The Rookie showrunner teases season 7 will be a return to form after its strike affected season

Like several shows, The Rookie was impacted by the 2023 Writers and SAG-AFTRA Strikes. This reflected a shortened season of just ten episodes and compacted storylines overlapping one another. Don't get me wrong; season 6 was great since it masterfully worked with character development and building up a strong season finale with the given circumstances. I just wish we had more episodes with the formula.

The good news is that the upcoming season 7 will return with a normalized structure and complete episode count of 18. The bad news is that we have to wait until mid-season in 2025 to sample it since ABC designed the first half of its 2024-2025 schedule to focus on its freshman shows.

The scheduling format is fine and understandable. It gives the network a chance to decide whether to proceed with additional episodes or a second season if they succeed. It's a little annoying, too, as it means we have to wait longer for our favorite shows to return in the new year.

Since The Rookie had an early film start, we'll be getting more bits and pieces regarding what's coming ahead. Naturally, we'll get crime cases and criminal chases, but we could also get more story content in episodes set to a reasonable time layout.

The showrunner Alexi Hawley recently revealed season 7's structure will reconnect with the show's prior formulation. After all, The Rookie is filled with clever twists and turns, so it'll be refreshing to see more consistency.

What The Rookie showrunner Alexi Hawley said about season 7 storylines

The Rookie's Alexi Hawley dropped an essential clue regarding season 7 with TVLine's Matt Webb Mitovich. Hawley states that with the more extended season, there will be more opportunities to create engaging storylines, which will be back to the way it was pre-strikes.

"I do think we’ll go back to being more of a standalone show with serialized elements because it’s going to be a longer season and I think people really do like that. Also, there are the many different ways we tell stories, whether it’s the big event-type episodes, the more rom-com episodes, or with a big guest star, so it’ll be fun to go back to that."

Season 6 wasn't weak in its narratives, as Officer Nolan and Bailey Nune get married and want to start a family. Then, the whole Chenford fiasco left us questioning if the couple is heading towards reconciliation or broken up for good. The latter didn't sit well with the fans, and the writers should consider their concerns in the upcoming season. I'm not expecting anything significant, but the answer to the question, "Will they, or will they not?" would be sufficient.

And, of course, the writers must have a conclusion for the finale cliffhangers, one that needs to be properly creative for the narrative, as it'll set the tone for season 7.

As for guest stars, Hawley lined up some well-known talent in the past, including Emily Deschanel, Frankie Muniz, Frances Fisher, and Katy Perry, to name a few. Moreover, the guest stars were well-developed and rounded characters who served as critical highlights to the plot and not as "empty air."

Hawley did mention that guest stars are a likely possibility since their characters build craft to the stories and form substantial arcs with the main ones, even if it's only an episode or two. Who Hawley booked for the new season will be interesting, and I'm curious if he'll bring back past ones that'll create that "tie-in" factor with The Rookie's previous episodes.

It'll be exciting to see what season 7 will entail, 2025 can't come soon enough.

The Rookie seasons 1-6 are streaming on Hulu.