Titus Makin Jr's Jackson West disappeared from The Rookie after Season 3, never to be seen again in the ABC series.
The cast of The Rookie during Season 7 looks rather different from what it did when the series began in 2019, with Titus Makin Jr.'s Jackson West being a notable absentee as one of the series' three original new recruits.
Titus Makin Jr. Almost Left The Rookie Much Earlier
Several years after his departure, fans still miss Titus Makin Jr.'s Jackson West.
Speaking in an interview with Entertainment Weekly during the airing of Season 3, Makin revealed he almost did not return for the (at the time) current run, citing the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor as a factor.
Floyd and Taylor were just two examples of innocent Black individuals killed by U.S. police officers in early 2020, both of which helped light the fuse of the "Black Lives Matter" movement that swept the globe.
The killings occurred around the airing of The Rookie Season 2, causing some concerns for Makin to return for another batch of episodes.
He told the outlet how he realized he had "been complacent" and could not go on to "play a cop on a cop show and not talk about the fact that [he's] a Black cop:"
"A lot of people are finding a voice, and I found that for myself, where I was like, 'Oh wow, I've been complacent. I woke up one morning and I was watching the news, and I was like, 'I can't do this. I can't go play a cop on a show and not talk about the fact that I'm a Black cop.' My character hadn't addressed any of that."
The Jackson West actor explained how he spoke to showrunner Alexi Hawley about his concerns and found him "extremely gracious." He went as far as to offer to leave the show as he would rather exit than "ignore the reality:"
"I had that conversation with Alexi [Hawley], our showrunner, and he was extremely gracious and he totally understood everything I was saying. I did come to that point where I was like, 'If you want to write me out, I politely receive that. I would rather be written out than ignore the reality and not be able to tell the story.'"
Makin's requests were fulfilled in The Rookie Season 3 as he was paired with a new training officer, Brandon Routh's Doug Stanton, who persistently showed a pattern of racism toward Black civilians.
Stanton was placed on leave after footage was uncovered revealing he allowed West to be badly beaten by several thugs. He later appealed his termination and resurfaced at another department, only for West to expose to Stanton's new colleagues the truth about him by revealing the same body-cam footage.
Why Did Jackson West Leave The Rookie?
A new storyline and the exploration of racial issues on The Rookie was not enough to keep Titus Makin Jr. on the series, as he made his last appearance in the Season 3 finale, "Threshold."
The Season 4 opening, "Life and Death," revealed that not only had Angela Lopez been abducted from her wedding venue, but so had Jackson West. However, West was shot and killed by his kidnappers (one of the men working for drug trafficker La Fiera) as he resisted their attempts to load him into an SUV trunk.
Notably, West's death was only revealed through CCTV footage watched by the team from a TV in the precinct, and Makin's face was never shown. As such, it appears the actor opted to depart The Rookie between seasons and, for unclear reasons, did not return to film his death scene.
No official reason has ever been publicly given for Makin's ultimate departure from The Rookie, but one could assume his past concerns about playing a Black police officer and their representation in the procedural series may be related.
While Makin never returned to The Rookie, his legacy lived on as his character's death was quickly followed by the birth of Angela Lopez's son, who she opted to name Jackson in honor of her fallen rookie.
After Makin departed the ABC series, he was replaced as a series regular by Tru Valentino's Aaron Thorsen, who also recently exited the show (find out why The Rookie lost another Black lead ahead of Season 7).
Since leaving The Rookie, Makin has appeared in one episode of NCIS: Hawai'i, with further roles in On the Come Up and Sins of the Bride.
The Rookie Season 7 is currently airing every Tuesday on ABC and starts streaming the next day on Hulu.
