John Nolan

**Jonathan "John" Nolan** is the main character in *The Rookie*. He was a Police Officer I from Seasons 1-3 and a Police Officer II in Season 4. In Season 5, he was promoted to Police Officer III via a "golden ticket" (allowing an officer to choose any position in the LAPD) in Season 5. He works at the Los Angeles Police Department, and is assigned to the Mid-Wilshire Division. He is portrayed by Nathan Fillion.

His training officer in Season 1 was newly-promoted LAPD Officer Talia Bishop. However, after her move to the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, Nolan's training officer until the first episode of Season 4 was former undercover Detective Nyla Harper.

In Season 5, Nolan becomes a training officer, helping to finish Aaron Thorsen's training after Harper goes on maternity leave. In "Dye Hard", he begins training rookie Celina Juarez.

Nolan's badge number is 25253, which he states in the episodes "Green Light", "Consequences", "Fire Fight", and "Under Siege".

## Biography

### Season 1

In the pilot episode, Nolan is shown storing his divorce papers and wedding ring in a safe deposit box. He tells the bank manager that the divorce had been "coming for two years" and that he and his ex-wife, Sarah, had agreed to stay married until their son Henry went to college. During the following incident with bank robbers, he says that he went to college, dropped out when his girlfriend got pregnant, and started a construction business. In later episodes, we hear that he went to Penn State and studied pre-law. It has been mentioned that Nolan previously lived in Foxburg, Pennsylvania. His full first name was revealed to be Jonathan in the episode "Caught Stealing".

Nolan packs up his belongings, storing them in a U-Haul that he uses to drive cross country to Los Angeles, California following the bank robber incident. He arrives in Los Angeles six months prior to becoming a rookie officer for the LAPD. He originally stayed in the guest house of his old college roommate, Ben McRee, who initially seems to be not only rich but largely absent. After his first appearance in "The Roundup", Ben seems to have resumed his residence in Los Angeles. After arriving in Los Angeles, Nolan told Ben that the incident with bank robbers seen in the "Pilot" episode had inspired him to become a police officer. ("The Checklist")

In "The Ride-Along" Nolan chats with his son online. Henry comes to visit John in "Flesh and Blood"; their relationship seems solid. In "Time of Death" Nolan speaks to his ex-wife Sarah on the phone, and they sound like the divorce was amicable.

Prior to the series, Nolan and Lucy Chen have been in a relationship for about two months. They managed to keep it an underground relationship but Nolan's T.O. Talia Bishop saw right through them, telling Chen to break things off before it's too late. He was reluctant but realized it was for the greater good, so they break up with each other in "The Switch". By the time of "Green Light", Nolan is apparently seeing Jessica Russo.

In "Time of Death", a robbery happens at a local store. One of the two suspects ran away into a nearby house to fight off the police by holding a family hostage. Nolan manages to usher the family out the door, whilst he went upstairs to arrest him. The robber refused repeated orders to surrender and pointed a gun at him, causing Nolan to shoot him in self defense. He was announced dead when Bishop enters the room, calling off the ambulance.

Nolan had a hard time trying to make peace with his death, particularly that he directly (or in some other ways, indirectly) caused his death. It was apparent when his brother, the other robber made an announcement stating that Nolan killed his brother in cold blood and broke into his house in revenge. During "Standoff", his life was once again in jeopardy yet he manages to fend himself until the police arrives.

It is revealed that after he was suspended, a worried Lucy comes to Nolan to comfort him, despite leaving their relationship on hold. After a quick drive, both of them were seen hooking up in Nolan's house, thus saving him from being killed. Lucy was anxious about the colleagues from Mid-Wilshire arriving at the crime scene and knowing that they slept together. Nolan convinces Lucy to run, and not let IA know about their relationship.

Nolan is eventually cleared of duty in "Flesh and Blood", after aiding his friends to take down a serious drug dealer and his crew. His actions were moved by Commander Percy West who cleared his case. He and Lucy are on good terms.

In "Green Light", a shooting breaks out at Cole Midas's bait house as a result of "disrespecting" a member of their gang - Astrid Heisserer. During a call, Astrid pulled out a knife with the intention to assault a man who previously insulted and degraded her. While making the arrest, Nolan accidentally ripped off a strap of her suspenders, "revealing her unmentionables". Unbeknownst to the LAPD (and Nolan), she is a member of the *Southern Front*, the sixth largest gang in California. The dean, Cole Midas's father, ordered to put a *Green light* (order to kill) on Nolan, in which Cole was exhilarated about. In retaliation, Captain Zoe Andersen offered to ride with Nolan to try and take down Midas's operation.

Nolan and Andersen arrested 46 crew members for drug trafficking, posing a threat to Midas and forces him to lift the Green Light on Nolan. Midas states: "it's gotta come from Cole", leaving everyone in trepidation. It is later revealed that Cole lured Nolan and Andersen into a false pretense, with the intention to incapacitate and kill them. Andersen bravely provokes Cole by calling him "dumb" and "junior". Cole shoves her into a pool with her hands tied and strapped to a chair. Seeing his captain in danger, Nolan tries to beg and plead for mercy by making an apology video for Astrid, claiming she'll "eat it up". Cole reluctantly agrees and continues to humiliate him. Andersen breaks free of her chains and sneaks behind Cole and his men, shooting them fatally. Cole shoots at her in self defense, killing her instantly. In despair, Nolan breaks free of his chains in an attempt to save his captain by performing CPR, only to realize she was beyond resuscitation. The calvary arrives at the scene and Nolan, numbed with pain responded "it was Cole".

The next day, LAPD members wore blue ribbons on their badges to honor the fallen captain. Midas finally agrees to give up his son, and Nolan makes a challenging arrest by arresting the man who tried to killed him and killed his captain. He is able to hold onto his anger and do the right thing - which Captain Andersen always wanted her fellow officers to do. It is revealed that Andersen asked for Nolan to be assigned to Mid-Wilshire as she thought his experience would make him a valuable addition to her house.

In "The Shake Up" and "Free Fall", Nolan and Russo are obviously in a relationship, but as the season ends, Nolan finds himself questioning Russo's motives and methods when it comes to her work for the DHS.

In "Plain Clothes Day", Nolan confides to Bishop that he hopes to make detective within 5 years.

### Season 2

Season 2 opens with the conclusion of the bioterrorism plot from "Free Fall"; Nolan and Russo come to an understanding as to their differences in approaching their work, which seems to strengthen their relationship.

Nolan has moved out of Ben's guesthouse and bought a house of his own, which was apparently not in good condition and which he is enjoying demolishing and remodeling.

Bishop has moved on to a job with ATF, so Nolan is without a T.O. at the beginning of the season. He's seen riding with Sergeant Grey in "Impact", Detective Nick Armstrong in "The Night General", and Angela Lopez in "The Bet".

In "Warriors and Guardians", Nolan is assigned to former undercover detective Nyla Harper as his new T.O. He struggles to adjust to Harper's hard based tactics and Sergeant Grey tells him, "I only assigned her to you because she would eat a 25 year old recruit alive. With your experience, at least you stand a chance."

Nolan runs into a former lover in "The Night General", Grace Sawyer, and later tells Armstrong about their brief, intense affair back in college. Later, Grace confronts Nolan about the way he left her a note and vanished - when he discovered Sarah was pregnant - and tells him she's still angry about it. A few episodes later, they seem to developed a friendship once more.

In "Tough Love", Nolan's son Henry brings his girlfriend Abigail to meet Nolan and announces that they're engaged. From some well-meaning friends, Nolan learns that Abigail has a secret that might affect his own feelings about her.

In "Safety", Nolan and Russo decide to break up as she wants to have kids but Nolan is not ready to have another kid himself.

In "Clean Cut", Nolan deals with guarding the scene of a homicide on his birthday and meets Elroy Basso, a custodian who works for the LAPD who has come to help clean up the scene. Nolan and Basso run into trouble when the criminals return to finish the job, However, Nolan is able to subdue them and call for backup. Grace also wishes Nolan a happy birthday over the phone and later brings him a gift, which Nolan quickly figures out is a steamer. Nolan also helps Basso meet Nell, the police dispatcher that Basso has a crush on.

In "Breaking Point", Nolan tells Harper that his father walked out on his family when Nolan was ten years old, abandoning his mother. He also goes on a date with Grace at the conclusion of the episode.

In "Follow-Up Day", Nolan's father, who he had not seen in 35 years, passes away, and he leaves his inheritance to Nolan, which confuses him. Nolan also discovers that he has a half-brother named Pete. In addition, Nolan and Grace officially begin dating each other again. Nolan now has a car in possession, alongside a former addict brother whose relationship with his father was strained.

In "Hand-Off", Nolan's identity is stolen by Jordan Neil and as a result, he loses most of his money and isn't able to afford Henry's tuition. Neil is an extravagant guy who has a lot of ego but not so much skill. He is a serial bugler that has stolen a fortune of goods including other people's identities. Unsurprisingly, he was in debt to a loan shark which caused them to cut off his hand and drag him to death. Nolan and Harper were able to save Neil, in return Neil gave Nolan his money back.

In "Under the Gun", Nolan allows Grace to put their relationship on hold due to the fact that Grace wants to attempt to fix her marriage to Simon because she wants her son to be happy again.

At the end of season 2, Nolan is trying to determine whether Detective Nick Armstrong is a dirty cop; he enlists the help of his T.O. Harper but is betrayed by Armstrong, who is in league with the Derian crime family and who plants false evidence in Nolan's house in order to turn the conspiracy charges against him. However, he did not record their conversation nor approach the IA about it, causing a lot of mayhem and suspicion surrounding Harper and him.

### Season 3

Season 3 picks up at the moment where season 2 left off: Nolan stands in his house with a team of police outside, ready to detain him on Armstrong's say-so. After facing Commander Percy West's interrogation, accompanied by his attorney Wesley Evers, Nolan offers to be the bait in a sting to catch the Derians and refute Armstrong's statement that Nolan is the dirty cop in the department.

At the end of the episode, Grey reports that a letter of reprimand will be placed in Nolan's file, and that Nolan will have to remain in the FTO program an additional month and pass a review board before he can complete his rookie training. Furthermore, the letter of reprimand means Nolan has no chance of becoming a Detective or even joining one of the LAPD's many specialized units.

As punishment, Nolan and Harper are charged with serving in a community center in a rougher part of town where they meet James Murray, who claims that, as a white male cop, Nolan represents "the problem in this community". Nolan still does his best to gain the community's trust by reopening and remodeling a playground that was locked up to prevent drug dealers from entering. He and James later come to terms when James brings his sons over to the office for some math tutoring.

In "La Fiera" Nolan's mother, Evelyn, shows up unannounced and proves to be strong-willed but self-centered; John seems uneasy about her behavior, especially in "Sabotage", when she cashes in her airplane ticket home to buy several cases of CBD, apparently planning to start a business out of John's house. She almost immediately sells the stock to Luna Grey at an inappropriate profit and tells John she won't give Luna her money back, saying, "It's not her money, it's mine." Eventually, John packs his mother's bags and buys her another plane ticket, refusing to allow her to stay with him ever again. Evelyn turns on John, calling him names and comparing him unfavorably to his father, but John sticks to his guns and bids her goodbye.

In "Brave Heart", Henry is faced with a decision regarding his heart condition, which could involve life-threatening surgery; John and Sarah join with Abigail, Henry's girlfriend, in supporting him as he makes his decision.

### Season 4

The season started off as close friend Jackson West being murdered by La Fiera's men, and Detective Angela Lopez being kidnapped to act as a surrogate to La Fiera's deceased son Diego. After facing rejection from the DEA, the small group of officers plans to run an off the books investigation in "Life and Death". Nolan is promoted to Police Officer II by Sergeant Grey. He uses his experience as a contractor to pose as a potential builder and steal the plans for the fortress he, Bradford, and Harper intend to infiltrate. Upon the escape of the Guatemala crew, Wesley Evers is taken to be executed. Unwilling to leave Evers alone, he risks his own life to save Evers's. Lopez and Evers are saved and returned safely to LA.

In "Five Minutes", he begins riding with Chen after Harper begins training a new rookie. In the same episode, he begins dating Bailey Nune, a firefighter whom he had met in "Threshold"; in "In the Line of Fire", he and Nune confer with Lopez over a possible serial killer/arsonist case.

In "Red Hot", after Chen begins riding with Bradford again as his sergeant's aide, Nolan rides solo for the first time. He and Bailey spend the night together in the same episode, after which they seem to have an established relationship. Although Nolan is shocked to find out that Bailey is married in "Breakdown", over the course of the next two episodes she tells him that her husband abused her verbally and emotionally and that she sued for divorce but was stonewalled by him. Eventually, Nolan and Bailey figure out a way to bring justice to her situation, and she is granted a divorce, while her abuser ends up in prison for a serious crime.

During "Poetic Justice", he investigates Bailey's fire chief on suspected arsons but the latter ends up being killed an explosion while Bailey injures her leg.

The following episode "Fire Fight", John tends to Bailey and investigates the case before another victim turns up. The victim reveals he was abducted by a serial killer/arsonist but managed to survive and tells John and Harper of a scar on his back. John swings by Fred's house and finds nothing of note. He shares a flirty call with Bailey who is still recuperating at home and bumps into Fred's neighbor and they talk about how his help has allowed the police to make progress. However, John notices a burn mark on his lower back, realizing Marcus was the culprit. John tells Marcus he has to head out but as they part, Marcus strikes John with his car and abducts him. At an abandoned factory, the wounded John plays a twisted game of cat and mouse with the deranged man before he managed to strike Marcus with his own car and arrests him. He passes out before help arrives and recuperates in the hospital while congratulated by his fellows and Bailey.

In "Day In The Hole", he is transferred to another precinct on the border for an assignment. He is joined by Bailey, Ellroy, Nell, his half-brother Pete, and Pete's girlfriend Chastity. John meets Officer Sanchez and is instrumental in helping her arrest a wanted federal criminal. He, Sanchez, and Ellroy make a stand after the criminal's gang appears and lay siege to the station. John takes down several members and at one point is saved by Sanchez. Ellroy is able to take down a large gangster, which impresses John, who nevertheless worries when he finds that Ellroy lost a tooth. John repays Sanchez by subduing a thug who was sneaking up on her. After the situation is over, Bailey shows up with the remaining thugs before sharing banter with John, Ellroy, and Sanchez. They also direct the arriving cops to the holding cell that the criminals are in.

### Season 5

At the beginning of season 5, due to Nolan's successful experience in "Day In The Hole", he is given a "golden ticket" allowing him to choose any assignment in the LAPD; he chooses the path to becoming a Training Officer. He takes over training Officer Aaron Thorsen when Thorsen's T.O., Detective Harper, goes on maternity leave.

In "Dye Hard", Nolan is given the task of training his first rookie, Celina Juarez. Juarez is described as a "skittish young horse" full of energy and superstitions. She uses a rather eccentric way of cracking cases, which heavily confuses Nolan. Both of them has come to trust each other after Juarez confides in him about her instincts, giving him a better understanding of her thought process.

Following the escape of Rosalind Dyer, he received phone calls from her to brag about her success of killing victims.

Bailey proposes to Nolan and, according to Juarez, their wedding might be in September.

## Personality

Even though his LAPD colleagues regard him as a pushover, and despite his laidback attitude, Nolan has shown on many occasions that his patience has its limits, and he won't hesitate to stand up for himself or even call his fellow LAPD colleagues, whether if they're his fellow officers or superiors out on something, a trait later revealed to be the key reason as to why Grey paired Harper up with Nolan. This has also extended to his mother, Evelyn; after growing tired of her repeatedly taking advantage of him, Nolan severed all ties with her and told her not only to stop contacting him but also banned her from staying with him ever again. Over time, Nolan has been shown to handle himself well under pressure, even in dangerous situations.

In the season 2 episode, "Warriors and Guardians", when Nyla Harper became his new training officer - along with the revelation she had been working undercover alone for the last four years - Nolan informed her that if she was committed to making their new partnership antagonistic, then she should not expect him to "roll over and take it ", which visibly surprised Harper.

Nolan also has a tendency to notice minor or small details that his more experienced LAPD colleagues usually miss. Such as the wires of bombs, human interactions and structures of buildings/cells.

Regarding his personal life and family, he is shown to be close to his son Henry Nolan, often doing what he could to make sure he stayed on the right path. He always made sure Henry got proper medical treatment for his condition, growing up and stayed with him in his recovery. In "The Con", Nolan makes it clear that his relationship with his mother was strained, but that he will defend her if she is insulted, bluntly telling her ex-fiancé that she's still his mother. He was distraught by her death but dismayed by the depth of the deceptions she crafted. Although they got off to a rough start, he has come to accept his half-brother Pete Nolan as family often referring to him as brother, despite being corrected each time.

## Trivia

* Nolan receives a golden ticket at the beginning of Season 5, making him and Nyla Harper the only known officers on the show who have received one.
* "Just so you know, I got a couple of years of pre-law under my belt." - Nolan to his attorney in "Homefront"
* At the beginning of the series, Nolan is actually 45, according to his monologue to Bishop in "Plain Clothes Day"; Grey's initial reference to him as "the 40-year-old rookie" in the pilot episode is probably a play on the title of the film *The 40-Year-Old Virgin*.
* Nolan is the only rookie in the series who has been trained by all of the training officers in the series, except for Doug Stanton, who did not train him.
	+ Talia Bishop (Season 1)
	+ Captain Zoe Andersen (in "Green Light")
	+ Nyla Harper (Seasons 2-3)
	+ Tim Bradford (in "The Shake Up", "Now and Then", and "Triple Duty")
	+ Angela Lopez (in "The Switch" and "The Bet")
	+ Quigley Smitty (in "Threshold")
	+ Sergeant Wade Grey (in "Flesh and Blood" and "Impact")
* John's goal in the LAPD was to become a detective and be out in the field. Once he made it through the field training program, he would have had a chance to take the detective exam soon. Unfortunately, the reprimand he received at the start of season 3 effectively bars him from becoming a detective in the LAPD; in 3x05 he decides to go back to school in order to become a training officer. However, Nolan receives a golden ticket in Season 5, which allows him to choose any assignment in the LAPD, including becoming a detective. He ultimately chooses to continue his plan to become a training officer.
* Jackson West and Talia Bishop are the only members of the LAPD who have ever admitted to knowing about his relationship with Lucy Chen.
* Nolan attended Pennsylvania State University before dropping out after his ex-wife became pregnant.
* In "The Overnight" we hear that Nolan's blood type is AB negative, the least common of the eight main blood types, and that his son had a heart defect at birth that required three surgeries before his first birthday.
* During "Lockdown", Nolan reveals he was in the Boy Scouts.
* He has his mother in his contacts listed under "Momster".
* He reveals his father abandoned him when he was ten, but learns the latter left him a car after his death - and that he has a half-brother.
* He reveals in the academy he was taught about knife fights, with his first occurring against Aaron Galeno in "Triple Duty", in which he emerged the victor with only a small cut to the cheek.
* He mentions in "Threshold" that he has dislocated his fingers on multiple occasions from working construction and is able to put them back in place on his own.
* As seen in "Hit and Run", he is the go-to guy for construction when his friends need help in buildings or renovations. Lopez teased him about regretting telling everyone he was a contractor.
* During "Casualties", John was initially described by a CIA operative as a weak link in his squad, because he lacks an impressive history of accomplishments in contrast to everyone else; however, this has changed over the series.
	+ He and Bradford fought off five shooters of La Fiera and Nolan's knowledge of tools saved a mother and child. Nolan also defeated one of La Fiera' top men.
	+ He joined in the rescue of Angela from La Fiera.
	+ He was abducted by a serial killer/arsonist whom he managed to overpower and arrest single-handedly.
	+ He survived being fired upon by several federal criminals whom he took down with help from Ellroy Basso and Bailey Nune. As a result, Nolan receives a golden ticket.
	+ He defended his childhood home from a militia (his mother conned) with help from local cops and protected Bailey and his ex-girlfriend Stacy.
* He is often described as bad luck by the squad (particularly Harper and Smitty) and by others, to his dismay.
	+ This was referenced again in The Con after Bailey and his ex-girlfriend Stacy commented on it but he shrugged it off.
* Nolan is shown to be quite prepared when it comes to his tests and evaluations, as in both his FTO exam and his exam after receiving his letter of reprimand, he scored extremely high and even had the highest score in his mid point exam of his training.

## Confirmed kills

* Alex Montgomery, an armed gunman who briefly took a family hostage: Cause of death: shot by a Smith & Wesson M&P.