Spoilers ahead for Season 6, Episode 6 of The Rookie, “Secrets and Lies.”
The latest episode of The Rookie brought some heartbreak for Chenford and fans of the relationship. It took the series quite a while to finally get Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen together and, while there has been previous Chenford conflict, they always managed to work out their differences. Unfortunately, following Tim’s latest solo venture involving his military past and his lying to Lucy, he's not only facing repercussions career-wise but relationship-wise as well. Now, Eric Winter is sharing his thoughts on what’s next for Tim.
The final minutes of Season 6, Episode 6, “Secrets and Lies,” saw Tim breaking things off with Lucy, saying that they couldn’t go back to the way they were after what had happened with his military buddy and having lied to her about it. It was definitely an unexpected and emotional development, especially since the two seemed like a strong couple. Eric Winter spoke to TVLine about the aftermath and how Tim will be handling it, and it sounds he may come out a better person on the other side of this:
I think it’s going to take some time figuring out who he is. Accepting his failures. Therapy. It’s going to take Tim doing things that he has never been comfortable doing before in order to dig into his past and why he is the way he is. It’s very cliché, I know, but you really have to come to terms with who you are and love yourself before you can go out there and love somebody else and give them your very best.
Based on social media, many were sad to see Chenford to break up, especially considering how long it took for them to realize their feelings for each other and get together. But perhaps this breakup could be what Tim needs. He was going off alone in the last couple of episodes, as he was chasing after Ray Watkins, a man from his military past who was responsible for killing two guys in Tim’s unit. He risked his career, and the careers of both Lucy and Lopez for looping them in. At this point, it seems like he just needs to figure things out for himself.
As for what other growth we might see from Tim Bradford, Eric Winter revealed that fans will be getting a somewhat different side of the character. On that note, the actor went on to describe what he believes will be a more "humbled" Tim:
You’re going to get Tim, that has been humbled, for sure. He still asserts himself when he needs to, and still steps up at the right moments, but he has been humbled both in his personal life and in the way he’s approaching things going forward.
Fans will have to wait three weeks to see what happens next, as The Rookie will be taking a brief hiatus. However, the promo for the next episode (which was shared on YouTube) does tease a bit of what Tim’s up against and, between being bumped back to patrol and having a psychologist riding in his shop, it’s going to be tough. Considering his Sergeant status, this cannot be easy for him, though this could be the start of a compelling redemption story.
On the Chenford front, there's a chance that romance isn't necessarily out of the picture for good. Like Eric Winter said, Tim just needs to figure out himself and hopefully learn from what he did. There are still a handful of episodes left of the sixth season, so it’s always possible Lucy and Tim could get back together by the finale or possibly Season 7 (if The Rookie is renewed like Grey's Anatomy and other big shows). Fans will just have to find out when the series returns on Tuesday, April 30 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC as part of the 2024 TV schedule. You can also catch up on installments by streaming them with a Hulu subscription.
