The Rookie got some good news thanks to ABC ordering a renewal, which means John Nolan and Co. will be back for a third season. The show has gotten respectable ratings over the years, but the official order for The Rookie to return in the 2020-2021 TV season should come as a relief for fans. As it turns out, star Nathan Fillion is pretty excited as well.
In the wake of the renewal for Season 3 (which came along with some bad news for several other ABC shows), Nathan Fillion took to social media to share his reaction to The Rookie returning for a third season:
Congratulations to some of the most incredible talent I’ve had the pleasure of working with. Cast, crew, writers, guests- it’s all an embarrassment of riches and I am truly grateful to be a part of your team. I’ll see you all in Season 3!
Nathan Fillion praised the full Rookie team in his reaction to the renewal, and fans are likely feeling the same gratitude thanks to the news that more Rookie is on the way after the Season 2 finale twist that saw Fillion's Nolan framed as a dirty cop by a former friend who betrayed him.
The Rookie was lucky enough to finish filming its full second season before production shutdowns forced early ends to other shows in the 2019-2020 TV season, so Season 2 got to end on the kind of cliffhanger always guaranteed to keep fans on the edges of their seats instead of something potentially more underwhelming. That said, the profound betrayal in the penultimate episode wouldn't have been the worst finale cliffhanger.
The framing of John Nolan that did end up closing Season 2 may mean that The Rookie won't have to deal with Nolan being promoted too far out of rookie status any time soon, although the showrunner does have a plan to address that potential problem. Due to his age, Nolan will probably always be the oldest rookie at every stage of his career at the LAPD, assuming his LAPD career can continue after however the Season 3 premiere handles the cliffhanger!
Although The Rookie's return for Season 3 has been confirmed, there are no details at this point regarding when it will hit the airwaves. ABC only confirmed that The Rookie was renewed for the 2020-2021 season. The first two seasons debuted in the fall, but only time will tell how soon television production can go back to business as usual over the summer. The Rookie isn't exactly a small-scale show!
Despite the uncertainties about when The Rookie will return for Season 3 and how it will resolve Nolan's sticky situation, the gif that Nathan Fillion chose for his celebratory Instagram post says it all:
If you want to celebrate the Rookie renewal by reliving some of John Nolan's adventures so far, you can find the full second season streaming on Hulu for now. If you're more in the mood for a Nathan Fillion fix, you can find the full series of Firefly streaming on Hulu as well, although watching the full series of Firefly will take less time than The Rookie Season 2.
For some viewing options coming to the small screen in the not-too-distant future, check out our 2020 summer premiere schedule!
