NEED TO KNOW
Officer Aaron Thorson is once again reporting for duty on the Monday, Feb. 2 episode of The Rookie.
Aaron, played by Tru Valentino, was last seen in the season 6 finale, which aired in May 2024. It was later explained in the season 7 premiere that the former rookie had transferred from Mid-Wilshire to North Hollywood. But in “The Network,” Aaron returns to potentially join Lieutenant Grey (Richard T. Jones) and the FBI on the Monica task force.
In PEOPLE’s exclusive clip from the new episode, Aaron makes a flashy entrance in a sports car before reuniting with his former coworkers Lucy (Melissa O’Neil), Tim (Eric Winter) and Celina (Lisseth Chavez). He also meets Miles (Deric Augustine), whom he greets with, “You must be Texas.”
Aaron quickly establishes that he’s still as generous with his ample amounts of money as ever when he hugs Lucy and asks, “Sergeant, you did get those flowers I sent you, right?”
“No, no, no, you deserved them for acing the sergeant’s exam,” he replies. “Also, I heard you scored higher than Sergeant Bradford.”
The newly minted sergeant responds, “Yes, they were lovely, but too much.”
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Tim quickly says, “That’s not the point,” before telling Aaron that he makes “a boyfriend look bad” when he “buys out half a florist.”
An unapologetic Aaron just grins and says, “Go big or go home, right?”
Also in the sneak peek, Tim theorizes as to why Grey wants Aaron to join the task force, noting that due to his wealth, he “parties in the same big money, but despicable universe as many elite criminals.” Aaron shoots back, “Well, I like to think it’s because he respects my work… but it could be both.”
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Aaron is the latest familiar face to make a return visit to The Rookie in season 8. The show also recently brought back the controversial Seth (Patrick Keleher) in what may turn into a redemption arc, according to series creator Alexi Hawley.
In a post-episode interview, the showrunner told Deadline, “Seth still has a lot of maturing to do, and he needs to understand, ultimately, that some trauma that you’ve inflicted on other people you’ll never be forgiven for, and you have to figure out how to walk that path.”
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Ahead of the new season, PEOPLE spoke with Hawley, 59, and several members of The Rookie cast, all of whom hinted season 8 would see the return of several past characters. “I don’t think it’s too spoiler-y to say we’ll see Oscar Hutchinson again this season,” Hawley said in reference to the always slippery criminal played by Matthew Glave. “We are hopeful to get Flula Borg [Skiptracer Randy] back, who’s always fun for us.”
He also shared that he’s “ever-chasing Pete Davidson and his incredibly busy schedule.” Davidson, 32, previously appeared as Pete, the half-brother that Nathan Fillion’s John Nolan never knew he had, in seasons 2 and 4.
Hawley noted that “one of the joys” of having a long-running series “that’s doing well” is that “people actually want to be on our show, which makes the phone calls easy to make.”
New episodes of The Rookie season 8 air Mondays at 10:00 p.m. EST on ABC. Episodes stream the next day on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.
