Is Eric Winter's Tim Being Written Off The Rookie?
John Nolan (played by Nathan Fillion), the titular character of The Rookie, was always supposed to be the center of the show, but some members of the main cast managed to rival him in popularity.
In particular Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) became one of the fan favorites as early as Season 1. And his relationship with Lucy Chen (Melissa O'Neil) turned into an important part of the show.
However, there are reasons to suspect that Eric Winter might be exiting The Rookie by the end of Season 5.
Tim and Lucy's story is that of a gradually growing romance, hindered by their positions – Tim had been Lucy's training officer at first, and then otherwise above her in the chain of command, so when they've finally admitted their feeling and started dating, they took a serious risk.
Tim first tried to solve the problem by taking a desk job, but that made him clearly unhappy. Then Lucy schemed to get him a better position, and when a vacancy opened in in the Metro Division (a unit specializing in counterterrorism, major crimes, security details, etc) of the LAPD, he was quick to accept.
However, some fans started wondering whether that change in scenery might make Eric Winter leave the show. There was even a speculation of another possible future spin-off, in the vein of The Rookie: Feds, which is currently airing, The Rookie: Metro, with Eric Winter taking the lead role there, instead of continuing on the main show.
However, such fears appear to be baseless. Or, at the very least, they are not grounded in any official information from ABC. And integrating an officer from Metro into storylines involving the Mid-Wilshire Division, where most of the other main characters serve, is not exactly difficult.
If a firefighter and a lawyer can be among the recurring characters in later seasons, then certainly a policeman from another division can too.
The more likely danger is The Rookie not getting renewed for Season 6. The show underwent a substantial decline in ratings and viewership during Seasons 3 and 4. But currently the numbers for Season 5 are on the upward trend, so unless its concluding episodes bungle everything, ABC is not likely to cancel The Rookie.