The Rookie Officially Unveils First Look At Season 9's History-Making Episode

Custom Image by Milica Djordjevic Published Oct 1, 2026, 1:48 PM EDT Ana Dumaraog is a Writer and Editor at Screen Rant, where she expertly covers Network TV offerings, among other things She has spearheaded the effort to make the site an authority on broadcast shows, initially starting with The Big Bang Theory franchise, NCIS, and One Chicago before taking on the specialization in general. Ana has also covered a wide-spread of topics in the past — from franchises like, the MCU and Star Wars, to classic TV favorites, such as Frasier and MASH. Ana brings clarity and enthusiasm to every story she tackles—whether reporting on new releases or offering deep dives into fan-favorite franchises. Her coverage translates complex entertainment developments into engaging, audience-focused content. Sign in to your ScreenRant account The Rookie is hitting a major milestone, and it's going to be a fun celebration. As ABC's fall 2026 lineup starts to premiere, some of the network's biggest hits aren't returning until after a few more months. Following its scheduling approach in previous years, the Disney-owned broadcaster is delaying several series to the midseason, including High Potential season 3, Will Trent season 5, and The Rookie season 9. Despite the delay, the cast and crew of the Alexi Hawley-created series have already been back on set for production. This ensures that when The Rookie season 9 returns, it will have enough episodes to roll out every week without any extended breaks. While this is typically fine, with viewers now used to having to wait for new episodes of the ABC procedural throughout the fall, things are more complicated for this cycle, considering the predicament that Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen were in when season 8 wrapped up. Beyond the resolution for that cliffhanger, The Rookie has more reasons to celebrate. As shared by Eric Winter on his official Instagram account are snippets of The Rookie's upcoming 150th episode. While the images are taken during filming break, it offers some idea of what to expect from the milestone, including the fact that everyone will be featured in it. For context, The Rookie already has 144 episodes, so the special outing won't be the season opener. Check out the photos below: Interestingly, however, Bailey Nune is not present in the images, which raises questions about her whereabouts. It's worth noting that Jenna Dewan is currently competing on Dancing with the Stars, which originally posed concerns about her character's fate in the series. That said, those were eventually squashed with the confirmation that she is allowed to do both projects. The fact that the shows are on ABC arguably makes the coordination easier, but it's still curious where she is during the filming of The Rookie's 150th episode. It's difficult to predict what exactly is going to happen in the aforementioned episode. At this point, it's safe to say that Tim and Lucy are already back at Mid-Wilrshire after ther kidnapping in The Rookie season 8 finale, which means that the story may not have anything to do with their abduction. Perhaps it will have something to do with any of the long-running narratives in the series, such as John Nolan's attempt to put Oscar and Liam behind bars. For context, The Rookie's 100th episode was about Nolan and Bailey's wedding. Another way that Hawley and his team can approach the new milestone may have to do with the launch of its second spinoff — Jay Elliis' The Rookie: North. It has already been confirmed that there is at least one crossover between the shows, and it might be for the flagship's milestone outing. Whatever the case may be, it's one thing for fans to look forward to when The Rookie finally returns.