Zoe Andersen

Captain **Zoe Andersen** was a main character on *The Rookie*. She was the Commanding Officer of the Mid-Wilshire Division. Andersen's badge number was 898. She was portrayed by Mercedes Mason.

## Biography

Captain Andersen gives Officer Chen a sketch of her background in "Flesh and Blood":

*"I didn't always push a desk. You know, I was in Marine Corps MOS 5803. Military police. ... Did a year as Pentagon Police, Criminal Investigation Directorate. Then I moved back home, joined the LAPD."*

In "Green Light", she refers again to her military experience, telling Nolan that her eyes had to adjust to constantly scanning the area for threats. After they are tailed and harassed by gang members, she describes the incident as "exhilarating". She and Nolan are later captured during a fake phone call and taken to an area overlooking a swimming pool, the two sitting in chairs with their arms bound. When Andersen is kicked into the pool, she manages to escape, breaking her left thumb in the process before she swims to the surface, disposing of Cole Midas's goons. However, Cole shoots Andersen through the neck, killing her as a horrified Nolan looks on. After Cole has escaped, Nolan retrieves her body from the pool and begins performing CPR, only to realize it's too late as Andersen is already dead. He remains there with her body as Grey, Chen, Lopez, Bradford and Bishop along with other LAPD officers arrive at the house, Nolan informing Grey, "It was Cole." Eventually, Cole is arrested, and Andersen's funeral presumably occurs off-screen; she is buried with full honors.

After her death in "Green Light", Captain Andersen appears in archival footage in "Man of Honor", in a video of the Academy graduation where Chen, Nolan, and West graduate.

## Personality

Andersen was a brave person with a strong mind, an out-going personality. She had great command over her officers, and was well-liked among the division.

## Legacy

Even though her tenure was short-lived, Andersen has continued to live on in the hearts and memories of the LAPD officers who served under her command, particularly Sergeant Wade Grey and Officer John Nolan.

## Trivia

* In the pilot episode, Andersen admits to Sgt. Grey that she requested Nolan for her squad and insists that Nolan's experience will be valuable. Nolan finds this out in "Green Light" following her death while he and Grey are taking Midas back to the station.
* In "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", Andersen tells Lopez and West that she didn't have a "plan B" and nothing would have stopped her from becoming a cop.
* In "The Hawke", Andersen tells Megan Mitchell that her ex "wasn't Hawke, but he wasn't healthy, either."
* In "Time of Death", Percy West points out that, though Nolan is the first of her squad to take a life in the line of duty, Andersen has experienced it firsthand.
* Andersen is killed in "Green Light" during a shootout with Cole Midas and his men. She is shot in the neck by Midas while protecting Nolan who retrieves her body from the swimming pool and after attempting to perform CPR on her and realizing she is dead, remains there until Grey, Chen, Lopez, Bradford, Bishop along with other LAPD officers have arrived. The team attaches black ribbons to their badges in her honor.
* According to her gravestone seen in "The Shake Up", she was born on February 1, 1981 and died on March 19, 2019.
* She was 38 years old at the time of her death.
* Her gravestone reads "Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome". ("The Shake Up")
* Zoe was a former Marine before she joined the LAPD. She was the youngest to make captain in the police department.