The Rookie cast changes addressed following season 8 finale twists - who will return?
“I do think part of early writers room for Season 9 is going to be figuring out exactly what Grey’s next chapter is.”
Richard T Jones will return as Wade Grey and no series regulars will be leaving the show following season 8's finale twists, The Rookie showrunner Alexi Hawley has confirmed.
The season 8 finale, which aired on Monday night (4 May) on ABC, left Grey (Richard T Jones) – who spent season 8 working on Garza’s task force to bring down assassin Monica Stevens while Tim took over as Watch Commander – with an uncertain professional future after Monica was killed.
Asked about what’s next for Grey in an interview with Deadline, Hawley responded: "The task force is all but over. It was based around Monica (Bridget Regan), it was sort of our Blacklist homage. Now that she’s gone, the task force has no centre."
He added: "I do think part of early writers room for Season 9 is going to be figuring out exactly what Grey’s next chapter is."
Asked whether Jones or another series regular will be leaving the cast ahead of season 9, Hawley said: "No, we’re status quo. We like everybody, we’re making it work. Richard is a hugely important piece of the puzzle of our show."
He continued: "Again, without treading water, what are we going to do? As long as we treat it as an opportunity, I think we’ll figure out something fun to do, for sure."
The finale also delivered a surprising twist for Tim (Eric Winter) and Lucy (Melissa O’Neil), as Tim finally proposed to Lucy, only for the pair to be abducted by unknown assailants shortly after.
But the show probably wouldn't ever kill off a main character, Hawley assured fans.
"You never say never," he said. "At the end of the day, one of the things that I’ve always tried to lean into in the show is that you have to do the most dramatic thing possible when you can, even if it’s hard on the audience, like breaking Chenford up a few seasons ago, people were not fans of that."
He added: "But I felt like it was important to do that for the story. No, there’s no plan to do anything crazy right now, but never say never."
The Rookie airs in the UK on Sky Witness and NOW.
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Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.
