Spoiler alert: The following article contains spoilers from The Rookie season 7, episode 11, "Speed."

Just when The Rookie is getting good again, it risks recycling old habits with the return of one villain whose unfinished arc significantly hurt season 6. The ABC police procedural TV series has featured various antagonists over the course of its seven seasons. Some have been quite successful and notable, while others have been less consequential or have lingered for too long when The Rookie could have moved on to newer, better villains. Unfortunately, the show's latest Big Bad falls into the "overstayed their welcome" category (and their opening setup doesn't warrant their longevity, like Rosalind Dyer's did).

Following new episodes of Will Trent season 3 on Tuesdays at 8 pm ET, The Rookie season 7 airs at 9 pm ET on ABC.

The Rookie's last great villain was La Fiera in season 3. The drug cartel leader's reign came to an end during the season 4 premiere, though, when Lopez shot and killed her. So, it's been a while since The Rookie has produced a dominant, intriguing antagonist. Elijah Stone came close, but the series drew out his storyline, and he never received true closure. Now, in season 7, The Rookie is falling back into bad habits and revisiting an old villain whose arc should've concluded a long time ago instead of taking advantage of other potential Big Bads.

Bridget Regan Reprises Her Role As Monica In The Rookie Season 7, Episode 11

Monica Was Last Seen In The Season 6 Finale

After evading the LAPD in Argentina during The Rookie season 6 finale, Bridget Regan returns as Monica in season 7, episode 11. Her appearance is a shock, given that there was no indication that she was involved in the "case of the week." Monica's resurfacing is also surprising because the characters haven't mentioned her since the beginning of season 7, when Lopez revealed that she was spotted by Interpol in Bolivia. Nevertheless, the villain is finally back.

A woman, "Cassie," links The Rookie season 7 back to Monica in episode 11. She poses as a pregnant enger on the bus that two bombers take hostage. At first, everything seems normal with the new character until she is set free, retreats to her car, pulls out the wallet of a government employee who was on the bus, s his ID to a data server, and then calls Monica. "Cassie," whose real name is Denise, works for Monica, who orchestrated the whole ordeal on the bus. It's unclear why Monica wanted the man's ID, but all should be revealed soon.

Monica Is Being Set Up As The Rookie Season 7's Big Bad, And That's Disappointing

The ABC Series Has So Many Other Great Villains To Choose From

Even though Monica's return in The Rookie season 7 is exciting at first, it becomes disappointing when learning the show is continuing to drag out her storyline by making her the Big Bad once again. During an interview with Us Weekly, Richard T. Jones, who plays Lieutenant Grey, previewed what's to come for Monica. He revealed:

"[Monica's] a very destructive person. [She] is manipulating the system fully and completely. The evidence starts heading towards that situation where we're trying to figure it out [what Monica wants]. We don't know who it might be, but the finale is the biggest reveal for us ... [The LAPD doesn't know] how much she's stirring the pot, how many sides she's playing in this whole thing until the finale episode ... [Oscar Hutchinson's] hands are also in the pot. Somehow those two forces will come together. The connection between the two, it will not be as clear as people might want it to be by season's end."

Instead of finishing Monica's arc and moving on to other villains that The Rookie season 7 has set up (who will undoubtedly return), the show is seemingly repeating what happened last season. Monica, despite her apparent significance in the series, has time and time again been grouped together with other, less important antagonists when she should've been the main focus back in seasons 5 or 6. Bridget Regan's Rookie character has great potential. However, the police procedural TV show has failed to take advantage of that since the beginning, and now it's too late.

It would've been much better if the ABC police procedural series had concluded Monica's storyline earlier on, while it was still fresh, just as it did Jason's in The Rookie season 7, episode 5. It's time that the writers move on from her, even if it means rushing her ending. Unfortunately, Monica's (and Oscar's) reign might continue well into season 8, based on Jones' comments about the season 7 finale.

The Rookie Should Have Ended Monica's Villain Arc A Long Time Ago

Monica Has Overstayed Her Welcome

Despite being missing for 10 episodes and the fact that her villain arc should've ended during the unnecessarily bad season 6 finale of The Rookie, Monica continues to terrorize the LAPD in season 7. The ABC police procedural series is failing to learn from its mistakes. Consequently, the season 7 finale might very well be a repeat of the previous season's last episode, which was a convoluted mess stuffed with one too many antagonists. The Rookie should quickly wrap up Monica's story and move on to other potential Big Bads (like Liam Glasser or Seth Ridley). Unfortunately, it won't.

Source: Us Weekly