Sometimes, a ship can not help however fizzle out as soon as they’ve overcome the bumps to getting collectively. This phenomenon, often called the Moonlighting Curse, may be much more painful if this occurs following a slow-burn ship, one other dying romantic trope because of the unstable nature of tv renewal within the present market. When it involves this, The Rookie has been fairly fortunate. The ABC police procedural has to date survived 5 seasons and sprung a spin-off, The Rookie: Feds, seemingly making certain a sixth season (though nothing has but been introduced). With time and chemistry, Chenford was born.
The romantic relationship between Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) and Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil) seemingly wasn’t intentional, so the rationale the 2 wound up on the slow-burn observe may be attributed to a passionate fan base and open-minded performers and creators. Lucy even began The Rookie in a relationship with protagonist John Nolan (Nathan Fillion), however that was dropped within the first season, funnily sufficient, due to the stigma of relationship one other cop. Thankfully, Lucy does not appear to have the identical drawback with Tim, additional solidifying this couple as endgame worthy. So, what is going on on?
Chenford’s Foundation
The couple’s relationship begins with a trainer/pupil dynamic, with Tim being assigned as Lucy’s coaching officer whereas she is a rookie. The first season kind of establishes their relationship, with Tim being a hardass, for a scarcity of a greater time period. Lucy is just about preoccupied with Nolan for a lot of the season, however their bond is explored extra after Tim is uncovered to a weaponized virus, placing his life in danger, resulting in one of many first emotional moments involving the 2. Another essential second between the 2 occurs when Lucy is drugged by a date and primarily kidnaped by Rosalind Dyer (Annie Wersching), one of many many antagonists who overstayed their welcome on The Rookie. It’s Tim who is ready to discover her and dig her out of a buried barrel and sits at her bedside on the hospital later. It was these dramatic and traumatic occasions that helped facilitate their bond and proved that these two would stay at one another’s facet, no matter their LAPD assignments.
One of the opposite key methods the Chenford relationship was developed was how they challenged one another. Whether it was by means of their opposing viewpoints or their numerous love pursuits all through the sooner seasons. Lucy and Tim all the time had a push-and-pull dynamic that made them entertaining to look at. Needless to say, whereas their relationship has modified quite a bit all through the primary 4 seasons of the present, it is easy to see the belief constructed between them, regardless of their exterior variations. Chenford is a pair that would get your coronary heart pumping. Except as soon as they bought collectively. And after.
Where They Went Wrong
Season 4 ended on an enormous observe when the 2, undercover posing as a pair, kiss to persuade some criminals of their authenticity. Tim and Lucy even persuade themselves, main them to virtually act on newly plain emotions within the Season 5 premiere, till they’re interrupted by discovering one other current from the present that retains on giving, Rosalind Dyer. Finding Lucy’s boyfriend, Chris (Kanoa Goo), with life-threatening accidents slows issues down for the couple, inflicting them to consider all of the repercussions and issues related to beginning a romantic relationship. It’s not till the ninth episode of the season that Tim asks Lucy out after she’s damaged up with Chris. The manner the 2 get collectively, speaking issues out and taking a practical strategy, would possibly hit the spot for some followers, however the starting of their relationship nonetheless feels too easy. This starting loses all the strain and angst that their relationship had earlier than their established romantic relationship. Put merely, it is boring.
This brings us to the ten or so episodes that see the couple collectively. There’s no denying that these two are cute collectively and their chemistry exists, however the principle drawback right here is their pacing, which may give a devoted viewer a little bit of whiplash. It took Tim and Lucy 4 seasons to get to the place to the place they might settle for their emotions for each other, not to mention confess them, and just a few episodes after they comply with go on a date, they’re already musing about what their future youngsters can be like. Nevertheless, Chenford goes from 0 to 100 actual fast, and whereas there is a matter with many reveals at risk of cancelation, The Rookie has been a secure guess for the previous few seasons for renewal. There does not appear to be an actual cause why the couple must rush by means of essential milestones of their relationship, particularly contemplating the tempo it took for them to get right here.
Are Chenford Victims of the ‘Moonlighting’ Curse?
Just as a result of Chenford is lastly collectively, doesn’t suggest that The Rookie ought to play it secure with its fan-favorite couple. Delivering cute GIF-able moments is all properly and good, but when Lucy making a five-player commerce to offer Tim a brand new job goes to be essentially the most fascinating battle between the 2, then perhaps there ought to have been even extra build-up to their romantic relationship. With the plethora of plots that they might obtain as characters in a cop present, the couple may simply obtain one thing a little bit extra dramatic that would resonate longer, fairly than simply checking off a guidelines and leaping from level A to level B to level C.
The Rookie landed one thing particular with Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen. While the unique intention in all probability wasn’t to make them a pair, the present took heed to the viewers’s response and the chemistry unfolding even within the earlier episodes, and regardless of the relative lack of focus the couple has had since changing into canon, Chenford at their worst continues to be higher than any relationship Nolan has at its finest. So whereas, sure, Chenford is struggling a bit from the Moonlighting Curse, the couple continues to be extremely entertaining to look at. However, with the historical past and connection each Tim and Lucy have, there’s nonetheless greater than sufficient time to course appropriate to permit the couple to succeed in their full potential, additional solidifying their place in popular culture as a fan-favorite pleased accident.