After the historic strikes forced by studios, series like The Rookie returned later in the year than usual. This means their seasons were truncated more than they would’ve been otherwise. In The Rookie Season 6, Episode, 10, “Escape Plan,” the overall story for the season wraps up, but many loose threads are still left dangling. With two operations, one in Los Angeles and the other in Argentina, The Rookie’s season finale provides the action fans expected from the “grounded” police series.
When it first aired in 2018, The Rookie was meant to be different from typical network police procedurals. By focusing on beat cops in the Mid-Wilshire Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, the show told street-level stories. However, it’s also the sixth season finale of a hit network show. Thus, John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) and Nyla Harper (Mekia Cox) are sent abroad on an “observe-only” mission that, of course, goes horribly (and entertainingly) awry.
There was plenty of action for the characters left at home, with Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neill) and Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) proving the ChenFord “love language” will save each others’ lives. Meanwhile, Monica Stevens (Bridget Regan) and Blair London (Danielle Campbell) find their lives as changed as Nolan’s and Bailey Nune’s (Jenna Dewan), as the couple make concrete plans to adopt a child. All told, “Escape Plan” was a dense episode of television, setting up interesting things for The Rookie Season 7, arriving in 2025 with the start of the winter TV season.
John Nolan & Nyla Harper’s Mission in Argentina Didn’t Make Sense, But Was Fun
The Rookie Works Better When There’s a Dose of Unreality
In The Rookie Seasons 3 and 4, Lucy Chen’s roommate Tamara Colins was a big part of the supporting cast, but in the later seasons she shows up less.
Before he was John Nolan, Fillion played Richard Castle in Castle, a series that had time-travelers and other genre-TV elements. While it doesn’t go as far as that series, The Rookie works well when it pushes beyond the limits of what makes sense for the typical beat cop on the LAPD. For example, there are shootouts nearly every episode, and yet Nolan and the other characters rarely ever have to take administrative leave afterward. If they do, it’s wrapped up quickly.
That being said, Nolan and Harper going rogue in a foreign country where the LAPD had zero jurisdiction was a bit much, even by this show’s standards. In “Escape Plan,” Nolan and Harper are paired with an FBI Special Agent and CIA-adjacent operatives who guide them to where Monica Stevens meets with Jakob Olmstead (Casper Andreas), a mysterious Swiss billionaire, to save her life. She met with Eric Ramsey (Neil Edward Hopkins), who put the hit out on her from Episode 8, “Punch Card.”
When he refused to broker a deal with her, she turned to his “benefactor” in an effort to remove him from the Los Angeles criminal playing field. For reasons that remain unclear, Monica was going to turn over Dr. London to the international criminal. Thus, Nolan took out a CIA operative and bum-rushed the meeting in an up-armored Humvee.
They rescue Dr. London, though Nolan gets shot in his butt while chasing Monica into the desert. Despite being warned multiple times not to take action while in Argentina, they’re all back in Los Angeles with Dr. London in tow by the episode’s end. She is last seen being booked at the local precinct, despite being told she’d be in federal protective custody.
None of this made much sense nor was it in any way reflective of actual law enforcement, but it was enjoyable to watch. Realistically speaking, Nolan should be in trouble with the State Department for his actions. Yet, he was home, snuggled up with Bailey by the time the credits rolled. “Escape Plan” jumped the shark, but its personal drama brought it back down to Earth before it completely lost sight of the show’s grounded appeal.
Lucy Chen Got Her Action Movie Moment When She Saved Tim Bradford
Chen’s Undercover Operation May Continue in The Rookie Season 7
The Rookie introduced a new serial killer in Season 6, the Pentagram Killer, but this case is different from Rosalind Dyer and her many acolytes.
Despite being the subject of a statewide manhunt and participating in two big-time true crime documentaries, Chen was somehow still able to work undercover. Her latest operation was infiltrating a criminal organization as the nanny for money-launderer Christian Bautista (Will Beinbrink), the man who Monica turned to for help.
After getting the necessary intel on Monica’s plans, Chen left the house because the Bautista family fled the country. In fact, she was able to participate in the LAPD operation to stop Monica’s hit against Gundo (A Martinez), a drug dealer who shook her down for $2 million and 10 percent of her business instead of killing her.
During the shootout which, like the Argentina mission, goes wrong in cinematic fashion, Gundo was shot and Aaron Thorsen (Tru Valentino) was forced to rescue him. Gundo’s fate, as of this writing, remains unclear. Bradford jumped into the bed of a truck driven by an escaping hitman, and he got into a fight for his life. A fight, he admits at the end of the episode, he was going to lose.
Chen and Lopez, however, were behind him in a police vehicle. Like a true action-movie hero, Chen jumped from the moving vehicle to the truck and choked out the driver. In their final scene of the season, Bradford movingly thanked her for the “kindness” she’s shown him since he ended their relationship.
Again, the idea that Chen and Bradford, two former romantic partners, would be allowed to stand watch on an operation together is ludicrous. Yet, quibbling about this is basically getting mad at The Rookie for being a TV show. Rather than mine this moment for drama, Chen and Bradford reaffirmed the ChenFord chemistry. Chen saving him was a great moment, and so was Bradford telling her that he’d try to “pay her back for the rest of [his] life.”
This suggests that, despite their recent troubles, Chen and Bradford’s orbits are fated to converge in The Rookie Season 7. Also, since her cover isn’t blown at the Bautista house, she may be sent back in, allowing Bradford to return the life-saving favor.
Monica Stevens May Be The Rookie Season 7’s “Big Bad,” Along With Other Familiar Faces
Recapturing Oscar Hutchinson and Jason Wyler Will Be a Priority in The Rookie’s Next Season
On the Rookie, Austin Walker isn’t a character fans will know, but his life and death are very important to the continued presence of a fan-favorite.
Monica tapped recurring antagonist Oscar Hutchinson (Matthew Glave) for help in getting leverage against Ramsey. He went to Jason Wyler (Steve Kazee), Bailey’s former husband, who was arrested by Nolan in Season 4, Episode 11 “End Game.” Oscar and Jason escaped from the prison very easily, meaning both are now free to roam when The Rookie comes back in 2025.
Oscar may be trickier to catch, but with Jason asking to be dropped off in Los Angeles, it’s clear that Jason is going after Bailey. If any of these antagonists appear in the Season 7 premiere, it will likely be Jason, as he pursues revenge on Nolan and, possibly, Bailey.
Oscar will likely pop up again in the next season, perhaps bringing Castle alum Molly Quinn back for another The Rookie cameo as his daughter. When audiences last saw her, she was going to be a mother, and Oscar may want to see his grandchild. However, both Oscar and Jason are small potatoes compared to the show’s main antagonist.
As of now, Monica is the biggest question mark for The Rookie Season 6. She is, as she described herself, “ruthless but practical.” She will surely find a way to land on her feet, though her career as an attorney in Los Angeles is likely over. She may just have to become a full-time crime-boss soon instead of a covert one. If she can take out Ramsey, she’ll have the opening she needs.
Now that she has nothing to lose, her arc could extend over the 18 episodes ABC ordered for Season 7. She has a vendetta against Nolan, Harper and the other Mid-Wilshire Officers. She also has a past with Wesley Evers (Shawn Ashmore), and he’s just enough of a soft touch to maybe try to help her, either as a prosecutor or not.
It’s possible that The Rookie will wrap up these villainous storylines by the time Season 7 hits ABC, presumably in January 2025. However, Monica has been a great antagonist thus far. It would be a shame to conclude her story so soon, especially now that her criminal enterprise is just beginning. Monica could be the kind of over-arching “Big Bad” that The Rookie would need to keep its upcoming seventh season and beyond more exciting.
