The Rookie Season 7 Just Got Epic: Why Bringing Back This Character Makes All the Difference!

The penultimate Season 7 episode of The Rookie is a surprisingly straightforward series of stories rather than setup for the finale. Skip Tracer Randy (Flula Borg) returns to the show in pursuit of love, specifically Chastity Sneed (Meg Delancy), involved with Nolan’s half-brother. Meanwhile, recurring villains, the Eastern Front, show up out for blood. Also, two of the series’ regular characters put their mothers to work to stop a fraud scam, and the last obstacle to a fan-favorite romance falls away.

In Season 6, The Rookie used the penultimate episode to prime the audience for its big finale. Unfortunately, it felt like that rather than delivering a satisfying story in its own right. So, with “The Mutiny and the Bounty,” viewers get a fairly typical episode featuring a variety of stories around the ensemble, some humorous and some deadly serious. Because of how The Rookie focuses on street-level police work, it is able to diversify its stories in ways other procedurals cannot. So, while this pre-finale isn’t exactly an epic on-ramp to Season 7’s big finish, it is the kind of episode the series does best. This shows that after all these years on the air, the storytellers are leaning into The Rookie’s strengths rather than continuing to escalate the action, drama and stakes. It’s the right call.

Skip Tracer Randy Returns to Prove That ‘Mo’ Money’ Brings ‘Mo’ Problems’

The Rookie Fan-Favorite Character Gets Caught Up in a Kidnapping and a Love Triangle

Introduced in Season 4, Skip Tracer Randy became “besties” with John Nolan (Nathan Fillion), though it seems Bailey Nune (Jenna Dewan) took his place. A bounty hunter, Randy is cartoonishly naïve but also earnest and kind. While this episode’s story about him falling for Chastity comes out of nowhere, it works because of how The Rookie established his character. As per usual, he makes problems worse but wins over characters with his good nature and, at least for this episode, willingness to spread around his newfound crypto wealth.

While some fans want Skip Tracer Randy to be a series regular, this episode helps underscore that a little of his character goes a long way. The Rookie can get absurd with its humor, and Randy operates firmly at the far end of that spectrum. He’s not helpless, as proven by the scene where he easily fights off two knife-wielding attackers. Still, his impulsivity, from throwing around his money to putting a bounty on Chastity’s kidnappers, causes a level of chaos that would be difficult to sustain over multiple episodes. In small doses, he invigorates the show and delivers comic relief. But just as the characters themselves feel about Randy, audiences would grow tired of him if he stuck around.

Pete Davidson does not reprise his role as Nolan’s brother, but there are plenty of celebrity cameos on The Rookie already with Wolfgang Puck and Enrique Hernandez. His absence is explained away with a joke (he’s on a no-fly list, so he has to take the bus back to L.A.). The love triangle between him, his girlfriend and Randy is not a serious one. Pete isn’t the jealous type because Chastity works as an exotic dancer, so it makes sense he was okay with suggesting Randy become her “sugar daddy.” Silly as all this was, the episode returns the characters to their status quo by the end.

The Season-Long Arc About the District Attorney Race Comes to an Emotional End

Wesley Evers Counsels His Boss Shaun About Threats to His Son and Political Future

The heaviest story in “The Mutiny and the Bounty” belongs to Wesley Evers (Shawn Ashmore) and Sean Del Monte (Michael Trucco). A member of the white supremacist group the Eastern Front is on trial for murder, arrested by rookie officer Miles Penn (Deric Augustine). Viewers may wonder if they missed an episode, but this incident happened off-screen. The ELF threatens to release a video of Sean’s son Logan (Benjamin J. Young) buying drugs. This is another example of how The Rookie muddled Wesley Evers’s character making him a prosecutor.

“If you give in, they will keep coming back. Trust me, I’ve been there. The only way out is to take away their bargaining chip…but if you give in, they will own you,” Wesley to Sean.

There have been multiple references to the District Attorney race in Season 7. At first, Sean considers giving into the ELF because, no matter what he does, Logan’s drug use would sink his campaign. Wesley refers to his time with Elijah Stone as a warning for Sean to ignore the threat. He also encourages his colleague to get his son into rehab. However, when he was a defense attorney, Wesley’s main concern would have been protecting the accused — in this case, Logan and Sean — from legal ramifications. Wesley was always a moral character, but his response to this situation feels like a cop’s, not like what viewers can expect from his character.

Sometimes, The Rookie’s multiple stories are a mixed bag, and Sean’s struggles aren’t given enough time. He takes Wesley’s advice, and he confronts the ELF’s attorney. Then, as he prepares to take Logan to rehab, two gun-toting killers pull up to his house to murder them both. Sean kills one with his personal handgun, but Logan catches a stray bullet in the neck. He ends up okay, but the whole affair feels too rushed, especially when Sean drops out of the D.A. race. While Wesley supports this, it feels like the wrong choice narratively. Like many of Wesley’s D.A. storylines, it’s unclear what this one is trying to “say.”

The Rookie Briefly Highlights Scams That Prey on the Elderly In a Cute Side Story

Angela Lopez’s and Nyla Harper’s Mothers Are Best Pals and Run a Sting Operation

Angela Lopez’s (Alyssa Diaz) story gets the narrative space her husband’s probably needed. Her and Nyla Harper’s (Mekia Cox) mothers appear in a story about a woman who defrauds older folks out of their houses. While Emilia Harper appeared on The Rookie once before, “The Mutiny and the Bounty” introduces Ruth Harper (Margaret Avery), and the two women are best friends like their daughters. Emilia agrees to participate in a sting to catch Priscilla (Beth Triffon) in the act, and she even wears a wire “like in The Sopranos.”

Unlike The Rookie’s true crime takedown two weeks ago, the episode doesn’t really delve into the specifics of scams targeting the elderly. Rather, this detail is the engine behind two scenes where Nyla and Ruth clash over each other’s worldviews and then reconcile them. Nyla’s past as an undercover officer and present as a detective explain why she is such a cynic. Ruth is the opposite, trusting to the point of naïveté and willing to “see the good in people.” This creates an interesting dynamic a future episode can hopefully explore to enrich Nyla’s character.

The highlight of this storyline comes when Emilia perfectly plays Priscilla during the sting operation, leaning into her assumptions about older women. While her friendship with Ruth feels a bit like TV convenience, it works. Together, the elder Lopez and Harper mirror their daughters’ friendship and loyalty to one another. Their innocence is cute, but neither of them are weak nor naïve. In fact, these characters provide some positive representation for an age demographic not often seen on TV.

The Rookie Finally Clears the Last Obstacle to the Return of ‘Chenford’

Fans of Lucy Chen and Tim Bradford Will Likely Have to Wait Until Season 8

The Rookie introduced its Chenford reunion early in Season 7. Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil) often tells Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) he’s not completely forgiven for their breakup. Yet this appears to be just lip-service from the character, perhaps intentionally on the writers’ part. Along with working on his issues in therapy, Tim’s Season 6 finale pronouncement to Lucy seemed to effectively heal those wounds. So, while the storytellers made it clear all season long the couple was likely to reconcile, they’ve delayed that gratification until, at earliest, the Season 7 finale.

Setting aside the characters’ emotional states, the biggest obstacle to their relationship is Lucy’s rank. Tim is her superior, creating a problematic power dynamic in their romance. After surviving a wildfire together in The Rookie Season 7, Episode 8, Lucy and Tim all but affirmed their love for one another. That episode also introduced the idea of Lucy taking the sergeant exam, which she finally passes in “The Mutiny and the Bounty.” This means The Rookie Season 7 finale will almost certainly end by making Chenford 2.0 official.

Still, the romance will not be without difficulty. Since The Rookie can’t keep them romantically apart, Lucy’s new job might keep them apart on a practical level. She takes a sergeant position in the Mid-Wilshire Division, but it’s on the night shift. So, even if she and Tim do get back together, their disparate schedules mean they might not get to spend a lot of time together. Still, that’s a worry for Season 8. For now, The Rookie fans can look with anticipation to the fan-favorite couple getting back together.

The Rookie debuts its Season 7 finale on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, at 9 PM on ABC and it will stream, along with all past episodes, on Hulu the following day.