‘The Rookie’ Needs To Make This Character the Next Mid-Wilshire Rookie
The Rookie Season 7 will bring some changes and new cast members. Actors Deric Augustine and Patrick Keleher join the show’s cast later in Season 7 as the new rookies of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Mid-Wilshire Division. Sadly, Tru Valentino, who portrays Officer Aaron Thorsen, will leave the show in Season 7, although details of his departure are vague. With The Rookie changing cast members, the series should consider making Skip Tracer Randy (Flula Borg) a series regular. Having John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) welcome Randy as his new probationary officer would be a great way to enhance Nolan’s overall character in the series and present potential comedic scenarios. Skip Tracer Randy is the best person to bring that idea into reality. It’s time to make Randy the next rookie cop on ABC’s The Rookie.
Skip Tracer Randy Is One of ‘The Rookie’s Best Recurring Characters
The legend of Skip Tracer Randy began with a multi-episode arc before he even made his first formal appearance in The Rookie. The series took a gradual slow-burn approach before Randy appeared in the flesh. He’s first mentioned by Nyla Harper (Mekia Cox) in the Season 4 episode, “Breakdown,” and then he’s heard only as a voice over the phone in “Heart Beat” and “End Game.” Randy finally appears in person for the first time in Season 4, Episode 14, “Long Shot.” Randy has only shown up in three actual episodes, and they are among the best ones in the show so far. He last appeared in the Season 6 episode, “The Hammer,” taking the place of Nolan’s half-brother, Pete (Pete Davidson), at Nolan and Bailey’s (Jenna Dewan) wedding, since he arrested Pete for his litany of unpaid parking tickets.
Flula Borg’s Randy always displays an enthusiastic, infectious personality. His naïve, good-natured, and humorous charisma always brings a ray of sunshine to The Rookie. It’s something that the show could utilize more often and would liven up the series’ overall format. Plus, making Randy a regular player in The Rookie would also serve to showcase the character in more dramatic scenarios. Thus far, Randy’s appearances have largely been part of the show’s more comedic storylines, so this would give Borg a chance to stretch his acting muscles and prove his dramatic chops.
Randy Has Proven Himself Gifted at Police and Detective Work
In his first live appearance, “Long Shot,” Randy proved that he possesses a strong knack for police and investigative work. During the episode, Nolan and Harper reluctantly team up with Randy to track down the Hollywood madame, Ivy Flynn (Erin Cummings), who has gone on the run. Randy recently became a bounty hunter and seeks to turn Flynn in to collect the reward. Upon meeting Nolan for the first time, Randy reveals that he performed a comprehensive background check on Nolan since taking him on as a client. Additionally, Randy figures out how to track down Flynn’s whereabouts and that she was messaging her contacts through a video game. Randy may appear harmless and naïve, but he has strong detective skills, which lends credence to the idea that he would make a good detective someday.
While Randy has a knack for getting himself into trouble, he is also instrumental in helping Nolan and Harper bring Flynn to justice. Earlier in the series, Randy assists Nolan and Bailey in their attempts to track down Bailey’s abusive ex-husband, Jason Wyler (Steve Kazee). Bailey quickly befriends Randy due to his help, so he proves to be a loyal and trustworthy friend to Nolan, Bailey, and Harper. Harper routinely utilized Randy’s services as a skip tracer throughout her career in law enforcement, and she was the one who recommended him to Nolan. Harper is a strict, no-nonsense individual, and she would not continue employing Randy if he was not a skilled information broker. Since Randy has tried his hand at skip tracing, followed by bounty hunting, the logical next step is to attempt actual police work by joining the LAPD.
Skip Tracer Randy Becoming John Nolan’s New Rookie Would Be Comedy Gold
Now that the show’s original rookie cops graduated from their probationary status, the show needs a continual revolving door of new rookie police officers for The Rookie to maintain its overall premise and title. Nolan went from a probationary officer to a patrol officer and is now a training officer, taking on Celina Juarez (Lisseth Chavez) as his first trainee. Celina will undoubtedly graduate as a training officer and move up to patrol eventually, which means Nolan will soon need a new rookie recruit to train.
Considering Flula Borg and Nathan Fillion already have tremendous chemistry and play off one another incredibly well, it would be tremendous for Randy to be Nolan’s future trainee. Randy becoming Nolan’s new trainee would provide potential comedy gold and portray different facets of the character. Also, Nolan taking on a trainee such as Randy would provide the character with an interesting new challenge in the series. Nolan potentially working with Randy’s various idiosyncrasies while molding him into a better police officer fits the sweet spot with The Rookie’s unique balance of comedy and drama.
Additionally, Randy has never actually shared some proper screen time with Quigley Smitty (Brent Huff). The series needs to show some sort of ultimate team-up between Randy and Smitty together in an upcoming episode; it would surely produce amusing results. Randy and Smitty taking a case together would serve as an ultimate culmination of their character arcs. Randy joining the LAPD guarantees that the character would share some screen time with the legendary Smitty, and the duo could provide infinitely hilarious comedic material.
‘The Rookie’ Brings in New Characters in Season 7
At the moment, Skip Tracer Randy becoming a series regular doesn’t seem to be in the cards for the hit series. The Rookie Season 7 will introduce Patrick Keleher as one of the newest rookies at the LAPD, Seth. Meanwhile, Deric Augustine will play a Texas transfer for the LAPD named Miles. Even if Skip Tracer Randy does not join the cast as a series regular, hopefully the writers bring him back for more guest appearances similar to Seasons 5 and 6. The Rookie Season 7 debuts later next year with eighteen new episodes.
All six seasons of The Rookie, including all of Flula Borg’s wonderful guest appearances as Randy, are streaming now on Hulu in the U.S.
