Ahead of the Season 7 finale in May, ABC announced that the Nathan Fillion-led police drama, The Rookie, will not be returning till 2026 for its eighth season. While this means the wait time will be longer, there is some exciting news to warm the heart. Deric Augustine, who joined the show in Season 7 and plays Miles Penn on the ABC procedural, has dropped a BTS image confirming that Season 8 is officially in production. Augustine’s Penn found himself attached to series regular Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) as he trained under him. While he might have gotten off to a bumpy start with the team, things smoothened out as the season wore on.
Augustine’s post, shared on his X account, pretty much confirms that Officer Miles Penn will be returning for The Rookie Season 8. The post shared is a captionless image showing the script for The Rookie Season 8, Episode 1, complete with a highlighter pen, indicating that the coming season is beginning to swing into gear already. Per Deadline, The Rookie Season 8 is expected to have 18 episodes. Augustine’s image reveals that the title for Episode 1 remains undecided for now. The Rookie Season 7 finale episode aired May 13, and with the new season already in pre-production, it strongly suggests showrunner Alexi Hawley has a very definite and clear plan of what direction the show will take next season.
What Are the Potential Storylines for ‘The Rookie’ Season 8?
A potential arc to explore when the show returns centers on ADA Wesley Evers (Shawn Ashmore). Audiences have been treated to a brilliant character build for Wesley, as he has steadily worked his way up to an assistant district attorney. A new arc was introduced in Season 7 where the race for who could be the next district attorney began. Showrunner Hawley previously discussed taking that story arc forward in the future:
“It would certainly make sense for Wesley, who was a defense attorney and believes very strongly in righting the wrongs of an injust justice system. He’s an assistant DA, they have not a ton of power, so becoming the DA would give him an ability to shake things up. So, we’re definitely kicking the tires on that idea.”
Wesley as DA would mean a sea of positive change as counsel would be able to implement several of the reforms he’s long desired. Wesley won’t be the only one who might be moving forward in Season 8. The same is likely to be said of the romantic pair known as Chenford. Bradford and Lucy Chen’s (Melissa O’Neil) relationship improved as Season 7 progressed, though they stopped just short of formally reuniting in the Season 7 finale. Theirs has been a consistent dynamic of will they/won’t they, but showrunner Hawley promises that stagnation for the couple won’t remain a theme for too long, saying:
“That didn’t feel like a ‘three episodes and everything’s good again’ kind of story,” Hawley added. “But I feel like now that that journey has been taken that we’re at the end of that journey. I think that moment at the end is very sweet. We’re not teasing anybody. We’re heading in a good direction.”
All episodes of The Rookie are available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.
