Note: This story contains spoilers from “The Rookie” Season 7, Episode 1.
“The Rookie” is back after a six-month hiatus, but fans who are excited to return to the Mid-Wilshire Division might be surprised and saddened to see a familiar face is missing. Tru Valentino’s Officer Aaron Thorsen, who joined the series in a recurring role in Season 4 and became a series regular in Seasons 5 and 6, left the show between seasons in August 2024. That means that though there was no fanfare to his exit, the Season 6 finale was his final episode.
At least for now. The Season 7 premiere gives a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it update on the character’s whereabouts, and it very much leaves the door open for Officer Thorsen to return in the future. During a quieter moment in the action-packed episode, John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) asks Celina Juarez (Lisseth Chavez) how Aaron’s doing and she reveals that he’s “over in North Hollywood, settling in and happy that no one at the station knows he was a patient of Blair’s.”
That’s great news for anyone who’s hoping Aaron might make a return to Mid-Wilshire in the future: he’s still alive, still on the force and even still in Los Angeles, working very nearby at a station just a few miles away from Mid-Wilshire.
There’s not much to go on, but it sure sounds like Aaron transferred stations in the fallout from the scandal caused by Monica Stevens (Bridet Regan) and Blair London’s corruption scheme, which cost the lives of officers. Dr. Blair London (Danielle Campbell) was introduced in Season 6 as an LAPD psychiatrist assigned to counsel officers, including Thorsen and Tim Bradford (Eric Winter).
Unfortunately for Thorsen and the rest of her patients, Dr. London was coerced by Monica to leak confidential information obtained during therapy sessions in order to destabilize the LAPD for personal gain. It’s understandable that a young officer newly out of his rookie career might want a fresh start after something like that and again, it decidedly leaves the door open for future appearances.
In fact, both Valentino and series creator Alexi Hawley have said they’re open to the potential for Aaron to return to “The Rookie” in the future. For his part, Valentino opened up about his exit via his Instagram stories back in August.
“I will always cherish my time on The Rookie but couldn’t be more excited for what the future has in store,” he wrote. “I adore the friends and relationships made while being there.”
“You never know who may pop back up in the Mid-Wilshire precinct,” he continued. “Until then, 7 Adam 19, this is Officer Thorsen, over and out!”
More recently, Hawley seemed enthusiastic about the prospect, telling ScreenRant that “of course” there’s a chance the character could return. “Tru is a great actor, and he was a huge part of our show for several seasons, and so we’d love to have him back in some capacity. It just ultimately felt like, creatively, for where the show was going, that we needed to pivot a bit.”
“The Rookie” airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.
