Season 7 would challenge two couples: John Nolan and his wife, Bailey Nune, and Chenford, also known as Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen, the Rookie boss warned viewers. That is to say, we were alerted.
Tim (Eric Winter) ended his relationship with Lucy (Melissa O’Neill) in season six as a kind of self-punishment for going too far during an op and endangering Lucy’s career.
The relationship between the two is still there, based on the season 7 trailer that Us Weekly exclusively unveiled on Thursday, January 2. However, despite their sultry time together—in which Tim is shirtless—the showrunner revealed to TVLine in an interview that was released on Thursday that Tim is still battling his inner demons.
Regarding Tim, Alexi Hawley told the source, “At one point we have a scene where he’s at a veterans support group, so he’s still trying to do the work on himself.”
The “good news,” according to Hawley, is that Tim “understands what he did wrong,” and he is merely “trying to figure out” the “why.”
The showrunner clarified, “He’s going to fully figure that out and then deal with the repercussions of that.” He broke up with Lucy, which was the worst thing he could have thought to do to himself.
In the season 6 finale, Lucy saved Tim’s life, giving fans a preview of their unwavering love for one another. Hawley says that bond will only get stronger.
“We wanted to approach this season with optimism toward Tim and Lucy. They obviously put in a lot of work at the close of the previous season, Tim in particular,” he remarked. “They did seem to be reconciling in a way that was at least constructive.”
In the future, Chenford will need to ask themselves, “Okay, we’re onto the next chapter — what does that look like?” according to Hawley.
“Their new normal will involve a bet over training the LAPD’s new rookies,” the TV writer continued.
“It allows us to lean into the competition between them that has been baked into them since the beginning, even when he was her boss, basically,” Hawley said, describing the wager as a way for The Rookie team to “play [up] the banter” and “the chemistry.”
One significant romance to watch in the upcoming season is Tim’s hope of getting Lucy back. At the conclusion of season 6, Nolan (Nathan Fillion) and his wife Bailey (Jenna Dewan) were shocked to learn that Bailey’s ex-husband, Jason Wyler (Steve Kazee), and Oscar Hutchinson (Matthew Glave) had escaped from jail.
“In the first half of the season, Jason will be the biggest threat,” Hawley told the newspaper. Because he poses a threat to the family, particularly Bailey, he is kind of an existential menace.
Viewers will discover more about “the trauma of Bailey’s relationship with Jason that maybe she hasn’t processed yet, the abusive relationship she was in with this guy,” he added, as the season’s first segment progresses.
Because part of the suspense in the first half of the season is wondering, ‘When is he going to turn up?’ Hawley continued, “that percolates up in the fear of the reunion.” And it goes without saying that feeling scared all the time is unhealthy.
According to the showrunner, Nolan and Bailey’s previous discussions about maybe growing their family through adoption will also “come back.” Hawley said, “I don’t know what else to say without giving anything away.”
The Rookie’s seventh season will debut on ABC on Tuesday, January 7 at 10 p.m. ET.
