The wait for new episodes of The Rookie is going to feel longer than it really is, especially since we already know what’s coming up for fan-favorite couple Chenford. Season 7 ended with Tim (Eric Winter) and Lucy (Melissa O’Neil) still broken up, after she fell asleep (she worked the night shift!) while he was talking to her about their future.
The finale also threw a new curveball into the equation when it came to the recurring villains still on the loose. Oscar (Matthew Glave) escaped after kidnapping Nolan (Nathan Fillion), while Monica (Bridget Regan) made an immunity deal.
The Rookie is once again going to be part of ABC’s midseason schedule, putting a Season 8 premiere date in 2026. So while we continue to wait, check out our burning questions for the new episodes below, then let us know yours in the comments section.
The Rookie, Season 8, 2026, TBA, ABC
Will Chenford get back together?
It’s been a rocky season for the exes. They worked out their issues, they hooked up (Valentine’s Day, April Fools’), they got honest (thanks, truth serum), and they looked at Lucy becoming a sergeant as getting rid of one obstacle in a reunion. Then, in the finale, when she came home from a night shift, he was waiting. But as he talked about their next steps and moving in together, she fell asleep on the couch.
“I think we’ve earned where they’re going, and the promise of that scene is a corner has been turned,” showrunner Alexi Hawley told TV Insider. “I feel like we really did find a lot of story to tell about these two people getting past something terrible, and now we’re in a much better place.”
He did confirm that Tim and Lucy will be getting back together, but couldn’t share anything beyond that. “I do think that we’ve put those characters through a lot on their journey back, and I think we’re almost there,” he said.
How long will Lucy remain on night shift?
When Lucy passed the sergeant’s test, the open slot was on the night shift, and we saw her excel there, even with the “dream team,” who parked and slept while on duty (with a lookout). “How does she get these guys in shape and how does she do her job and all that kind of stuff was really important to show in that episode,” noted Hawley.
But it doesn’t sound like she’d be stuck there for long. “I think ultimately that obstacle would get old fairly quickly, so it’s on us to figure out a way to move past that at some point,” he added.
After all, unless other characters moved to the night shift as well, it would keep her separated from the others on the clock.
Will the officers be able to get around Monica’s deal?
At the end of the Season 7 finale, Grey (Richard T. Jones), Angela (Alyssa Diaz), and Wesley (Shawn Ashmore) joined Nolan and Garza (The Rookie: Feds‘ Felix Solis) at Homeland Security. A decision was made at the top, Garza shared, and the entire intelligence community and justice department agencies evaluated the intel (top secret national intelligence) and national security repercussions of it being released. Monica leveraged the government using secrets stolen from what was thought to be a secure NSA facility in Los Angeles to get herself an immunity deal. (Hawley explained that ending was “a way to have a cliffhanger without really doing anything that puts anybody in jeopardy.”)
And so yet again, it seems the corrupt lawyer is going to get away with what she’s done. But will the officers at the LAPD be able to figure out a way to get around that deal and bring her in for something?
“They all want to,” said Hawley. “I think it’s tough with immunity deals especially made at the top of the food chain for anybody lower to affect them. But we’ll see. Never say never.” But he assured us that these officers aren’t the type to just “give up on wanting to put a bad person behind bars.”
When will Oscar be caught?
After kidnapping and threatening to kill Nolan during his attempt to retrieve diamonds buried in the desert, Oscar did manage to escape, again. He also killed his helicopter getaway pilot and door gunner since he didn’t have the diamonds to pay them. The finale ended with him still out there. It was also the only time he was seen all season after initially escaping in the previous spring’s finale. But Hawley did acknowledge that he can’t just keep evading authorities, so something tells us we could see him behind bars again at some point in Season 8. And as we’ve seen, that doesn’t stop him from being fun and interacting with the LAPD officers.
“In a show full of nemeses for our characters, he’s just a really fun one. I do think that at some point we can’t keep letting him get away. And so yeah, I would say next season we would need a little bit of resolution on that,” Hawley said.
Will Wesley run for D.A.?
In the penultimate episode of Season 7, Sean (Michael Trucco) dropped out of the D.A.’s race after discovering his son’s drug use (due to blackmail) and then his son being shot. Now, that does seem like it could have been setting up a potential future for Wesley, now an ADA. And it sounds like that will at least come up in Season 8. Maybe it’ll be as simple as him explaining why he’s not running, or maybe it will be something bigger like a campaign.
“I think that there’ll be some interesting story to tell there. It’s obviously early days … but I think we found a way to keep that going with our characters that’ll be dynamic,” shared Hawley. “So yeah, no, you’re not wrong. We’re going to keep that going.”
What will the new rookie be like?
There has to be one, right? Miles worked out — Deric Augustine’s sticking around as a series regular — but Seth (Patrick Keleher) did not. First, his major lies caught up to him, then when he did talk his way back into a position at the precinct, he was seriously injured and lost his leg.
