The Rookie only premiered its eighth season on the 2026 TV schedule in January, but thanks to ABC giving the series no interruptions for the entire run, the procedural is already almost halfway through. There has been a lot going on, too, between international missions, relationship makeups and troubles, the police station getting blown up, and much more. But after hearing Melissa O’Neil’s description of the finale, I’m both excited and nervous.
The Nathan Fillion-led series is known for going pretty big with its episodes, especially when it comes to season finales. Fans still have 10 episodes to go until the final episode of Season 8, but that hasn’t stopped O’Neil from teasing what happens, especially since filming has already wrapped. She told TV Insider what filming was like, and now I’m intrigued:
The finale feels like a blockbuster film. I don’t know how else to say it. We were on a location that was epic to be on, and there were two units at one point, myself and my acting partner were moving back and forth between two units six different times in the span of, I think, three hours or something like that, doing things that our show has absolutely never done before. And it’s a real credit to the capability of our team to be so flexible and able to maneuver in such crazy situations. That kind of blew my mind, but all hands will be on deck for the finale situation.
Obviously, there have been very few details released about the finale because it’s not airing until May, most likely, but just hearing how big it’s going to be has me freaking out. There is no telling what will be in store for the finale, or what even leads to this big blockbuster event, and unfortunately, knowing The Rookie, it’s possible there will even be a cliffhanger or two. And hearing O’Neil say that fans should be terrified is not helping my worry:
I want them to feel like they just got off the most terrifying rollercoaster: Adrenaline should be pumping, you should be catching your breath a little bit, and just a little bit afraid.
Over The Rookie’s eight seasons, it has not been afraid to pull risky moves, whether that be killing off beloved characters, losing other characters, breaking up beloved couples, seriously injuring characters, etc. And the riskiest moves usually happen in the season finales or the lead-up to the final episode. So the fact that O’Neil is saying that fans should be terrified and preemptively catching their breath has me terrified already.
That being said, I am one of those people who live for danger on shows, to an extent. As long as it’s not overdone, I’m always excited to see how something is pulled off and how characters will get out of a certain situation. So while I am nervous and terrified for what might happen, I am definitely excited and curious to see how it all goes down and how this could set up a potential ninth season. As of now, ABC has not given the greenlight for Season 9, but all signs point to a renewal, so it may just be a matter of time. Plus, if the Season 8 finale does end on a cliffhanger, ABC better renew it.
It can be assumed that more concrete details about the finale won’t be released for a while, but it’s possible that The Rookie will start setting up the episode soon. Fans will just have to tune in on Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC to see what happens. All episodes are streaming with a Hulu subscription.
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