The Rookie has been airing on ABC for seven seasons, which raises concerns about the series potentially jumping the shark. Some previous storylines have been quite outrageous, and fans are already noticing the excessive dramatization of the on-again-off-again romance between Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil) and Tim Bradford (Eric Winter). However, there’s a new plot point in the upcoming season that has us puzzled. It seems the team is heading to Europe for an investigation, which makes us think they might be venturing into jump-the-shark territory.

‘The Rookie’ Has Gone Overseas in the Past

The Mid-Wilshire precinct has traveled outside of Los Angeles before. In the Season 4 opener, officers went to Guatemala to rescue Angela Lopez (Alyssa Diaz), who was held hostage by drug lord Sandra “La Fiera” De La Cruz (Camille Guaty). They were also trying to find the killer of Jackson West (Titus Makin Jr.). It was logical for the LAPD to go to a new country to rescue one of their own and avenge a beloved team member’s death. However, this venture into international crime never felt entirely authentic.

Likewise, the LAPD has had many ties to Mexican drug cartels, and while the action always seemed reasonable due to their proximity to Los Angeles, it never felt necessary for them to leave their home turf. John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) and Bailey Nune (Jenna Dewan) also traveled to a remote island for their honeymoon, which made viewers feel disconnected from the characters and their home base. Even in the Season 6 finale, when Nolan and Nyla Harper (Mekia Cox) collaborated with the FBI to follow Monica to Argentina, their actions didn’t seem plausible, although there was still some realistic storytelling involved. These tangential storylines are veering even further into nonsensical territory with the upcoming Season 8 premiere.

It’s Illogical To Have ‘The Rookie’ Take Place in Europe

The Season 8 trailer was recently released, and it seems that the Mid-Wilshire team will be going international in their quest to apprehend Monica Stevens (Bridget Regan). While we don’t know exactly who from the Mid-Wilshire department has traveled overseas, it’s evident that husband-and-wife duo Nolan and Bailey are in Prague with Monica. She is supposedly providing them with information that will help take down a larger criminal operation, but she is clearly not trustworthy. It appears that numerous complications will arise as they try to keep Monica under control while capturing other criminals.

The issue is that it makes no sense for an LAPD officer (and his firefighter wife) to be involved in this investigation at all, especially one that requires them to travel overseas. Local law enforcement would typically hand off such cases to the FBI, and they definitely wouldn’t go undercover with a key informant to dismantle a larger criminal network. Why would our favorite LA-based officers be engaged in this? It would make more sense for a show like The Rookie: Feds to handle this situation, but that series was canceled. While it’s understandable that The Rookie writers want to introduce fresh elements with a new setting for Season 8, perhaps a nearby town rather than a distant European city would have been more logical. If they wanted their characters overseas, they could have had them caught up in an investigation while on vacation or something similar, but sending them to Prague for Season 8 feels unrealistic.

A significant part of the appeal of The Rookie lies in imagining thrilling shoot-outs and high-speed chases occurring in real life. Placing these officers in an investigation they would never participate in diminishes the action’s credibility. Hopefully, the situation with Monica will be resolved quickly, allowing the remainder of the season to unfold back in Los Angeles. However, it’s certainly not a positive sign for the future of the series if The Rookie must depend on these stunt-like plots moving forward.

Seasons 1–7 of The Rookie are available for streaming on Hulu in the U.S. Season 8 will premiere on Tuesday, January 6 on ABC.