Over the last several seasons of The Rookie, the relationship commonly known as “Chenford" has become the aspect of the show that many fans care most about. That makes perfect sense since Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen are two characters who have lots of chemistry. As a result, it seems like virtually every fan of the show is most interested in seeing the onscreen pair find their happily ever after.
Even though I love The Rookie scenes featuring Melissa O'Neil and Eric Winter as Lucy and Tim, viewers focusing on that pair so much isn't as great as it may seem. In fact, there are two simple reasons why the level of fan engagement that "Chenford" get has become a problem for The Rookie and the show's future.
The Rookie's Angela Lopez and Wesley Evers deserve more love from viewers
The first problem with all the attention that Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen get from fans is that they take up so much of the conversation about The Rookie. As a result, another delightful The Rookie couple, Angela Lopez and Wesley Evers, often don't get nearly enough love from the show's most vocal fans.
Two characters with very different perspectives, the passion that Angela and Wesley bring to their arguments can often be delightful to watch. On top of that, when the couple is on good terms, their love for each other seems to radiate off the characters. Some underrated reasons why the couple is so great are how much faith they both clearly have in each other and how nice it is to see them always have one another's backs. Despite all the reasons to love Angela and Wesley, most The Rookie fans are too consumed by Lucy and Tim to focus on that very often.
The Rookie's popularity has become too dependent on "Chenford"
As fans wait for The Rookie season 8 to premiere, the show is on a roll. After all, The Rookie became one of ABC's most-watched shows. If that wasn't impressive enough, there is also a second The Rookie spin-off in the works. With both of those exciting facts in mind, fans certainly have reasons to be excited about the future of the show. However, I believe that the extreme popularity of "Chenford" could become an issue for the series' ongoing success.
Unfortunately, there have been many TV couples over the years that viewers have turned on for a variety of reasons. Given the current popularity of Lucy Chen and Tim Bradford as a couple, there is no reason to think that fans will grow sick of the pairing anytime soon. That said, The Rookie becoming too dependent on fans who can't get enough of "Chenford" could become an issue for the show in the long term if viewers grow tired of their dynamic for whatever reason.
Thankfully for The Rookie fans and everyone involved in producing the show, the overreliance on "Chenford" seems like something that could be easy to fix. Since The Rookie clearly has a talented writing team, they could opt to craft stories that put more of a focus on the show's myriad of other lovable characters. For example, I have grown to adore Lisseth Chavez's character, Celina Juarez, and would love to see more of a spotlight on her.