The Rookie Season 7 Just Got an Interesting Update

The Big Picture

• The Rookie 's 7th season will have 18 episodes, returning to standalone stories with serialized elements.
• Season 7 production is underway, aiming for a continuous 8-episode run without interruptions.
• Showrunner Alexi Hawley hints at exploring character development and taking risks in upcoming season.

Since it made its debut in October 2018, the police procedural drama, The Rookie, has earned itself a loyal and steady audience throughout its run. The ABC drama has been a hit for several reasons, one being its ability to not take itself too seriously, often bringing with it a healthy dose of comedy. The show's first season ran for 20 episodes, as did the sophomore season as well. A pandemic-hit season three saw the episodes reduced to a 14-episode run, before seasons 4 and 5 made a rebound, running 22 episodes each. However, with the WAG and SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023 impacting much of Hollywood's production, season 6 was only able to deliver a truncated 10-episode run. A seventh season of the show is billed to arrive in 2025, with series star (Nathan Fillion) revealing that the show is set to begin production this month. The series' showrunner has an update on the episode count for the coming season.

While speaking with TV Line, showrunner Alexi Hawley spoke about the future direction The Rookie would take regarding its episode count, revealing that season 7 will have more episodes than its predecessor. While noting he was keen on making more episodes, he suggests that this is what audiences want with an 18-episode Season 7 in the works. Hawley's comments read:

“I do think we’ll go back to being more of a standalone show with serialized elements,” showrunner Alexi Hawley told me, “because it’s going to be a longer season and I think people really do like that. Also, there are the many different ways we tell stories — whether it’s the big event-type episodes, the more rom-com episodes, or with a big guest star — so it’ll be fun to go back to that.”

What Will Season 7 Be About?

With season 6, the writers for the show had to get creative as they only had 10 episodes to tell their story in a series that is usually expansive. Looking ahead to season 7 and with production already on the way, the plan is to get a number of episodes lined up before the show returns in 2025. "There would be too many gaps, and the fans don't love that. So they're really trying to put us in a lineup where we can give eight episodes in a row with no interruption, and so I appreciate it for that reason," Eric Wintersaid regarding the coming season.

Currently, story details for season 7 remain scarce, however, several different plot threads are likely to be explored when the show returns. Showrunner Hawley, in a previous interview, teased a bigger season 7, saying:

"...we know we have some big shoes to fill after season six. We took some big swings and I love that we keep challenging ourselves and, look, we do even better, but yet at the same time, how do we just lean more into how much everybody loves these characters? I feel super lucky that we get to have fun every week, even if we do some stuff that’s high stakes or tragic or whatever, that tonally, because we do everything, it allows us to really give you an episode every week that just really keeps you on the edge of your seat."

The Rookie is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.

The Rookie

Starting over isn't easy, especially for John Nolan who, after a life-altering incident, is pursuing his dream of joining the LAPD. As their oldest rookie, he's met with skepticism from those who see him as just a walking midlife crisis.

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