It looks like the oldest rookie at the FBI academy is going to have the seal of approval from the oldest rookie in the LAPD in the upcoming two-part event on ABC.
The Rookie is introducing a potential spinoff with a backdoor pilot starring Niecy Nash as the aforementioned FBI trainee, Simone Clark, and the network has released the first trailer. In it, Officer John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) tells her, “You’re the real thing.” The two episodes will air on Sunday, April 24, and Sunday, May 1, at 10/9c.
As you can see in the video below, it all begins with reports of suspicious activity, signs of forced entry at the site, and then an explosion at a local power station. With that attack just the beginning, the LAPD turns to their suspect’s guidance counselor, currently a trainee at the FBI academy, for help. Enter Simone. See her in action and with Nolan, as well as stealing his police vehicle and thinking he should thank her because of why she did, below.
Nash’s Simone Clark is described as “a force of nature, the living embodiment of a dream deferred.” These two episodes are setting the stage for a potential untitled spinoff next season, expanding the franchise beyond the Los Angeles Police Department. The first episode, titled “Simone,” was co-written by Alexi Hawley and Terence Paul Winter and directed by Liz Friedlander.
In addition to Fillion, The Rookie stars Mekia Cox as Nyla Harper, Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez, Richard T. Jones as Sergeant Wade Grey, Melissa O’Neil as Lucy Chen, Eric Winter as Tim Bradford, Jenna Dewan as Bailey Nune, and Shawn Ashmore as Wesley Evers.
Also guest starring in the two-part event are Frankie Faison as Christopher “Cutty” Clark, Kat Foster as Special Agent Casey Fox, and Felix Solis as Special Agent Matthew Garza.
The Rookie, Sundays, 10/9c, ABC
