‘The Rookie’ Showrunner Reveals Whether Tim’s Hacker Storyline Is Done

The Rookie Season 7, Episode 14, “Mad About Murder,” introduced a new storyline for Tim Bradford (Eric Winter). A hacker sent him a message, which spawned an investigation into the dark web, uncovering a killing spree in the city. However, the show did not close the arc properly since the hacker was never caught. Showrunner Alexi Hawley told Screen Rant that leaving the arc open is intentional, since they might need it in the future. “I think that’s one of those breadcrumbs that, when the time is right, we’ll bring back around. I love planting those seeds, and finding actors who come in to do a part [where] you’re like, ‘Oh God, we can’t lose them.’ Many of our great characters over the years were [found that way,],” he said, teasing a significant arc once the mysterious role was cast. Hawley talked about other instances where the show has fallen back on open arcs, saying:

“Oscar (Matthew Glave) was just meant to be a guy during a prison bus escape, and the second you see Matthew on screen, he’s special, and you’re like, ‘How do we bring Oscar back?’ [It was the] same thing with Monica (Bridget Regan), [and] several other characters–and some we’re still trying to find a way back to. We still love Elijah (Brandon Jay McLaren), but we just haven’t found an organic way back into his storyline. But you never know.”

What’s On the Horizon for Tim Bradford in ‘The Rookie’ Season 7?

Tim does not have much going on in his professional life as he settles into making a cop out of Miles (Deric Augustine). But in his personal life, he’s still trying to find a way to make up for his misstep with Chen (Melissa O’Neil). Hawley told TV Insider that while there is still some way to go before Tim and Lucy get together, Tim must work on himself. “I didn’t want to make it easy, partly because I felt like what Tim had done to her, the way he broke up with her, the way he punished himself by punishing her was fairly seismic. And I felt like it would be a disservice to the characters if we just had a couple of episodes of penalty box and then they were back together,” he said. Hawley teased their future, saying:

“I do think at their heart that there is an undeniable connection between the two of them, and part of it is just them sort of finding their way back towards each other whenever that happens..”

Tune in to ABC on Tuesdays to watch new episodes of The Rookie and see how Tim’s story unfolds this season.

The Rookie

Release Date

October 16, 2018

Network

ABC

Showrunner

Alexi Hawley

Directors

Tori Garrett, Chi-Yoon Chung, Michael Goi, Sylvain White, Lisa Demaine, Lanre Olabisi, Bill Johnson, David McWhirter, Liz Friedlander, Daniel Willis, Toa Fraser, Anne Renton, Jon Huertas, Cherie Nowlan, TK Shom, Rob Seidenglanz, Valerie Weiss, Barbara Brown, Charissa Sanjarernsuithikul, SJ Main Muñoz, Nelson McCormick, Marcus Stokes, Adam Davidson, Anna Mastro

Writers

Corey Miller, Bill Rinier, Zoe Cheng, Mary Trahan, Ally Seibert, Liz Alper, Nick Hurwitz, Racheal Seymour, Madeleine Coghlan, David Radcliff

Sources: Screen Rant, TV Insider