The road to Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil) and Tim Bradford’s (Eric Winter) dalliance was long and bumpy. Even when they started dating, some foundational issues still led them to break up in The Rookie Season 6. The subsequent season finds them still working closely together. The Rookie’s showrunner, Alexi Hawley, admitted that exploring their chemistry is something the show aims to do in Season 7. “The chemistry between them is undeniable, so that’s always going to exist,” he reiterated his sentiments to TV Guide. However, there are still some issues that the potential couple would need to work through. “‘Is there a romantic future down the road?’ is something that we’re definitely leaning into. What is it going to be? What work still has to be done? And what feelings really still exist?” Hawley previewed some of them. He added, revealing one of the most concerning, saying:
“Obviously, he’s still a sergeant and she is not, so he is her superior officer and therefore that’s an obstacle as well.”
Tim and Lucy’s Ranks Present a Real Problem for Chenford in Season 7.
Even if their attraction began quite early in the show, they did not explore it until the trainee-trainer relationship ended. Relationships between superiors and their juniors are a moral grey area whose severity depends on the power difference. The dynamic mentioned above was the most concerning, but that doesn’t mean the current one does not have the potential to give rise to more issues. For now, the show has opted to go back to its roots by reintroducing their previous dynamics before they started dating. “. . . . We really wanted to lean into what the next chapter was going to be, and the fun of making her a training officer next to him, even temporarily, and the competition of who can train the better rookie — that’s the best of Chenford, really,” said Hawley.
In The Rookie Season 7, Episode 3, “Out of Pocket,” the competition takes a different turn when the TOs swap boots. “Ahead of Bailey’s (Jenna Dewan) return home, John (Nathan Fillion) looks for clues to locate Jason Wyler (Steve Kazee). Then, Tim and Lucy swap rookies; a friendly face resurfaces at the station, and Wesley (Shawn Ashmore) feels unsettled over Angela (Alyssa Diaz),” the official logline reads.
