The following contains spoilers for Chenford scenes in The Rookie Season 6
Is this Chenford breakup forever? The short answer is no. The Rookie writers are more intelligent than that. They know how vital Chenford is to the viewers and, ultimately, to the series. A solid relationship keeps viewers invested, and it pulls the drama together in a relatively straightforward manner. However, this is network television at the end of the day, and despite the surge in popularity for romance novels, they’re stuck in their old ways of pushing couples through angst, which makes very little sense.
The interesting thing is that both Eric Winter and Melissa O’Neil are great at conveying vulnerability. Some of the best scenes between Tim and Lucy are the moments when everything is heated, and they’re at opposite ends of the coin. As adorable as their softer moments are, they work well because of the edges that perfectly align between them, and in a sense, the creatives behind The Rookie see that. (They’re also likely pushing the drama because happy endings are somehow still perceived as dull, but alas.)
However, it’s evident that this breakup is actually going to benefit Tim and Lucy in the long run. Tim is used to doing things on his own. He’s used to matters backfiring in his face, and he’s used to life-altering losses. So much so that he’s spiraling and sabotaging his happiness before it “destroys” him. In his mind, he’s doing Lucy a favor. He’s protecting her. He’s saving her. He can’t see beyond the here and now because everything else is murky in his future. And he’s very much in the wrong about it, but he’s still also in character. He’s self-destructive and too stubborn at the expense of his own happiness and now Lucy’s, too.
When we get to the end of The Rookie Season 6, Episode 6, “Secrets and Lies,” it all feels too overdramatized. I was ready to declare the episode underwhelming until Tim ended things with Lucy. And while the breakup is not a good thing, it creates the necessary tension for them to fully understand that transparency cannot be negotiable in their relationship. She needs to tell him when she’s anxious. He needs to tell her when he’s in trouble. He might be too old to have a “BFF” (silliest statement), but he’s not too old to have a person. He’s not too old to keep a partner.
And that’s what Chenford are—they’re partners. They’re best friends. They’re each other’s person, and they need to seize that by realizing that there cannot be any secrets between them, even if it’s to protect each other. That doesn’t work in healthy adult relationships. There’s also something to be said about how their on-screen “I love you” came during a lie-detector test, and this way, we get to see a more heightened version of it—I love you, I’m in love you, I can’t lose you, you’re everything. The possibilities are endless for how this silly breakup could be resolved.
It’s hard to trust TV shows these days when relationships are consistently shattered in front of us. But that can’t be the case with Chenford. It’s hard to imagine the series going down a road that destroys these two when they’re significantly better together in more ways than one. The chemistry between Winter and O’Neil is even a rarity in procedurals. There are a lot of brilliant ships out there, but in this genre, Tim and Lucy are special. They work together because the actors understand the characters and, thus, create a dynamic that’s worst investing in. As dated as this mentality is that, relationships can’t always be happy on TV, the angst can sometimes benefit the bigger story. However, if it’s something that continues to repeat, we can have a different conversation.
Even before they were romantically entangled, Tim and Lucy have shown one another how steadfastly loyal they are to protecting each other. It’s part of the reason why their relationship works so beautifully and why every little detail we’ve feels earned. And to a degree, as upsetting as this moment is, it emphasizes how deeply Tim loves Lucy because, in his uncompromising way, he’s looking out for her still. She’s more of a fighter, and he’s a little dejected now; thereby, it’s that natural balance we’re going to need to find that’ll make them even stronger as a couple when they’re back together.
First Featured Image Credit: ©ABC