The Rookie has always excelled at creating compelling, multi-layered characters, from its core team to its most memorable antagonists. But every now and then, a character surfaces who manages to irritate, frustrate, and downright test the patience of the entire audience. In Season 7, that character was undoubtedly Seth Ridley, the young, ambitious, and fundamentally dishonest rookie John Nolan was tasked with training.
Ridley was, to put it mildly, insufferable. His arrogance, his repeated lies about his police background, and his desperate attempts to fabricate a perfect life made him the antithesis of everything Nolan stands for. He was a spectacular failure as a rookie and a dramatic dead end, seemingly written off in the Season 7 finale.
Yet, despite the collective sigh of relief when he exited, Seth Ridley’s return in Season 8 is not just warranted—it’s a narrative necessity to complete John Nolan’s most important career arc. For Nolan to fully embody his role as a mentor and to truly solidify his choice to be an FTO over a Detective, he must face the unfinished business that Ridley represents.
The Unresolved Failure of the Mentor 💔
John Nolan’s decision to use his “Golden Ticket” to become a Field Training Officer (FTO) was perhaps the most defining professional choice of his career. It was a conscious rejection of the solitary, rigid path of detective work in favor of a role that allowed him to use his empathy and life experience to shape the future of the LAPD.
The Ridley Problem
The introduction of Seth Ridley was meant to be Nolan’s first major test as a full-fledged FTO. What Nolan got was a student who was not only incompetent but actively deceitful. Ridley was a walking demonstration of what happens when the LAPD recruits someone with a perfect résumé but zero integrity.
Nolan, with his signature compassion, handled the situation by appealing to Ridley’s humanity, urging him to come clean about the lies on his application before the consequences became career-ending. The last we saw of Ridley, he was in a tearful confrontation, presumably choosing the path of honesty and resignation.
However, that resolution, while emotionally resonant in the moment, is narratively incomplete. Nolan’s success as a mentor shouldn’t be defined only by the rookies who flourish (like Lucy Chen or Celina Juarez). It must also be measured by how he handles a true, sustained failure. If Ridley disappears forever, the lesson for Nolan is simply: cut your losses and move on.
Season 8 Must Demand Accountability
For Season 8 to fulfill its promise of an ambitious, high-stakes narrative—one where Nolan is fighting for institutional reform—Ridley’s story needs to be revisited. Nolan needs to see if his guidance actually took root. Did Ridley truly turn his life around? Or did his inherent dishonesty lead him to a path of crime, necessitating a confrontation between mentor and fallen mentee?
Seth Ridley as a Tool for Institutional Storytelling 🚨
Fillion’s revelation about Season 8’s increased narrative complexity, focusing on deeper, season-long arcs of reform and political conflict, makes Ridley an invaluable asset to the show’s storytelling.
The Consequence of Broken Systems
If Ridley returns having lied his way into a job with another police department, or worse, if he has become a criminal, it is no longer just a personal problem for Nolan; it’s a systemic failure that Nolan can use to drive his reform agenda.
Imagine a scenario where Nolan discovers Ridley is policing in a neighboring jurisdiction, having leveraged his “brief time” at Mid-Wilshire. Nolan’s struggle to expose Ridley would involve:
- Union Conflict: Facing opposition from the police union who want to protect a fellow officer, even a corrupt or incompetent one.
- Ethical Dilemmas: Deciding how far he is willing to go to stop a former mentee, risking his own career to uphold the integrity of the badge.
This arc would perfectly align with the show’s maturation, shifting the focus from Nolan’s personal beat cops to the political reality of keeping the institution clean—a struggle the older, wiser Nolan is uniquely suited to lead.
A Mirror to Nolan’s Detective Arc
Ridley’s return could also be used to definitively close the door on Nolan’s detective aspirations. As established in the Season 7 finale, Nolan’s temporary detective work failed because of his lack of cynical awareness and his personal involvement with the case (Oscar).
A storyline involving Ridley would force Nolan to deploy those same investigative instincts to track a former friend. If he succeeds, he proves his detective capabilities, but only through the lens of his FTO failure. If he fails, it underscores the difficulty of investigative work when personal ties are involved. Either way, the confrontation would provide a definitive, high-stakes narrative capstone to a significant phase of Nolan’s life.
A Redemption or Nemesis Arc for Season 8 😈
The Rookie has two compelling narrative options for a Ridley return, both of which serve to elevate Nolan’s character in Season 8:
Option A: The Redeemed Protegé
The less dramatic, but still powerful, option is a redemption arc. Nolan runs into a humbled Ridley working in a non-policing role, volunteering, or simply leading an honest life. This scenario validates Nolan’s compassionate approach in the finale, proving that his belief in second chances—a theme central to the entire series—can truly change lives. It serves as a quiet, yet profound, professional success that Nolan can cherish.
Option B: The Necessary Antagonist
The more compelling, serialized option is to bring Ridley back as a mid-level antagonist. Ridley, having failed as a cop, is now using his insider knowledge and access to police procedure to commit crimes. This forces Nolan to hunt him, creating intense, personal stakes. A mentor having to neutralize a former student is a powerful narrative engine that would provide the emotional weight needed for Season 8’s biggest storyline.
Ultimately, Seth Ridley might be the most annoying character the show has given us, but he is the unwritten final chapter of John Nolan’s FTO initiation. For Season 8 to feel truly ambitious and to deliver a satisfying continuation of Nolan’s professional journey, it cannot simply gloss over the one student who tested his integrity and nearly failed his entire philosophy. The Rookie needs to bring back its insufferable rookie to complete the evolution of its favorite FTO.
