The Rookie boss warned fans that season 7 will put two couples to the test — Chenford a.k.a. Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen, and John Nolan and his wife, Bailey Nune. In other words, we were warned.
During season 6, Tim (Eric Winter) broke up with Lucy (Melissa O’Neill) as a form of self-punishment for crossing the line during an op and putting Lucy’s career in jeopardy.
According to the season 7 trailer, which Us Weekly exclusively released on Thursday, January 2, the connection between the pair is not gone. But while they share a steamy moment together — a shirtless Tim is involved — the showrunner told TVLine in an interview published on Thursday that Tim isn’t done working through his internal demons.
“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,” Alexi Hawley said of Tim while speaking to the outlet.
Hawley noted that the “good news” is that Tim “understands what he did wrong,” he is just “trying to figure out” the “why.”
“The worst thing he could possibly think to do to himself was to break up with Lucy, and he’s going to figure that fully out, and then also deal with the repercussions of that,” the showrunner explained.
Fans previously got a glimpse at Tim and Lucy’s undeniable love for each other when she saved his life during the season 6 finale. That bond will continue to grow, according to Hawley.
“We really wanted to come into this season with positivity about Tim and Lucy. Obviously, they did do a lot of work, Tim especially, at the end of last season,” he said. “It did feel like they were coming back together in a way that was at least positive.”
Looking forward, Hawley says Chenford will have to ask themselves, “OK, we’re onto the next chapter — what does that look like?”
The TV writer added that their new normal will involve a bet over training the LAPD’s new rookies.
That wager allows The Rookie team to “play [up] the banter” and “the chemistry,” Hawley explained, adding that “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.”
Tim hopefully winning Lucy back is just one major romance to keep an eye on in the new season. Nolan (Nathan Fillion) and wife Bailey (Jenna Dewan) received shocking news at the end of season 6: Bailey’s ex-husband, Jason Wyler (Steve Kazee), broke out of prison alongside Oscar Hutchinson (Matthew Glave).
“Jason will ultimately pose the biggest threat in the first half of the season,” Hawley told the outlet. “He is sort of the existential threat because he is a threat to the family, Bailey especially.”
As the first part of the season unfolds, viewers will learn 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 continued.
Hawley added: “That percolates up in the fear of the reunion, because part of the drama of the first half of the season is, ‘When is he going to show up?’ And that sense of always being afraid is not healthy, obviously.”
Nolan and Bailey’s past talks about possibly expanding their family through adoption will also “come back” up, per the showrunner. “Without spoiling anything, I don’t know what else to say,” Hawley concluded.
Season 7 of The Rookie premieres on ABC Tuesday, January 7, at 10 p.m. ET.
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