What’s most surprising about The Rookie — a series focused on a crew of beat cops and a pair of detectives — is how important romance is to its success. There are plenty of crimes, gunfights and other police procedural staples on the show, but what keeps fans tuning in each week are the relationships between the characters, platonic or otherwise. The sparks that lit the fire between Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen (aka Chenford) were present in the series from the beginning, and the show naturally took its time bringing them together.
Of course, television producers are hesitant to keep any beloved couple together, and Chenford appeared to be over no sooner than it had begun. Thankfully, the Season 6 finale gave Chenford fans some hope. Tim and Lucy shared a quiet, emotional moment, suggesting that if the two characters reunite romantically, they can do it properly this time. Because on-screen chemistry aside, the Chenford romance wasn’t ideally constructed for myriad reasons. Still, the romance between Lucy Chen and Tim Bradford is in a strange place after the Season 6 finale of The Rookie, and it’s worth examining how they got there.
Updated on September 22, 2024, by Joshua M. Patton: With Season 7 not debuting on ABC until the start of the 2025 television season, Chenford fans have to wait a little bit longer than usual to find out where the couple goes next. However, because the cast is currently filming Season 7 and are active on social media, fans are speculating that the wait will be worth it. While there aren’t any spoilers ahead, fans speculate about what a certain piece of costuming on actor Melissa O’Neil means for Lucy Chen and Tim Bradford. This article has been updated to include information about Season 7 and comport with CBR’s current formatting standards.
Chenford Was Never Supposed to Happen on The Rookie
Lucy Chen and John Nolan Were Originally a Couple, but It Didn’t Last
What kept Bradford and Chen apart wasn’t the curse of Moonlighting, but the show’s own ethics. Tim Bradford was Lucy Chen’s direct superior officer, responsible for training her to survive the dangerous situations these television police encounter week to week. Tim was her “T.O.” and Lucy was his “Boot,” and that left little room for friendship, let alone romance. Of course, how impossible Chenford was to achieve was part of its initial appeal for many viewers.
Bradford also brought a lot of baggage with him, primarily Mircea Monroe’s Isabel, both formerly undercover police and Tim’s wife. Audiences learned throughout Season 1 that she was on a long undercover mission and became addicted to drugs. Tim was there for her when she was forced to be an undercover informant once again. He almost illegally removed evidence from her apartment to help her avoid this fate. She ended up almost dying, which complicated Tim’s feelings for her and Lucy in equal measure. Eventually, Tim and Isabel separate in Season 1, Episode 12, “Heartbreak.”
Still, Bradford’s position in the Mid-Wilshire Division continued to stand in the way of what appeared to be an inevitable romance between him and Lucy. The ethics of dating while being Lucy’s superior officer were a hurdle he couldn’t get over. It seemed that the two were destined to just be friends with an unrequited affection. Yet, through sheer force of Chenford fans’ will, that dynamic began to change, thanks to an interesting connection between Lucy and Isabel.
How The Rookie Made Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen a Couple
Chenford Is a Classic Example of the ‘Slow-Burn Romance’ In Television Shows
In Season 2, Chen is almost killed by Caleb, a man she goes on a date with who is the acolyte of serial killer Rosalind Dyer. Lucy is buried inside a barrel, though her captivity is livestreamed to the police. Bradford is the one who rescues her, performing CPR on her to save her life. Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is not the most romantic “first kiss,” but that’s what makes Chenford special. Throughout Season 3 and 4 of The Rookie, Lucy underwent some big changes. Particularly, she developed a desire to do undercover work, like Isabel, after being promoted to Police Officer II.
Lucy has short relationships with a firefighter and a prosecutor, but those were both extremely short-lived. In Season 2, Tim started dating Rachel Hall, played by Jasmine Matthews, until Rachel moves to New York for her dream job. He then has what seems like a serious relationship with Ashley McGrady, played by Helena Mattisson. However, Ashley breaks up with Tim after he’s gravely injured and required spinal surgery because of how stressful loving a police officer would be for her. Tim and Lucy share another “first kiss” in the Season 4 finale, “Day In The Hole” preparing for an undercover assignment posing as a couple.
The Season 5 premiere is a very “Chenford” episode, with Lucy and Tim realizing their chemistry goes beyond undercover play-acting. She invites Bradford to her apartment, only to find the prosecutor she’s been dating, Kanoa Goo’s Chris Sanford near-fatally wounded. By the winter break of The Rookie Season 5, Tim and Lucy confessed their feelings for each other. She breaks up with Sanford and agrees to date Bradford. However, she basically was in charge of “pursing” Tim after Season 6’s finale, it seems like Tim will finally have to prove himself to Lucy in order to win her back.
The Chenford Era on The Rookie Was Proof the Couple Worked Dramatically
Viewers Kept Tuning In Once Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen Got Together
The post-New Year’s premiere of The Rookie Season 5, “The List,” featured Lucy and Tim’s first date. Naturally, the date fell apart when a fight broke out. Richard T. Jones’s Sergeant Wade Gray chastises Bradford for pursing Chen romantically. While no longer her training officer, he was still her superior in the precinct. Undeterred, the couple seal their relationship with a proper first kiss at the of “The List.” Lucy and Tim then work out their relationship situation, with Tim going to work the Metro Division. He still worked out of the precinct, but he was no longer in Chen’s chain of command.
For the next 20 episodes of The Rookie over Seasons 5 and 6, Chenford was no longer just a hashtag but a reality. Just as with Nolan and Jenna Dewan’s Bailey Nune, Tim and Lucy were a loving couple that provided moments of lightness to heavier stories. The Rookie didn’t need a “will they or won’t they?” dynamic to keep fans interested. Perhaps the best example of this was how Tim helped train Lucy for her Detective exam. He wasn’t her official training officer this time, but rather he was her partner, helping her to achieve her dreams. Unfortunately for Lucy, she failed the exam.
Lucy also continued to do undercover work, including in the Season 6 finale episode. In Season 5, Episode 20, “S.T.R.” (which stands for Skip Tracer Randy), Chen went undercover alongside Isabel to help save a friend the latter’s undercover alias knew. Instead of romantic rivalry, Isabel gave Lucy some hard-learned advice about how to be an undercover officer and in a relationship with Bradford. The episode ended with Isabel encouraging Lucy, both in her relationship and career goals, while Tim supported her continuing working undercover.
Tim Bradford Broke Up With Lucy In Season 6
There Is Plenty of Reason to Believe Chenford’s Breakup Isn’t Permanent
In Season 6, Episode 6, “Secrets and Lies,” Tim broke up with Lucy after he hid secrets from her about his past in the Army. Despite him not being open about David Dastmalchian’s Ray Watkins return and who he was, at first, Lucy still helped Tim bring him down. But it not only cost him his job at Metro, he decided to break up with her, too. In a later episode, it’s revealed that Bradford needed to seek professional help from a therapist to work through his anger and issues related to his past. Lucy was obviously hurt by this, but she began the process of moving on.
In the Season 6 finale of The Rookie, Lucy Chen saved Tim’s life, jumping from a car onto a truck during a high-speed chase. Tim thanked Lucy for doing that, and took responsibility for ruining everything. He promised to spend “the rest of [his] life” paying her back for her kindness. It’s as close to a marriage proposal as Chenford fans can likely expect. When The Rookie returns in 2025 with Season 7, Bradford can finally “win” Lucy instead of having her wear him down into admitting his feelings for her.
Essential ‘Chenford’ Episodes of The Rookie
- The Rookie Season 1 Episode 20, “Free Fall”
- The Rookie Season 2 Episode 2, “The Night General”
- The Rookie Season 3 Episode 9, “Amber”
- The Rookie Season 4 Episode 9, “Breakdown”
- The Rookie Season 4 Episode 22, “Day in the Hole”
- The Rookie Season 5 Episode 1, “Double Down”
- The Rookie Season 5 Episode 21, “Going Under”
The Chenford journey has been fun to watch, and Tim is a character who cares for Lucy. Yet, she pursued him and, perhaps inadvertently, seemed like she had to “earn” her right to be with him. In the forthcoming Season 7, The Rookie can finally allow Bradford to “earn” Lucy’s affection for a change. However, the scene inside the elevator suggests that’s not going to be too difficult a job. Still, Chenford fans can expect to see the couple reunite in the future, but given the history of the show, it might take a long time.
Chenford May Be Reignited In The Rookie Season 7
Melissa O’Neil’s Social Media Posts Cause a Frenzy of Speculation
With the sting of the Chenford breakup still fresh for The Rookie fans, their hopes for the couple’s future all fall on what happens in Season 7. While the cast is currently filming the new episodes, the season won’t debut on ABC until, at earliest, January 2025. The Rookie will run for 18 weeks straight with no long breaks between episodes, something that happened frequently during Season 6. Still, the cast is very active on social media, and a recent TikTok post from Melissa O’Neil has fans speculating that Chenford is back together or close to it.
While lip-syncing in her trailer with a song about “silence,” O’Neil is wearing a white top with no real significance, other than it shows off a necklace she’s wearing. In The Rookie Season 5, Episode 16, “Exposed,” Tim gives Lucy a necklace for Valentine’s Day. In the video on TikTok, O’Neil is wearing it, which led fans to speculate that it represents a renewed romantic relationship between Lucy and Tim. Fans believe that O’Neil is saying something by not saying anything in the video. Whether just a tease or a real clue to the characters’ futures, it’s proof that Chenford remains The Rookie‘s strongest relationship.
