The Rookie’s showrunner has explained why one of the biggest fan-favorite characters suffered a nasty fate in season 8.
If there’s one character on The Rookie that fans loved to hate, it was Monica Stevens. Played by TV veteran Bridget Regan, the woman put a new spin on the term “criminal attorney.” A conniving prosecutor turned defense lawyer, Monica was deeply involved in numerous criminal plots and conspiracies, including blackmailing LAPD members.
Season 7 ended with Monica brilliantly pulling off her greatest scam: Using stolen government data to blackmail the feds into a deal that granted her full immunity for her crimes. Monica did help the feds go after crime boss Heath Everett while playing both sides for her own gain.
However, in the episode “Dead Ringer,” Monica’s games finally caught up to her. Hunted by both the feds and Everett, Monica tried to escape L.A. However, she ended up killed by a hitwoman with her last words “not the face.” To make it clear she was indeed dead, her body was found by the cops.
It was a jarring end for Monica, even though it was fitting. In an interview with TV Insider, showrunner Alexi Hawley cleared the air on how it simply seemed the right time to drop her.
“It felt like it was time. Ultimately, it felt like she’d escaped a lot of things. And I never like to just tread water or feel like we’re telling the same story over and over. So I think it just felt like it was a natural end. And yeah, it felt like we needed to give her a really powerful ending.”
Hawley raises a good point in that there were only so many times Monica could pull off all these moves and be a step ahead of the cops, feds and criminal groups. It’s likely this was always going to be how her story ended, as the woman just got way too deep and couldn’t get out.
A powerful scene before her death had Monica stopping to see former boyfriend Wesley (Shawn Ashmore) to open up at last on how she regretted their split while also admitting she hated the person she’d become. Hawley praised the actors for their work.
“Those two actors are so brilliant. When I talked to Monica about it, I did tell her I’d give her a Viking death, and it felt like it—but I remember talking to her in Prague about Monica and sort of layering in trying to keep the dimensionality of that character going. It’s very easy to fall into, she’s just a villain, but I thought we did a really good job this season with showing the cracks in that armor she wears every day. I just think that that scene was so powerful where she’s like, ‘I know every move I made, but I still don’t understand exactly how I got here,’ was really emotional.”
Is there a chance the character may return, perhaps in flashbacks or some sort of ghost form? Hawley seemed to shoot that idea down, pointing out, “We don’t do a ton of flashbacks. So I think that story is told.” Of course, maybe she could return as some sort of ghost or hallucination to needle a character.
It does seem sad to lose the character as Regan was an absolute blast in the role and fired up every episode she was in. However, this once more was likely going to be Monica’s final fate and proof that even she couldn’t beat justice in the end.
The Rookie's latest season is now streaming on Hulu.
Add us as a preferred source on Google