Note: This story contains spoilers from “The Rookie” Season 7, Episode 6.
“The Rookie” shook up the status quo between Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil) and Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) in Season 7, Episode 6, which followed the Mid-Wilshire crew to a glitzy charity gala — and then followed exes Lucy and Tim upstairs for an unexpected hookup.
The fan-favorite couple broke up in Season 6, a shocking turn of events for a duo with a five-season slow burn, from their origins as Training Officer and trainee in Season 1 to one of the most shipped couples on TV. That long road to romance also means they typically have “beautiful communication,” as O’Neil described in an interview with TheWrap.
However, after their unexpected hookup, that communication totally failed them and they both laid there awkwardly waiting for the other one to speak, until Lucy even tried to sneak out. So why pull the disappearing act?
“Well, probably a dual thing,” O’Neil said. “Meaning, ‘I don’t want to disturb you from sleeping. [Laughs] Also, ‘S—, I probably shouldn’t have done that and I don’t want to get roped in,’ because, let’s be real, it was probably really great.”
“In my brain, I’m thinking she wants to get out of there because she doesn’t want to get roped into a continued morning that’s going to continue into food, and then into the afternoon and maybe into the evening,” the actress explained. “Listen, I don’t know about you, but I’ve been there, and I’m like, let’s just not have this continue to snowball forward. I think that’s where that was, and I feel like she’s got a good reason for that! Because last night, I mean, she tried to say something, she tried to use her words and it failed wonderfully. It failed wonderfully.”
“The Rookie” debuts new episodes Tuesdays on ABC, streaming Wednesdays on Hulu.
