Could The Rookie be looking to change up the cast soon? The showrunner has chimed in.
For context, The Rookie season 8 left off on several big moments. That included Tim proposing to Lucy, only for both to be abducted by the agents of ruthless crime boss Heath Everett. Before that, Grey (Richard T. Jones) was finishing his job on a joint task force with FBI agent Garza (Felix Solis) to track Everett and was using criminal attorney Monica (Bridget Regan) to track him.
When Monica met a nasty end at Everett’s hands, and Everett himself was arrested, Tim believed the task force was over and that Grey would return to take control of Wilshire. However, Grey pointed out that it would take months to fully end the task force, and he wasn’t sure of his next move.
That had some fans worried that the show was setting up Grey perhaps moving on from Wilshire to another branch of the LAPD or even leaving it altogether. In an interview with Deadline, showrunner Alexi Hawley addressed the issue.
“The task force is all but over. It was based around Monica (Bridget Regan), it was sort of our Blacklist homage. Now that she’s gone, the task force has no center. I do think part of the early writers' room for Season 9 is going to be figuring out exactly what Grey’s next chapter is.”
With Tim now missing, Grey would likely be coming back to help lead the search for him and Lucy. Could that be a permanent return, or could Jones be gone?
Is Jones leaving or not?
Hawley acknowledged the possibility of Grey perhaps taking a promotion and not being as involved at Wilshire as he’d let Tim take over as watch commander (assuming, of course, Tim is rescued safely). He did note that with a long wait before season 9 goes into production, they have time to put it together.
“I am always looking for a fresh way, I don’t think going backwards is necessarily the way to go, but I also want it to be satisfying and dramatic. So one of the first things we got to figure out is what are we going to do with him that feels like growth.”
With Grey, Lucy and Tim all in flux and other characters' futures uncertain, is there a chance that the show may bid farewell to a regular before season 9? Hawley was quick to shoot that thought down.
“No, we’re status quo. We like everybody, we’re making it work. Richard is a hugely important piece of the puzzle of our show. Again, without treading water, what are we going to do? As long as we treat it as an opportunity, I think we’ll figure out something fun to do, for sure.”
ABC’s 2026-27 schedule revealed that The Rookie season 9 won’t be arriving until early 2027, so the writers have plenty of time to work out plans. Yet it sounds like at least, we can count on the full cast back for the new year to keep up the drama fans love.
The Rookie season 9 premieres on ABC in 2027.
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