THE ROOKIE Commits To Telling Impactful Stories That Address Current Policing Issues Throughout Season 3

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede THE ROOKIE is making a solemn promise to viewers: With all the serious issues surrounding policing, and police reform, that have come into sharp focus over the past year, the series will not stick its head in the sand. To discuss police dramas and their role in society in advance of Season 3 of THE ROOKIE, which debuts Jan. 3 at 10 p.m. ET on CTV, the cast and creators recently took part in an online panel with TV reporters. Included in the large group were star and executive producer Nathan Fillion, creator and executive producer Alexi Hawley, and executive producer Terence Winter. “How gritty are we going to go? I think we’re going to go all the way, man,” Winter said. “We’re going to tell some pretty rough stories and raw stories. We’re going to take these characters that we love so much and we’re going to shake them up, we’re going to make them look at themselves in the mirror. So we’re going for it. The audience will be the judge of how well we do, but just know that we’re pushing as hard as we can.” In THE ROOKIE, Fillion plays officer John Nolan, a man who decides to join the Los Angeles Police Department uncommonly late in his life. The story follows John as he uses his instincts, his determination, and his sense of humour to try to keep up with colleagues who are 20 years his junior. Hawley acknowledged that while his initial priority for the show still stands, it just isn’t enough to stand on its own any more, given current circumstances. “When I created the show a few years ago, it was important for me that it be aspirational in nature, to show an inclusive cast of actors who looked and felt like Los Angeles, going out there to do the job the right way,” Hawley recalled. “But coming into Season 3, it definitely felt like, by being solely aspirational, we were portraying a version of the police and the LAPD that was alien to many people.” Thus, Season 3 of THE ROOKIE wants to widen its scope, while still being recognizable to viewers who already love it. “It felt like we really needed to honour the conversations that were going on in the wake of George Floyd’s death by digging into the reality of systemic injustice and police abuse, without losing what makes our show our show,” Hawley continued. “And that was really the tricky part. Our show is tonally everything, right? We’re funny. We’re serious. We’re emotional. We’re action. We’re all this stuff. How do we keep that going, but yet really dig into some of these bigger issues?” According to Fillion, THE ROOKIE has found an appropriate way to pivot. “I’m not going to lie to you, when I signed on to this show, I was thinking about how fun it would be and how amazing it would be to tell these phenomenal cop stories and take part in something like I grew up on, like HILL STREET BLUES, one of my favourite shows,” Fillion said. “And I was a young man at the time. But those things shaped our conceptions. They’ve kind of fulfilled fantasy about what policing is about. So if we have that kind of an influence, why not try to use that responsibly? I hope we would be a show that would be remembered, and I hope we would be remembered fondly for trying to be responsible.” Winter assured THE ROOKIE’s goal of contributing to the conversation about policing is a long-term commitment. “We’re not going to just do a special episode where we try to work it all out in one episode and move forward,” Winter said. “We’re trying to cover it through every single episode we do this season.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv