Ladies and gentlemen, now that The Rookie is back and just a few days away from marking its milestone 100th episode, we proudly present to you…your #Chenford. And yes, they’re as great as you think. They feel the same about ya’ll, too!
“I mean…the Chenford fans are incredible,” agrees Melissa O’Neil, happily embracing the online ‘ship love for her LAPD Officer Lucy Chen’s long-awaited romantic pairing with Eric Winter‘s Sergeant Tim Bradford. “They are the reason why we get to tell some of the fun stories we get to tell.”
On screen and off, it seems. Because funny story, the #Chenford hashtag (which O’Neil points out was originally Winter’s idea) wasn’t even meant to inspire a lovey-dovey portmanteau. “When we planted [the hashtag], it was us as partners,’ explains Winter. “It wasn’t us as a couple.” In fact, it was a response to the hashtag Alyssa Diaz and former costar Titus Makin Jr. started for the professional pairing of Angela Lopez and the now-deceased Jackson West.
ABC
“So we kind of joked around like, ‘What’s our hashtag?’ Like, for our partnership,” Winters continues. “But I will say, the fans—and I think this is why it’s been such an impactful storyline for them—I feel like they have complete ownership of this story. I feel like they created it. You know, they saw it even before any of us saw it going the direction it went.”
Where they’re headed sounds just as satisfying (and dramatic) to the ride so far. In last night’s opener, we saw the couple hitting their first real bump when Chen busted Tim for possibly questioning her ability to pass the detectives test. While we would never spoil how that shakes out in next week’s uber-charming 100th episode, O’Neil does note that these two badge-and-bedmates can handle whatever is thrown at them this season.
“It is one of those situations where, once you jump off that cliff, there is no going back,” she says of their new energy. “But one of the things that I love that Alexi [Hawley, showrunner] and the writers have really stayed true to is why they got together in the first place. And it is that [old] dynamic, they are teasing each other and they’re real with each other. They can call each other on their stuff and there’s an honesty between them.”
And as an honest “thank you” to all of The Rookie fans out there, ABC wanted us to share with you this behind-the-scenes look at how Nathan Fillion and the gang celebrated their 100th hour. Check it out below. Now, as Hawley says, go make a hundred more!
The Rookie, Tuesdays, 9/8c, ABC