If you, like many fans, were frustrated by The Rookie S6, we have great news for you.
Nathan Fillion didn’t find himself stranded for too long after the finale of his hit series Castle, soon jumping into another big TV show, The Rookie, in 2018. Six seasons later, The Rookie is still going strong, with Season 7 in development currently, and after the downfall of the previous entry, the show’s creators are adamant about not repeating their mistakes in the future.
The Rookie S6 Messed Up Its Structure
There are essentially only two TV show structures for any series to choose from. The serialized format suggests one big continuity, with all episodes following the same story — whereas the episodic format suggests that every episode has a standalone little story, often with an overarching plot connecting them to one major storyline.
The Rookie was famously an episodic show for five first seasons, but for Season 6, the showrunners decided to switch things up and opted for the serialized approach. S6 mostly followed Monica Stevens’ ascension to power — and was unanimously called the worst season by the fans. The serialized format didn’t work out for The Rookie in the slightest, resulting in Season 6’s underwhelming reviews.
The Rookie S7 Will Return to Its Origins
After the failure of Season 6 which, thankfully, didn’t scare too many viewers away from the series, The Rookie is specifically not going to make the same mistake twice. Showrunner Alexi Hawley recently sat down with TVLine and talked upon Season 7 plans, pointing out that The Rookie would largely go back to the episodic format.
“I do think we’ll go back to being more of a standalone show with serialized elements because it’s going to be a longer season and I think people really do like that. Also, there are many different ways we tell stories — whether it’s the big event-type episodes, the more rom-com episodes, or with a big guest star — so it’ll be fun to go back to that,” Hawley shared.
It’s quite rare that we see showrunners learning from their downfalls, so this news is definitely very welcome. The Rookie was never meant for the serialized approach as its short and distinctly different stories have always been its strongest suit.
