Things are heating up between Officer Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil) and Sergeant Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) on season 7 of “The Rookie.”
Warning: Spoilers ahead for season 7 episode 6 of “The Rookie.”
During the Tuesday, Feb. 11, episode of the ABC drama, Lucy and Tim, who broke up during season 6, found themselves alone in a hotel room together. Lucy helped patch Tim up after a bar fight, which meant getting up close and personal with her shirtless ex.
When the duo came face to face for some meaningful prolonged eye contact, Lucy said, “We shouldn’t.” But a moment later, they were kissing. So, are the exes getting back together? What does this hotel hookup mean for Chenford’s future?
“I see this as neither a step forward or a step back. It’s like a sideways step,” O’Neil, who plays Lucy, told TheWrap in an interview published on Tuesday. “It’s a parallel move. It’s not advancing their relationship.”
Later in the episode, Lucy told Tim that what happened in the hotel room can’t be a repeat occurrence. However, O’Neil doesn’t think resisting the urge to be together will be that simple for the pair.
“I firmly believe that verbally and mentally she absolutely means what she says. But I don’t even think she buys it,” O’Neil told Us Weekly on Tuesday.
While Lucy and Tim clearly have unfinished business, O’Neil thinks Lucy would need “a very real conversation and accountability” from Tim before she’d consider getting back together for real.
“She’s not just gonna slide into something if nothing has changed, especially because he’s the one that said that he can’t do this,” she explained to Us Weekly.
READ MORE: When is ‘The Rookie’ season 7 finale?
Winter, meanwhile, shared some insight into Tim’s perspective during an interview with TVInsider last month.
“They never broke up because they stopped loving each other. They broke up because Tim didn’t feel he was good enough for her,” he explained before teasing their hotel room hookup.
“Tim and Lucy find themselves in a very tricky situation … a moment,“ he said. ”You put two people in a compromising, weird position, and feelings come out.”
“The Rookie” airs on ABC on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. EST and is available to stream on Hulu the next day.
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