Rosalind Dyer

**Rosalind Dyer** was a recurring antagonist on *The Rookie*. She was convicted in the killings of seven individuals and faced charges in the killings of several others. She was being held on a life sentence serving her sentence at the Central California Women's Facility. In Season 2 she was briefly allowed out of prison as part of a deal with the DA's office to recover the bodies of the victims of her crimes. In Season 5, she manipulated her lawyer into helping her to escape prison en route to court to stand trial for Caleb Wright's crimes. She was portrayed by the late Annie Wersching.

## Biography

She is first seen in "The Dark Side", when she arrives at the Mid-Wilshire station after making a deal with the assistant district attorney Sean Del Monte in order to find the bodies of her victims that were never recovered. She is revealed to have a past with Nick Armstrong, as Armstrong was on the task force that had arrested her five years earlier. Armstrong later reveals that his wife had died while he was trying to catch Dyer, and that it still haunted him to that day.

In "Day of Death", John Nolan and Nyla Harper return to the prison to confront Dyer after Lucy Chen is abducted. Nolan tries to convince Dyer to give up the location of Caleb Wright, the other killer, but Dyer tells him that Wright's kills are her kills as well. The team later finds out that Wright had sneaked into the prison on multiple occasions, and had given contraband items to Rosalind so that they could communicate with one another.

Nolan later returns to speak with Dyer, and Dyer reveals that killing Chen was never the endgame. Nolan then asks her what is, but Rosalind corrects him saying "Not what, but *who*". From that, the LAPD team deduces that Nick Armstrong is her ultimate target.

After Nick and Lucy are found, and Caleb is killed, Nolan returns to the prison and reveals to Dyer that they had recovered Wright's notes, meaning that they now know everything about her crimes, and that she no longer has any secrets. As Nolan prepares to leave, Dyer reveals that she has one last secret about Armstrong, but Nolan does not believe her.

Dyer appears again in "The Hunt", where Nolan, seeking explanation for Nick's suspicious behavior, comes to the prison to ask her about Nick's secrets. Dyer is just as manipulative as always, but she does drop hints for Nolan as to where to look for evidence about Nick's actions.

After Nolan is detained in "Consequences", Tim Bradford and Chen try to get a statement from Dyer about what she and Nolan discussed, hoping to find some insight into Armstrong's situation, but all they get is Dyer gloating over Chen's trauma and one small hint about Armstrong's methods. She uses a hidden cell phone to call a couple of key characters to gloat some more.

Season 5 begins with an episode ("Double Down") showing how Dyer escapes from custody en route to being tried for the crimes committed by her associate, Caleb. She is aided by an attorney Beth Veston whose admiration for Dyer motivates her to kill a guard and divert the police into chasing her, thinking she was Dyer. Dyer rewards that admiration by killing Veston's parents, the two people the attorney wants dead, once again escaping the police.

At the end of the episode, Dyer appears to be piloting an airplane, destination unknown, as she calls Nolan to drop a hint about Chen; it turns out that Chen's boyfriend Chris Sanford has been left to die with his wrists slit - in Chen's apartment.

In "The Choice", Nolan discovers that Rosalind has returned to Los Angeles and, with the help of yet another acolyte, rigged an elaborate trap for Nolan's significant other, Bailey Nune. Bailey falls into a tank that is protected from tampering by several methods, some lethal, and Rosalind's demand is that Nolan hand himself over to her, supposedly in exchange for Bailey.

Although Nolan obeys Rosalind's every command, including that he tell no one about his actions, when confronted by her he must make a life-or-death choice. Once the crisis is over, Nolan chooses to arrest (rather than kill) Rosalind, but she is shot dead by a sniper.

## Trivia

* Dyer had a history with Nick Armstrong, and appeared to know many secrets that Armstrong also knew.
* Annie Wersching also portrayed Dr. Kelly Nieman in *Castle*, another of Nathan Fillion's shows, and in both shows acted as a recurring antagonist.
* Dyer enjoyed manipulating and taunting her victims, including Lucy Chen, Chris Sanford, and John Nolan.
* Rosalind's final episode, "The Choice", left questions hanging which were addressed in the subsequent episode of *The Rookie: Feds.*
* Rosalind Dyer would end up being Annie Wersching's final acting role before passing away on January 29, 2023.