Eight seasons in, ABC‘s hit procedural The Rookie remains one of the network’s most popular shows. After launching in 2018 with a premise centered on a rookie (played by Nathan Fillion) in the mid-stages of his life joining the LAPD, the show has evolved into a high-octane police procedural that showcases the lives of law enforcement in the world’s entertainment capital. While other shows run out of steam as seasons go by, The Rookie is one of the rare exceptions that maintains its audience or even grows. The show has been reported as one of the most popular procedurals among Gen-Z.
The eighth season started on Tuesday, January 6, 2026, and concluded on Monday, May 4, with the finale titled “The Bandit.” The season was full of major moments, including a proposal and the death of one of the show’s long-running villains, marking the end of an era for the procedural known for keeping its villains around for several years. The season shook things up a lot by including scenes outside of Los Angeles, bringing back polarizing characters, and even doing special episodes. The bad news is that The Rookie is the show ABC holds for midseason, with Season 9 expected around January next year.
However, ABC knows fans are starved for more The Rookie content, and the network is making a rare move by releasing an extended cut of Episode 10, “His Name Was Martin,” Deadline reports. The episode aired on March 9 and featured an emotional arc for Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil). In it, the team tries to prevent a cleaning crew from wreaking havoc after they are exposed to chemicals at Westview. The members of the crew exhibit rabid behavior akin to zombies, and when Lucy is cornered by one of them, she discharges her weapon and kills him. The ordeal had a profound emotional impact on her. The extended cut includes five and a half extra minutes and will be released in five days on July 20. Viewers can find it in the Extras section of The Rookie‘s landing page on Hulu.
Collider Exclusive · Taylor Sheridan Universe Quiz Which Taylor Sheridan Show Do You Belong In? Yellowstone · Landman · Tulsa King · Mayor of Kingstown
Four worlds. All of them brutal, complicated, and built on power, loyalty, and the price of survival. Taylor Sheridan doesn’t write heroes — he writes people who do what they have to do and live with the cost. Ten questions will reveal which one of his worlds you were made for.
🤠Yellowstone
🛢️Landman
👑Tulsa King
⚖️Mayor of Kingstown
01
Where does your power come from? In Sheridan’s world, everyone has leverage. The question is what kind.
02
Who do you put first, no matter what? Loyalty in Sheridan’s universe is always absolute — and always costly.
03
Someone crosses a line. How do you respond? Every Sheridan protagonist has a line. What matters is what happens after it’s crossed.
04
Where do you feel most in your element? Sheridan’s worlds are as much about place as they are about people.
05
How do you feel about operating in the grey? Nobody in a Sheridan show has clean hands. The question is how they carry the dirt.
06
What are you actually fighting to hold onto? Every Sheridan character is fighting a war. The real question is what they’re defending.
07
How do you lead? Authority in Sheridan’s world is never given — it’s established, maintained, and constantly tested.
08
Someone new arrives and tries to change how things work. Your reaction? Every Sheridan show has an outsider disrupting an established order. Sometimes that outsider is you.
09
What has your position cost you? Nobody gets to where these characters are without paying for it. The bill is always personal.
10
When it’s over, what do you want people to say? Sheridan’s characters all know the ending is coming. The question is what they leave behind.
Sheridan Has Spoken You Belong In…
The show that claimed the most of your answers is the world you were built for. If two tied, both are shown — you’re complicated enough to straddle two Sheridan universes.
🤠 Yellowstone
🛢️ Landman
👑 Tulsa King
⚖️ Mayor of Kingstown
You are a Dutton — or you might as well be. You understand that some things are worth protecting at any cost, and that the modern world’s indifference to history, to land, to legacy, is not something you’re willing to accept quietly. You lead from the front, you carry your family’s weight without complaint, and when someone threatens what’s yours, you don’t escalate — you finish it. You’re not cruel. But you are absolute. In Yellowstone’s world, that combination of ferocity and loyalty doesn’t make you a villain. It makes you the only thing standing between everything that matters and everyone who wants to take it.
You thrive in the chaos of high-stakes negotiation, where the money is enormous, the margins are thin, and the wrong word in the wrong room can cost everyone everything. You’re a fixer — the person called when a situation is already on fire and needs someone with the nerve to walk into it. West Texas oil country rewards exactly what you are: sharp, adaptable, unsentimental, and absolutely clear-eyed about what people want and what they’ll do to get it. You’re not naive enough to think this world is fair. You’re smart enough to be the one deciding who it’s fair to.
You are a Dwight Manfredi — someone who has served their time, paid their dues, and arrived somewhere unexpected with nothing but their reputation and their wits. You adapt without losing yourself. You build loyalty through respect rather than fear, though you’re not above reminding people that the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Tulsa King is for people who are still standing when everyone assumed they’d be finished — who find, in an unfamiliar place, that they’re more capable than the world gave them credit for. You don’t need a throne. You build one, wherever you happen to land.
You carry the weight of a system that is broken by design, and you do it anyway — because someone has to, and because you’re the only one positioned to do it without the whole thing collapsing. Mike McLusky’s world is for people who are comfortable operating where there are no good options, only less catastrophic ones. You speak every language: law enforcement, criminal, political, human. That fluency makes you invaluable and it makes you a target. You’ve made your peace with both. Mayor of Kingstown belongs to people who understand that keeping the peace is not the same as being at peace — and who do the job regardless.
Why Is ABC Releasing an Extended Episode of ‘The Rookie?’
With around 40 minutes available for scenes on broadcast shows, some scenes don’t make it into the final network cut. Series creator Alexi Hawley — who also wrote and directed the zombie episode — revealed that he had to cut some material that would have contextualized Tim (Eric Winter) and Lucy’s scenes later in the episode. Since episodes can run as long as they want on streaming, Hawley decided to re-include the scenes he cut as a reward for viewers who have made The Rookie one of ABC’s most-watched shows. He explained:
Network run times are set in stone. But Hulu’s are not. So, I picked up the phone and pitched the idea of releasing an extended cut as a reward to our amazing fans, who are so invested in the show. Now they’ll be able to go deeper into the character journeys (especially for Tim and Lucy) and see the previously unaired scenes that enhance the episode in a unique way.
All seasons of The Rookie are available to stream on Hulu in the US. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
