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Even though the face of ABC‘s The Rookie is undoubtedly Nathan Fillion’s John Nolan, fans agree that Eric Winter’s Tim Bradford routinely steals the show. He, along with Lucy Chen, played by Melissa O’Neil, became unexpected fan favorites in season 1, and their relationship is one of the best parts of the series. However, could Winter be on his way out the door by the end of The Rookie Season 5?

Eric Winter, in character as Tim Bradford in 'The Rookie' Season 5, wears his dark blue cop uniform.
Eric Winter as Tim Bradford | ABC/Ser Baffo

Tim Bradford is moving to Metro in ‘The Rookie’ Season 5

Tim and Lucy finally gave in to their feelings for one another and went on a date in The Rookie Season 5. Fans started noticing the chemistry between them in season 1. But since he was her training officer, a relationship between them wasn’t feasible. And after five seasons of waiting, Tim and Lucy decided to take the leap and begin dating.

However, Tim was a sergeant at Mid-Wilshire, still making him Lucy’s boss in season 5. So they needed to find a way for him to move out of her chain of command to make their relationship appropriate. Lucy offered to transfer out of their station, but Tim was afraid they would barely see each other. So, he took a desk job as Court Liason Sergeant at Mid-Wilshire.

Lucy conspired to get Tim, who was clearly miserable in his new position, a better job in The Rookie Season 5 Episode 13. And after some secret scheming on Lucy’s part, a position miraculously opened up in the Metro Division of the LAPD. Metro is a unit that specializes in counterterrorism, major crimes, security details, serving warrants, and more.

Tim accepted the Metro job in episode 13. And now, fans are worried that the change in scenery means he is leaving the ABC series.

‘The Rookie’ fans worry that Tim is being written off the show

Following The Rookie Season 5 Episode 13, one fan started a Reddit thread speculating about a spinoff starring Eric Winter as Tim Bradford.

“So we’re all agreed that The Rookie: Metro is the next spinoff, right?” they wrote. “A proper backdoor pilot is gonna happen pretty soon, I’m sure, same as Feds. Eric Winter can handle a lead role.”

A Reddit user commented, “I will 100% watch an Eric Winter lead show over The Rookie: Feds.”

“But nooo, then it’s gonna be weird not having Tim all the time,” someone else added. “I just don’t think it would work, plus there is already a swat tv series. I don’t think it would pay off.”

However, not everyone believes Tim is leaving The Rookie after season 5.

One fan said, “It seems much more likely to me that we will see more of Metro integrated with the patrol team and detectives of the station.”

“[I don’t know] if they would take Eric Winters over to a spinoff with the success of Chenford and how ratings are right now,” another Reddit user pointed out. “It would be a very poor decision [in my opinion].”

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Eric Winter is not leaving ‘The Rookie’

Thankfully, other than fans’ worry, there is no reason to believe Tim is leaving The Rookie. As one person explained in the Reddit thread, Tim and Lucy’s relationship is one of the main reasons people watch the show. And it will be easy for The Rookie to integrate Metro into storylines since the division often works with other police officers.

The show manages to have the characters constantly run into firefighter Bailey. So we don’t think it will be a problem for the writers to work Tim into Nolan, Lucy, Angela, and Nyla’s cases.

The bigger question is whether or not ABC will renew The Rookie for season 6. However, the show’s chances for renewal are high. The Rookie‘s move to Tuesdays has done wonders for its ratings, so we can’t imagine a world where ABC cancels the series.

The Rookie Season 5, starring Eric Winter as Tim Bradford, airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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