The Rookie is an American police procedural television series created for ABC by Alexi Hawley. The series follows John Nolan, a man in his forties, who becomes the oldest rookie at the Los Angeles Police Department. The series is produced by ABC Studios and Entertainment One; it is based on real-life Los Angeles Police Department officer William Norcross, who moved to Los Angeles in 2015 and joined the department in his mid-40s.
The series stars Nathan Fillion, Alyssa Diaz, Richard T. Jones, Titus Makin Jr., Mercedes Mason, Melissa O’Neil, Afton Williamson, Mekia Cox, Shawn Ashmore and Eric Winter. The Rookie premiered on October 16, 2018. The first season ran until April 16, 2019. The second season ran from September 29, 2019, to May 10, 2020. In May 2020, ABC renewed the series for a third season which premiered on January 3, 2021.
Premise
The series follows John Nolan, a forty-five-year-old newly divorced man from Pennsylvania, former owner of a construction company and father of a son in college, who, after inadvertently helping police officers during a bank robbery, moves to Los Angeles to pursue a new career as a police officer in the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). After graduating from the Police Academy as the oldest rookie on the force, Nolan must navigate the dangerous, unpredictable nature of his job and is determined to make it in his new career despite the challenges.
Series lead Nathan Fillion stated during an interview that the drama was inspired by a true story as the LAPD is one of just two agencies that accepts new officers over the age of 37. The man whose story inspired the premise of the show was later revealed to be Bill Norcross, who continues to serve in the LAPD and also as executive producer on The Rookie.
Cast and characters
Main
- Nathan Fillion as John Nolan: The oldest rookie (Police Officer I) at the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), he is assigned to the Wilshire Division. He studied law at Pennsylvania State University but dropped out upon learning his former girlfriend Sarah was pregnant and went into construction. At the age of 45, Nolan closed his construction company in Pennsylvania and moved out west to become a police officer. He is divorced with a 19-year-old son, Henry, who is a freshman in college.
- Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez: An LAPD detective (Detective I) who starts out the series as a training officer (Police Officer III). She was assigned as the training officer to Jackson West, who threatened her hopes of becoming Detective. Although she gives West a hard time, Lopez also looks out for him. She gets engaged to defense attorney Wesley Evers in season two, and is promoted to Detective at the beginning of season 3, following the death of Nick Armstrong. She discovers that she is pregnant with her and Wesley’s first child in the season three premiere.
- Richard T. Jones as Wade Grey: A sergeant (Sergeant II) and a watch commander of the Wilshire Station. Grey is initially against Nolan being a rookie because he feels that Nolan is having a midlife crisis and that being a police officer is not his true calling, but he later sees potential in him. Grey served in the United States Army prior to joining the LAPD. He has a daughter who is planning to go to college in the fall.
- Titus Makin Jr. as Jackson West: An eager rookie officer (Police Officer II) and the son of Commander West, head of the LAPD’s Internal Affairs Division. He’s a graduate of University of California, Los Angeles. Top of his class at the Police Academy, West strives to be the best officer he can be despite his naive personality. Despite his commitment to the LAPD, West initially froze up whenever a shooting occurred and was nearly kicked from the training program by Bradford. He eventually redeems himself and has since moved past the shootings. He is close friends with Nolan and Chen and becomes the latter’s roommate when he is forced to move out of his apartment after arresting his landlord. West is openly gay.
- Mercedes Mason as Zoe Andersen (season 1; guest season 3): Nolan’s confident and irreverent commanding officer, Captain Andersen was a former Marine with the military police. After leaving the Corps, she spent a year with the United States Pentagon Police Criminal Investigations Directorate before joining the LAPD. Because of her prior experience, Andersen rose up the ranks very quickly to the point where some of her officers saw her more as a boss than a fellow officer. Unlike Grey, she took Nolan under her wing and believed his life experiences would benefit the department. She was killed late in the first season while protecting Nolan from an attempt on his life.
- Melissa O’Neil as Lucy Chen: An ambitious rookie cop (Police Officer II) who struggles to prove herself to Tim Bradford, her training officer. She is 28 years old and her parents are psychologists. She is close friends with Nolan and West and often hangs out with them while not on duty. She briefly had a romantic relationship with Nolan, despite it being against the rules.
- Afton Williamson as Talia Bishop (season 1): A newly promoted training officer (Police Officer III) whose first assignment was Nolan. Throughout the first season, she worked hard to make detective and work her way up to chief of police. Near the end of the first season, Bishop was revealed to have lied about having an ex-con foster brother in order to get into the police academy. She does not return for the second season, as she has moved on to U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) rather than face a possibly stalled career in the LAPD.
- Eric Winter as Tim Bradford: An overbearing training officer (Police Officer III). He is assigned Chen as a rookie and gives her a hard time. He used to be a Marine squad leader who served in Iraq and Afghanistan before joining the LAPD. He was initially married to a fellow cop named Isabel, but her drug addiction eventually caused their marriage to fall apart. Later in the first season, he breaks off his relationship with Isabel entirely after she gets clean; he starts dating social services agent Rachel Hall in the second season after losing a bet to Chen.
- Mekia Cox as Nyla Harper (season 2–present): Nolan’s new training officer (Police Detective I), a detective coming off of four years of undercover work who is trying to return to her patrol roots. She is also fighting with her ex-husband for joint custody of their daughter.
- Shawn Ashmore as Wesley Evers (season 3; recurring seasons 1–2): A defense lawyer with whom Lopez initially clashes but then starts dating. The two become engaged near the end of the second season.
Recurring
- Mircea Monroe as Isabel Bradford (season 1): Tim Bradford’s ex-wife, a former undercover narcotics officer who is now a drug addict
- Sara Rue as Nell Forester: A dispatcher for the LAPD whom Bradford bribes in order to get the best calls
- Currie Graham as Ben McRee (season 1): Nolan’s friend who lets Nolan stay in his mansion as a house guest
- Demetrius Grosse as Kevin Wolfe (season 1): A detective who is assigned to Isabel’s case
- David DeSantos as Elijah Vestri (season 1): A detective who is assigned to Isabel’s case
- Zayne Emory as Henry Nolan: John Nolan’s son who is a freshman in college. He becomes engaged in the second season.
- Michael Beach as Percy West: Jackson’s father and the commander of Internal Affairs
- Brent Huff as Smitty: A lazy training officer who lives in a trailer park across the street from the Wilshire station. He is usually only seen at roll call, and he filled in for Lopez in one episode as Jackson’s training officer when Lopez rode with Nolan.
- Angel Parker as Luna Grey: Wade Grey’s wife and mother of their daughter Dominique
- Sarah Shahi as Jessica Russo (seasons 1–2): A former FBI hostage negotiator who now runs her own security firm and is a published author. She dated Nolan but later broke up with him in “Safety” when a pregnancy scare prompted them to realize that they wanted different things from their relationship at this time.
- Matthew Glave as Oscar Hutchinson: A prisoner who escapes from the prison bus crash but is later apprehended by Lopez and West
- Harold Perrineau as Nick Armstrong (seasons 2–3): A new night detective who assists the LAPD Wilshire Division. Nolan is assigned to him on his first day and they become fast friends. Having made detective after only four years as a patrol officer, Nolan is eager to learn from him. A widower, Armstrong lost his wife to cancer while he was on a case to catch a ruthless serial killer and has since regretted not spending more time with her while she was alive. During the second-season finale, Armstrong is revealed to be a dirty cop working for the Armenian mob because he needed money when his wife was in the hospital, and was injured in a shooting by Nolan before trying to frame him for also working with the mob. In the first episode of the third season, Armstrong escaped from the hospital before his wounds healed. When he met with the mob to execute Nolan, he was shot once more and killed.
- Daniel Lissing as Sterling Freeman (seasons 2-3): A celebrity actor starring on a police procedural show, he witnesses Jackson take down a suspect and requests him to be a technical advisor on his show. He later falls in love with Jackson and they date briefly.
- Ali Larter as Grace Sawyer (season 2): A doctor at Shaw Memorial Hospital. She and Nolan dated in college, but he broke up with her after discovering that Sarah (who would later become his wife) was pregnant with his son Henry. She becomes the team’s immediate contact for medical treatment of suspects and officers, and she and Nolan tentatively date although she is not divorced from her husband.
- Jasmine Mathews as Rachel Hall (season 2): A social services agent whom Bradford begins dating after Chen sets them up on a date as part of a bet. Bradford and Hall grew close, and when Hall got a job in New York, Bradford considered joining the NYPD to be with her; when he discovered he would lose his rank, she told him it was best they went their separate ways, allowing him to choose his career over her.
- Enver Gjokaj as Donovan: Harper’s ex-husband. Harper is fighting with him over joint custody of their daughter Lila.
- Carsyn Rose as Lila: Harper’s daughter from her previous marriage to Donovan
- Madeleine Coghlan as Abigail: Henry Nolan’s fiancée. She expressed interest in becoming a police officer, going on a ride along with Nolan and Bradford
- Annie Wersching as Rosalind Dyer (seasons 2–3): A serial killer and nemesis of Armstrong, the officer that jailed her for murder. She assists the LAPD in finding unrecovered bodies as part of a plea deal, later instructing her boyfriend to abduct Chen. When Nolan discovered Armstrong was corrupt in the second season’s finale, he went to visit Dyer in prison for more information. After Nolan’s arrest in the first episode of season 3, Bradford and Chen visited her for further information. Following Armstrong’s death, Dyer called Nolan to gloat that all of Armstrong’s arrests were under review and she could potentially be released from prison.
- Jeff Pierre as Emmett Lang (season 2): A firefighter who is mutual friends with Bradford. He dates Chen after they meet at the scene of a car accident.
- Hrach Titizian as Ruben Derian (seasons 2-3): A member of the Derian crime family who has recruited Armstrong and Erin Cole to help him destroy evidence that implicates his brother Serj for the murder of Chris Rios
- Brandon Routh as Doug Stanton (season 3): Jackson’s new veteran training officer. Stanton abuses his authority to silence Jackson when Jackson becomes critical of Stanton’s abuse toward non-white citizens. Jackson and Grey gather evidence against Stanton, leading to his suspension from the force.
- Dylan Conrique as Tamara Collins (season 3): a homeless high school student whom Chen takes under her wing.
Notable guests
- Danny Nucci as Sanford Motta: An arrogant major assault crimes detective who looks down on rookies(“Crash Course”, “The Hawke”)
- Shawn Christian as Jeremy Hawke: Nolan’s former training officer at the Academy who goes rogue(“The Hawke”)
- Joelle Carter as Megan Mitchell: Hawke’s ex-wife who is fighting with him over custody of their son Logan(“The Hawke”)
- Niko Nicotera as Carson Miller: Isabel’s former boyfriend and a drug dealer(“Time of Death”, “Standoff”)
- Jose Pablo Cantillo as Franco DeSantis: A drug dealer who steals money from a drug bust after being tipped off(“Caught Stealing”)
- Beau Garrett as Denise: A woman who Nolan rescues on Valentine’s Day who has an unhealthy obsession with him (“Heartbreak”)
- Sean Maher as Caleb Jost: A prisoner who escapes from the prison bus crash in “Manhunt” but is later apprehended by Nolan, Bishop, and Russo (“Manhunt”)
- Mario Lopez as himself: A celebrity pulled over by Bradford and Chen for running a stop sign who tries to talk his way out of a ticket as part of an integrity test by LAPD Internal Affairs(“Greenlight”)
- Joel McHale as Brad Hayes: A former border patrol officer turned people smuggler for a cartel, who is placed under the protective detail of Bradford and Nolan(“The Shake Up”)
- Michael Trucco as Sean Delmonte: An assistant district attorney who assigns Nolan and Bradford to a protective detail in “The Shake Up”. He later returns in the second-season episode “The Dark Side” when he makes a deal with Rosalind Dyer in order to find the bodies of her previous victims (“The Shake Up”, “The Dark Side”)
- Jim Lau as Patrick Chen: Lucy Chen’s father who is injured by one of his patients and forced to go the hospital. He later has an argument with Chen regarding the LAPD’s handling of mental health cases (“The Shake Up”)
- will.i.am as himself: Appears when a silent alarm is tripped at his residence, caused by a man who accidentally parachuted into the wrong yard and got stuck in a tree (“The Checklist”)
- Stephen Lang as Williams: The LAPD chief of police. He is the one who administers the oral exam to Nolan, Chen, and West during their midterm exam (“The Checklist”)
- Felicia Day as Dr. Morgan: A CDC task-force specialist specializing in infectious diseases(“Free Fall”)
- Mark Cuban as himself: Appears when Nolan and Grey respond to a disturbance at his restaurant (“Impact”)
- Mitch Pileggi as Rex: A bounty hunter and retired LAPD cop. He is good friends with Bradford (“The Night General”)
- Seamus Dever as Chaz Bachman: A lawyer who is arrested by Nolan and Lopez for buying drugs(“The Bet”)
- Jon Huertas as Alejandro Mejia / Cesar Ojeda: An undercover DHS agent who is compromised and nearly killed by two assailants seeking information from him(“The Bet”)
- Lauren Tom as Mrs. Chen: Lucy Chen’s mother who comes to stay at her apartment briefly after having an argument with Chen’s father (“Tough Love”, “Man of Honor”)
- Eric Weddle as himself: appeared during a Los Angeles Rams junior football camp. Was a high school football adversary of Bradford’s. (“Safety”)
- Robert Woods as himself: appeared during a Los Angeles Rams junior football camp (“Safety”)
- Alan Tudyk as Ellroy Basso: A cleaner employed by the LAPD to help clean up crime scenes. He and Nolan later apprehend the criminals who committed the original crime when they return to the scene. He also has a crush on Nell Forester. (“Clean Cut”)
- Michael Cassidy as Caleb Wright: A man whom Chen meets at a bar, who later turns out to be a serial killer and Rosalind Dyer’s associate (“The Dark Side”, “Day of Death”)
- Pete Davidson as Pete Nolan: Nolan’s half-brother whom he meets following his father’s death (“Follow-Up Day”)
- Seth Green as Jordan Neil: A man who steals Nolan’s identity, causing his credit score to go down (“Hand-Off”)
- Roselyn Sánchez as Valerie Castillo: An ambitious reporter (“The Overnight”)
- Bailey Chase as Michael Banks: A DEA agent who assists Nolan and Harper during a drug raid (“Control”)
- Don Swayze as Sharp: A prison guard deputy at the California Correctional Facility who assists Nolan and Harper during a riot (“Under the Gun”)
- Hannah Kasulka as Erin Cole: A rookie officer who is later revealed to be a dirty cop working for the Derians (“The Q Word”, “The Hunt”)
- Christopher O’Shea as Chris Rios: A rookie officer who is fatally shot by Serj Derian, leaving West devastated as the two had been close friends (“The Q Word”, “The Hunt”)
- Frances Fisher as Evelyn Nolan: Nolan’s overbearing and manipulative mother (“La Fiera”, “Sabotage”)
- Frankie Muniz as Corey Harris: A former child actor who now runs a cult (“True Crime”)
- Skyler Samuels as Charlotte Luster: Corey’s childhood co-star and friend (“True Crime”)
- Rainn Wilson as himself: A celebrity interviewed by a true crime documentary who owned the mummified body of Charlie Chaplin (“True Crime”)
- Molly Quinn as Ashley: The daughter of prisoner Oscar Hutchinson who is a person of interest in a kidnapping case (“Bad Blood”)
- Emily Deschanel as Sarah Nolan: Nolan’s ex-wife and mother to their son Henry (“Brave Heart”)
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||
| 1 | 20 | October 16, 2018 | April 16, 2019 | ||
| 2 | 20 | September 29, 2019 | May 10, 2020 | ||
| 3 | 14 | January 3, 2021 | May 16, 2021 | ||
Season 1 (2018–19)
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | “Pilot” | Liz Friedlander | Alexi Hawley | October 16, 2018 | 101 | 5.43 |
| John Nolan is a 45-year-old divorcé who, after witnessing (and foiling) a bank robbery in his small town, packs up his entire life to move to Los Angeles and becomes a cop. His assignment to the force is met with skepticism from his fellow officers, particularly his watch commander, Sergeant Wade Grey, and his training officer Talia Bishop. Nolan’s first few days on the job are marked by a domestic dispute that quickly escalates out of hand (during which Nolan witnesses his first death), an unbalanced father who leaves his child in a locked car on a hot day, and an escaped felon who quickly tests Nolan in ways he never expected. Also joining Nolan as rookie officers are Jackson West, son of a high-ranking LAPD officer and eager to live up to the family legacy, and Lucy Chen, who became a cop against the wishes of her therapist parents and is carrying on a secret affair with Nolan despite the risk it poses to her career. Grey informs Nolan that he will do everything in his power to discourage him from continuing to serve, as he fears that Nolan’s inexperience and age will endanger the lives of his officers. Nolan tells Grey that he believes being a cop might be his calling. Grey responds that if that is true, nothing Grey puts Nolan through will deter him. | |||||||
| 2 | 2 | “Crash Course” | Adam Davidson | Alexi Hawley | October 23, 2018 | 102 | 4.54 |
| Nolan prevents a woman from killing herself after she tries to jump off of the Hollywood Sign after her wedding does not go as planned. West is questioned as to why he didn’t fire his weapon, but Lopez covers for him. She then forces him to handle the arrest of a man on PCP, which he pulls off. Nolan and Bishop arrest an addict for possession of drugs, but then learn that she stabbed a teenager dead in an argument. Chen is stuck with a lazy new training officer while Bradford recovers, and winds up arresting a man for shoplifting. Nolan continues to face difficulties in navigating between his civilian instincts and how they affect his actions as a cop. West is able to subdue a suspect without assistance. Nolan is assigned a rusty old car as punishment for damaging his vehicle. A kidnapping victim is rescued, and Nolan and Bishop obtain a lead on the kidnapper. While apprehending him, Bishop stops Nolan from beating the suspect in a rage. Captain Andersen thanks him for his success, but reminds him that it is not his job to punish criminals. Chen finds out that Bradford intentionally got her assigned to a poor officer to test her commitment. Bishop is able to get Nolan a new vehicle, which he nearly crashes on his first drive. | |||||||
| 3 | 3 | “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” | Greg Beeman | Liz Alper & Ally Seibert | October 30, 2018 | 103 | 4.53 |
| Nolan and Bishop chase a group of thieves and Nolan loses a bag of stolen money when a street performer runs off with it. The precinct learns that the thieves are part of a gang who have pulled off a string of heists and they begin searching for the remaining gang members. Meanwhile, Chen helps Bradford as he readjusts to being back on duty while also trying to help his drug addicted wife, who reveals to Chen she was once a narcotics cop. Elsewhere, an arrest of a former college athlete causes West and Lopez to talk about alternative careers to police work since Lopez still doubts West’s ability to handle the job. | |||||||
| 4 | 4 | “The Switch” | Toa Fraser | Vincent Angell | November 13, 2018 | 104 | 4.01 |
| Sgt. Grey tests the rookies by assigning them new TOs, partnering Nolan with Lopez, West with Bradford and Chen with Bishop. He tasks the rookies with gaining insight into their new TOs. Lopez takes Nolan to court and Nolan ends up chasing an escaped prisoner, leading to a potentially career-making bust for the pair. Bradford, however, learns about West’s struggles when he freezes during a shootout. Bradford takes West to meet an agoraphobe who gives West advice on facing his fears. Meanwhile, Chen defends her relationship with Nolan to Bishop during their patrol, prompting Nolan and Chen to have a talk about their relationship. | |||||||
| 5 | 5 | “The Roundup” | Nelson McCormick | Marcus Black | November 20, 2018 | 106 | 4.10 |
| Nolan struggles to deal with his breakup with Chen just as the TOs start an annual competition to see who can get the most arrests in a single shift. Bradford plays to win, even bribing a dispatcher to get the best calls, which worries Chen. Meanwhile, West dives headfirst into the competition to prove himself while Nolan and Bishop, who is refusing to play, find themselves dealing with a mob-connected banker. | |||||||
| 6 | 6 | “The Hawke” | Timothy Busfield | Fredrick Kotto | November 27, 2018 | 105 | 4.38 |
| Upon learning that his former academy instructor, Jeremy Hawke, has fallen on hard times, Nolan offers to help him out. Hawke politely declines but, the next morning, Lopez and West answer a call from Hawke’s estranged wife. She claims Hawke has become unstable and dangerous. Nolan and Bishop get involved in the pursuit of Hawke, which quickly escalates. Then, they discover Hawke has his son with him, who is willingly participating with his father’s fugitive activities. Meanwhile, West and Lopez deal with a shooting victim and his father, both of whom they suspect aren’t telling them the whole truth and Bradford tries to teach Chen to anticipate the behavior of criminals. | |||||||
| 7 | 7 | “The Ride Along” | Cherie Nowlan | Robert Bella | December 4, 2018 | 107 | 4.20 |
| Nolan and Bishop are assigned Hollywood director Rupert Payne, of whom Nolan is a fan, for a ride along to research his new film. Despite orders to keep him away from any dangerous situations, Payne observes Nolan and Bishop deescalate a situation involving a mentally impaired young man from a troubled neighborhood, which leads to a dangerous situation when Rupert tries to help the young man’s family. Meanwhile, West informs Lopez that she is being considered for detective, which prompts Lopez to attempt leveraging smaller criminals into giving up a major player, which ultimately backfires. Elsewhere, Bradford’s wife is arrested in a drug bust, forcing Bradford to choose, once and for all, between his devotion to his wife and his duty as a cop. | |||||||
| 8 | 8 | “Time of Death” | Mike Goi | Brynn Malone | December 11, 2018 | 108 | 4.27 |
| While in pursuit of a robber, Nolan fatally shoots him in self defense. The episode centers on the processing of this event. Bradford’s wife is returning to be a CI. While trying to get evidence against a major drug trafficker, the connection to her wire is lost and Bishop and Bradford find the camera and blood upon searching the apartment. Bradford’s wife seems to have been taken by the drug traffickers. Chen gives Nolan a ride home from the precinct and they sleep together. While Chen is in the shower, the brother of the robber attacks Nolan. The episode ends with Nolan’s attacker holding a gun on Nolan and a shot fired off camera. | |||||||
| 9 | 9 | “Standoff” | John Terlesky | Alexi Hawley | January 8, 2019 | 109 | 3.95 |
| Nolan manages to fight off his attacker, throwing him through the window and calling for backup. Meanwhile, Bradford, Lopez, and Bishop find Isabel. She has been shot in the head but will survive. Nolan lies repeatedly to Commander West about his affair with Chen. Nolan is assigned to desk duty during the investigation of his attack. Bradford, Chen, West, Lopez, and Bishop go to an apartment building to find Vance, the drug dealer who shot Isabel and left her for dead. Things go sideways and they end up in a shootout with Vance and his men. Chen helps deliver Vance’s girlfriend’s baby while West is able to turn off the power to a frequency jammer, so Bishop can call for backup. Vance and his men break into the apartment and fight with Bradford and Chen. The other officers, including Nolan, Commander West, and the SWAT team arrive and Vance and his men are arrested. Chen tells Nolan not to tell the truth about what really happened the previous night. Nolan reports to Andersen and Commander West and the latter informs him that he has been cleared of all charges and can return to the police force immediately. | |||||||
| 10 | 10 | “Flesh and Blood” | Jessica Yu | Inda Craig-Galvan | January 15, 2019 | 110 | 3.83 |
| Henry Nolan comes to visit his dad, who is surprised to learn that West and Chen already know Henry through social media. At morning roll call, Andersen announces she will ride along with Chen, while Grey will partner with Nolan, and Bradford and Bishop will partner with each other. Grey’s daughter Dominique also shows up unexpectedly for an internship. Henry and Dominique bond over their concern over their dads’ work, and Bradford and Bishop clash over procedure, as each is used to being the boss of their rookie. The episode ends with Nolan and his son talking about Nolan’s job and how they would use a code word if Nolan was ever in trouble. | |||||||
| 11 | 11 | “Redwood” | Sylvain White | Ally Seibert & Liz Alper | January 22, 2019 | 111 | 3.84 |
| The officers are forced to come in to work on their day off, as the Vice President has made an unexpected visit to Los Angeles. Nolan and Bishop stop a man who was a threat to the Vice President after they find a flare gun in his underwear. Chen also gets pricked by a used needle while trying to break up a fight between two homeless women, and is forced to go to the hospital. Bradford also tries to comfort her as she could have various diseases as a result of getting injected. Meanwhile, Lopez and West try to break up protestors, and tell people who have obscene banners to take them down. Nolan and Bishop also engage in a shootout with several robbery suspects. When Lopez and West defy Agent Danvers’ orders and decide to go help Bishop and Nolan, Grey defends them, saying it was the right thing to do. During the episode, West has trouble focusing on the job and nearly loses his cool with a man who left his elderly mother in handcuffs. At the end of the episode, West waits with Chen as she gets good news about her diagnosis. West also tells Chen about his family problems, and Nolan sells his house in Pennsylvania after having a dilemma about what to do about it. | |||||||
| 12 | 12 | “Heartbreak” | Carol Banker | Vincent Angell | February 12, 2019 | 113 | 3.64 |
| The evening before Valentine’s Day, the rookies are on a night out in the same location as Grey and his wife. When the rookies have to leave, Nolan gets in trouble with a man harassing a woman at the bar, ruining Grey’s evening. On Valentine’s Day, Bradford takes a day off to meet up with his wife, who is in rehab. They end up breaking off their relationship, with Bradford telling her that she’ll never move past who she was as an addict if they remain together. Nolan and Bishop arrive at a car crash where Nolan saves the driver’s life. She lost her husband a year ago and tries everything to get together with Nolan, even cozying up to Ben to get close to Nolan. Lopez and West interrogate an alleged assault victim who claims to suffer from dementia, but turns out to be a dangerous criminal. West hits it off with a male nurse. Lopez searches Evers’ smartphone, assuming he cheats on her, but in the end, it turns out to be different than what she had thought. Nolan arranges a party for his first Valentine’s Day in a long time without company and is surprised when Officer Bishop attends. | |||||||
| 13 | 13 | “Caught Stealing” | Omar Madha | David Radcliff | February 19, 2019 | 112 | 3.54 |
| Bishop and Nolan respond to a car accident and find the victim has been stabbed, but he escapes from the ambulance and flees the scene. To their surprise, he turns up at the station and is revealed to be an undercover officer investigating a drug cartel, which plans to transfer one million dollars that night. The LAPD raids the home before the transfer, and the rookies are put in charge of the scene until the money counters arrive. The counters finish, and $250,000 is missing. The rookies are interrogated, polygraphed and cleared, but still suspended. Chen is surrounded and attacked by members of the cartel and forced to flee. Nolan and West are on the phone with Chen during the attack, and notify the LAPD before rushing to her aid. Meanwhile, the cartel boss and his men catch up to Chen and demand to know where she hid the missing money – Chen realizes that the cartel boss must have hidden the money himself, recognizing his boots as belonging to the same man she saw leaving the house before the raid with a large duffel bag. The boss shoots his men, but after a scuffle is subdued by Chen. Nolan agrees to pay Ben what he can for his apartment on a monthly basis to ensure that he is not accepting goods or services for free, which would imperil his status as a police officer. | |||||||
| 14 | 14 | “Plain Clothes Day” | Mike Goi | Terence Paul Winter | February 26, 2019 | 114 | 3.89 |
| The rookies undergo Plain Clothes Day, where their training officers ride along out of uniform and do not assist in any capacity. West is eager to break his father’s records but gets stuck working behind a desk. Chen is confident that she can handle herself but Bradford is intent to rattle her as much as possible, causing her to make a mistake that would threaten her career. Nolan, meanwhile, works hard to prove himself as he announces his intent to make detective within five years. | |||||||
| 15 | 15 | “Manhunt” | Bill Johnson | Robert Bella | March 5, 2019 | 115 | 4.51 |
| A prisoner transport crashes while on the road and several violent criminals are on the loose in suburban Los Angeles. The LAPD is able to quickly recapture all but two, a young gang member and a criminal investment banker, and starts a major manhunt to apprehend them before they can flee the city. | |||||||
| 16 | 16 | “Greenlight” | Valerie Weiss | Brynn Malone | March 19, 2019 | 116 | 4.24 |
| Internal Affairs is conducting random integrity tests at the precinct to ensure officers are following procedure. During an arrest of Nolan’s, the shoulder strap on an unruly lady’s dress accidentally breaks. Assuming she’s with IA when she asks Nolan for his badge number, he complies. Later that evening, a gunman with a fully automatic firearm attempts to kill Nolan, who learns a hit has been put on his life by the unruly lady’s boyfriend Cole, whose father is the leader of a violent white supremacist gang. After some soul-searching, Nolan returns to work the next morning and is partnered with Captain Andersen. Officers seize millions of the gang’s assets, and Sergeant Grey visits the imprisoned gang leader to call off the hit on Nolan. But while on patrol, Nolan and Andersen are captured by Cole when responding to a false home burglary call he orchestrated. Cole later kicks a handcuffed and seated Andersen into the backyard pool, but she’s able to free herself and kills two gang members, saving Nolan. Unfortunately, during the shootout, a fleeing Cole fatally shoots Andersen through her neck. The officers salute Andersen. Later, Grey revisits the gang leader and demands he hand over his son. At the end, an ambush is set, and Cole is arrested by Nolan. | |||||||
| 17 | 17 | “The Shake Up” | Steve Robin | Alexi Hawley | March 26, 2019 | 117 | 4.24 |
| Jessica arranges for Nolan, accompanied by Bradford, to be put on a protective detail for a former border patrol guard who became a human trafficker. Grey struggles with the orders issued by the new captain, while West deals with relationship issues. Chen and Bishop save a young man from a brutal exorcism performed by his mother, but Chen confronts her father, a therapist whose arm was broken by a patient. An earthquake rocks the city, leaving Grey to try and coordinate the city’s response while Nolan and Bradford are attacked at the safehouse. | |||||||
| 18 | 18 | “Homefront” | April Mullen | Bill Rinier & Natalie Callaghan | April 2, 2019 | 118 | 3.91 |
| Nolan comes under fire after a man claims Nolan used excessive force and inflicted an injury, and he is assigned to the youngest lawyer available for his case. A detective is also investigated and arrested by Internal Affairs. This causes three criminals to be released from prison early. Lopez and West take the case of Samantha Bennett, while Bradford and Chen check in on Max Kegel, and Nolan and Bishop investigate Terry Wright. Wright recognizes Bishop, as his associate Dylan Scott is Bishop’s former foster brother. Dylan and Wright later kidnap Bishop after she tries to arrest them, leading to Nolan leaving his court hearing early. Dylan kills Wright after Wright attempts to kill Bishop, and Bishop admits to Grey that she lied about Dylan being her foster brother when applying to the academy. West also confronts his father about being a dirty cop, which strains their relationship. | |||||||
| 19 | 19 | “The Checklist” | John Fortenberry | Elizabeth Davis Beall & Fredrick Kotto | April 9, 2019 | 119 | 3.63 |
| A few days before the rookies’ final exam, Bradford and Lopez reveal that Chen and West still have seven and four types of crime to witness, respectively, and must do so in the next 48 hours. Since Nolan has no outstanding crimes, he is assigned to desk duty while Talia goes before Internal Affairs, but he asks to work with Wolfe instead. While on the streets, Chen and West come across Ben, who was the latest victim of a car theft ring. Nolan ends up helping to catch the thieves, and tries to plead Bishop’s case in front of Internal Affairs. The episode ends with Bishop being offered an opportunity to become a mole for IA, and Nolan telling Ben both about the trauma he suffered after the bank robbery seen in the Pilot episode, and how he got over it. | |||||||
| 20 | 20 | “Free Fall” | Mike Goi | Alexi Hawley | April 16, 2019 | 120 | 4.06 |
| On the day of an important rookie exam, an isolated terrorist cell plot to use a weaponized virus threatens to derail the rookies’ advancement as well as put strain on Nolan’s personal relationships. While responding to the threat, Bradford may be infected with the virus, while Jessica makes a questionable shooting on a surrendering terrorist. Meanwhile, Lopez and West also save several people on a bus by apprehending a second terrorist, which allows West to make amends with his father regarding their previous argument. | |||||||
Season 2 (2019–20)
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 1 | “Impact” | Mike Goi | Alexi Hawley | September 29, 2019 | 201 | 4.11 |
| As Bradford is rushed to the hospital, a third terrorist from the previous attack ambushes the police; Nolan and Bradford, who had only suffered an allergic reaction to medication he was given, then take her out. Two weeks later, Nolan has moved into a new home, and the rookies learn the scores of their midterm exams. They all pass, but West is upset with his score. The team learns of a plan involving fake police officers after Nolan and Grey witness a robbery at a police uniform store. They later find one of the robbers dead after his partners killed him and set his body on fire. Chen witnesses a fake police officer stealing a radio, but is unable to apprehend him before he escapes. Later, a clerk at the criminal court house is abducted, and Nolan helps to save her life after subduing the fake officer that Chen had seen earlier. Bradford, Chen, Lopez, and West also arrest the other fake cops following a shootout. West is demoted by Grey, as Grey is disappointed in West’s speech that he had given to a group of cadets earlier. As a result, West cannot wear short sleeves until Grey can trust him again. | |||||||
| 22 | 2 | “The Night General” | Rob Bowman | Fredrick Kotto | October 6, 2019 | 202 | 3.83 |
| West’s landlord is arrested and he is evicted from his apartment. Nolan is assigned as partner to new detective Nick Armstrong, but their investigation into a recent murder leads to an unexpected reunion with an old love interest. Chen is also still upset at Bradford because he will not allow her to wear short sleeves even though she passed the midterm exam. Meanwhile, the father of the murder victim kills one of the men who murdered his son, and nearly kills the other suspect as well by placing him in a concrete mold, before Nolan and Armstrong manage to save him. Unfortunately, the father commits suicide by hanging himself from a metal cable in a warehouse despite Nolan attempts to persuade him not to. West attempts to move into Smitty’s trailer park as he doesn’t have a place to live. However, Chen learns of his predicament, and she allows him to move into her apartment. | |||||||
| 23 | 3 | “The Bet” | Barbara Brown | Corey Miller | October 13, 2019 | 203 | 3.60 |
| Nolan tries to navigate his relationship with Russo and he builds a rapport with Grace while investigating a criminal case involving a homeland security agent with Lopez. West is assigned to Officer Smitty for the day and he struggles to deal with the laid back Smitty. Later, a criminal that West is patting down escapes and the criminal drops his gun in a nearby yard. A young boy, believing that the gun is a toy, picks it up and accidentally shoots his mother dead, infuriating West. They are later able to capture the criminal following a search after learning that the gun was used another murder as well. Chen also sets up Bradford on a date with Rachel Hall, a social services agent and a friend of Chen’s from college, as a part of a bet. Chen later discovers that Bradford and Hall are now dating, meaning that she has won the bet and can go back to wearing short sleeves. | |||||||
| 24 | 4 | “Warriors and Guardians” | Lisa Demaine | Brynn Malone | October 20, 2019 | 204 | 3.76 |
| Nolan gets introduced to a new training officer, Nyla Harper, and he struggles to understand Harper’s extreme police tactics. Bradford also struggles to find a birthday gift for Rachel and Officer Lopez navigates a case that triggers a personal memory. In addition, the team helps to take down a cartel in a raid, and Harper confronts a drug dealer from her past life as an undercover detective. | |||||||
| 25 | 5 | “Tough Love” | Rachel Feldman | Vincent Angell | October 27, 2019 | 205 | 3.24 |
| Officer Chen’s mother comes to stay with her after having an argument with Chen’s father, frustrating Chen. Also, Officer Nolan deals with surprising news that his son Henry is now engaged. The rookies also develop their first confidential informants with Nolan and Harper helping to save several women from a cartel, Bradford and Chen dealing with a young woman who is selling her step mother’s things to a pawn shop out of revenge, and Lopez and West flipping an informant from an FBI special agent. This impresses Sgt. Grey and he finally allows West to wear short sleeves. | |||||||
| 26 | 6 | “Fallout” | Bill Johnson | Robert Bella | November 3, 2019 | 206 | 3.50 |
| The officers deal with an impending missile attack and also deal with their own disasters. Nolan attends a probationary court hearing, and he, Russo, and Evers help calm people down during the threat. They all hide in a fallout shelter, and Nolan and Russo help subdue two prisoners that attempt to escape. Harper picks up her daughter from school, and has Rachel watch her at the station. Bradford and Chen also help a store owner deal with looters and Lopez and West help save several people who are preparing to jump off of a building. Harper’s ex-husband is furious at her for picking up their daughter and wants her arrested, but Nolan helps convince him that she has changed for the better. Evers is also stabbed by one of the prisoners during the escape attempt and is hospitalized, but he survives his injuries. | |||||||
| 27 | 7 | “Safety” | Sylvain White | Terence Paul Winter | November 10, 2019 | 207 | 3.73 |
| The relationship between Nolan and Russo gets a lot more complicated after she delivers some surprising news. Nolan also assists Grace at the hospital at a meeting for expectant mothers, where he helps to subdue the unruly boyfriend of one of the women. Lopez is on temporary leave from the force following Evers’s stabbing, and she takes a job in private security escorting a high profile businessman. Officers Bradford and West also help out the Watts Rams as volunteer coaches, and they help rescue the mother of one of the team’s star players from several armed kidnappers. Chen and Harper are also assigned to one another, and have several disagreements before they work together to subdue a serial bomber. Nolan and Russo break up at the end of the episode as Nolan isn’t ready to have more kids of his own. | |||||||
| 28 | 8 | “Clean Cut” | Toa Fraser | Mary Trahan | November 17, 2019 | 208 | 3.61 |
| Nolan kicks off his birthday by babysitting a crime scene at a law office. He meets Ellroy Basso, a professional cleaner, and they have to evade two criminals when they return to the scene looking for a hidden stash of money. Meanwhile, Officer Bradford is involved in an accident when he rear ends a woman while on patrol. Officer West is also exposed to a substance during a traffic stop and begins to act like he is on drugs. Sgt. Grey also rides patrol with Officer Harper after she requests an early annual evaluation to better her chances of getting custody of her daughter, and Grey observes her compassion in dealing with a near-drunk driver who was depressed after a cancer diagnosis. In the end, it is revealed the boyfriend of the woman Bradford hit is intentionally scamming people to earn money by disconnecting the brake lights on the woman’s car. Bradford and Chen also thwart a potential murder that the woman’s boyfriend is trying to commit. West is evaluated at the hospital but his exposure to the substance is not as serious as initially feared, allowing both Bradford and West to receive a special award from the deputy chief. | |||||||
| 29 | 9 | “Breaking Point” | Leslie Libman | Alexi Hawley & Corey Miller | December 1, 2019 | 209 | 3.36 |
| Officer Nolan’s trust is tested when he tries to help the previous owner of his home reconnect with his family. Nolan later has to subdue and arrest him when the other man breaks into the house in the middle of the night. Meanwhile, Officer Harper has finally earned an overnight visit with her daughter that is put into jeopardy when her past undercover life resurfaces again. Nolan also has to go undercover in order to save Harper’s life. Bradford and Chen deal with a murder when a lost dog is found covered with blood, resulting in a disturbing case where a woman was killed by her own son because she broke up with her boyfriend. Wesley is brought in as the kid’s lawyer, but struggles with PTSD from when he was stabbed after the boy brings up the knife. Lopez and West assist the stars of a police drama by showing them proper LAPD procedure after running into the lead actor during an arrest, with West hitting it off with the actor while Lopez assists his co-star in dealing with a stalker, learning that the woman was one of the production crew when she nearly shoots West. | |||||||
| 30 | 10 | “The Dark Side” | Bill Roe | Alexi Hawley | December 8, 2019 | 210 | 3.70 |
| The department is tasked with assisting convicted serial killer Rosalind Dyer to find the remains of 3 of her victims in exchange for commuting her death sentence to life in prison. While on the way to her gravesites, the team is forced to stop a man from killing her, and they discover new bodies in Dyer’s gravesites. Nolan talks to Dyer about the possibility of there being a third victim, as two bodies were found along with Dyer’s original kills, having been killed by a different serial killer. Dyer refuses to help them, and the team is forced to find the new victim on their own. Nolan and Harper manage to find the third victim alive but the killer manages to escape after attempting to drown Nolan in a storm drain. The episode ends with Chen being drugged and forced into the back of a car by her date at a bar. | |||||||
| 31 | 11 | “Day of Death” | David McWhirter | Brynn Malone & Fredrick Kotto | February 23, 2020 | 211 | 4.92 |
| Chen awakes after being drugged by her date, tattooed by him with her “day of death”. The station works to find Chen after they all realize they haven’t seen her in 13 hours. It is revealed that her date, Caleb Wright is the protégé of serial killer Rosalind Dyer. Caleb orders Chen to get in a barrel at gunpoint, which he proceeds to bury in the middle of the desert. As the station works to find her, Caleb proceeds to kidnap Armstrong and take him to a house that belonged to Rosalind’s uncle. Nolan and Harper proceed to track Caleb to the house, where Harper shoots Caleb, killing him. With Caleb dead, the officers spread out and search for loose dirt to find Chen, with Bradford finding and performing CPR on her, saving her life. Meanwhile, Angela and Wesley discuss his mental health after she found him unconscious after mixing his pills with alcohol. Wesley decides to go to work after seeing what Chen went through and acknowledges that he can seek help. Nolan visits Rosalind in prison, revealing that they found the locations where she buried her victims, meaning there will be no more deals. Rosalind tells him that she has one more secret, which is about Armstrong. Nolan tells her that he doesn’t care about that but Rosalind replies that she knows he’ll be back. | |||||||
| 32 | 12 | “Now and Then” | C. Chi-Yoon Chung | Robert Bella | March 1, 2020 | 212 | 4.55 |
| Nolan takes his son’s fiancé Abigail on a ride-along with Bradford after she reveals she wants to be a police officer. Bradford offers to put in a word for her at the police academy, but tells Nolan that she won’t be able to become a cop due to her criminal record. Harper asks Bradford to switch rookies for the week, where she will ride with a recovering Chen. Chen struggles to trust her judgment again, so Harper and Lopez take her to speed dating to try and regain her judgment. Chen snaps when one of the men at the event pulls a loose thread on her sweater, throwing him to the ground. Chen says that Harper will never understand what she went through, where Harper later reveals that she was raped by her UC handler and implies that she sent him to early retirement, throwing him down some stairs. | |||||||
| 33 | 13 | “Follow-Up Day” | Liz Friedlander | Alexi Hawley | March 8, 2020 | 213 | 5.12 |
| Nolan is given some life-changing news and invites Grace over for a home-cooked meal in his newly remodeled kitchen; Each unit is tasked with following up on dormant cases in hopes of uncovering new leads. | |||||||
| 34 | 14 | “Casualties” | Sylvain White | Bill Rinier | March 15, 2020 | 214 | 5.17 |
| Officers Nolan and Harper investigate a murder which may have national security implications; Officer Bradford must confront his past when he crosses paths with a homeless veteran. | |||||||
| 35 | 15 | “Hand-Off” | Michael Goi | Vincent Angell & Mary Trahan | March 22, 2020 | 215 | 5.18 |
| Nolan’s identity is stolen and he works to restore his credit score to remain a police officer and get his money back to fund Henry’s college tuition. He and Harper are able to track the identity thief (Seth Green) using one of the purchases made under Nolan’s name, but later have to track him down when one of the other people whose identity he stole kidnaps him for his money back. Nolan and Harper are able to save the identity thief and in return for his gratitude, he gifts Nolan a secret comic book collection he purchased with his money so that he can get his money back. Grey and Lopez head to Lompoc Prison to testify at a parole hearing for a man who shot Grey and his partner Dennis Rowland, who died in Lopez’s arms her first day on the job. On the way there, Lopez reveals that she had smelled alcohol on Rowland’s breath as he died, which shocked Grey as he believed Rowland was sober for four months. Despite the man’s parole being denied, Grey votes in favor of parole after interacting with the man and his son. While Grey and Lopez are at the hearing, West is assigned to make sure the station is in compliance with all guidelines, during which he finds an unassigned unsolved vandalism case which leads to him solving a homicide. Bradford meets Rachel’s father, a former sheriff of a small town who reveals he does not want his daughter marrying a cop, especially since there’s a chance Rachel might have Huntington’s disease. | |||||||
| 36 | 16 | “The Overnight” | Stephanie Marquardt | Corey Miller & Rachael Seymour | April 5, 2020 | 216 | 5.87 |
| Officers Chen and Bradford respond to a call at the Los Angeles auditions of “American Idol” and Officer Chen ends up facing Ryan Seacrest and the judges. Chen befriends a reporter (Roselyn Sanchez) whose motives are not clear. Harper asks Nolan to come along with her to her ex-husband Donovan’s home to help her daughter who is having trouble sleeping. This leads to Nolan’s life being put in danger during a domestic dispute with one of Donovan’s neighbors. At the end, Evers proposes to Lopez and she accepts his proposal.
Note: This episode includes a joke referencing Melissa O’Neil’s victory on the third season of Canadian Idol. |
|||||||
| 37 | 17 | “Control” | Marcus Stokes | Alexi Hawley & Robert Bella | April 12, 2020 | 217 | 4.57 |
| Nolan and Harper encounter Nolan’s former C.I. Bianca, and she tells them that Ripper has returned with a large shipment of fentanyl. DEA Agent Michael Banks (Bailey Chase) arrives and they determine that Nolan and Harper must go in disguise to confront Ripper. They successfully agree to meet with Ripper, but everything goes wrong when Bianca confronts Ripper and she is abducted. Meanwhile, Chen meets a firefighter during a call and is intrigued by him. Lopez also interrogates a bank teller after a woman is murdered, and clashes with Detective Calderon on how the case should be handled. Banks offers Harper a job with the DEA after they successfully rescue Bianca, but she respectfully declines his offer. | |||||||
| 38 | 18 | “Under the Gun” | Tori Garrett | Terence Paul Winter & Elizabeth Davis Beall | April 26, 2020 | 218 | 4.96 |
| Nolan and Harper are tasked with escorting four juvenile delinquents to a correctional facility, but find themselves entrapped in a prison riot during their processing. The pair find themselves forced to make an unlikely alliance with Oscar Hutchinson in order to safely evacuate their detainees from the prison, as well as saving the warden from the hostage situation. Meanwhile, Rachel and Bradford have to rectify a mistake that caused a mother to lose custody of her ailing child after learning that a compromised water system was the cause of his sickness. Lopez and West have to escort a tech analyst who has flagged Lopez as an officer most likely to cause problems in the department, and also have to subdue an active shooter at the tech analyst’s office building. | |||||||
| 39 | 19 | “The Q Word” | David McWhirter | Natalie Callaghan & Nick Hurwitz | May 3, 2020 | 219 | 5.00 |
| When a fellow rookie colleague Chris Rios (Christopher O’Shea) is fatally shot in broad daylight by a member of the Derian crime family, the entire police department commences a manhunt where multiple complications arise. Bradford and Chen raid the gunman’s house and learn that an L.A.P.D. officer is on the crime family’s payroll; Nolan and Harper recover the murder weapon from the crime scene, but find out it is stolen after a raid on Ruben Derian’s residence; West deals with the aftermath of Rios’s death at the hospital while Lopez attempts to search for the mole. While viewing through the officers’ body camera footage, Lopez learns that rookie officer Erin Cole (Hannah Kasulka) did not have her body camera function at all during her shift, with the Wilshire precinct conducting another manhunt on Cole. Nolan encounters a guilt-ridden Cole by himself and learns that she was the actual target of the assassination attempt, with Rios being collateral damage. Despite Nolan’s successful attempt in calming her down, Cole is fatally shot by Armstrong. During the aftermath and inspired by a recent conversation with Harper, Nolan reviews his body camera footage and deduces that Armstrong was the actual mole working for the Derian family. | |||||||
| 40 | 20 | “The Hunt” | Bill Roe | Alexi Hawley | May 10, 2020 | 220 | 4.66 |
| Harper agrees to help Nolan after he shows her the body camera footage. They lead Armstrong to an abandoned house to pick up his burner phone’s signal in order to tap its records to uncover evidence of his crimes, but discover he had tossed it. Left with no other choice, Nolan returns to Rosalind Dyer, who reveals that, after Armstrong had broken into her house (as he had revealed to Nolan) to secure evidence to arrest her, she broke into his and found a stash of guns, cash, and files that incriminate Armstrong. Nolan breaks into Armstrong’s house and locates it before escaping, but Armstrong sees him as he departs. He alerts Serj Derian, who is arrested after a raid on his house. Armstrong invites Nolan back to his house, explaining that he got in too deep with the Derians once the costs for his deceased wife’s medical bills became too much for him to handle. Armstrong reveals that he plans to incriminate Nolan as the mole before Nolan incapacitates Armstrong in a shootout, who reveals that he planted his stash in Nolan’s house as Serj tells Grey that Nolan is the mole. Nolan finds the stash hidden inside a wall in his bedroom. The season ends on a cliffhanger with Nolan standing in his bedroom as the police close in on him. | |||||||
Season 3 (2021)
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | 1 | “Consequences” | Bill Roe | Alexi Hawley | January 3, 2021 | 301 | 3.44 |
| As Nolan finds the stash, Grey asks him to step out of his house but Nolan demands a warrant to enter first in order to buy time to hide the stash and also calls Wesley to act as his defense attorney. As Wesley is getting dressed to contest the warrant, he knocks over a wastebasket and finds a positive pregnancy test. As Armstrong is brought to the hospital, he implicates Harper as an accomplice of Nolan, but has the tables turned when Harper explains Armstrong’s corruption to Internal Affairs commander West and Lopez is able to find Armstrong’s go bag off of a tip acquired from Rosalind Dyer. Nolan attempts to clear his name by going undercover to catch Derian in order implicate Armstrong, but his cover is blown when Armstrong escapes from the hospital and makes a deal with Derian after getting tipped off by Rosalind about the cops finding his go bag. As Armstrong prepares to execute Nolan, the gun he is given is revealed to be empty and he is shot to death; Nolan is able to escape and place Derian under arrest. In the aftermath, Nolan and Harper both receive letters of reprimand in their personnel files and Nolan will be held in the training program for an additional month and must pass a disciplinary exam. Lopez receives a promotion to detective and opts to hold off on announcing her pregnancy out of fear that she’ll be treated differently as a rookie detective. | |||||||
| 42 | 2 | “In Justice” | Michael Goi | Brynn Malone & Fredrick Kotto | January 10, 2021 | 302 | 3.15 |
| As punishment for their part in the Armstrong fiasco, Nolan and Harper are assigned to a community policing center with the hope of rebuilding their station’s reputation. While Nolan tries to make a positive impact, Harper has her doubts regarding his methods. Meanwhile, Chen tries to find the person who stole her car, and later tries to help her upon learning of her situation. West gets off to a rocky start with his new training officer, Doug Stanton, and Lopez’s first case as a detective is a difficult one as someone broke in to use a furnace to cremate a body. She later discovers that the body is one of many burned on the orders of a notorious gang. | |||||||
| 43 | 3 | “La Fiera” | Sylvain White | Terence Paul Winter & Natalie Callaghan | January 17, 2021 | 303 | 3.76 |
| Nolan’s life become more difficult when his mother (Frances Fisher) visits him. Distracted, Nolan fails his firearms re-qualification exam, and later stumbles upon a plot to assassinate a businesswoman with shady connections (Camille Guaty) when he returns to practice for the retake. Also, West and Stanton continue to exchange blows when Stanton opts to arrest an entire family who weren’t even connected to the crime the suspect that they’re looking for committed. West reports Stanton to Grey with Bradford’s backing, but West is outraged when Grey says that Stanton will only be assigned to administrative duty. Grey later admits to his wife that he and West need to solve the issue with Stanton. | |||||||
| 44 | 4 | “Sabotage” | Daniel Willis | Vincent Angell & Diana Mendez Boucher | January 24, 2021 | 304 | 3.39 |
| As Grey and West look to shut down Stanton, Nolan and Grey are looped into a scam that their family members put money into. Stanton sets up West by making it look like he was going to beat up a kid, but instead writes him up for failing to stay with the evidence after West ran after him. Lopez is shocked when Wesley reveals that he is predisposed to Fragile X syndrome, which could mean that their child could suffer mental disabilities and seizures. At the same time, Lopez confronts her supervisor, who she believes is not assigning her cases because of her pregnancy. Her supervisor, who was unaware that she was pregnant, tells her that’s not the case, but it doesn’t mean that he will be easy on her. | |||||||
| 45 | 5 | “Lockdown” | Anna Mastro | Elizabeth Davis Beall & Robert Bella | February 14, 2021 | 305 | 4.08 |
| As Nolan passes his disciplinary exam, he is once again reminded that he has a very little chance of ever getting promoted. He is later held hostage by a man (Josh Stewart) who threatens to blow up the police station unless the release of a dangerous felon happens, but Grey and Harper don’t buy it and start to look for the real motive. West and Stanton reach a point of no return when Stanton threatens to report a fireable offense on West with West firing back that his father, the head of Internal Affairs would rip apart Stanton’s career. Stanton sets up West to take a beating in a public housing complex, but it backfires when West activates Stanton’s body camera, showing that Stanton did not intervene in the beating. Stanton is shown to be placed on suspension as West looks on from the ambulance. Since he has no chance for a promotion, Nolan decides to work towards becoming a training officer, for which he is told he needs to return to school to complete his degree. | |||||||
| 46 | 6 | “Revelations” | C. Chi-Yoon Chung | Corey Miller & Fredrick Kotto | February 21, 2021 | 307 | 4.11 |
| Chen gets a taste of what undercover work is like when she works with one of Harper’s colleagues in a narcotics operation, much to Bradford’s chagrin. Nolan’s return to school becomes difficult when he is outed as a police officer in his ethics class, and Jackson befriends a mounted police officer while working with Smitty at the community policing center. | |||||||
| 47 | 7 | “True Crime” | Bill Roe | Alexi Hawley & Zoe Cheng | February 28, 2021 | 312 | 3.45 |
| In a true crime documentary, the station breaks down a recent case of a former child actor (guest star Frankie Muniz) who turned into the leader of a cult in his adult life. | |||||||
| 48 | 8 | “Bad Blood” | Sylvain White | Paula Puryear & Bill Rinier | March 28, 2021 | 306 | 3.87 |
| Nolan struggles to find the answer to a question he needs in order to take an exam for his ethics class. Lopez, Nolan, and Harper must work with Oscar Hutchinson (Matthew Glave) to find his previously unknown daughter (Molly C. Quinn), who is involved in the kidnapping of a judge’s son. Bradford looks to find the tagger who tagged his squad car as a rookie after the tagger reappears. Jackson is put in the middle of a debate between Grey and Commander West when the two argue about what Jackson should do once he completes the field training officer program. | |||||||
| 49 | 9 | “Amber” | Bill Roe | Brynn Malone & Natalie Callaghan | April 4, 2021 | 308 | 3.80 |
| In what is Chen and West’s final day as rookies, the department is put against the clock when a newborn is kidnapped from the hospital hours after her birth. Nolan and Harper do a ride-along with Nolan’s professor Fiona Ryan, who is working on a book about police reform, and Lopez, who is riding with West on his final day as a rookie, contemplates what her future as a parent holds. | |||||||
| 50 | 10 | “Man of Honor” | Sylvain White | Elizabeth Davis Beall & Diana Mendez Boucher | April 11, 2021 | 309 | 3.70 |
| Everyone celebrates the transition from Rookies to actual police officers. West celebrates while Chen is hurt when her mother accuses her of being in a “Thankless job”. Nolan’s old friend comes to visit him. Harper feels awkward when she sees someone from her past. Angela prepares for her wedding and needs help. Nolan responds to a call where a man is holding people hostage and the man later died after being shot by a security officer. | |||||||
| 51 | 11 | “New Blood” | Bill Roe | Corey Miller & Zoe Cheng | April 18, 2021 | 310 | 3.81 |
| 52 | 12 | “Brave Heart” | Lisa Demaine | Vincent Angell & Paula Puryear | May 2, 2021 | 311 | TBD |
| 53 | 13 | “Triple Duty” | Bill Johnson | Natalie Callaghan & Zoe Cheng & Paula Puryear | May 9, 2021 | 313 | TBD |
| 54 | 14 | “Threshold” | TBA | TBA | May 16, 2021 | 314 | TBD |
Production
Development
On October 26, 2017, ABC announced a straight-to-series order for The Rookie, starring Castle star Nathan Fillion, and written by Castle executive producer and co-showrunner Alexi Hawley. Fillion and Hawley serve as executive producers, along with Mark Gordon, Nicholas Pepper, Michelle Chapman, and Jon Steinberg. The series is produced by ABC Studios and The Mark Gordon Company, and premiered on October 16, 2018. On November 5, 2018, The Rookie was picked up for full season of 20 episodes. On May 10, 2019, ABC renewed the series for a second season which premiered on September 29, 2019. On October 28, 2019, the series received a full season order of 20 episodes for the second season.
On May 21, 2020, ABC renewed the series for a third season which premiered on January 3, 2021.
Casting
With the series order in October 2017, Fillion was cast as John Nolan. On February 7, 2018, Afton Williamson and Eric Winter were cast as Talia Bishop and Tim Bradford, respectively. They were shortly followed by Melissa O’Neil as Lucy Chen, Richard T. Jones as Sergeant Wade Grey, Titus Makin as Jackson West, Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez, and Mercedes Mason as Captain Zoe Andersen.
On August 4, 2019, it was announced that Williamson would not be returning for the second season due to the alleged racial discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual assault she suffered during the first season.
On October 2, 2019, Mekia Cox joined the cast as a new series regular, Nyla Harper, for the second season.
Filming
In January 2018, Liz Friedlander signed on to direct and executive produce the pilot. Production on the pilot began on March 7, 2018, with filming taking place in Los Angeles, Oxnard, Burbank and New York City. On April 15, 2021, police received a call at 2:56 pm of a possible shooting while filming was taking place between Hartford Avenue and West 5th Street in Los Angeles. Three gunshots were heard by various eyewitnesses and the production crew confirmed no one from the show was injured during the incident. Filming in the area was shut down as a result of the reports but filming continued at other already scheduled locations.
On-set misconduct and harassment allegations
On July 26, 2019TVLine reported that Afton Williamson, who portrays Talia Bishop, would not be returning for the second season. While the outlet initially claimed that the split was amicable, Williamson, in a lengthy Instagram post, stated that she had left the series due to having “experienced racial discrimination/racially charged inappropriate comments from the hair department.” Williamson also alleged that she was sexually harassed guest star Demetrius Grosse, who portrays Kevin Wolfe in a recurring role, as well as an incident of bullying that escalated into sexual assault at a party; the head of the hair department was identified as Sallie Ciganovich. Williamson claimed that she had gone to the showrunners multiple times with these allegations, but was ignored.
Everyone involved in the allegations denied them. An investigation was commissioned through the law firm Mitchell Sillerberg and Knupp along with a third-party firm, EXTTI, which conducted nearly 400 hours of interviews and examined video and other evidence. The results of the investigation were published on September 17, 2019, which found that the allegations made by Williamson had no merit, and could not be proven. Williamson stood by her claims, calling the results of the investigation “heartbreaking” and postulated that the producers had lied to cover up the truth of what happened.
Release
Broadcast
The Rookie is broadcast in the United States on ABC. In Canada on CTV. The first season aired on Tuesday, while the second season aired on Sunday. The Rookie has been licensed in more than 180 countries and territories.
Home media
The first season was released on DVD in Region 1 on August 27, 2019, and in Region 4 (Australia) on January 22, 2020.
Reception
Ratings
| Season | Timeslot (ET) | Episodes | First aired | Last aired | TV season | Viewership rank |
Avg. viewers (millions) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Viewers (millions) |
Date | Viewers (millions) |
||||||
| 1 | Tuesday 10:00 p.m. | 20 | October 16, 2018 | 5.43 | April 16, 2019 | 4.06 | 2018–19 | 48 | 7.79 |
| 2 | Sunday 10:00 p.m. | 20 | September 29, 2019 | 4.11 | May 10, 2020 | 4.66 | 2019–20 | 32 | 8.19 |
| 3 | TBA | January 3, 2021 | 3.44 | TBA | TBD | 2020–21 | TBD | TBD | |
Season 1
| No. | Title | Air date | Rating/share (18–49) |
Viewers (millions) |
DVR (18–49) |
DVR viewers (millions) |
Total (18–49) |
Total viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Pilot” | October 16, 2018 | 1.0/5 | 5.43 | 0.8 | 4.26 | 1.8 | 9.68 |
| 2 | “Crash Course” | October 23, 2018 | 0.8/3 | 4.54 | 0.8 | 4.29 | 1.6 | 8.83 |
| 3 | “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” | October 30, 2018 | 0.8/3 | 4.53 | 0.7 | 3.82 | 1.5 | 8.35 |
| 4 | “The Switch” | November 13, 2018 | 0.7/3 | 4.01 | 0.9 | 4.19 | 1.6 | 8.20 |
| 5 | “The Roundup” | November 20, 2018 | 0.7/3 | 4.10 | 0.9 | 4.43 | 1.6 | 8.53 |
| 6 | “The Hawke” | November 27, 2018 | 0.8/3 | 4.38 | 0.8 | 4.26 | 1.6 | 8.64 |
| 7 | “The Ride Along” | December 4, 2018 | 0.7/3 | 4.20 | 0.8 | 3.98 | 1.5 | 8.18 |
| 8 | “Time of Death” | December 11, 2018 | 0.8/3 | 4.27 | 0.7 | 3.94 | 1.5 | 8.21 |
| 9 | “Standoff” | January 8, 2019 | 0.6/3 | 3.95 | 0.7 | 3.47 | 1.4 | 7.43 |
| 10 | “Flesh and Blood” | January 15, 2019 | 0.7/3 | 3.83 | 0.8 | 4.29 | 1.5 | 8.12 |
| 11 | “Redwood” | January 22, 2019 | 0.7/3 | 3.84 | 0.9 | 4.42 | 1.6 | 8.26 |
| 12 | “Heartbreak” | February 12, 2019 | 0.6/3 | 3.64 | 0.9 | 4.49 | 1.5 | 8.13 |
| 13 | “Caught Stealing” | February 19, 2019 | 0.6/3 | 3.54 | 0.8 | 4.09 | 1.4 | 7.63 |
| 14 | “Plain Clothes Day” | February 26, 2019 | 0.6/3 | 3.89 | 0.9 | 4.18 | 1.5 | 8.09 |
| 15 | “Manhunt” | March 5, 2019 | 0.8/4 | 4.51 | 0.7 | 4.02 | 1.5 | 8.54 |
| 16 | “Greenlight” | March 19, 2019 | 0.7/3 | 4.24 | 0.8 | 4.36 | 1.5 | 8.60 |
| 17 | “The Shake Up” | March 26, 2019 | 0.7/4 | 4.24 | 0.8 | 4.12 | 1.5 | 8.37 |
| 18 | “Homefront” | April 2, 2019 | 0.7/3 | 3.84 | 0.8 | 4.06 | 1.5 | 7.91 |
| 19 | “The Checklist” | April 9, 2019 | 0.6/3 | 3.63 | 0.8 | 4.29 | 1.4 | 7.92 |
| 20 | “Free Fall” | April 16, 2019 | 0.7/3 | 4.06 | 0.8 | 4.41 | 1.5 | 8.48 |
Season 2
| No. | Title | Air date | Rating/share (18–49) |
Viewers (millions) |
DVR (18–49) |
DVR viewers (millions) |
Total (18–49) |
Total viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Impact” | September 29, 2019 | 0.7/3 | 4.11 | 0.7 | 4.02 | 1.4 | 8.13 |
| 2 | “The Night General” | October 6, 2019 | 0.6/3 | 3.83 | 0.7 | 3.91 | 1.3 | 7.74 |
| 3 | “The Bet” | October 13, 2019 | 0.6/3 | 3.60 | 0.7 | 3.92 | 1.3 | 7.52 |
| 4 | “Warriors and Guardians” | October 20, 2019 | 0.6/3 | 3.76 | 0.7 | 3.83 | 1.3 | 7.55 |
| 5 | “Tough Love” | October 27, 2019 | 0.5/3 | 3.24 | 0.8 | 3.91 | 1.3 | 7.15 |
| 6 | “Fallout” | November 3, 2019 | 0.5/3 | 3.50 | 0.7 | 3.90 | 1.2 | 7.40 |
| 7 | “Safety” | November 10, 2019 | 0.6/3 | 3.73 | 0.7 | 3.87 | 1.3 | 7.60 |
| 8 | “Clean Cut” | November 17, 2019 | 0.5/3 | 3.61 | 0.7 | 3.67 | 1.2 | 7.28 |
| 9 | “Breaking Point” | December 1, 2019 | 0.5/2 | 3.36 | 0.7 | 3.97 | 1.2 | 7.34 |
| 10 | “The Dark Side” | December 8, 2019 | 0.6/3 | 3.70 | 0.7 | 4.12 | 1.3 | 7.82 |
| 11 | “Day of Death” | February 23, 2020 | 0.8/4 | 4.92 | 0.6 | 3.99 | 1.4 | 8.91 |
| 12 | “Now and Then” | March 1, 2020 | 0.7/4 | 4.55 | 0.7 | 3.96 | 1.4 | 8.51 |
| 13 | “Follow-Up Day” | March 8, 2020 | 0.8/4 | 5.12 | 0.7 | 3.69 | 1.5 | 8.82 |
| 14 | “Casualties” | March 15, 2020 | 0.8/4 | 5.17 | 0.7 | 3.90 | 1.5 | 9.07 |
| 15 | “Hand-Off” | March 22, 2020 | 0.8/4 | 5.18 | 0.6 | 3.60 | 1.4 | 8.78 |
| 16 | “The Overnight” | April 5, 2020 | 0.8/4 | 5.87 | 0.6 | 3.69 | 1.4 | 9.55 |
| 17 | “Control” | April 12, 2020 | 0.6/3 | 4.57 | 0.7 | 3.71 | 1.3 | 8.27 |
| 18 | “Under the Gun” | April 26, 2020 | 0.7 | 4.96 | 0.6 | 3.92 | 1.3 | 8.88 |
| 19 | “The Q Word” | May 3, 2020 | 0.7 | 5.00 | 0.6 | 3.87 | 1.3 | 8.86 |
| 20 | “The Hunt” | May 10, 2020 | 0.6 | 4.66 | 0.7 | 3.83 | 1.3 | 8.49 |
Season 3
| No. | Title | Air date | Rating (18–49) |
Viewers (millions) |
DVR (18–49) |
DVR viewers (millions) |
Total (18–49) |
Total viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Consequences” | January 3, 2021 | 0.5 | 3.44 | 0.5 | 3.43 | 1.0 | 6.87 |
| 2 | “In Justice” | January 10, 2021 | 0.5 | 3.15 | 0.5 | 3.41 | 1.0 | 6.56 |
| 3 | “La Fiera” | January 17, 2021 | 0.5 | 3.76 | 0.5 | 3.40 | 1.0 | 7.16 |
| 4 | “Sabotage” | January 24, 2021 | 0.4 | 3.39 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 5 | “Lockdown” | February 14, 2021 | 0.6 | 4.08 | 0.5 | 3.51 | 1.2 | 7.60 |
| 6 | “Revelations” | February 21, 2021 | 0.6 | 4.11 | 0.5 | 3.48 | 1.1 | 7.59 |
| 7 | “True Crime” | February 28, 2021 | 0.4 | 3.45 | 0.5 | 3.52 | 0.9 | 6.97 |
| 8 | “Bad Blood” | March 28, 2021 | 0.4 | 3.87 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| 9 | “Amber” | April 4, 2021 | 0.5 | 3.80 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| 10 | “Man of Honor” | April 11, 2021 | 0.4 | 3.70 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| 11 | “New Blood” | April 18, 2021 | 0.5 | 3.81 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
Critical response
The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 68% approval rating with an average rating of 6.33/10 based on 22 reviews for the first season. The website’s consensus reads, “Nathan Fillion’s reliably likable presence makes The Rookie worth tuning in, even if the show around him isn’t particularly memorable.” Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 64 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating “generally favorable reviews”.