Why The Rookie Killed Off Jackson West — and Why the Episode Was So Strange
As promotional material for The Rookie started coming out in the weeks leading up to the series’ Season 4 premiere, fans noticed something was wrong. Without an explanation, Officer Jackson West, played by actor and musician Titus Makin Jr., was mysteriously missing. Fans were naturally concerned. Many hypothesized in the off-season that Jackson would be killed off in the premiere, and sure enough, they were right. But why did Titus Makin Jr. leave The Rookie in the first place?
Jackson was unceremoniously shot in the back in the Season 4 premiere, “Life and Death,” without even seeing his face. There was much speculation about Jackson’s fate following the Season 3 finale, but the fact that Makin Jr. chose to leave shocked fans, even though it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. The actor was open about debating returning for Season 3, but he still returned for the third season after having a heart-to-heart conversation with showrunner Alexi Hawley. His storyline that season was meant to address his concerns, specifically about how policing is portrayed in network procedurals like The Rookie. Nevertheless, it would still be his last full season on the series.
Updated by Joshua M. Patton on July 7, 2024: While Nathan Fillion’s character is the series protagonist (and the titular rookie for the first two seasons), The Rookie is an ensemble series. Of all the characters, Jackson West is one of the show’s most interesting. He came from a police family, and his father held a dubious position of power as the head of Internal Affairs. It created an interesting dynamic, and Officer West had a lot of potential. However, how his character was written out of the show felt almost disrespectful, and a recent music video from the actor references it. We’ve updated this article with more information about why the actor left The Rookie and to comport to CBR’s current formatting standards.
Who Was Officer Jackson West on The Rookie?
Because of his father, Jackson spent most of his life studying to be the perfect police officer, yet he quickly learned that the job is more than memorizing penal codes and classroom scenarios. After freezing up in a shootout, West develops a kind of post-traumatic stress, bravely overcoming it early in the show’s run. Another episode in Season 1 tells a surprisingly powerful story about officers’ discretion, highlighting the importance of cutting some suspects a break. Near the end of Season 1, West falls out with his father after learning he planted evidence to get a conviction, setting up a larger arc for the character. Instead of being a strictly by-the-book officer, he wants to make sure the police themselves are following the law.
West also delivered LGBTQIA+ representation to The Rookie as one of the show’s few gay characters. The Rookie quickly became known for its romantic relationship stories, and West had two significant relationship storylines. When he became roommates with Lucy Chen, played by Melissa O’Neill, their friendship also became one of the strongest platonic relationships in the series. West was a loyal friend, and he stood up as one of the most principled members of his precinct. However, his best arc happened in Season 3, when the show finally tackled the real-world problems with policing.
Assigned a new training officer, Doug Stanton, played by Legends of Tomorrow veteran Brandon Routh, West quickly learns his new partner is an overt racist. He eventually stands up to Stanton, even though it risks his career. When he confronts Sgt. Grey, played by Richard T. Jones, the older officer helps him collect evidence on Stanton, resulting in his firing. However, it didn’t stick. Stanton was soon back on the force. This storyline may have led to West’s departure from the show.
Why Did Titus Makin, Jr. Leave The Rookie?
As an original cast member, Titus Makin Jr. played Jackson since The Rookie’s first season and was an integral part of the series. In Season 3, his training officer, Angela Lopez, was promoted to detective, so he was assigned a new TO named Doug Stanton. Unfortunately, Stanton was blatantly racist and made Jackson’s life miserable for the final month of his rookie training. So, partnering with Sergeant Grey, Jackson worked to get Stanton fired. Although it took Jackson getting beat up for it to happen, he succeeded, and Stanton’s true colors were revealed. The social justice part of Jackson’s character was an important aspect of the series and one reason fans were so disappointed when he was killed.
The reason why Jackson was killed off on The Rookie was very simple. In a TVLine interview, Hawley said that Jackson’s death wasn’t because of his, or any writer’s, decision: “What I can say is that Titus [Makin Jr.] was not coming back to the show, so we needed to do the best that we could to honor the character who’s been so primally a part of the show.” Makin Jr. didn’t want to return, so he had to be written off somehow. Makin Jr. never gave exit interviews or commented anything on social media regarding his exit from The Rookie, so his reasons for leaving aren’t known.
Still, Makin may have offered a clue in the run-up to Season 3 when he talked about how the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police affected him. “I was watching the news, and I was like, ‘I can’t do this. I can’t go play a cop on a show and not talk about the fact that I’m a Black cop,’ Makin said. My character hadn’t addressed any of that,” Makin told Entertainment Weekly in 2022. He told showrunner Alexi Hawley he’d rather be written out than not address these issues, which led to the storyline with Stanton.
The Strange Nature of Jackson’s Death on The Rookie
How Jackson died was also odd. The closing scenes of the Season 3 finale were at Lopez and Wesley’s wedding. It was there that La Fiera sprung a trap and captured the bride-to-be. Fans knew that, but when Season 4 opened, fans found out La Fiera’s goons also took Jackson. Minutes later, the LAPD found security footage that showed Lopez was taken while Jackson was shot in the back and shoved into a trunk. The whole thing felt weird and forced, and the reason for that was that the entire situation was, in fact, weird and forced.
Talking about how Jackson was killed, Hawley said, “It’s heartbreaking, but I didn’t really have a choice. [Makin Jr.] wasn’t coming back, and because of the way we set things up with the finale, there was just no way to tell that story without Jackson.” In other words, it would have been better to have him leave the LAPD without being killed, but because Makin Jr. left during a story arc, he couldn’t just disappear. The bottom line was that the writers had a tough job to do. The Rookie had to find a way to kill Jackson without him being there, so they used a stand-in and only filmed from the back. That’s why Makin Jr.’s exit felt weird and out of nowhere. Since then, Makin has focused primarily on music and fashion without much focus on acting.
The Rookie has a history of suddenly killing off characters, but this decision didn’t reinforce the idea that death could come for any officer at any time. Despite what Hawley said, there seems to have been a way to write Jackson out of the series without killing him the way they did. Makin didn’t return for the scene, so viewers don’t even see his face when he dies. An off-screen death or simply quitting the force would have worked better. Not only did it feel disrespectful to one of The Rookie’s most compelling characters, but it also closed off any possibility of the character’s return.
What Has Titus Makin, Jr. Done Since Jackson West Was Killed Off on The Rookie?
While it’s unclear what specifically motivated Titus Makin, Jr. to leave The Rookie, it seems it led to him taking a larger break from acting. Even with Jackson West being killed off, it’s possible Makin could’ve returned for a flashback episode or even as a ghost or vision seen by the other characters. The beauty of fiction, even “grounded” series like The Rookie is that anything is possible. His first post-The RookieTV appearance was on NCIS Hawai’, playing another cop. Since then, he’s appeared in two short films: Aliens on Halloween and Pool Service, Inc. He also played a role in On the Come Up, directed by Sanaa Lathan. His most recent role is in the Tubi original movie Sins of the Bride.
Titus Makin, Jr.’s biggest fans have kept up with him on his Instagram account, where he frequently posts pictures and snippets of his other creative passion, music. Recently, he cleared his account of all images and videos before releasing his first new music in three years. The video seems to reference how Jackson West was killed off on The Rookie, as Makin climbs out of the trunk of a car wearing a police officer’s shirt with the nametag “East” and a badge. In the caption, Makin wrote of the past three years, “I’ve grown [and] matured in so many ways that I didn’t even know I needed. I’m thankful for the heartache, thankful for the lessons, thankful for new beginnings.” His most recent musical release is the song “Open,” available wherever music is streamed.
