[Warning: This story contains spoilers for The Rookie’s Season 8 premiere, “Czech Mate.” Read at your own risk!]
At long last, “Chenford” — Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil) and Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) — are finally back together again on The Rookie.
After a season of casual hook-ups complicated by the continued heartache of a messy (and controversial) break-up, the two lovebirds, with the help of their meddling friends and co-workers, took a major step forward in their relationship in the Season 8 premiere of the ABC police procedural. While on a stakeout at the APM Terminals in Los Angeles, Angela (Alyssa Diaz), Celina (Lisseth Chavez) and Miles (Deric Augustine) devised a plan to “parent trap” Lucy and Tim into having a conversation about their feelings on the docks of the shipping container port at sunrise.
All of Tim’s worries about Lucy not wanting to get back together with him are, thankfully, unfounded. While acknowledging that he broke her heart so deeply that the scars “might never fade,” Lucy agrees to move in with Tim after he promises to be a better communicator and a less toxic version of himself, which she says is actually a “turn on.” (O’Neil may have recently tried to walk back some of her comments about how the kisses in this season premiere feel more epic than Superman, insisting that she was talking about another couple and not Chenford. But the kiss that Lucy and Tim share on the docks is pretty epic, if we do say so ourselves.)
Everything you need for winter TV:
“I think it was really important that they have that conversation, which they had on the docks at sunrise. It wasn’t just as easy as saying, ‘I’m sorry. Move in with me.’ There were real communication issues, which will continue to plague Tim a little bit,” Hawley tells TV Guide. “I think it’s all steeped in the trauma of his childhood and his military and police background. People don’t fully change overnight. People don’t even really fully change. They can try and be better, but I think there are some things baked into Tim, which he’s still trying to navigate.
“But anyway, it felt really important that they had a moment of understanding before she said yes,” the showrunner continues. “And now that she said yes in the premiere, [the next episodes] will be all about her moving in with him and the fun of that, but also the different challenges that come when you’re in a live-in, committed relationship, [which] are just different than dating or anything like that. So we definitely find ways to still have conflict and challenges, but just with them now together.”
Eric Winter and Melissa O’Neil, The Rookie
Disney/Mike Taing
Lucy’s newly vacated room will be filled by Miles, who decides to move in with Celina after learning that the makeshift trailer park he was living in next to the Mid-Wilshire Station was starting a homeowners’ association.
“There’s that [awkward] opening period of when somebody moves in. Obviously, Miles is used to sleeping in his car, so he’s not used to having a room or a bed or anything like that,” Hawley says of Miles and Celina’s new living arrangement. “So that’s a thing that happens [at first], but then just to see them as roommates and forging that sort of relationship — they’re a very odd couple, in a good way. So I think it’s fun to watch that happen.”
Ever since Miles was first introduced as one of the two new rookies at the top of Season 7, some viewers have noticed a little spark between Miles and Celina. Could the relationship between the two friends — and now cohabitants — one day transform into something more?
“I’m not going to say I don’t see it,” Hawley says. “I think that, look, they’re two very talented actors, and they have chemistry for sure. I do think that I like them as besties to a certain extent. I also think it’s important that not every male-female relationship goes towards romance. So, at the moment, I don’t see it.” (It must also be noted that Celina’s current musician boyfriend, Rodge, is played by none other than Hawley’s own son, Zander Hawley.)
“But, look, I didn’t see Tim and Lucy as anything when I started the show. That chemistry was just sort of baked in, but I knew nothing could happen for the entirety of her rookie career, plus Tim would never take advantage like that. That was a long game [consideration],” adds Hawley. “So, yeah, at the moment I don’t necessarily see it, but hopefully we’re around for enough seasons where I could maybe revisit [that conversation].”
“We Challenge Everybody, Both Personally and Professionally” 
Mekia Cox, The Rookie
Disney/Larry Horricks
After putting Nyla (Mekia Cox) and her husband James (Arjay Smith) through the wringer last season — he was shot and almost killed after she mistakenly thought he had cheated on her — Hawley promises that the couple will be on much better terms this season. “But I think stuff’s going to come up for several of our other couples, both professionally and personally,” he says.
Lucy and Tim, while not yet married, will inevitably find themselves contemplating that next stage of their slow-burn romance. Protagonist John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) will find himself torn between wanting to support his firefighter-slash-army-lieutenant wife Bailey Nune’s (Jenna Dewan) new job offer in Washington D.C. and not wanting to have to uproot his entire life and career for her. After learning that his wife Luna (Angel Parker) has no intention of giving up her second act as a social worker, Wade (Richard T. Jones) accepts a new job offer to work with the FBI — more on that a little later — but they will soon begin to feel the strain on their three-decade marriage.
And while Hawley unintentionally focused less on Angela and her husband Wesley (Shawn Ashmore) following the birth of their daughter Emmy at the end of Season 5, the showrunner promises that the new season will delve deeper into the “Wopez” marriage.
“I think the big storyline that comes up for them this season is, Wesley gets approached to run for DA now that Del Monte dropped out. So would he consider that? If he does, what would the impact be on their family? There’s a lot of stuff percolating out there, including the Glasser case, which will find a way to come back around this season,” Hawley says of the villain played by Seth Gabel, who taunted Nyla last season. “So there’s the challenges of that, and how they impact you if you are running for DA. Obviously, he also had issues with Elijah way back when, which impacted his [law] license for a bit. So Wesley’s past is complicated, and how do we lean into that a little bit if he decides to go down this road?”
The Return of Some Familiar Faces — and Foes 
Nathan Fillion and Jenna Dewan, The Rookie
Disney/Mike Taing
Set only a few days after the events of the Season 7 finale, the Season 8 premiere saw Nolan, Nyla, and Bailey teaming up with FBI agent Matthew Garza (Felix Solis) in Prague to take down notorious international arms dealer Lukas Wegner. Unfortunately for Los Angeles-based law enforcement, their sting operation required the help of disgraced lawyer Monica Stevens (Bridget Regan), who was somehow able to broker an immunity deal with the U.S. government in the finale after top-secret intelligence was stolen from the NSA. In the end, Monica is able to cooperate long enough to help the officers and agents nail Wegner — but not before revealing that her rap sheet has left her on the verge of insolvency.
“I think she is in a very different place,” Hawley says of Monica, who Nolan and Bailey catch trying to steal jewelry to fund her lavish lifestyle after going broke while on the run from legal consequences. “On the one hand, she did navigate running [between] the raindrops of being one of the most wanted to actually getting an immunity deal, so that’s amazing. But what it’s left her with is [being] broke with no way to make money. [She] got disbarred and all that kind of stuff, and now [she’s] somewhat reliant on the police and the feds to help her get through the day and get through life.”
After working together to take down Wegner in Prague, Garza asked Nyla on the flight home to join him on a mission to take down the other international criminals on Monica’s list. Nyla ended up rejecting that offer, explaining that she wants to prioritize her husband and their young child for the time being. Instead, Garza, realizing that he needed an empty nester to join his task force, went straight to Wade, who immediately agreed to be the senior liaison between the LAPD and the FBI for the next year.
“The task force is joint LAPD-FBI, so there are offices within the LAPD, in our building, which he’s working out of, and then we see the FBI come to us or we go to them,” Hawley explains, clarifying that Wade’s new role does not mean he is being written off the show. “We find ways to interact with the task force — both being on task force, but also pulling in resources from them during the course of the season.”
Hawley confirms that viewers, whether they like it or not, have not seen the last of Monica. “This new task force has sort of been built up around her — a little Blacklist, if I can pull another show idea in here,” he says. “There’s a certain number of ‘big bads’ that are out there that she has information on or that can help us take down.”
More on Hulu:
Wade’s involvement in the task force means that Tim will step into the role of the next watch commander of the station. “Tim’s so used to being a hard-charging patrol officer, a supervisor, a training officer and all those things. What does it look like when he gets a job that’s just a very different skillset? So I think we find some really interesting ways to challenge him in that job and also see him trying to adapt to a bit of a different role without taking away [who he is],” Hawley says. “We always love to see Tim Bradford out in the streets doing his thing, so just navigating what that shakeup does for him — and for him and Lucy as they go forward — really launches the season.”
Needless to say, Tim is now much more aware of what he stands to lose when he and Lucy are working together in the field. “I think Tim as a person and as a police officer would always have his fellow officers’ back. He would go above and beyond. He would do whatever. But, of course, there’s a depth of feeling there [with Lucy],” Hawley says, referring to a scene in the premiere where Tim thinks Lucy has been shot (she wasn’t) and rushes to her side. “There’s a vulnerability to having Lucy running around in danger. And there’s a moment midway through the season where that gets challenged again in a really powerful way. So I think his heart’s more on the sleeve, for sure.”
As Tim navigates a new chapter of both his personal and professional lives, viewers will finally get to meet an important person in his life who will likely clash with the other woman in his life. “We’re going to see Tim’s mom this season for the first time, which is exciting,” Hawley reveals. “It took us a little while to try and land [on] who that might be. I don’t want to spoil who we got, but we got somebody amazing to play the part.”
Other Stories To Get Excited About This Season
Aaron Thorsen (Tru Valentino) — who transferred to the North Hollywood Division between Seasons 6 and 7 to get a fresh start away from the fallout from his former therapist’s manipulations — will make his long-awaited return this season as a guest star, but Hawley declined to specify how many episodes he will appear in.
There are no immediate plans to bring in a new rookie to replace Seth Ridley (Patrick Keleher), the chronic liar whose leg was amputated after being caught in a shootout last season. “I think at least at the top half of the season, Miles is our rookie. The reality is that recruit classes only graduate every six months, so it’s organic that you don’t immediately get a new rookie if you need one,” Hawley explains. Seth, however, will be back soon.
There will be another Valentine’s Day episode this season, but how will this differ from last season? “Ultimately, Tim and Lucy will be together for it, so that’s interesting,” Hawley responds. “And we’ll have some Valentine’s-themed crimes going on.”
Finally, as revealed in the trailer for Season 8, recurring antagonist Oscar Hutchinson will return after killing the associates who helped him escape from the clutches of Nolan in the Season 7 finale. “We definitely have some great new villains who show up this season while we also play forward some of the old ones. We always like to mix it up, and I think what I always strive to do and the writing staff as well is … they can’t be one dimensional. Even Monica in that premiere, we saw some vulnerability and you saw her scrambling and she’s broke, and [there’s] the unexpected humanity that we might try and find in her. So yeah, that said, we definitely bring in some pretty powerful villains this season.”
The Rookie airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on ABC. Episodes stream the next day on Hulu.