ABC's popular police drama series The Rookie has become one of the network's weekly institutions across its six seasons thus far, and now the Nathan Fillion vehicle has concluded for season 7. Debuting in 2018, The Rookie follows John Nolan, an average man from a small town who pursues his dream of becoming an LAPD officer by becoming the oldest rookie in the force's history. The series cleverly uses its character-driven premise to spin the usual procedural format, and Fillion's performance as Nolan is one of the show's brightest aspects.

Garnering generally positive reviews since its debut, The Rookie is one of the network's premiere programs and often uses its elevated production to deliver a product of a much higher quality than most other primetime cop shows. In 2022, a spinoff was commissioned entitled The Rookie: Feds, but it was unceremoniously canceled after one season due to the Hollywood strikes of 2023. Even The Rookie season 6 was delayed by the strikes, but the brief pause in production didn't affect the series' overall popularity. With that in mind, season 7 of The Rookie also captured the attention of fans.

The Rookie Season 7 Critical Reception

Season 7 Has Critics Divided

Audience retention is key for a long-running series, and The Rookie is certainly maintaining that.

Though the series is definitely a crowd-pleaser for ABC, The Rookie season 7's critical reception is a bit divided. That is likely due to the fact that, at seven seasons into a procedural show, many of the more personal storylines have been stretched out to keep viewers coming back, which is not always a good thing, but the season also played with its format and brought in stellar guest stars, which works in its favor.

Screen Rant called the season "lackluster" overall, and that is largely because of so many storylines continuing to spin their wheels. Many of the storylines set up in early in the season, or even earlier in season 6, failed to come to a conclusion in The Rookie Season 7. They have only teased more to come in season 8.

Comic Book Resources found episode 15 to be a bright spot in the season, as it highlighted some of the best aspects of the show being a long-running series that can afford to play with its format.

It's an episode that takes a serious storyline involving a missing person and a psychiatric hospital, but it infuses it with humor thanks to the inclusion of the Ghost Files documentary team. CBR called it "a fun, silly episode," but also noted how well it works to allow the audience to see how the characters are viewed by others in-universe, thanks to the documentary format. It also wraps up a longer story arc and allows some of the characters to open up to one another emotionally, helping to further several plots along. It's a nearly perfect outing in season 7.

The season 7 episode "Speed" also provided the series with season-high ratings, with more than 8 million people tuning in live and catching it in the first three days of streaming. Ratings throughout the season were fairly consistent overall as well with an average of 3.1 million people tuning in to watch live every week (via TV Series Finale). That's down from 3.3 million people for season 6, but that is not a huge drop for something in its seventh season. Audience retention is key for a long-running series, and The Rookie is certainly maintaining that.

Where To Watch The Rookie Season 7

The Rookie Is Available To Stream

Hit shows like The Rookie are often the crown jewels of any network's fall lineup. However, the seventh season of the series began airing in January of 2025 on Tuesday nights, with its episodes made available to stream on Hulu the next day. While individual episodes can be purchased from digital retailers like Amazon and AppleTV, the series is still available to stream as well.

The entire series, including The Rookie season 7, is available to stream on Hulu.

The Rookie season 7 concluded on May 13, 2025.

The Rookie Season 7 Cast

Expect The Ensemble To Return

Characters come and go quite frequently in shows like The Rookie, but season 6 didn't introduce too many shakeups to change season 7's ensemble. Most of the main cast will reprised their roles in season 7, including Nathan Fillion's return to lead the cast as rookie-turned-veteran cop John Nolan. Jenna Dewan did a few episodes in season 7 due to her real-life pregnancy, but Bailey Nune did not miss the entire season.

One The Rookie season 7 departure is that of Tru Valentino who has played Aaron Thorsen since season 4, and no reason has been given for his leaving the series so abruptly. The season added a few new cast , both of whom play incoming rookies in the LAPD. Deric Augustine plays Texan, Miles, while Patrick Keleher plays the quick-thinking Seth, who is adept at diffusing tough situations. Both Keleher and Augustine will be playing recurring roles in season 7 and beyond.

The entire main cast of The Rookie season 7 includes:

The Rookie Season 7 Story

What Happened In Season 7?

Though The Rookie is still very much a classic procedural series in many ways, the ending of season 6 did leave a few major threads that had to be addressed in the episodes. The most pressing was the escape of Oscar from prison. While his escape was not a plot explored in every episode, the end of the season did revisit it, and leaves the door wide open for Oscar to return.

The Rookie season 7 provided a nice balance of cases of the week and overarching storylines...

Throughout season 7, alongside the cases of the week, the team of police officers also dealt with recurring villain Monica, played by Bridget Regan. Regan has made a habit of playing compelling villains on network television, and this is no different. She is a thorn in the side of the team throughout the season, even returning with a tease about her freedom in the finale.

Of course, part of the draw for The Rookie season 7 is the relationships among the cast as well. Nolan finishes his time training yet another rookie this season, which means there is room to both promote cast and bring in new ones. Lucy and Tim also made some progress in their relationship after breaking up in season 6, and the series revisited several characters from the past to close out some even older storylines.

The Rookie season 7 provided a nice balance of cases of the week and overarching storylines for long-time audience .

The Rookie Season 7 Ending Explained And Spoilers

The Rookie Season 7 Leaves A Lot Of Threads Dangling

The Rookie season 7's ending sees the culmination of a few storylines throughout the season.

It is revealed in the finale that Nolan has been attempting to track Oscar ever since his break from prison in season 6. When he is able to find him, Nolan is actually taken hostage by Oscar, leading to a confrontation and a helicopter rescue for the fugitive in the desert.

Monica also continues to escape punishment for her crimes in The Rookie season 7. After stealing a key card earlier in the season that gives her access to a secure government facility, she uses the information she has from the theft of files to bargain for her freedom with the government, making a surprise visit to the police precinct as a free woman in the finale.

Lucy adjusts to her new promotion to sergeant in the finale because it means a big change. The only sergeant position is on the night shift, making her change her entire sleep and work schedule to take the promotion. Of course, her promotion comes with a visit to her home from Tim, who cooks her breakfast after her long shift and begins listing all the reasons he is ready for them to get back together, only to find she is asleep due to her own exhaustion. It makes it clear that the fan favorite Chenford couple is not done.

How The Rookie Season 7 Finale Sets Up Season 8

Many The Rookie Season 7 Finale Stories Should Resurface

All of those storylines in The Rookie season 7 finale help to pave the way for season 8. The team will have to continue the hunt for Oscar and will likely be even more motivated to do so now that he has killed someone and previously took one of their own hostage. Likewise, they will have to see how Monica's deal for immunity affects them moving forward. Will she continue to evade any punishment for the crimes she will likely continue to commit? While both of those criminals are very different, the series will be able to keep them both on for longer arcs while still establishing new cases every week.

Tim revisiting his breakup with Lucy in the season 7 finale also means there is likely another relationship change for them on the horizon. They both have made huge changes to their lives in season 7 and are in a place where a relationship between them would work, so The Rookie season 8 will likely explore that possibility.