‘The Rookie’ Finale Scoop on Villain Team-Up & Chenford — Does It End on a Cliffhanger?

You should be very afraid of what Monica (Bridget Regan) and Oscar (Matthew Glave) teaming up means for The Rookie heading into the May 21 finale.

At the end of the penultimate episode, Monica made a deal with Oscar to get what she wants (information on the man who wants her dead) and agreed to help him escape from prison. “Monica and Oscar are often the smartest people in the room, which is the best thing in a villain. You want them to be scary because yes, they might be psychopaths, but at the same time they’re also super clever,” executive producer Alexi Hawley tells TV Insider. “I think that makes them really dangerous and they also, as actors really walk this great line of living in the villainy, but in a way that doesn’t feel broad or heightened. They play very grounded versions of these characters in a way that I think makes you afraid for our guys, which is what you want.”

Mekia Cox, who plays Harper, laments not having many scenes with Glave (“He is fantastic, we love having him on set”), but she said it was fun when she read the scripts. “[Monica and Oscar] in cahoots, once I saw that, I was like, ‘Ooh, the writers, I see what you’re doing.'”

Harper and Lopez (Alyssa Diaz) enlisted Lucy (Melissa O’Neil) to go undercover as they build a case against money launderer Batista, only for Monica to show up at his place. Lucy quickly hid, and so far, she’s in the clear. But she is “anxious going to work,” says Hawley.

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'The Rookie' Stars Talk Chenford & Lucy Undercover in Finale

“You never like to know that somebody could take one look at you and expose you, so I think she’s walking a highwire act on that,” the EP explains. “We’ve already established that Bautista, the guy she’s working for, is dangerous and has literally a guy named Headshot working for him. So I think she’s gotta stay on her toes going in, but ultimately I think it’s fair to say that she plays a sort of crucial part in where the story goes in the finale because she’s in there.”

On the personal side for Lucy, following that hug she and ex Tim (Eric Winter) shared in the penultimate episode, “we will see them sitting in a shop together, in a police car together for the first time,” teases Hawley. “There might be some high stakes lifesaving going on.”

Cox calls the finale “one of our biggest episodes,” promising “a lot of action” as well as some familiar faces. It leaves the characters “in a precarious place,” she adds.

Now that we know The Rookie won’t be back until the midseason for the 2024-2025 season, will fans be left with a cliffhanger for even longer than just the summer? In a way. “I think there’s both great hope and a cliffhanger sort of at the end of the season,” according to Hawley.

What are you hoping to see in the finale? Let us know in the comments section, below.

The Rookie, Season 6 Finale, Tuesday, May 21, 9/8c, ABC

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