The good news is that The Rookie has been renewed for season 7; the bad news is that more episodes indicate that one fan-favorite duo won’t rekindle their romance until after the season 6 finale. The ABC procedural drama television series, created by Alexi Hawley, debuted in 2018 and has run for six successful seasons, with a seventh (assumingly) coming in the fall of 2024. As the face of the show, Nathan Fillion (as John Nolan) had the star power to pull in viewers, while the other members of the ensemble cast of The Rookie convinced them to continue watching.
Aside from Fillion, the actors who have starred in The Rookie the longest are Eric Winter as Tim Bradford, Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez, Melissa O’Neil as Lucy Chen, Richard T. Jones as Wade Grey, and Mekia Cox as Nyla Harper. One of the ABC series’ strong suits is crafting various interesting dynamics between all these characters without any pairs feeling forced. Even if the writers didn’t initially mean to do so, they also created one of the best recent slow-burn TV relationships. But fans might have to wait until The Rookie season 7 for them to rekindle their romance.
TVLine reported that The Rookie had been renewed for season 7 on April 15, 2024 — almost a week after the game-changing The Rookie season 6, episode 6, and many weeks ahead of the season 6 finale (which doesn’t have a concrete date yet but will assumingly premiere in mid-to-late May). The procedural drama’s renewal is not all that surprising, given that the series performs quite well overall for ABC and is one of the network’s most consistent (and therefore reliable) shows. Per TV Series Finale, ABC’s drama series’ average viewers (as of the writing of this article) are:
The Rookie season 7 was seemingly imminent, so the only question was whether ABC would make fans wait until before or after the season 6 finale for the renewal news. Thankfully for those who love the series, the network didn’t stall the announcement. Now, viewers have peace of mind and can watch the rest of the story in The Rookie season 6 (with four episodes remaining) knowing it won’t be the last.
Unfortunately, Tim and Lucy’s romance ended in The Rookie season 6, episode 6, shortly after it had begun. The series started with Tim as Lucy’s training officer, and from the beginning, the audience sensed that the two characters shared chemistry (which wasn’t the writers’ intention, but it happened naturally). Of course, their dynamic at the show’s beginning (with Tim being Lucy’s superior) meant a romance would have to wait. As the seasons went on, Tim and Lucy grew closer and developed feelings for one another, and Chenford finally started dating in the middle of The Rookie season 5.
While the romance was exciting at first, it soon became evident that Tim and Lucy had communication issues by The Rookie season 5 finale. They kept things from one another, and the lying (or withholding of information) continued in season 6 until it came to a head in episode 6. Tim kept Lucy in the dark regarding the reappearance of one of the men Tim served with in the Army (whose death he lied about). Even though the issue was solved, Tim felt he had lost a piece of himself and that he didn’t deserve Lucy, resulting in their breakup.
Even though The Rookie had been foreshadowing a breakup between Tim and Lucy since season 5, it was still devastating. The split also sounds as if it will be semi-permanent (at least, until season 7). Now that the show has been renewed, viewers shouldn’t expect Chenford to reunite anytime soon. During an interview with TVLine, Eric Winter teased the season 6 finale and implied that his character and Lucy wouldn’t rekindle their romance by the season’s last episode. Winter said:
Winter’s comments all but confirm that Tim and Lucy will stay broken up until The Rookie season 7. However, the actor also suggested that the former couple would end season 6 in a good place, meaning that Chenford will likely get back together in season 7. So, fans should brace themselves for a long wait until Tim and Lucy settle their differences and become a couple again.
Tim and Lucy have too many (individual and collective) issues for The Rookie to warrant a speedy reunion. As mentioned above, the duo needs to work on their communication issues and, consequently, how to trust one another more easily. However, before they can address their problems as a couple, Chenford should confront their personal troubles first. Tim has to overcome his lingering trauma from his marriage to Isabel (and other demons from his past), while Lucy’s detectives’ exam twist should have her confronting her career path. Hopefully, therapy will be involved for both in The Rookie.
Sources: TVLine, TV Series Finale