The ABC procedural is going back its roots
Everything old is new again on The Rookie. Heading into the seventh season of his hit ABC police procedural, creator and showrunner Alexi Hawley felt it was time to return to the roots of the show by recruiting two new rookies, returning to some hallmarks of earlier seasons (plain clothes day, rookie roundups, post-work food truck hangs), and re-establishing the rookie-training officer relationship that has remained the lifeblood of the franchise.
“It was the first time since I think Season 2 or the beginning of Season 3 where we had three rookies in the front row of the roll call, and then the three training officers — with Lucy [Melissa O’Neil] joining Tim [Eric Winter] and Nolan [Nathan Fillion] — felt very much like a throwback to the origins of the show,” Hawley told TV Guide ahead of the new season.
In the season premiere, which aired on Jan. 7, viewers were introduced to Miles Penn (All American‘s Deric Augustine) and Seth Ridley (newcomer Patrick Keleher) — two rookies who have very different backstories by design. A former top pro football prospect whose own foolishness left him with a career-ending injury, Miles worked as a cop in Texas for a couple years, but his gung-ho approach to policing — not to mention his belief that he could live out of his old car in Los Angeles without getting caught — immediately put him on Tim’s bad side. Meanwhile, Seth is a well-meaning new recruit whose own skittishness caused him to make routine mistakes during his first days on the job, but Lucy was willing to give him a second chance after discovering that he was waiting to hear back about a potential recurrence of cancer.
“[We wanted] to bring on Miles who at first presents as this cowboy — he’s already done two years as a police officer in Texas, so he comes in not being intimidated by Tim, which was a fun way to have that rookie-training officer relationship start, but then the unexpectedness that he’s living in his car, and the reality of that, felt like a twist that was really powerful,” Hawley explained. “With Seth, [we wanted] to bring in this boy scout who couldn’t feel younger, who keeps stumbling over his own feet, so to speak, for a training officer in Lucy, who desperately doesn’t want to be Tim. She doesn’t want to be the guy who terrorized her, but how do you not yell at this kid for screwing up?”
The introduction of two new rookies, however, did not come about without an unexpected departure. Between seasons, the writers decided to write off Aaron Thorsen (Tru Valentino), who has now relocated to a station in North Hollywood. “Coming into this season with this desire to re-pilot a little bit, to launch these two new rookies, to really lean into going creatively in some different directions — [writing off Aaron] is ultimately what we wanted to do,” Hawley said. “But he’s still very much alive in our universe, so there’s always the possibility that we see him again.”
Below, Hawley unpacks all the major developments in the first two episodes of the year and previews what lies ahead in the 18-episode seventh season, which will reportedly air without interruption from now until May.
In the wake of their breakup last season, Chen and Bradford had to navigate some pretty awkward conversations, but losing the romantic side of their relationship seemed to allow you and the writers to return more fully to the playful, competitive banter at work this season. How would you describe the state of their relationship now, and how will that dynamic continue to evolve going forward?
Alexi Hawley: Coming into this season, it was important to embrace the positivity of them again. We blew them up last season, but we also did a lot of work by the end of the season of trying to put them back together — even if it’s not romantic, even if it’s more just on a sort of personal level. He did a lot of the work to try and figure out why he did what he did and did understand that she’s going to drive whatever this relationship is going to become. Because he’s the one who ruined it, he doesn’t get to put it back together; he has to be respectful of her in that conversation. But it did feel like coming into this season that we really wanted to lean into what the next chapter was going to be, and the fun of making her a training officer next to him, even temporarily, and the competition of who can train the better rookie — that’s the best of Chenford, really.
Look, the chemistry between them is undeniable, so that’s always going to exist. And “Is there a romantic future down the road?” is something that we’re definitely leaning into. What is it going to be? What work still has to be done? And what feelings really still exist? Obviously, he’s still a sergeant and she is not, so he is her superior officer and therefore that’s an obstacle as well.
In the second episode, Lucy claims she’s over the breakup, and even reiterates to some of her female colleagues that she and Tim always had friendly professional competition long before they were an item. At this stage, is she really over their breakup, or does part of her still think that Tim made a mistake in letting her go?
Hawley: I think she’s putting on a brave face. I think there are things that she might not even admit to herself, but I also think that she is putting herself first in a way that’s important. At least what she’s trying to do is go, “OK, well, a main reason I didn’t make detective is because the five-player trade I tried to put together to get Tim into metro ultimately pissed off the people who had control over my future, and therefore I scored lower on the detectives exam because I got dinged for something I did that put Tim first,” which she did because she loved him and all that kind of stuff. She doesn’t regret that necessarily, but I do think that coming into this, given that he blew up their relationship, that she is feeling very much like, “My path is important to me. Getting ahead, putting together a career that I want, is a priority.”
Tim has always been a bit of a hard-ass when it comes to being a training officer, but he definitely seems to be channeling a lot of that pent-up energy into becoming really strict with Miles this season. He even tells him, “Get your eyes off Officer Chen, Texas. You’re not fit to breathe the same air.” Why do you think that’s the case? Is there some other personal reason for his attitude beyond just wanting to do a good job and whip this arrogant rookie into shape?
Hawley: … How do I answer this? [Laughs.] I think there’s always stuff under the surface. I do think on a less layered level, he does see in Miles someone who needs that [tough love], right? What was interesting is if you go back to the episode where he had that rookie Katie [Barnes, played by Katy O’Brian] that was former military, and there was a moment where Lucy was upset because she was like, “Why are you being so nice to her?” And Tim said, “She won’t wear perfume because she’s afraid of giving away her position. She hasn’t left the war.” Lucy needed somebody to kick her ass a bit to show her how competent she was, whereas this other rookie needed somebody to tell her that it was safe, that it was OK. So I do think that Tim reflects the rookies that he’s training, and so when Miles shows up as this cowboy who thinks he knows everything, Tim needs to show him he doesn’t know anything very quickly.
I do think Miles does have growing up to do, as you’ll see over the course of the season. There’s stuff from his past — obviously, you saw Episode 2, so his backstory about how he was going to be in the NFL, he was going to be an All-Star, and then he threw it away by being an idiot, literally jumping off the roof at a house party and destroying his knee, and he didn’t even do it on the field. So there’s a big chip on Miles’ shoulder, and it’s not like Tim doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder too, but I think Tim just wants to steer him in the right direction, and that’s tough love.
Wesley (Shawn Ashmore) learns from his mandated review of Blair London’s therapy sessions that one of the other officers, Det. Graham (Ivan Hernandez), admitted to having sexy dreams about Angela (Alyssa Diaz). How will that revelation contribute to Wesley and Angela’s marital conflict this season?
Hawley: I love that relationship. I think it’s really special. What Shawn and Alyssa bring to it is really nuanced, fun, and real. So, yeah, it felt like a fun opportunity to keep the corruption scandal alive, but to do it in a way that was unexpected. He thinks he’s going to listen to a cop confess to something criminal — only to find out that the guy’s got the hots for his wife and he can’t tell anybody because legally this is all protected. There’s that great moment at the end of [Episode 1] where he asks Lopez if she’s happy in bed that night, but he still can’t leave it alone. It still works at him like sand inside an oyster. I think ultimately, it takes a few other unexpected turns in a fun way.
When drama showrunners say something is “fun,” I can never tell if they actually mean “fun” in the ordinary sense, or if there is some other hidden meaning.
Hawley: [Laughs.] I know! It’s good that you don’t know that. It’s so funny. The fans online are the same way. They’re like, “It’s fun to Alexi. Is that going to be fun for us or not?” I’m like, “It’s entertaining?”
Will we learn about the name of the Wopez baby this season, or are you still planning to keep that a secret?
Hawley: No, you will. It just didn’t happen to come up organically [last season]. It’s just one of those things where at some point you’re like, “Oh, wait, we never said our name out loud!”
In the second episode, Nyla (Mekia Cox) and James (Arjay Smith) reach a point in their marriage where they can no longer deny that their respective vocations come into regular conflict with each other. What does the future hold for them?
Hawley: A primal part of our storytelling this season with them is this sense that they do deeply love each other and they are happy in their lives outside of this, but they can’t keep having the same conversation over and over. So, what does that look like? And I think it will drive the story in really interesting ways. I’m not going to say the word “fun,” but there’s drama. Is there stuff that Harper can do inside the department that pushes that forward? Because it’s not like she disagrees with him that there are issues, that there’s injustice in the justice system, and that there are issues with policing. She does agree with him. The problem is that she also is a police officer who loves her job and is good at her job and does think that there’s incredible value in policing, and so therefore, where do you go from there when you just keep having the same conversation over and over again?
In the premiere, Nolan second-guesses his own instincts in the field during some of his first days back on the job after being shot, but he ultimately fires one hell of a shot to stop someone from setting off a nuke in a backpack. Seven seasons and over 100 episodes in, what are some of the new layers that you and Nathan have been able to continue to find in Nolan?
Hawley: The joy with Nathan, as one of the real TV stars — there are not that many anymore — is that he as an actor is perfectly happy to fail, to fall down as a character, to see his guy lose and have to pick himself back up again and get back into the fight, which is rare. Most leading men want to be perfect. They want to be the guy who has the best lines and does the coolest shit. But what Nolan goes through as a guy who switched careers later in life, who’s doing something that’s physically challenging — it’s so not only endearing, but just relatable. He got shot at the end of last season. That’s not easy on a body, and as a man of a certain age, he says, getting back on that horse is important, but was he ready? Was he not ready? He’s obviously dealing with a lot of fear about what’s going to happen with his wife [Bailey, played by Jenna Dewan] and Jason [Steve Kazee], and really just to lean into that relatable guy who is just trying as hard as he can, but isn’t perfect. And again, having Nathan play this guy makes us able to do anything with [him] really, because he’s game.
Bailey is off on a deployment right now — Jenna was on maternity leave to start the season — but what can you preview about how she and Nolan will intersect with Bailey’s ex Jason and Oscar (Matthew Glave) again later in the season?
Hawley: It was important to us to have Jason out there as a sort of existential threat, and the fear and the paranoia that creates is very inherently dramatic. So I think that the impact that has both on Bailey and Nolan personally and also on their relationship is part of our storytelling this year. And then the fallout from what ends up happening is also powerful for us. It’s easy in Season 7 of a show to just fall in love with your characters and just want everybody to be happy. You love them. “Oh, they’re going to do fun things and all that,” but it is really important not to round the edges off of this. And where can we find conflict? Don’t forget: Bailey was still married to Jason when she and Nolan started dating, and she didn’t tell him because there was a lot of deep-seated trauma from it, and that trauma’s not gone, and some of it, she doesn’t even realize that she’s still carrying this season. So that was really interesting to dive into that — Jason ultimately reveals stuff to herself that she didn’t even know.
Looking ahead, will any family members be popping up this season?
Hawley: We will see some, for sure. We’ll see Tim’s sister. I don’t want to spoil too much, but we’ll see a few new family members for some of our characters. We can talk about that down the road a little bit, but I guess what I can say is we’re not going to go back to Nolan’s hometown-type [episode].
Are there any specific episodes or storylines this season that you’re most excited for fans to watch play out this season?
Hawley: There’s a lot. It feels obnoxious to say this, but it’s a really strong season. [Laughs.] We have a lot of great episodes. We do a Valentine’s episode, we do an April Fool’s episode, which are super fun. We have some dark serial killer-type episodes, which are also really, again, I won’t say fun because you called me on that word, but dynamic. And then we have a few really emotional episodes, which are very powerful.
Will you be doing another undercover storyline this season?
Hawley: No, not in the way that we’ve done before.
Should we be worried about losing any other officers this season? This is a police show, after all, and you have characters who are constantly in the line of fire.
Hawley: This is where I have both great power and great responsibility. [Laughs.] Look, what I love about the show is that because of what we have done in the past, there are real stakes. Stakes are the most important thing in the writers’ room. The mantra is always stakes trump comedy. We have a lot of fun on our show and we tell a lot of jokes, but at the end of the day, the fact that the audience is worried is actually really good for our show. So I will just say that and then we’ll see what happens.
The Rookie airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on ABC. Episodes stream the next day on Hulu.
