Ever since Season 6 of The Rookie, fans have been mourning the end of the long-awaited pairing between Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) and Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil), which the fans affectionately call “Chenford” for short. Season 7 offered the hope that Tim and Lucy might eventually get back together. Unfortunately, the seventh season did not end with the couple’s highly anticipated reunion. Although Tim and Lucy did not get back together, there were at least some positive developments for both characters throughout Season 7, and the season finale ended with a somewhat hopeful note that Tim and Lucy could possibly reunite in Season 8. That said, if Tim and Lucy resume their romance next season, they must set up some new ground rules so that their relationship does not suffer from the same problems of the past.
Tim and Lucy Need To Be Completely Honest With Each Other Moving Forward
Tim and Lucy finally started dating in Season 5, and it felt like a long time coming. Fans have avidly awaited the romantic pairing since the first season. Unfortunately, while Tim and Lucy were fairly good together, some problems broke them apart, such as the situation involving Ray Watkins (David Dastmalchian). Watkins was a corrupt soldier from Tim’s military days who faked his death and returned to Los Angeles to start a new crime spree. Tim faced a precarious situation with Watkins because arresting the felon would risk exposing that Tim lied in an after-action report. Tim’s report on Watkins was fraudulent, but he only committed the act to make sure Watkins’ family would receive his death benefits. Bradford decided to act alone regarding Watkins, alienating Lucy and his best friend Angela Lopez (Alyssa Diaz), who both eventually intervened. The fallout from Watkins’ eventual arrest convinced Tim to break up with Lucy, fearing his actions could eventually wreck her career.
If something similar to the Watkins quandary arises again, Tim cannot act like a cowboy and continually act without assistance. Lucy and Tim’s friends were worried about him throughout the ordeal and would have offered their help. Tim’s refusal to be honest with Lucy and his friends only made the situation much worse. Tim and Lucy must confront the messy parts of their pasts if they resume their relationship, and they must recognize that they will have to face their problems as a couple.
Tim and Lucy Need To Maintain a More Professional Distance in Their Careers
When Tim and Lucy first started dating, Tim took a desk job at the Mid-Wilshire Division to remove himself from Lucy’s chain of command and avoid any professional issues with their relationship. Lucy, seeing that Tim was miserable in his new role, enacted the legendary “five-player trade,” enabling Tim to take a position as liaison between the Mid-Wilshire Division and the Metro Division. From Lucy’s standpoint, she was merely trying to help her boyfriend at his job. Unfortunately, Lucy’s orchestration of the five-player trade caused negative repercussions in her LAPD career. It alienated her from other individuals in the LAPD and resurfaced again during her detective exam in Season 6, causing Lucy to score a low placement on the test.
Tim and Lucy can have a healthy relationship and support one another professionally, but they have to avoid incidents like this in the future. They can support their career goals and help each other study for promotional exams. However, they should respect boundaries and cannot personally intervene as they have in the past. They need to maintain a healthy distance in their LAPD careers. After making sergeant in the seventh season, Lucy will succeed or fail on her own merits. She can’t rely on Tim to protect her or provide her with “Tim Tests” to push her forward, especially if she wants to become an undercover detective. Likewise, Lucy should not attempt to pull off moves like the five-player trade again. Lucy and Tim need to avoid causing professional moves that attract negative attention and notoriety, affecting their future career prospects.
Tim and Lucy Made Overall Strong Progress in Season 7
Tim and Lucy both made overall strong progress throughout Season 7. Tim worked on personal growth, undergoing group therapy in the hopes of repairing his relationship with Lucy. Meanwhile, Lucy made strong progress in her LAPD career, acing the sergeant’s exam and earning a promotion to head up the night shift in Mid-Wilshire. Lucy certainly has her work cut out for her, as the night shift’s “Dream Team” is nicknamed as such for sleeping on the job, but Lucy seems ready to tackle that goal. In the Season 7 finale, “The Good, the Bad, and the Oscar,” Lucy successfully rallied her troops to save Officer Miles Penn (Deric Augustine) from an attempted kidnapping, suggesting that she will transform the Dream Team into a much more motivated group.
Meanwhile, Tim worked to make amends with Lucy and be more emotionally honest with her. In the season finale, he went to her apartment to cook her some food and intended to ask her to get back together, and hopefully, move in with him. Ironically, Lucy, exhausted from working the night shift, fell asleep, playing the serious moment for laughs. Sadly, The Rookie fans will have to wait until later in 2026 to find out if Tim and Lucy will finally have their serious conversation. The wait for Season 8 is maddening, but hopefully it will achieve some positive results. If Tim and Lucy cannot be more honest about their previous issues, their relationship is destined to crash and burn, yet again. On the other hand, Season 7 could present a fresh start for the couple. If Tim and Lucy set up some new ground rules, they could make their relationship stronger than ever.
All episodes of The Rookie can be streamed on Hulu in the U.S.
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