'The Rookie's Chenford Replacement Is Still a Complete Failure

Published Oct 28, 2026, 7:24 PM EDT Jeffrey is a freelance features writer at Collider. He is an MPA-accredited entertainment journalist and a Tomatometer-approved critic based in the LA area. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science in Radio, TV, & Film and a Bachelor of Arts in Theater. One of the most popular aspects of The Rookie is the whirlwind romance of Lucy Chen (Melissa O'Neil) and Tim Bradford (Eric Winter), dubbed Chenford by the fanbase, which has blossomed over the last eight seasons. Lucy and Tim started as a rookie recruit and a training officer, before they eventually caught feelings and began a romantic relationship. Unfortunately, circumstances led to their breakup in Season 6 before they got back together in Season 8. However, instead of getting Lucy and Tim back together in Season 7, the show’s writers created a new romantic pairing for a different couple that was not a worthy Chenford replacement. We’re talking about the romance between Celina Juarez (Lisseth Chavez) and "Daddy Cop" singer Rodge Bronson (Zander Hawley). How Did the Cold Open Gag Become a Recurring Character? During Seasons 5 and 6, episodes of The Rookie showed Officer John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) being menaced by a garage band singer who serenades John with a catchy earworm, "Cop Cuties" (aka the "Daddy Cop" song). The scenes were isolated to the cold open sequences for their respective episodes, and they worked well within The Rookie's framework and its sometimes kooky, comedic style. Rodge Bronson finally received a full storyline and was properly introduced in the Season 7 episode "Chaos Agent," where it's revealed that he and Celina are dating, much to Nolan's comedic disappointment. Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which The Rookie Character Are You? Nolan · Chen · Bradford · Lopez Answer eight quick questions and we will tell you which one you are. Eight seasons in, the Mid-Wilshire shift has turned into one of the best ensembles on network television, and these four are the ones everybody argues about. 🚔John Nolan(Nathan Fillion) 🎭Lucy Chen(Melissa O'Neil) 🏅Tim Bradford(Eric Winter) 🕵Angela Lopez(Alyssa Diaz) FIND YOUR CHARACTER → 01 Why would you join up in the first place? Pick the one that sounds most like you. AA complete change of career. BTo be the best at something. CBecause the job needs doing properly. DTo work the cases that matter. NEXT QUESTION → 02 How would your friends describe you? Be honest. AOptimistic and a bit too nice. BDriven and very capable. CStrict, and softer than I look. DBlunt and completely reliable. NEXT QUESTION → 03 What would you be like as a training officer? One answer only. AEncouraging, possibly too encouraging. BI remember what it felt like. CHard on you, and for a reason. DStraight to the point. NEXT QUESTION → 04 How do you handle authority? Pick the closest answer. AI ask a lot of questions. BI work with it until I outrank it. CI am the authority. DI say my piece, then do the job. NEXT QUESTION → 05 Pick a shift. No wrong answers here. ADays, with a proper lunch. BWhatever gets me the most experience. CEarly. I will be there first. DWhatever gets the case closed. NEXT QUESTION → 06 What is your relationship with the rules? Pick the closest answer. AThere is usually a kinder way. BLearn them, then use them. CThe rules are there for a reason. DI bend them when people need it. NEXT QUESTION → 07 How do you handle a bad day at work? Think about the last one. ATalk it through with somebody. BGo again tomorrow, better. CTrain until it goes away. DGo home to my family. NEXT QUESTION → 08 What do you want out of the job? Last one. This is the one that decides it. ATo prove it is never too late. BTo go as far as I possibly can. CTo make everybody around me better. DTo get the right result. REVEAL MY CHARACTER → Roll Call, Mid-Wilshire You Are…The Rookie started as a show about a man starting over at forty-five and turned into a proper ensemble drama somewhere around season three. Here is which of them you are, and the case for yours being the best of the four. John NolanYou started late and you are not embarrassed about it. Nolan walks into the academy at forty-five surrounded by people half his age, and the show is honest that this is both his biggest disadvantage and the only reason he is any good at the job. You are relentlessly decent, and people keep underestimating how far that gets you. The series was inspired by William Norcross, who really did join the LAPD in his forties. Nathan Fillion has played him for eight seasons and the show has outlasted most of what ABC launched alongside it. Your flaw is wanting to solve the human problem when somebody just needs you to do the police work. Lucy ChenYou are better at this than people expect and you intend to keep proving it. Chen goes from rookie to the best undercover officer in the division, which works because she is genuinely good at becoming somebody else and genuinely bad at pretending she does not care. You are ambitious in a way that lifts the people around you rather than stepping over them. Her undercover episodes are the ones the fandom rewatches, and the show knows it. Chenford has carried more internet discourse than any other relationship on network television this decade. Your risk is taking on the hardest version of every assignment just to see if you can. Tim BradfordYou are hard on people because you have decided that is what caring looks like. Bradford is introduced as the worst training officer in the building and slowly revealed as the one who takes the job most seriously, which are the same fact seen from two angles. You hold a high standard and the people who meet it would follow you anywhere. The shop talk and the tests he sets his rookies became the show's most imitated running bit. Eric Winter has said the character works because the audience is allowed to find him annoying first. Your weakness is that discipline is easier to give people than warmth, and you know which one they need. Angela LopezYou said what you wanted and then you went and got it. Lopez wanted detective from the first episode, said so out loud, and got there by being better at the work than the people who were quieter about wanting it. You are direct, which some people find abrupt and the rest find enormously restful. She is the character the show most often trusts with the actual detective plotting. Her storyline with Wesley gave the series its best running argument about what the job costs at home. Your flaw is that being right quickly is not the same as bringing everybody with you. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ It was a good episode where Nolan and Rodge finally found some common ground and made amends. Nolan learned to lighten up about Rodge's music, and Rodge learned that he needs to be a little more self-aware about how his observational songs make people angry. The storyline worked because of the comedy rule of threes, serving as a strong payoff and conclusion to the previous gags involving Rodge. The problem is that he stayed past his expiration date. Rodge Doesn't Work as Well as a Recurring Character in 'The Rookie' The “Daddy Cop” joke was a fun recurring gag that happened once in Season 5 and again in Season 6. One more episode with Rodge in Season 7 was acceptable, but the Rodge and Celina relationship continued into Season 8. Rodge simply existed as a recurring gag character beforehand, and he never seemed like a character who would work well as a long-term regular. Plus, something always seems off about the Rodge and Celina romance. Maybe it’s because in all of his appearances, Rodge doesn’t come off as a three-dimensional character. Aside from his penchant for writing catchy tunes, Rodge plays like a decidedly one-note individual: the sensitive, caring boyfriend and musician. Additionally, something felt off when Celina tried to write Rodge a song for his birthday present in Season 7, and when Rodge tried to console Celina when she was dealing with inferiority issues in Season 8. Their relationship feels awkward, and it does not appear natural. Rodge cannot emotionally reassure or connect with Celina when she needs the most encouragement. Rodge and Celina Are Still an Item Heading Into Season 9 Image via ABC Rodge and Celina were still together as The Rookie Season 8 wrapped up, and there has been no indication that they might be breaking up before Season 9. That said, characters in The Rookie have broken up off-screen before without any proper closure until years later. Case in point: Tim and his ex-girlfriend, Rachel Hall (Jasmine Matthews), from Season 2. It took five seasons for Rachel to show up and for the series to tie up that loose end. Now, in defense of Zander Hawley, his dad, series showrunner Alexi Hawley, Lisseth Chavez, and the writers, some of the anger over Rodge and Celina could be the residual frustration over the failure to get Chenford back together in Season 7. Most of the other main characters had their own established relationships, and now it was Celina's turn. However, a long-term relationship between Celina and the "Cop Cuties" singer for three seasons was not something Rookie fans wanted or asked for. Maybe Rodge still has some tricks up his sleeve and can finally woo us over to his side, much like he did with John Nolan. The Rookie returns for its long-awaited ninth season next year on ABC.