‘The Rookie: North’ takes fan-favorite franchise outside LA with a major change
Fan-favorite ‘The Rookie’ will premiere Season 9 in January 2027. Along with that, fans are also eagerly waiting for the spinoff series, ‘The Rookie: North,’ featuring cast members including Jay Ellis, Chris Sullivan, along with Froy Gutierrez, Janet Montgomery, Mya Lowe, Karen Fukuhara, and Malik Watson.
‘The Rookie’ creator Alexi Hawley wrote and directed the pilot. For the storyline, lead star Jay Ellis opened up in an interview with US Weekly about how the spinoff will differ from the original series. “We’re doing something different. I think we are honoring what The Rookie has created and what that entire cast has created, which is something so beautiful and so special.” Referring to the OG show’s upcoming season, he added, “It’s going into its ninth season, so there’s a reason for that — and we are very much honoring that.”
The actor also talked about how the upcoming spinoff will be doing its “own thing.” He mentioned, “We’re a completely different cast with completely different characters. We’re in a completely different part of the world — in terms of the Pacific Northwest. So I think we are creating our own spin on what that is.”
The OG show, ‘The Rookie,’ premiered in 2018 and follows police officers in Los Angeles. This includes Nathan Fillion, Eric Winter, Melissa O’Neill, Alyssa Diaz, Richard T. Jones, Mekia Cox, Jenna Dewan, and Shawn Ashmore.
There’s another spinoff show, ‘The Rookie: Feds,’ which aired from 2022 to 2023. As for the upcoming spinoff, ‘The Rookie: North,’ fans will witness Ellis’ character, Alex, the oldest rookie from the Pierce County Police Department in Washington. The series will cover the events following a violent home invasion.
Ellis also mentioned, “The fun thing about this show is we go from urban and from city to rural in a matter of miles. What that creates in a lot of ways in a smaller department — especially — is you don’t have the same resources that a department like L.A. would have.”
So while they would be “out there” on their own, they sometimes have to “figure it out” because backup can take 20 minutes to arrive. The actor recalled being asked by someone from the fellow cast, “How does someone not get killed in season 1?” Responding to that, he said, “Don’t worry about it. Just have fun. We’re just gonna go make a great show.”
Notably, Ellis also talked about the pilot; in his interview with Deadline, he noted, “I have seen the pilot twice; I think it’s great. I think you’re gonna fall in love with all these characters.”
