The Rookie Season 8 premiere serves up action but leans on familiar plots

Collider says ABC's The Rookie remains entertaining in its Season 8 premiere, delivering adrenaline-heavy episodes while increasingly relying on storylines the series has used before.

Season 8 opens with members of the Mid‑Wilshire precinct working with Monica Stevens, who is now with the LAPD, on an overseas sting that was set in Prague in an effort to nab a weapons trafficker. The show continues to showcase high‑octane chases and fights and introduces creepy antagonists such as Ezra Kaine (David Krumholtz), but some returning elements — from comic relief like Skip Tracer Randy (Flula Borg) to the announced return of Oscar Hutchinson (Matthew Glave) — feel overused. Reviewers also call out illogical choices in the plot, including firefighter/EMT Bailey Nune (Jenna Dewan) traveling with John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) on the investigation and an unclear leadership shake‑up at Mid‑Wilshire, even as the season makes progress on the Chenford storyline and develops new partnerships among Miles Penn, Celina Juarez, Nolan, Angela Lopez and Nyla Harper.

What is confirmed is that Oscar Hutchinson will return later in the season, and some plot complications "might make more sense further on" as episodes unfold. New episodes air on Tuesday nights on ABC and are available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.

Key Topics

Culture, The Rookie, Nathan Fillion, Monica Stevens, Lapd, Chenford