The Rookie’s pilot episode introduced a romance between Nolan and Chen that would have ruined the series if it had continued past Season 1.
ABC’s crime drama The Rookie almost got overshadowed by a Big Romance™ in Season 1. A disastrous pairing for Nathan Fillion’s John Nolan nearly doomed the series as it was still trying to find its audience. If the unpopular romance had continued, the series wouldn’t have lasted past the first season, let alone long enough for The Rookie to earn a spinoff.
Nolan started the show as a 40-year-old rookie police officer who befriended two fellow recruits. One of them, Lucy Chen (as played by Dark Matter’s Melissa O’Neil) was revealed at the end of the pilot to be Nolan’s secret girlfriend. It was a clear attempt to imbue The Rookie with a romance subplot like many other procedurals. But instead of Officer Chen and Nolan launching a thousand shippers, fans were not happy.
Why John Nolan and Lucy Chen Felt Mismatched
Part of the problem with Nolan and Chen’s romance was that so much of the series is about how John Nolan is so old for an LAPD rookie. A 20-year age gap between characters is already a hurdle for some shippers, but the constant attention drawn to Nolan’s age made the relationship feel just north of creepy. Chen was Nolan’s peer at the time, but something about the whole thing felt off to the fans — even those primed to see any Nathan Fillion character as the only love interest that matters.
But it wasn’t just the age gap that made the pairing fail. The character Chen has the most on-screen chemistry with is Tim Bradford (played by Eric Winter). If any Chen relationship is the “endgame,” it’s that one, because they probably won’t get together until the show ends. Bradford would never “organically” start a romance with her, showrunner Alexi Hawley told TVLine at the end of Season 2, when Bradford was Chen’s training officer. There was no question then that the relationship would be inappropriate — but maybe not so much now.
Do Nolan And Chen Get Back Together?
Chen is no longer Bradford’s rookie, meaning Bradford became the love interest the writers want fans to want for Chen. It was also the relationship she couldn’t have for a long time, which traditionally makes for good TV drama. With each successive episode in Season 4, Bradford and Chen slowly became the ideal model for a slow-burn relationship.
Where O’Neil’s and Winter’s chemistry is electric, the chemistry between her and Fillion is less so. Even when they were supposed to be a couple, they felt more like siblings than romantic partners. That chemistry is now one of the better friendships on The Rookie, especially since Chen’s roommate and pal Jackson West was killed off when Titus Makin Jr. left the show. Nolan has a very fatherly vibe, and that works best with the other rookies and his peers on the force.
Yet Nolan and Chen’s regrettable romance could still make for story fodder as Bradford and Chen have crossed that line Hawley was talking about with a long-awaited kiss in the Season 4 finale. And now that Chenford is finally a reality, it could put some conflict back in Bradford and Nolan’s relationship. But it would allow for Nolan to run interference with these two should the story demand it. If Nolan is able to help Bradford and Chen through a rough patch, that would fit with the type of friend and colleague he’s become through the years.
Nathan Fillion may be the series lead, but he’s not the only “star” anymore. As the show goes on, The Rookie is less about John Nolan and more about the ensemble. The (now former) rookie in his 40s is not the playboy heartthrob. He’s the leader of their little band and a trusted friend they can rely on, and he’s best with an outside love interest like Bailey. A romance between him and any of the core group would have altered that dynamic in a way the series might not recover from — and which the series narrowly avoided by breaking up Nolan and Chen.
