# The Rookie season 3

The third season of the American police procedural crime drama television series The Rookie premiered on ABC on January 3, 2021 and concluded on May 16. A total of 14 episodes were produced. The season was produced by ABC Studios and Entertainment One.
Shawn Ashmore was promoted to series regular after recurring in the previous seasons. The season was also the last to feature Titus Makin, Jr., who played Jackson West.

## Cast and characters
### Main

* Nathan Fillion as John Nolan
* Shawn Ashmore as Wesley Evers
* Mekia Cox as Nyla Harper
* Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez
* Richard T. Jones as Wade Grey
* Titus Makin, Jr. as Jackson West
* Melissa O'Neil as Lucy Chen
* Eric Winter as Tim Bradford

### Recurring

* Brandon Routh as Doug Stanton
* Brent Huff as Quigley Smitty
* Kamar de los Reyes as Detective Sergeant Ryan Caradine
* Toks Olagundoye as Professor Fiona Ryan
* Camille Guaty as Sandra de La Cruz
* Dylan Conrique as Tamara Colins

### Guests

* Harold Perrineau as Detective Nick Armstrong
* Annie Wersching as Rosalind Dyer
* Michael Beach as Cmdr. Percy West
* Angel Parker as Luna Grey
* Hrach Titizian as Ruben Derian
* Armin Shimerman as Judge Paloma
* Arjay Smith as James Murray
* Amarr M. Wooten as D'Andre Salah
* Frances Fisher as Evelyn Nolan
* Markus Flanagan as Danny Hill
* Jamason Coles as Kyle
* Anthony Kevan as Diego De La Cruz
* Christian Keyes as Alonzo Smith
* Sterling Sulieman as Officer Ben Owens
* Joy Brunson as Erica Drum
* Gilbert Chayrez-Chavarria as Armand Gusta
* Josh Stewart as Graham Porter
* Ashley Jones as Kelsey Adams
* Derek Phillips as Mack Daniels
* Kara Wang as June Zhang
* Jon Jon Briones as Aldo Salonga
* Joshua Triplett as Issac Young
* Nik Sanchez as Silas March
* Frankie Muniz as Corey Harris
* Skyler Samuels as Charlotte Luster
* Lizze Broadway as Aurora/Debbie
* Daniel Lissing as Sterling Freeman/Skipper Young
* Robin Roberts as herself
* Rainn Wilson as himself
* Matthew Glave as Oscar Hutchinson
* Molly C. Quinn as Ashley
* Matty Cardarople as Slim Jim
* Chris Reed as Malcolm
* Rohan Chugani as Austin Abassi
* Currie Graham as Ben McRee
* Greg Grunberg as Larry Macer
* Katy M. O'Brian as Katie Barnes
* Emily Deschanel as Sarah Nolan
* Zayne Emory as Henry Nolan
* Madeleine Coghlan as Abigail
* Jane Daly as Patrice Evers
* Jason Canela as Cesar Madrigal
* Rey Gallegos as Aaron Galeno
* Britni Camacho as Reyna
* Jenna Dewan as Bailey Nune
* Michael Trucco as Sean Del Monte

## Episodes

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 41 | 1 | "Consequences" | Bill Roe | Alexi Hawley | January 3, 2021 (2021-01-03) | 301 | 3.44 |
| As Nolan finds the stash planted by Armstrong, Grey asks him to step out of his house but Nolan demands a warrant to enter first in order to buy time to hide the stash and also calls Wesley to act as his defense attorney. As Wesley is getting dressed to contest the warrant, he knocks over a wastebasket and finds a positive pregnancy test. As Armstrong is brought to the hospital, he implicates Harper as an accomplice of Nolan, but has the tables turned when Harper explains Armstrong's corruption to Internal Affairs Commander Percy West and Lopez is able to find Armstrong's go bag off of a tip acquired from Rosalind Dyer. Nolan attempts to clear his name by going undercover to catch Ruben Derian in order to implicate Armstrong, but his cover is blown when Armstrong escapes from the hospital and makes a deal with Ruben after getting tipped off by Rosalind about the cops finding his go bag. As Armstrong prepares to execute Nolan, the gun he is given is revealed to be empty and he is shot dead by the gang members as part of a cover-up; Nolan is able to escape and place Ruben under arrest. In the aftermath, Nolan and Harper both receive letters of reprimand in their personnel files and Nolan will be held in the training program for an additional month and must pass a disciplinary exam with the reprimand also ruining any chance Nolan has of becoming detective or even joining a specialized unit in the LAPD. Lopez receives a promotion to detective and opts to hold off on announcing her pregnancy out of fear that she'll be treated differently as a rookie detective. ||||||||
| 42 | 2 | "In Justice" | Michael Goi | Brynn Malone & Fredrick Kotto | January 10, 2021 (2021-01-10) | 302 | 3.15 |
| As punishment for their part in the Armstrong fiasco, Nolan and Harper are assigned to a community policing center with the hope of rebuilding their station's reputation. While Nolan tries to make a positive impact, Harper has her doubts regarding his methods. Meanwhile, Lucy tries to find the person who stole her car, and later tries to help her upon learning of her situation. Jackson gets off to a rocky start with his new training officer, Doug Stanton, who is revealed to be prejudiced against black people, and Lopez's first case as a detective is a difficult one as someone broke in to use a furnace to cremate a body. She later discovers that the body is one of many burned on the orders of a notorious gang. ||||||||
| 43 | 3 | "La Fiera" | Sylvain White | Terence Paul Winter & Natalie Callaghan | January 17, 2021 (2021-01-17) | 303 | 3.76 |
| Nolan's life becomes more difficult when his mother (Frances Fisher) visits him. Distracted, Nolan fails his firearms re-qualification exam, and later stumbles upon a plot to assassinate a businesswoman with shady connections, La Fiera (Camille Guaty), when he returns to practice for the retake. Also, Jackson and Doug continue to exchange blows when Doug opts to arrest an entire family who were not even connected to the crime the suspect that they're looking for committed. Jackson reports Doug to Grey with Tim's backing, but Jackson is outraged when Grey says that Doug will only be assigned to administrative duty. Grey later admits to his wife Luna that he and Jackson need to solve the issue with Doug. ||||||||
| 44 | 4 | "Sabotage" | Daniel Willis | Vincent Angell & Diana Mendez Boucher | January 24, 2021 (2021-01-24) | 304 | 3.39 |
| As Grey and Jackson look to shut down Doug, Nolan and Grey are looped into a scam that their family members put money into—instigated by Nolan's troublesome visiting mother. Doug sets up Jackson by making it look like he was going to beat up a kid, but instead writes him up for failing to stay with the evidence after Jackson ran after him. Lopez is shocked when Wesley reveals that he is predisposed to fragile X syndrome, which could mean that their child could suffer mental disabilities and seizures. At the same time, Lopez confronts her supervisor, who she believes is not assigning her cases because of her pregnancy. Her supervisor, who was unaware that she was pregnant, tells her that's not the case, but it doesn't mean that he will be easy on her. Increasingly troubled by his mother's interference in his life and career, Nolan finally forces her to leave permanently. ||||||||
| 45 | 5 | "Lockdown" | Anna Mastro | Elizabeth Davis Beall & Robert Bella | February 14, 2021 (2021-02-14) | 305 | 4.08 |
| As Nolan passes his disciplinary exam, he is once again reminded that he has a very little chance of ever getting promoted. He is later held hostage by a man (Josh Stewart) who threatens to blow up the police station unless the release of a dangerous felon happens, but Grey and Harper do not buy it and start to look for the real motive. Jackson and Doug reach a point of no return when Doug threatens to report a fireable offense against Jackson, with Jackson firing back that his father, the head of Internal Affairs, would rip apart Doug's career. Doug sets up Jackson to take a beating in a public housing complex, but it backfires when Jackson activates Doug's body camera, showing that Doug did not intervene in the beating. Doug is placed on suspension. Since he has no chance for a promotion, Nolan sets his sights becoming a training officer, which requires him to complete his degree. ||||||||
| 46 | 6 | "Revelations" | C. Chi-Yoon Chung | Corey Miller & Fredrick Kotto | February 21, 2021 (2021-02-21) | 307 | 4.11 |
| Lucy gets a taste of what undercover work is like when she works with of Harper and her Fresno PD colleague June Zhang in a narcotics operation, much to Tim's chagrin. Lucy's initial success brings her onboard an operation to take down Aldo Salonga. Nolan's return to school becomes difficult when he is outed as a police officer in his ethics class. After asking for advice from Tim and Harper, he is still unsure if it was a wise decision, and asks his professor, who expresses that one should be open, and that the other students will accept him again. Jackson befriends a mounted police officer, Isaac Young, while working with Smitty at the community policing centre. Tim, while working security at the undercover convention, meets a colleague, Mack Daniels, who appears to have an addiction problem—and an involvement in an extramarital affair. Despite taking firm action on Mack's behalf to help him, his trust with Mack's wife, Beth, sinks. ||||||||
| 47 | 7 | "True Crime" | Bill Roe | Alexi Hawley & Zoe Cheng | February 28, 2021 (2021-02-28) | 312 | 3.45 |
| In a true crime documentary, the station breaks down a recent case of a former child actor, Corey Harris (guest star Frankie Muniz), known for his role in the fictional show Paul's Place, who turned into the leader of a cult. Said cult is revealed to be the same one Lopez and Jackson encountered previously. Harper and Nolan initially responded to a call where Corey was reported by a girl's father, before Nolan convinced the girl, Debbie, to stop. Corey is later reported missing after his house becomes a crime scene, with blood later identified to his former co-star, Charlotte Luster, and a mummified body of Charlie Chaplin is found under his bed. Charlotte is also reported missing, and her car found at LAX. Corey is later found alive, and remains silent for five hours before demanding a lawyer, revealed to be Wesley. Corey's mother is arrested after CCTV shows her parking Charlotte's car. She also confesses to the murder and claims sole responsibility. Corey himself is later murdered during a livestream to his followers, by Ronald Sanchez, a former student of his. ||||||||
| 48 | 8 | "Bad Blood" | Sylvain White | Paula Puryear & Bill Rinier | March 28, 2021 (2021-03-28) | 306 | 3.87 |
| Nolan struggles to find the answer to a question he needs in order to take an exam for his ethics class. Lopez, Nolan, and Harper must work with Oscar Hutchinson (Matthew Glave) to find his previously unknown daughter (Molly C. Quinn), who is involved in the kidnapping of a judge's son. Tim looks for the tagger 3Eyez, who spray-painted his squad car as a rookie after the tagger resurfaces from retirement. He later discovers that she only came out of retirement because she wanted to feel young again after breaking up with her husband. Jackson is put in the middle of a debate between Grey and his father when the two argue about what Jackson should do once he completes the officers' field-training program. Jackson decides to accept advice from them both but makes it clear that it is too early for him to decide his career path. Nolan presents his answer to Professor Fiona Ryan, concluding that, based on insufficient information, all the given options would be wrong. She decides to let him take the exam. ||||||||
| 49 | 9 | "Amber" | Bill Roe | Brynn Malone & Natalie Callaghan | April 4, 2021 (2021-04-04) | 308 | 3.80 |
| In what is Lucy and Jackson's final day as rookies, the department races against the clock when a newborn is kidnapped from the hospital. Nolan and Harper do a ride-along with Nolan's professor Fiona Ryan, who is working on a book about police reform, and Lopez, who is riding with Jackson on his final day as a rookie, contemplates what her future as a parent holds. She is reassures by Jackson and gets some advice from Harper during the search. The baby's father is later found after he crashes his car, but he is revealed to have never taken the baby. CCTV at the hospital reveal that a woman, Rita Cissane, kidnapped the baby after her own died of SIDS. They later find her on a bridge with the baby, and Nolan and Lopez manage to convince her to give up the baby. As Lucy and Jackson celebrate their last day as rookies, Harper invites Nolan for dinner with her and her daughter to cheer him up. ||||||||
| 50 | 10 | "Man of Honor" | Sylvain White | Elizabeth Davis Beall & Diana Mendez Boucher | April 11, 2021 (2021-04-11) | 309 | 3.70 |
| Jackson and Lucy become full-fledged police officers. Jackson celebrates, but Lucy is hurt when her mother tries to get her to abandon her "thankless job". Ben comes to visit Nolan and reveals that Henry now works for him, which means he has dropped out of college. Harper feels awkward when she sees someone from her past. Tim assists Lopez with preparations for her and Wesley's wedding, and assures her to plan her own wedding the way she wants it. She later has him take over as her man of honor. Nolan responds to a call where a man is holding people hostage. He has the situation well in hand, but a nervous security guard shoots and kills the man. He later continues the investigation into the case with Harper's help. They discover that the man's family were disturbed by robbers who forced him to pay back, prompting him to rob a bank. His wife and daughter are abducted and the assailants force the wife to steal from her workplace. Nolan assists her while Harper causes a distraction, giving Lucy and Jackson enough time to find the daughter. ||||||||
| 51 | 11 | "New Blood" | Bill Roe | Corey Miller & Zoe Cheng | April 18, 2021 (2021-04-18) | 310 | 3.81 |
| Nolan watches over Fiona, after threats escalate from a brick through her car window and harassing messages to a shootout with white supremacists in the middle of a street in broad daylight. As the new rookies arrive, one named Larry "the Badger" Macer—who fawned over Nolan, saying Nolan's academy success inspired him in turn—accidentally fires his gun, which ends his police career before it begins. Lucy becomes jealous of the way Tim treats the second rookie, Katie Barnes, a former female soldier who he tries to help readjust back to civilian life. Katie resigns at the end of the day, saying she needs to find her way. Tim assists Lopez and Wesley in planning their wedding, acting as a third party when Wesley's mother comes over to look over the plans. She later reconciles with Lopez and urges her to plan her wedding the way she wants it. Henry returns to Los Angeles to begin his new job, with Nolan struggling to be supportive of his son's choice to leave school. He becomes more accepting of his son's decision after a talk with Fiona, but then Henry collapses at dinner. ||||||||
| 52 | 12 | "Brave Heart" | Lisa Demaine | Vincent Angell & Paula Puryear | May 2, 2021 (2021-05-02) | 311 | 4.00 |
| Henry is rushed to the local hospital following his collapse, caused by a lifelong medical condition. He has a heart attack before he can decide whether to undergo a safe, short-term repair or long-term surgery with a 20% mortality risk. Nolan chooses the long-term option, believing Henry would have wanted that. The gamble is successful. La Fiera has taken her injured son, Diego, to the same hospital, but the police soon realize she is actually there to negotiate an agreement with a major drug dealer, Tomás Madrigal, who is close to death and knows his son is incapable of running the business. Harper surreptitiously records the conversation. Lopez unsuccessfully confronts La Fiera twice, trying to warn her off. Billie, an addict slightly injured when arrested by Jackson and Lucy, is made to admit she is a drug mule carrying MDMA in her stomach and is offered a deal. When a condom bursts, she is taken for life-saving surgery. Tomás' son, Cesar, orchestrates the murder of La Fiera's son, Diego, who is shot and killed in the underground parking garage at the hospital but La Fiera is protected by Lopez in the ensuing gunfight. After La Fiera grieves over her son, Lopez predicts a drug war is coming. Mack Daniels has been reduced to temporary security work for the Madrigals, and Tim offers support for his addiction. ||||||||
| 53 | 13 | "Triple Duty" | Bill Johnson | Teleplay by : Natalie Callaghan & Zoe Cheng & Paula Puryear Story by : Bill Rinier | May 9, 2021 (2021-05-09) | 313 | 3.91 |
| La Fiera starts her war by massacring Cesar's men at a drug deal but comes to the attention of a DEA task force. Lopez negotiates with her to cease hostilities in exchange for Harper's hospital tape, which will convince Cesar's lieutenants of the agreement's validity. Tim and Nolan conduct a stakeout of Cesar's girlfriend's house and prevent La Fiera's men killing her baby as revenge for Diego's murder. DEA agent Taggert tries to belittle Lopez. He obtains the tape over her head and has Lopez deliver it, but La Fiera sees through his stratagem of including surveillance malware on the USB stick containing the recording. The war highlights a need for undercover work so Harper puts Lucy though a series of intense tests: a social gathering with "criminals", a drug-cooking session and a phoney attempted kidnapping. Offered a last chance to pull out, Lucy remains determined to go undercover. Jackson learns Doug is still on the force and has not changed, despite everything that has happened. He threatens to go public even though Grey thinks it may cost Jackson his career. Instead they improvise, by having Doug's watch commander use Doug's and Jackson's body-cam footage as a so-called retraining video to expose him which has his colleagues shocked and Jackson grimly remarking that this is the real Doug Stanton. ||||||||
| 54 | 14 | "Threshold" | Lisa Demaine | Alexi Hawley | May 16, 2021 (2021-05-16) | 314 | 3.77 |
| The possibility of making Cesar Madrigal an informant against La Fiera is floated, and Nolan approaches Cesar's girlfriend about persuading him to talk. However, just as Nolan and Smitty locate Cesar, he is fatally shot by a sniper. Later, on patrol, they chase a shoplifter who, after being arrested, is unjustifiably charged with assault instead of a simple misdemeanour, on the grounds that Nolan had accidentally dislocated his own thumb during the pursuit. Nolan brings Professor Fiona Ryan into the case and manages to get Grey's backing to force ADA Sean Del Monte to reduce the charge. Lucy starts her undercover work in a rundown motel and is duly grabbed by Aldo Salonga's brother Dahrio, who forces her to participate in a robbery to obtain ingredients for the drugs he wants her to cook. Her work is interrupted when La Fiera storms Dahrio's compound to force him to join her cartel but the police, alerted by Harper, arrive to arrest the gang. Lopez forthrightly tells La Fiera that she has only herself to blame for her son's death. La Fiera is later broken out from her prisoner transport, and as Wesley and Lopez's wedding ceremony begins, Nolan enters the room and discovers Lopez's bracelet on the floor with Lopez herself missing, having been kidnapped by La Fiera's men. ||||||||

## Production
### Development

On May 21, 2020, ABC renewed the series for a third season which premiered on January 3, 2021.

### Casting

On December 2, 2020, it was announced that Brandon Routh had been cast in a recurring role for the third season.

### Filming incident

On April 15, 2021, police received a call of a possible shooting while filming was taking place between Hartford Avenue and West 5th Street in Los Angeles. Three gunshots were heard by various eyewitnesses, and the production crew confirmed that no one from the show was injured during the incident. Filming in the area was shut down as a result of the reports, but filming continued at other already scheduled locations.

## Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of The Rookie season 3 :
| No. | Title | Air date | Rating (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | DVR (18–49) | DVR viewers (millions) | Total (18–49) | Total viewers (millions) |
| 1 | "Consequences" | January 3, 2021 | 0.5 | 3.44 | 0.5 | 3.43 | 1.0 | 6.87 |
| 2 | "In Justice" | January 10, 2021 | 0.5 | 3.15 | 0.5 | 3.41 | 1.0 | 6.56 |
| 3 | "La Fiera" | January 17, 2021 | 0.5 | 3.76 | 0.5 | 3.40 | 1.0 | 7.16 |
| 4 | "Sabotage" | January 24, 2021 | 0.4 | 3.39 | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | "Lockdown" | February 14, 2021 | 0.6 | 4.08 | 0.5 | 3.51 | 1.2 | 7.60 |
| 6 | "Revelations" | February 21, 2021 | 0.6 | 4.11 | 0.5 | 3.48 | 1.1 | 7.59 |
| 7 | "True Crime" | February 28, 2021 | 0.4 | 3.45 | 0.5 | 3.52 | 0.9 | 6.97 |
| 8 | "Bad Blood" | March 28, 2021 | 0.4 | 3.87 | — | — | — | — |
| 9 | "Amber" | April 4, 2021 | 0.5 | 3.80 | 0.5 | 3.50 | 1.0 | 7.30 |
| 10 | "Man of Honor" | April 11, 2021 | 0.4 | 3.70 | 0.5 | 3.42 | 1.0 | 7.12 |
| 11 | "New Blood" | April 18, 2021 | 0.5 | 3.81 | 0.5 | 3.18 | 0.9 | 6.99 |
| 12 | "Brave Heart" | May 2, 2021 | 0.5 | 4.00 | 0.5 | 3.29 | 1.0 | 7.29 |
| 13 | "Triple Duty" | May 9, 2021 | 0.6 | 3.91 | 0.5 | 3.23 | 1.1 | 7.14 |
| 14 | "Threshold" | May 16, 2021 | 0.5 | 3.77 | 0.5 | 3.28 | 1.0 | 7.06 |