Warning: SPOILERS for the season 5 finale of The Rookie.Given its stellar ratings and dedicated audience, it came as no surprise when ABC opted to renew The Rookie for season 6. Season 5 of the Nathan-Fillion-led police procedural brought several changes, with Nolan receiving a golden ticket for his heroic actions at the border and officially becoming the training officer of Celina Juarez—the show's latest addition. However, the most drastic shift of all involves the relationship between Tim Bradford and his former boot, Lucy Chen. For years, a Chenford romance was respectively off the table due to the power dynamic at play and the boundaries established among rookies and training officers.
But once Lucy finishes her probationary year and the two continue riding together as sergeant and aide, their feelings for one another become unavoidable. The carefully crafted arc finally comes to a head when Tim and Lucy have a heart-to-heart in Season 5, Episode 8, directed by Robert Bella. At the time, "The Collar" was the season's highest-rated installment, and was later bested by the director's next episode, "The List." Bella wears many hats when it comes to his work on The Rookie and has also served as a writer and co-executive producer. In addition, he has directed episodes of the show's spinoff series, The Rookie: Feds, and won several awards for his feature film Colin Fitz Lives!
Screen Rant spoke with Bella about working with showrunner Alexi Hawley and stars Eric Winter and Melissa O'Neil to do Chenford's highly-anticipated romance justice, as well as his transition into full-time directing.
Director Robert Bella Talks The Rookie Season 5
Screen Rant: Congratulations on another amazing season of The Rookie!
Robert Bella: Thank you. It's such a talented group of people and such an amazing writing staff and cast and crew. And then, of course, it all starts with Alexi at the top. It's been a really fun ride for five years for me.
The finale felt like a horror film. It was terrifying. Do you know why the writers' room choose Aaron to be the initial target and propel that storyline?
Robert Bella: I have no idea. I'll be honest! Last season, I was spending a lot of time directing. And so I would be off directing one of my episodes, and I wouldn't be in the room for those conversations. Now that I'm segwaying into directing solely and [I'm] not in the writers room, I have those same exact questions. I'm like, "Wait, what?! Oh no! Is he coming back?!"
So you were just as surprised!
Robert Bella: Yes! Totally! I've read the scripts and whatnot, but in terms of the conversation, to answer your question, I have no idea. I would be making things up if I told you I knew exactly how that went down. You could literally tell me that Tim and Lucy were going to retire and move to the south of France, and I'd be like, "I'll watch that show! Okay, I'm in!" So now that I'm a quote, "director," unquote, I'm more of a fan than ever before.
How much time did you spend in the writers' room during season 5? Were you a part of that process?
Robert Bella: Yeah, because we usually have at least a month, sometimes longer, before episodes start shooting. So I think the writers room last year opened really early in May. And then we didn't start shooting, I think until mid-June—something like that. So there was all that time in the writers room. And then, fairly quickly, I think it was episode 2, I was asked to be the onset producer for episode 502.
So I was maybe three days into being on set for that out of the writers room and then that's when I got the call about Feds 103. A director had gotten COVID, and so they were short a director and Alexi and Terence called me on a Sunday, and they were like, "Hey, how would you like to direct an episode of Feds?" I said, "I would love to direct an episode of Feds." And they were like, "Great, you start on Friday."
That's amazing. I know you've been doing both, which sounds like a lot of work, but also incredibly fun.
Robert Bella: It's such fun. They're both uniquely different and yet similar vibes in terms of the quality of the people involved. The Rookie, at this point, it's been five years. It's a family of people who've worked together for so long and the crew knows exactly what to do, and the cast has got it down cold. And then showing up on Feds for episode 3—it was a brand-new crew. It was only their third episode and nobody was really quite certain.
It was a lot of fun being involved in the very early stages of that show, just to help be a part of that process of the discovery of how an episode of Feds is made. And then jumped to later in the season, because I did Feds 103, and then I did The Rookie 508 and 510, and then went back to Feds for 117. So I was at the very beginning of Feds, and then towards the end of the season of Feds. At that point, they were all like, "Oh, yeah, we got this down." It was a fun arc to watch.
Did you end up writing any episodes for season 5 of The Rookie?
Robert Bella: I wrote parts. I wrote bits and pieces. We do a lot of group writing, so I did a lot of contributing. But I didn't get any episode credited to me as a writer because I was directing so much.
Nolan became a training officer this year, but was that always the plan when you were mapping out the seasons? He obviously couldn't stay a rookie forever.
Robert Bella: I don't want to speak for Alexi, but I'm pretty sure that he had always had that kind of an arc in mind. I think it was a training officer. I can't remember what we talked about in season 1. His first year as a rookie got expanded, partially because you want to tell those stories, and then partially, at one point, because of COVID. It was like, "Okay, let's just keep him a rookie for a little while." But there was always discussion early on of, "At some point, the show has to evolve, and he has to evolve."
It was like, "Well, okay, then he'll be the rookie T.O. and he'll be training new rookies." So there was always that discussion early on about how to keep that concept alive. The specifics of exactly when it was landed as to when he'd be a T.O. I don't remember, but I do remember that early on there was obviously discussion that at some point he would move up the ladder.
I love Celina and her relationship with Nolan. She's such a great addition to the series.
Robert Bella: I remember being in the room for that when we would talk about who she might be. It was, "What would be a great challenge for Nathan and for Nolan to have as a rookie? Who is he going to train?" We pitched a bunch of stuff and then Alexi kind of fell in love with the idea of Celina.
She also has a really fun dynamic with Nolan and Bailey. Sometimes they feel like her adopted parents.
Robert Bella: Yes! I got really lucky. I got two great episodes of The Rookie to direct and one of them was 508. At that point, she was sleeping over at Nolan's house a lot. The house was haunted and Nolan says, "The only unwelcomed guest in this house is you." [Laughs] I loved the delivery. She was like the adopted daughter who he didn't really want.
I'm not sure if you would know the answer to this, but fans have asked—and I've been wondering about it myself—we haven't seen Kojo this season!
Robert Bella: [Laughs] Everyone's asking about Kojo!
Yes! Is Kojo okay?
Robert Bella: I can't speak for the production as a whole, but I can speak as a director and a producer—it's difficult to work with animals. It slows the day down, and it makes things much more complicated. Even though that dog is an amazing actor dog, you're always pressed for time on a set. And you have to dedicate extra time because the dog doesn't feel like doing what you're asking it to do. There's that old cliché, the old adage of, "Never work with animals and children."
And there's a reason why, and it's usually because of time. Well, partially on the production side, because of the time that it takes and the extra cost that that creates. I love animals and dogs in particular, so anytime they're on set, I'm just always thrilled. But then, of course, the trainers are always like, "Yeah, you really can't talk to them right now. They're working. We need to keep them focused." And I'm like, "Oh, okay. But I just want to play with the dog!"
We didn't see Tim's house either, but I'm guessing that's a location and Lucy's apartment is a set?
Robert Bella: Lucy's is a set. Tim's started off as a location. And then at some point...I can't remember if it just got to be too complicated, or the owner wouldn't let us film there. When we were shooting on Warner Brothers, it was right nearby. Now that we're at Paramount, it's even further away and less convenient. Occasionally, we would build a set of his bedroom, recreating the bedroom in the location. And who knows, down the line, what the plan is.
Well, we have to talk a little bit about Chenford...
Robert Bella: Yeah! I totally scored as a director. I got to direct 508, which is when they finally admit their feelings for each other. I was like, "Oh my God!" It was the highest-rated episode of season 5, until episode 510, which I also got to direct, which is now the highest-rated episode of season five, and that's when they go on their first date. And so I got to do the episode where they admit their feelings and then the episode where they go on their first date. I was like, "Oh my God. So much fun!"
The scenes themselves were beautifully done. Can you give some insight into directing those?
Robert Bella: I was actually thinking about putting something out on social media, kind of like an anatomy of a scene from a director's point of view. The scene where they finally admitted it—the very last scene of 508—at the very beginning of the day, Melissa and Eric came to me, and they were like, "We love this scene. It's beautiful. Can we talk about maybe making some tiny tweaks to the script?" And so I reached out to Alexi, and he was like, "Absolutely. Whatever they want to do, let me know." And throughout the course of the day, because it was one of the very last scenes we were going to shoot on the day—but at the very beginning of the morning we started talking about it. And as the day progressed, there were little tiny shifts to the script.
We would work together—me and Eric and Melissa—and then we would shoot it off to Alexi, and then he would rework it and send it back to us, and then we would tweak it a little bit more. It evolved very, very little when we were shooting it, but it was a really lovely process to watch how invested as actors they were in wanting this scene to be perfect. And then, reciprocally, from Alexi's point of view of "Absolutely, we need to make sure that this is perfect. This is an important scene." It was great to have been a part of that process. The other challenge for me, as a director, particularly with that scene, was that it was scripted that it takes place in the parking lot outside the station. I was like, "There's nothing romantic about a bunch of police cars."
I was like, "This is the first time they admit their love. It has to be beautiful, and it has to have a certain amount of softness to it and romance to it." So I got to that location early that day and just scoured around the front of the building. It's like a carport. And so I literally just got there about half an hour before anybody else and just walked every single inch of that looking to try and visualize what would be the most attractive angles where you saw the fewest amount of police cars, but you still knew you were at the station. And then, ultimately, we settled on putting them on the edge of this planter. There's a border where the plants are, and I was like, "Okay, well that's pretty. That's attractive." You're still at the station, but at least it has a softer look than standing next to a police car.
Personally, I love that you did it outside the station. They almost had that conversation in the parking lot during the season 4 finale, so I thought it was an incredible full-circle moment.
Robert Bella: I thought about that too. But, ultimately, visually, it just felt important to me that it be elegant and beautiful. Certainly, their performances would have done that standing next to a shop, but I just thought seeing those flowers and seeing that color would give it a slightly different texture.
Since you were in the writers' room at the time, was Lucy's undercover career always meant to create conflict between her and Tim? Or did you just feel it was a natural route for the character to take?
Robert Bella: It's hazy to me because the discussion was had a couple of years back, but I do remember that we did talk about how it would be a great opportunity for Melissa to be able to play different kinds of roles and go undercover. And then because Tim's first wife was an undercover cop, there was opportunity there for tremendous conflict of "I want to support you. I believe in you," on the one hand. On the other hand, his wife almost died doing undercover work. So Alexi was always clear that there was really great dramatic potential there.
You brought Isabel back this season! We haven't seen her since season 1.
Robert Bella: Yeah, that was Alexi. That was Alexi. He came in the room one day, and he was like, "Yeah, we're going to bring Isabel back," and we were like, "Okay!"
Was Mircea Monroe excited to come back to the show?
Robert Bella: Yes. I think they had dinner. I think that's what happened. He had gone out to dinner with her or something. She's lovely. I had known her as an actress from so many other things, but specifically from Episodes, the Matt LeBlanc TV show. So she's an amazing comedic actress and that's what I knew her as. And then to watch the transformation from those early episodes in the show—it was so impressive to see her go to those dark places when all I knew that she had done was comedies.
There's something fans have been wondering about for years that goes all the way back to season 2. Did you ever discuss in the writers' room whether Lucy decided to keep the "Day of Death" tattoo?
Robert Bella: Oh, yeah, we talked about that. Alexi was always very clear that she would keep it. I think it's even in the episode. I seem to recall Alexi feeling like, for her, that would become, not a badge of honor, but a way of saying to herself, "Yes, I'm alive. I survived." I don't know if that's changed since then. Certainly, you don't have to worry about it, for the most part, in terms of exposure, but I remember [that] really clearly.
Out of all the scenes that you've directed for The Rookie and The Rookie: Feds, which were your favorites?
Robert Bella: Those scenes with Tim and Lucy, and the date scenes as well. In 510, the second first date, again, I think we ended the episode on it in 510. In the script, it's written that they were at a food truck on the street corner. And again, I was like, "A food truck on a street corner is not romantic, and it's their second date, and I think Tim's going to want to do it right." So a food truck makes perfect sense because most of their life, in terms of work, they would have meals at food trucks, but I was like, "I want it to be a beautiful food truck. I want it to be a romantic food truck." And there was a lot of back and forth in terms of, "Okay, where would that be?"
And then because the schedule kept shifting, I think we chose like three or four different locations, and then, eventually, we went back to the one that was my first choice, but at first, fell out for scheduling reasons. And then eventually it came back to, "Okay, we'll go back to your first choice," which I was thrilled about. We got to take this little park and hang these lights, and just make it look really, really, beautiful, and yet true to who they were, as opposed to their first, first date, which was this elegant restaurant, and they're both kind of awkward and uncomfortable in it. It was great to take them from that location to one that was more true to who they are as characters.
All of a sudden, they have some takeout food and some beer as opposed to this fancy restaurant where they both couldn't figure out what to say to one another. I loved being able to be part of that arc, both from 508 to when they talk about it and then into 510 when it finally gets realized. And then, in Feds, in 117, I just thought it was such a beautiful episode because it was an episode that was all about people who are holding grudges. It was something that I talked about a lot with the cast of "How do we create an emotional arc for each of them, from when they start holding the grudge to learning to let it go?" It was mirrored and echoed in a number of relationships and a number of scenes in that.
So it was less about one specific scene in that episode for me as it was more about the joy of working with actors who were willing to really create a beginning, middle, and end and an arc and really dig deep to find those variations of those textures. It's easy at first glance to be like, "Okay, this is a scene where I'm angry, and this is a scene where I'm happy," but [not as easy] to really kind of find the complexities and the textures. That's also the episode where Laura breaks up with her boyfriend, and then they get back together. That whole progression of them starting off on a kind of very superficial level to having the talk, and then in the middle of the talk, they break apart.
To the actors, I was like, "Let's break the audience's hearts. Let's make them think these two are never going to see each other again, so that then, at the end, when they come back together, it's that much more powerful." And they just nailed those scenes and those moments. There are just so many times in that episode, where I would just, as a former actor, and as a director, and as an audience member, be watching the actors and be so enthralled. And Niecy [Nash] had a similar arc like that as well where she starts off, and she's so angry about the fact that Cutty wants to go visit the man who, basically, was the reason why he was in jail for all those years.
And then Cutty convincing her to come back and then, through the course of the episode, as she watches the villain lose her life because she couldn't let go of a grudge—for Simone to have that realization of "Okay, I've got to let this go. I don't want to have my life destroyed because of a grudge." So she had beautiful scenes with Cutty and with James Lesure, and then at the very, very end she goes back to Cutty, and he says to her, "Forgiveness is for the forgiver." Frankie and Niecy got me right in the heart with those beats.
As a director, there are times when you can lose track of the fact that you're working, and you experience it as an audience member and I had a bunch of those on 117. Felix Solis had an amazing moment. He and Michael McGlone did a scene where I was just transfixed. I was like, "I could watch you guys do this scene all night long." It's been such a joy and such a pleasure to have the opportunity to do those episodes. And then hopefully, moving forward, to get to do more, both in The Rookie world and outside of The Rookie world.
Has there been any news on a second season of Feds?
Robert Bella: Not yet. But I think the strike has kind of put a pause on things. I can't imagine a world where it doesn't come back. It's such a great show. I think Alexi and Terence have found an amazing balance between each show having its own voice and unique storytelling, and at the same time, being able to have those crossover episodes where we dovetail back and forth. I hope that everything gets resolved quickly and that the announcement is made soon, because I'm sure they're all anxious to get back to work.
If you could have one character from The Rookie and one character from Feds spend an episode together, who do you think would be a good crossover combination?
Robert Bella: That's a really good question. There's the audience member in me, but then there's the director. I would need to think about it because the list is long, and I also don't want to play favorites. I think there's tremendous potential to do lots of variations on that. I can't wait to see what the writers come up with. It's so weird for me, after five years of being one of the writers on the show—I was literally just on the [picket] line with them on the strike. It was great just to reconnect and see them all on one hand, even though under those circumstances, it's rough. It was just weird to be like, "Alright, I'm not part of this team anymore." I mean, I'm part of the family, but it'll shift. It already has shifted.
Why did you decide to make the switch? Was directing always the long-term goal for you?
Robert Bella: I always wanted to direct. I started off as an actor, and back then I was doing theater. I was part of a theater company where we all did everything. We all wrote, we all directed, we all produced, we all made the costumes, and sold concessions. So that was my background. And then, at one point, when I realized my acting career wasn't going to go anywhere, I directed and produced an indie feature that went to Sundance. And so that was my dream path. But it just didn't realize for whatever reason. I came so very, very close many, many times to getting my second feature off the ground, but it would always fall apart for one reason or another. It just took longer than I ever thought it would.
Honestly, I had kind of given up on the idea of directing, until all of a sudden, Alexi called. It's actually a funny story. It was season 4, and back then we were still in COVID. In the height of COVID, we were trying to minimize the number of writers and producers who would go on to set just in terms of exposure. So that season, I was the onset producer, and I was going to be on set, I think, for every episode. It meant I was in the writers room a lot less as well. There was a 9:45 mandatory writers room meeting that was called, but I was out on location scouting. I was like, "Well, I'll just read the notes." There are always notes for meetings, so I was like, "I'll just catch up."
So at 9:45, I'm out with the crew on location, and my phone rings, and it was Terence who was on The Rookie at the time. He was like, "Dude, where are you? It's a mandatory writers meeting." I was like, "Oh, I didn't realize it was that important. I thought I could just read the notes and catch up." He's like, "I don't know what's going on, but Alexi wants us all here." So I was like, "Yeah, absolutely. Let me slip away from the group." I hung up, and I thought, "Oh, my God. Is someone going to get fired?" I zoom into the meeting and everybody's there, and Alexi's very poker face.
He goes, "We have a decision that we need to make moving forward, and Bella it has to do with you." I was like, "Am I getting fired?!" And then he said, "How would you like to direct episode 415?" To which, I teared up, and I was like, "Oh my God! Yes, I would love to!" But then, afterward, I thought about it, and I was like, "Oh my God. They threw a surprise party and everyone showed up, except for me!" [Laughs] It was a surprise party to give me my first episode as a director and everyone was there except for me because I was out on tech scout. And so that was how I got my first episode of TV.
That's an amazing story!
Robert Bella: I am so thrilled. I hope that I get to do it a lot more, certainly in the world of The Rookie and elsewhere. I just saw Taylor Tomlinson the other night and I see people like that, and I'm like, "I would love to direct Taylor Tomlinson in something." There are just so many talented people out there and so many cool stories that I would love to be a part of. So fingers crossed.
About The Rookie
John Nolan, the oldest rookie in the LAPD, has used his life experience, determination, and sense of humor to keep up with rookies 20 years his junior. Nearing the end of his training, Nolan now faces his biggest challenge as a police officer yet when he must come to terms with the choices he has made in pursuit of the truth.
Check out our previous interview with Robert Bella as well.
All episodes of The Rookie are currently available to stream on Hulu.