ABC renewed The Rookie for season 6, which bodes well for the future of its spinoff, The Rookie: Feds. The Rookie: Feds premiered in the fall of 2022 and exists in the same timeline as the network's most-watched drama series. ABC is undoubtedly trying to build a universe around The Rookie, but only time will tell if it's as popular as NBC's Chicago franchise or CBS's FBI shows.
The Rookie: Feds follows a similar premise to its parent show and centers around one middle-aged rookie in the FBI — Simone Clark, played by Niecy Nash-Betts. Viewers first met Simone during a backdoor pilot in The Rookie season 4, but her official first day at the Los Angeles FBI office didn't come until the spinoff's series premiere. The response to The Rookie: Feds season 1 was positive, even though it received lower ratings compared to its predecessor. But despite its average ratings and audience totals, the chances of The Rookie: Feds getting a second season skyrocketed when ABC renewed The Rookie.
ABC Renewed The Rookie For Season 6
When The Rookie: Feds first premiered, it did so on a different night than The Rookie season 5. ABC realized they might have made a mistake by separating the two, so starting in January 2023, the network aired the series back-to-back on Tuesdays, undoubtedly hoping to boost the shows' ratings. The plan worked, and both Rookie series benefited from getting paired together on Tuesday nights. As a result, ABC renewed The Rookie for season 6 before the season 5 finale, making it one of the few network television shows to get a renewal before the writers' strike began in Hollywood.
With the spike in The Rookie: Feds numbers and The Rookie's renewal, it's almost a certainty that the spinoff will get to produce a second season. ABC evidently wants to build a universe around these shows, and that can't happen if the network cancels one of them. It's only a matter of time before ABC officially green-lights The Rookie: Feds season 2. The one thing that could potentially get in the way of that is the aforementioned writers' strike.
What Would Happen In The Rookie: Feds Season 2?
The Rookie: Feds season 1 finale did very little to set up potential storylines in a possible season 2. Instead, it focused on a bizarre case and celebrating Simone's 49th birthday, which was special because her mother died when she was 48. So, it's somewhat unclear what paths the characters will take if ABC renews the show for season 2, but the finale did preview minimal tension in Brendon and Antoinette's relationship.
Antoinette worried that Brendon was doing too much regarding his birthday gifts for Simone. While she was right, Laura was the one who deduced that Brendon was overcompensating. Perhaps this is a small sign that Antoinette doesn't understand Brendon quite as well as some other characters in the show, which could lead to a breakup in the near future. However, ABC has to renew The Rookie's spinoff series first.