How The Rookie Season 7 is Avoiding the Biggest Pitfall in TV History!

Unfortunately, The Rookie season 7 won’t be released until 2025, but the good news is that the extra-long hiatus might be worth it because the upcoming episodes will avoid a mistake that many shows (even The Rookie) have made over the years. The ABC police procedural series, created by Alexi Hawley, chronicles the lives of law enforcement officers at the (fictional) Mid-Wilshire Station of the Los Angeles Police Department. The Rookie began with Nathan Fillion’s John Nolan, a middle-aged rookie police officer, joining the force, much to the dismay of many. Six seasons later, Nolan is now the one training rookies.

ABC has continuously renewed The Rookie because, despite the story’s fluctuating quality throughout the seasons, it consistently has strong ratings and a passionate fanbase. Nevertheless, the disappointing finale of The Rookie season 6 encapsulated the series’ dip in quality and demonstrated how it hasn’t been the same since the earlier seasons. However, one factor played a significant part in the previous season’s shortcomings, and it’s an issue that will be fixed in the next season. Instead of a serialized format, The Rookie is returning to its glory days of being episodic.

The Rookie Season 7’s Standalone Format Is Great News For Season 7

The Rookie Is Going Back To An Episodic Plan

While speaking to TVLine, The Rookie showrunner Alexi Hawley revealed that season 7 would return to the show’s episodic roots. As some may recall, season 6 relied heavily on the serialized storyline of Monica Stevens’ rise to power, and it failed to stick the landing (or be intriguing in any way, even though Monica was a great villain on paper). But for season 7, The Rookie will revert to an episodic format and feature stories that begin and end within one episode. Hawley explained:

“I do think we’ll go back to being more of a standalone show with serialized elements because it’s going to be a longer season and I think people really do like that. Also, there are the many different ways we tell stories — whether it’s the big event-type episodes, the more rom-com episodes, or with a big guest star — so it’ll be fun to go back to that.”

The Rookie season 7’s big story promise is fantastic news that will surely make many excited about the upcoming episodes. ABC’s police procedural thrives when it has longer seasons with standalone stories, giving it space to breathe. Hopefully, the result will live up to the expectations when The Rookie season 7 is released in early 2025.

Switching From Episodic To Serialized Storytelling Has Hurt Many Other TV Shows

Episodic Is The Superior Format For Procedural Series

The Rookie is far from being the only show that has fallen victim to the serialized problem. Other series that have made the jump from episodic to serialized typically experience a decline in quality. For example, Supernatural, Lost, and Bones all switched as the writers ran out of ideas, and the move only hurt them. Procedural shows in particular occasionally make the mistake of ditching their original formats, even though episodic storytelling is a cornerstone of the genre. Thankfully, The Rookie season 7 will attempt to fix its past mistakes and return to the good ol’ days of episodic plots.

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