After 7 seasons, the police procedural starring Nathan Fillion as Officer John Nolan, The Rookie, will return for Season 8 on ABC. While the series’ premise originally began with Nolan as the titular rookie, a clever decision about his career allowed the show’s title to make sense, no matter how many seasons the show runs. Originally, John Nolan wanted to be a detective, but forgoing that typical career advancement in the Los Angeles Police Department avoided a big mistake that would have ruined the show. The police procedural series continued the collaboration between Fillion and series creator Alexi Hawley that began with Castle, the other hit murder procedural on ABC. The latest renewal for The Rookie ties its longevity with its predecessor.
The series remains a strong part of the ABC schedule, even though it earned a rebuke from John Oliver defending Doctor Odyssey, a series unlikely to get a second season. Unlike most police procedural dramas, The Rookie keeps its focus on street-level policing, following patrol officers from the Mid-Wilshire Division of the LAPD. Rather than a single case-of-the-week which rallies the entire ensemble, its characters investigate multiple crimes, big and small. There is plenty of over-the-top action, gun fights and cops tossing cuffs on perps. Yet the show can also dig into unorthodox police stories, highlighting issues in policing, their role in helping the community and personal character stories unrelated to the job. One aspiration John Nolan had for his career in Season 1 almost derailed the show.
John Nolan Was Originally the LAPD’s Oldest Rookie and Then His Career Took a Turn
Being Framed by a Corrupt Officer Led to a Black Mark On His Record
In the first season of The Rookie, there were plenty of things that could have doomed it, like Nolan and Lucy Chen’s romance. Though, in that case, the producers seemed to realize this quickly and put an end to the romance. Less quickly undone was the desire held by Nolan, and his compatriots, to advance beyond patrol officer rank and become detectives. In fact, Melissa O’Neil’s Chen also tried to make this leap, though she failed the detective exam. In Season 7, she was instead promoted to sergeant, which helped clear the way for the fan-favorite romance between her and Eric Winter’s Tim Bradford.
The Rookie took inspiration from real-world police officer William Norcross who joined the LAPD in his 40s and is, at last, report a sergeant on the force.
Nolan’s professional downfall began when one of his fellow academy alums, Chris Rios, ended up shot on The Rookie. The investigation into the young officer’s death unveiled a conspiracy and the first actual corrupt cop in the ranks on the show. While Nolan tried his best to arrest the culprit, he ended up framed for the murder. In what’s become the typical highly dramatic approach to storytelling on The Rookie, Nolan went on-the-run and broke the law in order to clear his name. This resulted in Nolan, still in the training program for LAPD officers, earning a “Letter of Reprimand.” This didn’t just dash his detective hopes, it meant he’d likely never earn a promotion beyond beat cop.
One of the many Arrowverse connections on The Rookie, Harold Perrineau, played the corrupt cop, Nick Armstrong. Before the revelation that he was in the pocket of organized crime, he was an ally and mentor to Nolan. What made this story so bittersweet was that Nolan had few allies when he signed up. His status as the oldest LAPD rookie turned the training officers, the shift commander, and most others against him. Of course, as the hero of The Rookie, Nolan earned their trust and respect.
How John Nolan Got Back on Track to Becoming a Training Officer
Instead of Becoming a Detective He Used a ‘Golden Ticket’ to ‘Give Back’
Despite his lack of career prospects, Nolan stayed on the force after graduating. By surviving an “old-fashioned” shootout in The Rookie Season 4 finale, he earned a commendation from the chief of police. Specifically, he earned a “golden ticket” (an invention of the show), earning him assignments in the LAPD regardless of his past. In fact, his training officer, Mekia Cox’s Nyla Harper, also earned one of these benefits for her time undercover. His coworkers all had their own ideas for what he should choose, from computer forensics to air assault to some of the cushier gigs on the Force.
“Don’t waste your ticket by becoming a detective. Do you know how hard they have to work? Go with recruiting. You get paid to fly around the country and talk up the LAPD,” Quigley Smitty to John Nolan in Season 5, Episode 1, “Double Down.”
By the end of the Season 5 premiere, Nolan used his golden ticket to become a training officer. He met his trainee, (another Arrowverse alum) Lisseth Chavez’s Celina Juarez, and the show’s title had a double meaning. Juarez was the actual rookie, but Nolan was also a rookie as a trainer. However, Season 5 brought larger changes in the show’s storytelling. With both Harper and Alyssa Diaz’s Angela Lopez promoted to detective, the show could do more traditional cases of the week. This led to Nolan’s character falling into the background.
At first, this wasn’t even a bad call, despite Fillion’s lead status and draw as an ABC network TV star for the better part of a decade. The focus on the other characters in the cast allowed the ensemble on The Rookie to shine and take ownership of their parts of the series. If Nolan had instead become a detective, what made this series unique would have evaporated. Viewers might have stuck around to watch Nolan be like every other TV police detective, even as the show’s title stopped making sense.
Why Nolan’s Choice to Become a Training Officer Was Right for the Show
Not Just a Good Character Decision, It Helps the Title ‘The Rookie’ Make Sense
After a shortened season, Season 7 returned The Rookie to form. It introduced two new training officers, and the storytelling shifted to the kind of multi-arc narratives of the past. The show can still go all-in on a concept, from a romantic police officers’ ball gala to a Big Citywide Threat™. However, the primary focus of most episodes are street-level stories focused on the characters themselves, specifically training the new officers on how to be good cops. That’s what allows The Rookie to be unique among its peers and highlights serious issues in policing audiences won’t even see coming.
While Nolan still gets to be the series’ big hero, the character works much better as a training officer for a rookie. One of the most shocking and emotionally resonant episodes in Season 7 came when Nolan took on Seth Ridley. Originally assigned to Chen, she fired him for cause because he lied about, well, everything from his past traumas to a cancer diagnosis. This episode, more than any, showed how the compassionate and affable Fillion can make Nolan a tough, almost scary Training Officer who cares most about ensuring his trainees, even Seth Ridley, learn what is needed to keep themselves, Los Angeles citizens and even the suspects safe.
Like any show with this kind of history, some seasons of The Rookie are better than others overall. However, the show really has evolved into something beyond its original premise when John Nolan officially became a training officer. His perspective as a rookie no one rooted for makes him a great teacher. It also allows the focus of the series to stay where it belongs, on street-level adventures that can teach his “boots” and the audience what makes a good cop.
