The Rookie (TV series)

''The Rookie'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Alexi Hawley for ABC. 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 Signature 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., 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. The third season ran from January 3 to May 16, 2021. In May 2021, the series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on September 26, 2021. In March 2022, the series was renewed for a fifth season which premiered on September 25, 2022.

Premise

The series follows John Nolan, a forty-five-year-old newly divorced man from Pennsylvania, 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, a college friend of executive producer Jon Steinberg, who based the show on his story. Norcross continues to serve in the LAPD and also as executive producer on ''The Rookie''.

Episodes

Cast and characters

Main

* Nathan Fillion as John Nolan: The oldest rookie (Police Officer III) at the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), he is assigned to the fictional Mid-Wilshire Division. He studied law at Pennsylvania State University but dropped out and went into the construction business upon learning that Sarah, his girlfriend and later wife, was pregnant. 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. At the start of the third season, Nolan's chances of future promotion to detective are compromised as a result of his unauthorized investigation into corrupt cop Nick Armstrong, so he decides instead to work towards becoming a training officer (TO) himself. Although a resentful labour official tries to block Nolan's advancement by sending him to an isolated department for the week of the exam, after Nolan helps capture a gang he earns a "golden ticket" that he uses to get promoted to provisional TO level.
* Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez: An LAPD detective (Detective I). She is assigned as the training officer to Jackson West, who unintentionally threatens her hopes of becoming a detective. Although she gives West a hard time, Lopez also looks out for him. She becomes engaged to defense attorney Wesley Evers in season two, and is promoted to detective (Detective I) 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. She is kidnapped by drug lord La Fiera at her wedding and taken to Guatemala, but is soon rescued by her colleagues and Wesley. She later has a baby boy whom she names after West, who died trying to save her from being kidnapped.
* Richard T. Jones as Wade Grey: A sergeant (Sergeant II) and watch commander at the Wilshire Station. Grey initially believes that Nolan may be changing career because of a possible midlife crisis and doubts that he is suitable for police work, but later sees his potential. 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 (seasons 1–3): An eager, if somewhat naive, rookie (Police Officer II) and the son of Commander West, head of the LAPD's Internal Affairs Division. Top of his class at the Police Academy, he is firmly committed to the LAPD and strives to be the best officer he can as he wants to maintain his family's traditions. West is shocked by some of the realities of police work and freezes whenever shootings occur. As a result, he is nearly thrown out of the training program by Bradford. He eventually overcomes his fears and is able to move past the shootings. He is a close friend of Nolan and Chen and becomes the latter's roommate when he is forced to move out of his apartment after arresting his landlord. When Angela is promoted to detective, his new TO, Doug Stanton, is eventually revealed to be a racist with outdated views on dealing with gangs, forcing West to work with Grey to expose him. West is openly gay. In the season 4 premiere, West is shown to have been shot and killed while struggling to save Detective Lopez from abduction by La Fiera. Lopez later names her and Wesley's son after him in his honor.
* Mercedes Mason as Zoe Andersen (season 1; guest season 3): Nolan's confident and irreverent commanding officer, Captain Andersen used to be a Marine, serving 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 has risen up the ranks very quickly, to the point where some of her officers see her more as a boss than a fellow officer. Unlike Grey, she takes Nolan under her wing, believing that his life experiences will benefit the department. She is killed late in the first season while protecting Nolan from an attempt on his life by a gang boss.
* Melissa O'Neil as Lucy Chen: An ambitious rookie (Police Officer II) who struggles to prove herself to Tim Bradford, her training officer. She is 29 years old, and her parents are psychologists who remain opposed to her choice of career. During training, she briefly has a romantic relationship with Nolan, but they eventually break up by mutual consent because they know it is against the rules. She is close to Nolan and West and often spends time with them while not on duty. After completing her training, Chen is partnered with West and later undergoes training to become an undercover officer.
* Afton Williamson as Talia Bishop (season 1): A newly promoted training officer (Police Officer III) whose first assignment is Nolan. Ambitious, she tries hard to make detective and hopes to eventually work her way up to chief of police. Near the end of the first season, Bishop is 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 the 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: A strict, no-nonsense training officer (Police Officer III/Sergeant I). He is assigned Chen as a rookie and gives her a hard time but treats her fairly. He used to be a Marine squad leader who served in Iraq and Afghanistan before joining the LAPD. He was once married to Isabel Bradford, a fellow police officer, but her drug addiction eventually caused their marriage to fall apart. Later in the first season, he ends his relationship with Isabel entirely once she succeeds in breaking her drug habit, as he believes this will be best for both of them. He starts dating social services agent Rachel Hall in the second season after losing a bet to Chen, but the relationship ends when Rachel takes up a job offer in New York and Bradford is unwilling to interrupt his career progression by transferring to the NYPD. He is promoted to Sergeant I for his role in the rescue of Lopez. He is the older brother of Gennifer Bradford and the son of Tom Bradford.
* Mekia Cox as Nyla Harper (season 2–present): Nolan's new training officer (Police Detective I), a tough, experienced detective who is leaving behind four years of undercover work so that she can return to patrol work. She is doing this to become more of a presence in her daughter's life and to bolster her chances in her fight with her ex-husband for joint custody of their daughter. She begins dating James Murray, a local she met in season 3 during an assignment in his neighborhood, in season 4 and ultimately becomes pregnant by him. She gives birth early in the fifth season and transfers back to detective.
* Shawn Ashmore as Wesley Evers (season 3–present; recurring seasons 1–2): A defense lawyer with whom Lopez initially clashes but later starts dating. The two become engaged near the end of the second season. Wesley becomes friendly with the team, to the extent that he agrees to act as Nolan's lawyer when he is nearly framed by Armstrong as an informer to criminals. In season 4, he begins working as a crooked lawyer to one of his clients, crime boss Elijah Stone, after Elijah helped him locate Lopez when she was kidnapped by La Fiera. Wesley later becomes the father to his and Lopez's son Jackson. He is later suspended for six months from the California Bar Association after he violates his attorney-client privilege in order to incriminate Elijah. During his suspension, he begins offering legal advice to the less fortunate. In Season 5, he becomes an Assistant District Attorney.
* Jenna Dewan as Bailey Nune (season 4–present; guest season 3): A firefighter who first appears as Nolan's date to Lopez's wedding and later becomes his girlfriend.
* Tru Valentino as Aaron Thorsen (season 5; recurring season 4): A newbie rookie (Police Officer I) who was involved in a murder case in which he was found not guilty. A later case leads to the team reinvestigating his original crime and confirming that the real culprit was a mutual friend of him and the victim. Thorsen is initially training under Nyla Harper, but after she transfers back to detective, Nolan becomes his provisional training officer to prepare himself for full training.

Recurring

* Mircea Monroe as Isabel Bradford (season 1): Tim Bradford's ex-wife, a former undercover narcotics officer who turned into a drug addict
* Sara Rue as Nell Forester (seasons 1–2; guest season 4): A former dispatcher for the LAPD whom Bradford bribes in order to get the best calls. In the season 4 episode "Day in the Hole" it is revealed that she is still with Ellroy Basso (Alan Tudyk), and is a murder case podcaster.
* Currie Graham as Ben McRee (season 1; guest season 3): Nolan's friend since their schooldays, 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. He is shot and killed midway during the first season in a shootout with a gang of drug dealers.
* Zayne Emory as Henry Nolan: John Nolan's son who is a freshman in college. He becomes engaged to Abigail in the second season. He is shown to have a congenital heart condition in season three.
* Michael Beach as Percy West (seasons 1–3): Jackson's father, the commander of Internal Affairs
* Brent Huff as Quigley Smitty: A lazy training officer who lives in a trailer park across the street from the Wilshire station. In token of his under-the-radar attitude, he is usually only seen at roll call. In one episode, he unwillingly fills in for Lopez as West's training officer when Lopez is instructed to ride 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 dates Nolan but later breaks up with him (in the episode "Safety") when a pregnancy scare prompts them to realize that they want different things from their relationship.
* Matthew Glave as Oscar Hutchinson: A prisoner who escapes from a prison bus crash but is later apprehended by Lopez and West. Hutchinson eventually helps the precinct officers as an informant on several cases including former prisoners.
* Harold Perrineau as Nick Armstrong (season 2; guest season 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. Nolan is eager to learn from him as he has made detective after only four years as a patrol officer. 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. During the second-season finale, Armstrong is revealed to be a dirty cop who began working for the Armenian mob because he needed money for his wife's medical treatment. He is injured in a shooting by Nolan before trying to frame him with planted evidence apparently proving Nolan has been working with the mob. In the first episode of the third season, Armstrong escapes from the hospital before his wounds are fully healed. When he meets the mob to execute Nolan, he is shot once more and killed.
* Daniel Lissing as Sterling Freeman (season 2; guest season 3): A celebrity actor starring in a police procedural show, he witnesses Jackson take down a suspect and asks 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 for a time, although she decides to give her relationship with her husband another chance when he comes back into her life.
* 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 Town (seasons 2, 4): Harper's ex-husband. Harper is fighting with him over joint custody of their daughter Lila.
* Carsyn Rose as Lila Town (seasons 2, 4): Harper's daughter from her marriage to Donovan
* Madeleine Coghlan as Abigail (seasons 2–3): Henry Nolan's fiancée. She expresses interest in becoming a police officer, going on a ride-along patrol with Nolan and Bradford, but a childhood criminal record (she set fire to her ex-boyfriend's car when he posted revenge porn of her online) prevents that idea from going any further.
* Annie Wersching as Rosalind Dyer (seasons 2, 5; guest season 3): A serial killer and nemesis of Armstrong, the officer who had her convicted for murder. She assists the LAPD in finding unrecovered bodies as part of a plea deal. When Nolan discovers Armstrong is corrupt in the second season's finale, he visits Dyer in prison for more information. After Nolan's arrest in the first episode of season 3, Bradford and Chen go to her for further information. Following Armstrong's death, Dyer calls Nolan from prison to gloat that all of Armstrong's arrests are under review and she could potentially be released. In the season 5 premiere, Dyer escapes custody on the day of her trial with assistance from her inexperienced lawyer. She conducts a short "return" to her serial killer ways before setting an elaborate trap with an acolyte to try to have Nolan kill her and dies in episode 4 of season 5.
* Jeff Pierre as Emmett Lang (season 2): A firefighter who is a friend of Tim Bradford. He dates Chen after they meet at the scene of a car accident.
* Hrach Titizian as Ruben Derian (season 2; guest season 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 West's new training officer. Stanton abuses his authority to silence West when West becomes critical of Stanton's abuse toward non-white citizens. After West finally has enough and threatens to have his father, a senior IA officer, destroy Stanton's career, Stanton, in retaliation, deliberately abandons him so that he is severely beaten on a call. West and Grey gather evidence against Stanton via his body cam for this, leading to his suspension from the force pending termination. Stanton manages to get his termination reversed on appeal and is eventually reinstated, though at the cost of his TO status and loss of seniority. However, Grey combines both Stanton's and West's bodycam footages from the day of West's beating to produce a so-called retraining video that is shown to Stanton's colleagues at roll-call, exposing his actions and ruining his reputation in the LAPD.
* Arjay Smith as James Murray (season 3–present): A local resident in the neighborhood where Nolan and Harper are assigned to community outreach
* Toks Olagundoye as Sandra "La Fiera" De La Cruz (season 3; guest season 4): A Guatemalan businesswoman and drug-lord. She acquired her nickname and reputation when, as a teenage mother taking her newborn son home, she was caught in the middle of a gang gunfight and killed men on both sides indiscriminately. She at first forms a civil relationship with Lopez, but after her son Diego is murdered by the son of a rival drug lord for attempting to fold his family's organization into hers, she vengefully attempts to have the son's own child killed in revenge. When this is foiled by the LAPD, she has Lopez and West abducted from the former's wedding; her men murder the latter for resisting and she wisks the former away to Guatemala, intending to keep Lopez alive until she gives birth to her child and then kill her and raise the child as her own. Fortunately, Lopez's colleagues and fiancé are able to track down and rescue her and her unborn child, and La Fiera is killed by them while trying to stop them.
* Lisseth Chavez as Celina Juarez (season 5–present): Nolan's enthusiastic new rookie (Police Officer I)

Notable guests

* Danny Nucci as Sanford Motta: An arrogant major assault crimes detective who looks down on rookies
* Shawn Christian as Jeremy Hawke: Nolan's former training officer at the Academy who goes rogue
* Joelle Carter

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