The Rookie’s Season 7 premiere saw one important character noticeably absent. One of the showrunners recently confirmed when they will make their return.
Jenna Dewan, who plays Bailey, has been confirmed to return during Season 7 after not being seen in The Rookie’s new season premiere episode. Speaking with Screen Rant, showrunner Alexi Hawley confirmed the exact episode in which Bailey will appear. “Jenna had a baby,” Hawley said, explaining the actor’s absence from the show and adding, “so we see her at the end of episode 3, basically.” The first episode of The Rookie’s seven season was released on Jan. 7, and the third episode is expected to air on Jan. 21. The entire season is expected to have 18 episodes in total.
Good news has been revealed for The West Wing fans.
Dewan joined The Rookie as a guest star in the third season before being upgraded to one of the main cast members in Season 4. Her role sees her play a firefighter lieutenant who initially appears as John Nolan’s (Nathan Fillion) date to Angela Lopez’s (Alyssa Diaz) wedding. By the sixth season of the show, Bailey becomes Nolan’s wife.
It remains to be seen how The Rookie will explain Bailey’s absence for the first three episodes of season seven, but the previous season’s cliffhanger leaves plenty of possibilities. At the end of season six, Nolan and Bailey were talking about adoption when Nolan received a call that Jason Wyler (Steve Kazee), Bailey’s psychologically abusive ex-husband, had broken out of prison. Fans will have to continue watching the next few episodes ahead of Bailey’s return to see what’s in store for the character after episode 3.
Another Major Cast Member Has Left The Rookie in Season 7
While fans of The Rookie have good news that Bailey will return fairly soon in the new season, another familiar face is unlikely to be seen again in the near future. Ahead of Season 7’s premiere, Hawley revealed that Tru Valentino, who played Aaron Thorsen in the series, had left the series due to creative reasons. There’s still a possibility that the character could return down the line, though.
Drew Goddard explains that the first season of any show comes with difficulties.
“Of course,” Hawley said when asked about Thorsen re-appearing in The Rookie. “Tru [Valentino] is a great actor, and he was a huge part of our show for several seasons, and so we’d love to have him back in some capacity. It just ultimately felt like, creatively, for where the show was going, that we needed to pivot a bit. But he’s still very much alive in our universe.” Valentino joined The Rookie as a recurring star in Season 4 before becoming part of the main cast in seasons five and six. His character was involved in a French murder case who came from a wealthy background and was an online celebrity before his arrest and trial.
