Warning: SPOILERS for The Rookie season 7, episode 18, "The Good, The Bad, And The Oscar."

While season 7 of The Rookie season 7 finale, two of the series’ most well-known villains are set to continue complicating the lives of John Nolan and friends.

Speaking with ScreenRant, Hawley elaborates on the reason for keeping Matthew Glave’s Oscar Hutchinson in the wind. He takes Nolan hostage in The Rookie season 7 finale, but he escapes in a helicopter right as Nyla and a boy with a drone come to John’s rescue. According to showrunner Alexi Hawley, Oscar’s storyline isn’t ready to come to a close as long as the character’s ongoing role can be justified. In fact, he will likely continue to wreak havoc in The Rookie season 8.

Matthew is so brilliant, and it’s one of those cases that we’ve been lucky to have multiple times across the series. You write a character that, in theory, is meant to be a one-off, and then you cast an actor who comes in and is amazing, and you’re like, “I want to see them again.”

And so Oscar has always been a joy and a nemesis and super fun, but also really dangerous. I always love when we can bring him back. I don’t think we can keep him out there forever, just sort of not getting caught. So what is the next chapter of Oscar’s journey in season 8, and where does it go? I don’t know yet, but we’ll definitely see him again.

What Oscar’s Escape Means For The Rookie Season 8

He And Monica Will Continue To Terrorize The LAPD

From the very first season, Oscar Hutchinson has been considered as one of The Rookie’s best villains. Although The Rookie season 7 sets up ongoing storylines with Liam Glasser’s trial and the odd creation of a demonic AI, Oscar Hutchinson’s reappearance and subsequent escape for the season finale’s main conflict. Based on Hawley’s comments, Oscar didn’t merely escape to leave his story open-ended but rather because he’s already planned to recur in The Rookie season 8.

This becomes especially interesting given Monica’s appearance at the end of The Rookie season 7 finale, in which it’s revealed that she’s stolen sensitive information to coerce the LAPD into offering her an immunity deal. With both villains officially operating in the free world, there’s a strong chance that Oscar and Monica could forces to pursue greater schemes in the near future. Although Hawley may not have cemented Oscar’s future storyline just yet, his continued alliance with Monica would certainly prove to be a major thorn in Nolan’s side.

Our Take On Oscar’s Escape In The Rookie Season 7 Finale

He’s Available For Even Bigger Storylines Now

Oscar and Monica are already acquainted with one another, and his comments in the season 7 finale that Monica’s working on something big suggests the two have maintained some awareness of each other’s movements. The Rookie season 8 needs to follow up on a few characters, such as Patrick Keleher’s Officer Seth Ridley, but Oscar deserves a particularly notable throughline in the next season. As Hawley noted, he can’t stay in the wind forever. If the clock does run out on Oscar’s storyline any time soon, he needs to go out momentously enough to do his long-running legacy true justice.

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