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The following contains light spoilers for The Rookie Season 7, airing on ABC on Tuesdays and streaming on Hulu the next day.

When The Rookiefirst debuted in 2018, Nathan Fillion's John Nolan was the titular training officer in the LAPD. However, he wasn't the only "boot" on the show. Characters played by Melissa O'Neil and Titus Makin Jr. rounded out the cast. While Lucy Chen remains a fixture on the series, the unceremonious killing of Officer Jackson West is The Rookie's biggest mistake, and the show hasn't fully recovered from it.

When the series began, Nolan was the oldest rookie in the department's history, while Lucy and Jackson were more age-appropriate recruits. They were also his closest confidantes. Jackson eventually moved in with Lucy, and the two developed one of the series' best friendships. The loss of the character was devastating to fans, both for the way it happened and...

For five seasons, The Rookie fans watched Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen fall in love. However, much to their disappointment, Tim broke up with Lucy in Season 6. Ahead of The Rookie's Season 7 premiere,showrunner Alexi Hawley has teased what's next for the fan-favorite "Chenford" couple.

Speaking with TVLine, Hawley addressed whether Tim still has work to do on himself following the Season 6 finale's elevator scene. "He does, he does. We’ll definitely see a bit of that this season. At some point we have a scene where he’s at a veterans support group, so he’s still trying to do the work on himself. And look, the good news is that he understands what he did wrong," the showrunner explained. "But in terms of the why, that is still something he’s trying to figure out, and sort of punishing himself for his own failures. The worst thing...

One series regular is sadly leaving The Rookie in season 7, but the show can make up for their absence by bringing back some characters who haven't been seen in a while. A handful of the ABC police procedural's cast members have come and gone over the years, starting with Mercedes Mason as Zoe Andersen in the middle of The Rookie season 1. Perhaps the biggest actor departure, though, was Titus Makin Jr. as Jackson West in the season 4 premiere. Unfortunately, one more series regular will join the likes of Mason and Makin Jr. in The Rookie season 7.

The Rookie returns with season 7 on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, at 10 pm Et on ABC. Season 7 will consist of 18 episodes as the show is reverting to its normal episode count after the strike-affected shortened sixth season.

Tru Valentino's Aaron Thorsen will exit The Rookie ahead of season 7, meaning the season 6 finale is his final appearance.

While death is part of the job in the LAPD-focused procedural The Rookie, Captain Zoe Andersen's (Mercedes Mason) passing was particularly shocking. The Rookie is now going into its seventh season, and for over 100 episodes, it has chronicled the career trajectory of John Nolan (Nathan Fillion), who began the series as the LAPD's oldest rookie, graduating from the Police Academy in his 40s. He eventually worked his way up to training new crops of officers, but back in season 1, very few people had faith in the older rookie.

However, one person who did see Nolan's value was Captain Andersen. Having served with the United States Pentagon Police and in the Marines, Andersen brought a work ethic full of discipline and order to the LAPD. But while she was extremely by-the-book and tough, she was also compassionate and mindful, traits lacking in many TV cops. Andersen recognized that Nolan's...

Nathan Fillions cop drama-comedy The Rookie has finally announced its Season 7 premiere date. The ABC show is returning for an 18-episode run, which has promised to be nearly uninterrupted, minus a possible address from the Oval Office.

Per TVLine, The Rookie will return to ABC on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at 10 pm. The shows original premise followed Nathan Fillions John Nolan, a forty-year-old man looking to start a career as a police officer. Now a fully-fledged member of the LAPD, the show follows Nolan as he trains a new generation of rookies using his own life experiences and his hazardous experiences on the mean streets of L.A.

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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 that no character is ever safe from consequences in The Rookie.

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.

The Rookie has tons of fun-filled cold opens. The show prides itself on adding a bit of fun to the seriousness of cop shows. Even cops are people, and life is full of surprises and twists. Following the life of John Nolan, a middle-aged construction worker turned officer, The Rookie explores what it's like to be a new officer on duty at the Los Angeles Police Department, but not without adding a special spin.

While a few episodes have made an exception by picking up the story from previous episodes, most cold opens in the show incorporate hilarious incidents and clever twists that are meant to put a smile on viewers' faces. In fact, some of these cold opens are frequently visited by The Rookie fans. From the most famous garage band song in "Daddy Cop" to the one where Nolan and Harper get glitter bombed at a gender reveal party,...