The Rookie’s Biggest Mystery: What Oscar Hutchinson’s Return Means for Season’s Future

Recently, we’ve been looking at some of the earlier seasons of The Rookie and certain characters and subplots that need to be revisited. Season 7 reintroduced the character of Rachel Hall (Jasmine Mathews) for the first time since Season 2, finally answering many questions surrounding her relationships with Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) and Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil). However, there is another recurring character from the show’s earlier seasons who has been MIA for a while, specifically, Percy West (Michael Beach). In multiple seasons, Beach portrayed the Commander of Internal Affairs for the Los Angeles Police Department, who is also the father of late Officer Jackson West (Titus Makin Jr.). Percy’s background also ties into another major series villain who returned to the show in the seventh season, Oscar Hutchinson (Matthew Glave). Now that Hutchinson is back in the fold, it’s time for The Rookie to examine a major unanswered subplot involving Percy West.

Oscar Hutchinson Alleged That Percy West Is a Corrupt Cop

Oscar Hutchinson planted the seeds of the Percy West subplot in the first season episode, “Manhunt.” At the time, Hutchinson claimed to Jackson that Percy planted a murder weapon on him when there was no evidence. Hutchinson, as a career criminal, is not the most reliable source of information. It’s difficult to believe he’s telling the truth. Even if there is any legitimacy to his claim, he may have been offering a very manipulated version of past events. Hutchinson’s words stuck with Jackson, who later confronted his father about the allegation in the first season episode, “Homefront.”

During the episode, Percy pleaded with his son that he was not dirty, but his scene with Jackson suggested that he might have crossed some morally and ethically questionable lines during his earlier years in the LAPD. Percy stated, “When I was coming up in the force, it was a different time. Two weeks to match fingerprints, if you were lucky. And forget about DNA evidence. We cut corners sometimes because we had to.” Considering that Percy always presented himself as a straight-arrow, honest cop and a pinnacle of virtue and honesty, his admissions came off as a shock to both Jackson and the audience. Later, Jackson and Percy did make amends, but the subplot always came off as wildly unresolved.

Was Oscar Hutchinson telling the truth about Percy West? Percy never got into specifics, but his admission to Jackson sounded highly suspicious. What exactly did he mean about “cutting corners?” Was he so convinced of Hutchinson’s guilt that he fabricated evidence of a murder weapon? The Rookie never properly answered these questions. Percy always comes off as a stern disciplinarian and watchdog of the LAPD as the commander of Internal Affairs, but who is watching the watcher in this situation? Percy may not be as reprehensible or corrupt an officer, such as Detective Nick Armstrong (Harold Perrineau), but he appears somewhat hypocritical. It’s high time for The Rookie to finally bring back Commander Percy West, which could tie into another return of Oscar Hutchinson later next season.

The Recently Returned Oscar Hutchinson Could Tie Back Into the Old Percy West Storyline

Recurring villain Oscar Hutchinson made his long-awaited return in the Season 7 finale, “The Good, The Bad, And The Oscar.” Although John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) and Detective Nyla Harper (Mekia Cox) prevented Hutchinson from getting some stolen diamonds, Hutchinson remains a fugitive at large at the end of the episode. Hutchinson is sure to return later in Season 8. That provides an opportunity for Hutchinson and Percy to reconnect finally. The writers must provide clarity about the past incident involving Hutchinson and Percy. Did Percy simply cut some minor corners, as he puts it, or did he break some rules to make the murder charges against Hutchinson stick? The writers owe it to both the audience and the legacy of the beloved Jackson West, who died early in Season 4, to tie up this loose subplot finally. Even the brief return of Percy West in Season 6 did nothing to mitigate the issue.

‘The Rookie’ Never Showed Percy West’s Reaction to Jackson’s Murder

After the third season, Percy West made only one other appearance in The Rookie, during a short sequence in the Season 6 episode, “Secrets and Lies,” to help wrap up the Ray Watkins (David Dastmalchian) case. Percy interrogated Tim Bradford over the incident. Considering this was Percy’s first appearance since the third season, it was massively unsatisfying. Percy made no mention of Jackson and did not speak to Wade Grey (Richard T. Jones) about his murdered son. Percy was introduced to the show as Jackson’s father, so it was significantly awkward that the show never dealt with Percy’s reaction to Jackson’s murder. Additionally, it was disappointing that Grey and Percy shared no words about Jackson.

The Rookie was missing a proper scene showing Percy reacting to Jackson’s death or dealing with the fallout. In Season 6, everything appeared to be business as usual when Percy made his short appearance. However, the lack of any mention of Jackson when Percy stopped by played out like no one wanted to address the elephant in the room. Not seeing Percy mourn his son or deal with his grief is a huge missed opportunity. It would be beneficial for Beach to return as Percy West in Season 8 with a storyline that could offer some proper closure to his relationship with Jackson. Otherwise, his character arc will end in an unfulfilled and incomplete manner.

How Season 8 Could Tie Percy West and Oscar Hutchinson’s Storylines Together

The best choice would be an episode that calls for Percy West’s return and offers some flashbacks to his past case involving Hutchinson. Either that, or there needs to be a present case where Percy comes into contact with Hutchinson again. Hutchinson likes to get personal with his victims and push their buttons. If Hutchinson were to get back into a room with Percy, he would undoubtedly make mention of Jackson and his untimely death. That’s another potential angle The Rookie should explore in Season 8. Ultimately, the series needs to answer once and for all what happened in the past between Percy and Hutchinson, and if Percy truly committed unethical acts to pin a murder charge on Oscar.

Hopefully, Season 8 will explore the return of Percy West and finally resolve this loose plot thread once and for all when The Rookie returns later in 2026. For now, viewers can check out all seven seasons of the series, which are streaming now on Hulu in the U.S.

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