The Rookie Season 8 premiere ended with a shocking revelation about Lieutenant Wade Grey's future in the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), with the ABC series saying goodbye to the character sooner than expected. Lieutenant Grey (Richard T. Jones) has been serving as the Watch Commander of the Mid-Wilshire Division of the LAPD, rising from a Sergeant from the first six seasons to a Lieutenant I in Season 7. As the stablizing anchor of the team, Grey has proven his importance, but a last-minute twist in the Season 8 premiere completely changes The Rookie forever.
The Rookie Season 8 delivered a strong premiere by introducing the team's biggest international mission, with the LAPD helping the FBI and Interpol track down a high-risk weapons dealer in Prague with the help of former big bad Monica Stevens. As expected, the mission had its fair share of setbacks, but it ultimately became a success, thanks to the coordinated efforts of the teams involved. Following the mission's success, FBI Agent Matthew Garza (who reprised his role from the spin-off, The Rookie: Feds) offered Grey a position as a seniuor liaison to join his elite multi-agency task force tasked to take high-profile criminals off the street.
In a surprising move, Grey accepted the offer with a handshake, meaning that he will have to leave his position as the Lieutenant of the Mid-Wilshire Division. This marks an end of an era for The Rookie, considering that he has been an important piece of their operations through the years.
While The Rookie will say goodbye to Grey's longtime position, his journey in the ABC series is far from over, considering that it has yet to resolve his key storyline with his wife, Luna. For the uninitiated, Luna has been tired of Grey putting work first over family, and this new job offer could put their marriage in jeopardy. It's also worth noting that Grey didn't even consult Luna when accepting the position.
ABC released the synopsis for The Rookie Season 8, Episode 2, confirming that Grey will transition into his new position due to the revelation that "Tim [Bradford] takes on a new role" in the following installment.
"When the president visits Los Angeles, the LAPD teams up with the Secret Service to ensure his safety and assess any major threats on their watch list. Meanwhile, Miles’s instincts are tested, and Tim takes on a new role."
Tim Bradford (who got back with Lucy Chen in Season 8) is the perfect replacement for Lieutenant Grey to oversee the Mid-Wilshire Division's operations, mainly because he has proven himself to be a great leader in the past seasons.
Speaking with TV Insider, The Rookie showrunner Alexi Hawley teased what's next for Grey, noting that fans will still see him inside the LAPD but in a different office. Hawley sees Grey's new job as an opportunity to "expand the scope" of The Rookie beyond Los Angeles:
"We’ve set up this idea of this sort of joint task force between the LAPD and the FBI sort of run by Garza on the FBI side and by Grey on the LAPD side. And so there’s a task force office that we introduce in the season, and they’re sort of putting together a hit list of big bads, for lack of a more nuanced term, that Monica is going to help them target. It allows us to expand the scope of the show sometimes beyond L.A."
Although Hawley clarified that Grey will still appear, the fact that he is in a different department suggests that he could have a limited role because his mission will likely be different from the core LAPD officers. This could mean that Grey's move is more drastic than fans realize because it will cement a major shake-up within the Mid-Wilshire Division, considering his guidance has helped many officers over the years.
What Lieutenant Grey's New Position Means for 'The Rookie'
Lieutenant Grey's transition to become senior liaison of the joint FBI-LAPD task force means that he is stepping away from his day-to-day Watch Commander duties at Mid-Wilshire, meaning that he will have lesser interactions with the likes of Nolan, Diaz, Chen, Harper, and the others. This is on top of him being swooped in for international missions in future episodes.
Despite that, Grey moving away from his Lieutenant position allows allows the character to have a brand-new start and embrace growth. Given that the premiere teased a major storyline involving his tension with his wife Luna, the new position gives him a fresh storyline to deal with rather than being constrained with the high-stakes life of being a Watch Commander.
Grey's new position also adds to the much-talked-about Chenford storyline because Bradford will technically be Lucy Chen's boss even though they are in different shifts. This would add tension to the newly reunited couple, especially now that they are together.
All in all, the move offers a narrative reset for Grey and The Rookie in general.
