Captain Zoe Andersen, played by Mercedes Mason, started on The Rookie as a major regular character. Naturally, fans were shocked when she was killed in Season 1, Episode 16, “Greenlight.” The episode delivered an unexpected twist when Andersen received a fatal wound during a shootout against a criminal gang. She was the first series regular to leave, but she wasn’t the last. Surprising and tragic, her death was used to set a precedent on the police procedural that no character is ever safe from consequences on the show.
Andersen’s death strongly affected series protagonist John Nolan, played by Nathan Fillion, who had grown close to his commanding officer. His inability to fit into the police force as a geriatric rookie was a big part of the first-season premise of the show. It’s also not uncommon for dramas to kill off characters, and The Rookie has killed off more than one. However, Andersen’s death rubbed viewers the wrong way. It occurred early in the series, and she was as well-loved by the audience as by the show’s characters.
Updated by Jordan Iacobucci on June 12, 2024: With The Rookie Season 6 in the books and a seventh season on the way, this article has been updated with new information and to adhere to CBR’s current formatting guidelines.
Who Was Police Captain Zoe Andersen on The Rookie?
Before the events of The Rookie, Zoe Andersen previously served in the Marines and the United States Pentagon Police Force. After joining the Los Angeles Police Department, she proved a hard worker and dedicated officer, distinguishing herself from other rookies and rising through the ranks. When she became a captain, Andersen wanted to change the police force for the better. She strongly believed in leading by compassion and held her officers accountable for their actions. In the pilot episode, she revealed that she had personally requested Nolan for her unit, a show of faith the character hadn’t yet gotten from his peers on the force.
Unlike many other characters in The Rookie, Andersen took Nolan under her wing throughout the season because she appreciated his perspective and life experience, believing he would serve the police force well. But her story was tragically cut short after she was taken captive by Cole Midas’s gang in “Greenlight.” Irritated by Andersen’s lack of fear and refusal to grant his demands, Midas knocked her into a swimming pool while she was still tied to a chair, leaving her to drown. Andersen managed to break free from her restraints and killed several gang members. Midas shot back, and a “lucky” shot hit her in the neck. Even if Nolan hadn’t been bound to a chair himself, there would have been nothing he could do to save her.
It was a shocking moment in the show’s history. It is meant to differentiate The Rookiefrom other police procedurals that put characters in harm’s way that the audience knows will ultimately be fine. Since no announcement was made about her departure beforehand, it was a shock. Yet, as the show goes on, the Season 1 characters who remain in the series, now approaching its seventh season, feel “safer” than ever.
How Andersen’s Death Affected The Rookie
Although Mercedes Mason has never formally spoken about her departure from The Rookie, she live-tweeted during the episode’s broadcast and told fans, “I just want to say thank you guys for being so supportive of the show and of me.” In The Rookie’s third season, she returned to make a cameo appearance when Andersen was seen in a flashback showing Nolan, Lucy Chen, and Jackson West’s graduation from the police academy. This shows that despite being killed off early, she still has a fondness for the series and is eager to return whenever the show can accommodate it.
According to showrunner Alexi Hawley, Andersen’s death wasn’t always part of The Rookie’s plan. “We went back and forth about it in the writers’ room. But it ultimately felt like the most dramatic and powerful way to impact our story,” he said via Twitter in response to a fan asking why she was killed. In a second Twitter post, Hawley further explained that “It’s heartbreaking. But the stakes of this new life Nolan has chosen are all too real, and we can’t run away from them creatively.” Zoe Andersen’s death on The Rookie took a valuable ally from Nolan’s corner, but losing his former mentor and friend motivated him to work harder toward advancing his career and honoring her memory.
Since then, other series regulars have left, though not all the characters have been killed off. Nolan’s original Training Officer, Talia Bishop, left the series after actor Afton Williamson alleged she experienced a pattern of racial discrimination from executive producers, the makeup, and hair department. Following her departure a few seasons later, Titus Malkin, Jr.’s Jackson West was killed off, too.
Killing Off Captain Andersen Was The Right Call For The Rookie
In the seasons since its debut, The Rookie has become less about Fillion’s John Nolan and more about the ensemble cast. While Fillion might have been the main heartthrob on Castle, other characters and couples have captured fans’ imaginations. Tim Bradford, played by Eric Winter, and Lucy Chen, played by Melissa O’Neil, are the “one true pairing” couple on the series, lovingly called “Chenford” by fans. Killing off Captain Zoe Andersen, especially since Mercedes Mason was so good in the role, might seem like The Rookie’s storytellers wasted a character. Yet, that character’s death was the perfect way to establish real stakes in a show where life and death are everyday struggles.
Television writers use a term called “schmuck bait” to describe scenes in which series regulars are put in mortal peril during an episode. The reason for this uncharitable term is that anyone who understands how TV shows work knows the main characters aren’t going to die in a random episode in the middle of a season. Yet, using a trick Lost pioneered, the death of Captain Andersen showed audiences that nearly any character is at risk for death. Not only that, Captain Andersen wasn’t killed off grandly, but instead unceremoniously taken out by a stray shot from a forgettable villain. This underscored for audiences that no character, perhaps not even Nolan himself, is invincible in the story. Mason played a great character, which is why losing Andersen had the impact it had on the show and its audience.
Where Else You’ve Seen Mercedes Mason
Mercedes Mason may be most recognizable as Zoe Andersen to fans of police procedurals, but The Rookie is far from her only major acting role. The actress has made a career of appearances on popular television series, often as a guest star who appears in a single episode or a short arc. Throughout her respectable career, Mason has appeared in guest roles on such series as Chuck, NCIS, NCIS: LA, American Horror Stories, How to Get Away with Murder, and plenty more.
Most notably, Mason starred as Ofelia Salazar in AMC’s The Walking Dead spinoff, Fear the Walking Dead. Ofelia was a central character in the series from the beginning until her tragic death in Season 3. Although her time in Fear the Walking Dead was limited, Mercedes Mason’s character profoundly affected the characters therein, especially her father, Daniel, who continued to mourn her loss for the rest of the series.
Mercedes Mason’s contributions to various series throughout her career have been phenomenal. From Fear the Walking Dead to The Rookie, she has elevated her characters to become memorable facets of a larger narrative, even if they don’t always live to tell the tale.
