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‘The Rookie’ Season 9 gets surprise format update after cliffhanger finale episode

The cast and creator of ‘The Rookie’ teased what’s next for Season 9 at San Diego Comic-Con 2026 following the Season 8 cliffhanger

'The Rookie' cast and crew were all present at San Diego Comic-Con 2026 to interact with fans. During the conversation, they revealed some interesting tidbits about the show's upcoming Season 9, which is currently in production, according to Deadline. The show's creator, Alexi Hawley, revealed that the highly anticipated Season 9 premiere will span two episodes instead of being a standalone installment. “It’s a two-parter, so it won’t all be resolved in one episode — there’s a lot going on,” he said. “I think it’s the best of what we do; it’s incredibly high stakes, dramatic. It’s a love story; it’s funny and unexpected. I just wish everything up to wait till January to see it.”

For those unaware, the Season 8 finale ended with a major cliffhanger. Just after fan-favorite couple Tim and Lucy got engaged, they were both subdued by attackers and later kidnapped. The creator, in a previous interview with Deadline, confirmed that the Season 9 premiere will pick up after the kidnapping sequence. “We’re definitely gonna start that way, figure out where they are, and figure out how to get them back, and whatever obstacles we can put in their way on that,” Hawley shared. “And then seeing Tim and Lucy wherever they are, I don’t think they’re going to sit idly by and wait to be rescued.”

Melissa O’Neil, who plays Lucy, was on the panel and shared her feelings about that cliffhanger. “Honestly, when I was reading it the first time it was like, ‘I can’t believe he’s finally giving it to them, I’m in shock,'” she said. “And then the next moment I was like, ‘See? I knew he wasn’t going to give it to them.’ And also, admittedly, my heart went out to everyone who’s deeply invested because I was like, ‘This is gonna be hard.’ So thank you for being so invested. But I went on the rollercoaster with you guys. It was great.” She and Eric Winter, who plays Tim on the show, also talked about their experience shooting the scene.  “It was very rushed to shoot that day, though; it was very unceremonious. We were chasing the light,” O'Neil shared. “Yeah, we timed it to the sunset. It was interesting; the whole thing was moving quick. We had to knock it out. But I think seeing that script was surprising, and it made me laugh. Kind of like, ha-ha, really bad. It was great,” Winter added.

Nathan Fillion, who will start shooting on Monday, also joined in the fun by asking the audience who had a "conniption in their living room" after watching the kidnapping sequence. The 'Castle' actor spoke fondly about his experience on 'The Rookie' as Officer John Nolan, and said, “My worst day is a great day.” Although the exact episode count for the next season of the ABC series has not been announced yet, as per Collider, it may have fewer episodes than the previous seasons. For context, Season 8 contained 18 episodes. 'The Rookie' Season 9 is set to premiere sometime around January 2027.