain Andersen was the kinder, gentler one. They possessed different leadership styles, but they worked well together since both were usually on the same page and respected one another’s authority.

Andersen’s presence properly established the hierarchy of the Mid-Wilshire Division’s leadership, and her exit from the series created a void in that area. There has never been a noticeable captain of the Mid-Wilshire Division since the first season! It begs the question: Who has been captaining the ship this entire time? The next episode after Andersen’s death, “The Shake-Up,” introduces Captain Tom Weatherby (Greg Cromer) as Andersen’s replacement. However, Grey manages to get him transferred out of Mid-Wilshire by the end of the episode due to his overall incompetence. Later in Season 7, Grey does briefly mention a captain, but that captain is never revealed. It’s perplexing that The Rookie has never firmly established a new captain or leadership change in the Mid-Wilshire Division after Andersen’s death.

Additionally, Andersen shared an exceptional dynamic with the rest of the main cast, which is unusual for an authority-figure type of character, who was not a consistently adversarial or antagonistic presence with the other officers. Andersen often led by example. Case in point, in “Flesh and Blood,” she went on patrol with Officer Chen for the day. She provided a strong, aspiring presence for the other rookie officers. Losing that presence so early in the show’s run proved to have ramifications still being felt today. Although Anderson’s death occurred so early and was shocking and unpredictable, once the shock value wore off, it did not play out organically for the show’s overarching narrative. Andersen’s death left a void in the series and the Mid-Wilshire division that has never been filled.

Will ‘The Rookie’ Season 8 Finally Reveal Captain Andersen’s Successor?

At the very least, it would be nice if The Rookie finally resolves the question of succession in the Mid-Wilshire Division in Season 8. Who replaced Captain Andersen, or rather, Captain Weatherby? Frankly, it would make sense if Lt. Grey became Captain Grey at some point. Grey has certainly paid his dues over the last seven seasons, and it was great to see him finally get a promotion in Season 7. That said, The Rookie still lost something wonderful in Captain Andersen, and her death is still significantly felt over six years later. Certainly, The Rookie did endure without Captain Andersen, but the character’s death left a huge scar that never fully healed.

The Rookie awaits its upcoming eighth season, debuting later in 2026. In the meantime, the show’s entire run, including the Captain Andersen episodes, is available to stream now on Hulu in the U.S.