The Rookie Season 7: Cast Shakeups, Episode Count, and Everything We Know So Far

The Nathan Fillion-led police drama remains one of ABC’s bonafide hits.

An underwhelming season finale with a questionable cliffhanger doesn’t preclude the series from being one of the best on the network.

Frankly, we can patiently wait for the writers and company to cook up a mighty fine season.

Fortunately, we won’t have to wait quite as long as we did during last year’s strikes, but we’ll have to wait long enough.

We’ll give you more information below!!

Has The Rookie Been Renewed at ABC?

Fret not, Rookie Fanatics!

The Rookie HAS been renewed for its seventh season.

The series has become a staple on the network and is undoubtedly one of ABC’s most successful offerings.

In fact, The Rookie Season 6 Episode 1 garnered a whopping 11.9 million viewers across all platforms after its long-awaited return after a dual strike.

It was the series’ best showing since the series premiere.

With such a strong vote of confidence, The Rookie’s renewal was a no-brainer, and we’re cautiously optimistic that it’ll have similar luck in the future.

How Did The Rookie Season 6 End?

After a relatively disjointed and, at times, mediocre season, The Rookie’s season finale was action-packed.

And the series left things with multiple villains waiting in the wings to unleash some damage.

We saw the team come together and finally catch onto Monica’s nefarious ways and involvement in multiple things that had been on their radar.

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She was behind blackmailing Dr. London, which led to the deaths of characters such as Mad Dog and another Agent Pierson.

We saw Nolan and Harper teaming up with notable FBI members from The Rookie: Feds to rescue Blair London off the books in Argentina.

Meanwhile, Angela, Tim, Lucy, and Thorsen were battling some of the effects of Monica’s messy mechanizations, facing hellfire upon them.

At the same time, she took out Gundo and a car chase that included Chenford fighting a bad guy in a moving vehicle.

The action was great!

The ending saw Monica getting away and her cohort Oscar escaping from prison with Bailey’s ex-husband, Jason.

The latter was determined to track down Bailey and Nolan, who had just opted to adopt and foster kids and make their lives hell in an act of revenge.

The season unleashed a series of baddies, some compelling villains and others. Not so much.

When Will The Rookie Season 7 Premiere? Not When You Think…

It’s a good news, bad news situation regarding The Rookie’s release date.

Because the network has a huge vote of confidence in the series, it won’t return to primetime in the Fall.

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It’s an important year, with election coverage dominating many of the basic networks during the Fall.

Therefore, it’s ideal not to clutter the Fall season with loads of shows, risking hits to viewership and ratings and multiple interruptions.

It and the massive hit Will Trent are scheduled to premiere during the midseason.

We can expect The Rookie to return in January 2025.

While we don’t have confirmation on the date and time yet, it’ll likely return to Tuesdays at 9/8c.

How Many Episodes Are in The Rookie Season 7?

We got the “bad news” out of the way, so now it’s time for the good news!

The Rookie will have 18 episodes after the utterly frustrating truncated season!

Because the series returns in January rather than the Fall, we can expect fewer hiatuses, which means multiple uninterrupted episodes at once.

Offhand, we’ll likely get eight back-to-back episodes in a row to kick things off.

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What Cast Members Are Returning for The Rookie Season 7?

As of now, we can expect the entire cast to return for The Rookie Season 7.

Main Characters:

• Nathan Fillion as John Nolan
• Eric Winter as Tim Bradford
• Melissa O’Neil as Lucy Chen
• Richard T Jones as Wade Grey
• Mekia Cox as Nyla Harper
• Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez
• Shawn Ashmore as Wesley Evers

Last season, Lisseth Chavez was previously promoted to series regular, and we can expect her to return as Celina Juarez.

Meanwhile, Jenna Dewan will also reprise her role as Bailey Nune, but we can expect her to be missing for the first few episodes as she’s late in her pregnancy.

The Rookie Season 7 New Recruits: Who’s Joining the Cast?

We’re keeping to some of the basics and actually staying true to the series’ name.

Yes, two new “boots” are making their way to Mid-Wilshire, and both of them sound like exciting additions.

Deric Augustine will join the cast in a recurring role as Miles.

Miles is a Texas transfer who technically has two years in law enforcement under his belt (likely as a ranger) but has to join the force as a rookie.

If we were to place a bet, we’d guess that he’ll have Bradford as his training officer. It makes the most sense, right?

Related: The Rookie Season 7: Cast and Character Guide

Augustine is known for his roles in All American and Godfather of Harlem.

Meanwhile, Patrick Keleher is a stage actor who will make his television debut as Seth, a rookie who struggles with making quick and decisive choices in the field.

Tru Valentino Signs Off as Aaron Thorsen Ahead of The Rookie Season 7

The Rookie shocker ahead of the season is that Tru Valentino has exited the series.

While, if we have to be honest, it didn’t feel like there was much more for the series to do with his character, Thorsen was such great comic relief and a fan favorite.

His absence will be sorely missed in the series, and this is just one in a long line of upsetting exits over the years.

When Valentino took to Instagram to discuss his departure, he expressed gratitude for his time on the series and even hinted that he could always return.

I will always cherish my time on The Rookie, but couldn’t be more excited for what the future has in store. I adore the friends and relationships made while being there. It was such an amazing opportunity, and I feel so lucky to have had the last three seasons. Thank you to the best fans in the world. I know I don’t talk much, but I appreciate you all so much. You never know who may pop back up in the Mid-Wilshire precinct. Until then, 7 Adam 19, this is Officer Thorsen, over and out!

What Storylines Can We Expect in The Rookie Season 7?

With Oscar, Monica, and Jason free and holding a grudge against one or many team members, we can expect them to return and pose a threat.

However, showrunner Alex Hawley says Jason is the most immediate threat.

There is very little information about Oscar and Monica and when and how they’ll return to the series.

But Jason has a more immediate goal to come after Nolan and Bailey, so we’ll likely see that confrontation coming relatively soon into the season or as it revolves around Jenna Dewan‘s return post-maternity leave.

We can also expect Lucy and Tim to continue navigating their relationship post-break-up.

Tim’s therapy has made him more enlightened, and we’ll likely continue to see him on that path.

After he faces consequences for his lies and behavior related to his past, we’ll also probably see him back serving as a Training Officer rather than in Metro.

Lucy and Harper may pursue undercover work more.

We may also get some fun content as she and Celina are officially roommates after Tamara moved out.

Related: Does Chenford’s Breakup Romanticize Sacrificing Love for Growth?

Nolan and Bailey are facing the prospect of adopting a child while also juggling their high-demand careers, which are both dangerous.

We will also hopefully check back in with Angela and Wesley, as we didn’t get to spend much time with the pairing or find out the name of their youngest baby!

The season will likely find new ways to incorporate Luna Grey into the mix now that she’s heavily involved in social work, which will bring about some interesting things with Sergeant Grey.

What’s most exciting is that with the new rookies, we’ll get some of that throwback Rookie.

New boots mean lots of laughs and good times as former ones serve as superiors and pass on their knowledge and maybe some of the gentle hazing.

With a bigger season, the show has plenty of space to tackle a variety of fun and exciting storylines.

Will The Rookie: Feds Cast Guest-Star in The Rookie Season 7?

While nothing is official, the showrunner has expressed interest in finding more ways to incorporate some characters if the storyline calls for it and actors are available.

Will There Be a Crossover with 9-1-1?

The whispers and fan-based idea that The Rookie and 9-1-1 would have an epic crossover now that the latter is on ABC is certainly a fun notion.

But it’s not likely to come to fruition.

However, with the idea on both shows’ radar and jokes made about it, it may not be ruled out altogether.

Is There A Trailer for The Rookie Season 7?

We don’t have a full trailer for the upcoming season.

However, we do have a teaser of what’s to come that recaps Nolan’s journey from his first day on the series up until now.

It puts things into perspective and makes us nostalgic about the series.

We do get a very brief first look at the new rookies in the locker room, getting the rundown from their TO, Tim.

A little casual teasing plays out between Nolan and Bradford about the new prospects. Check it out!

But make sure you bookmark this page, as we’ll update accordingly as new information trickles in.

As always, you can stream The Rookie on Hulu.

Feel free to check out all of our The Rookie Reviews and other content on the site!