I firmly believe Talia Bishop was an underrated character in The Rookie (and Afton Williamson's controversial exit was heartbreaking)

While The Rookie has seen many character entries and exits throughout its seven seasons, none was as impactful as Talia Bishop's exit in Season 1.

Actress Afton Williamson debuted in the procedural as Talia Bishop, John Nolan's Training Officer in the Pilot, but the character exited the show after just one season.

I think every character in the procedural brings their own unique quirk, but Bishop remains an underrated character because she had a very short run on the show and did not get enough shining moments. Fearless, bold, and competent, Bishop was my favorite T.O. in Season 1.

However, she transferred to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives as a Special Agent after she concealed her foster brother's identity on her police form.

More on Bishop in The Rookie in our story.

I think Talia Bishop had much potential in The Rookie beyond Season 1

While Talia Bishop's run in The Rookie was small, I think she was an underrated character. She was one of the trio of T.O. to new rookies, along with Tim Bradford and Angela Lopez. While the two characters are still a part of the procedural, Talia left the show after Season 1.

I think Bishop provided the much-needed balance in the trio of the T.O. and was a great superior for John Nolan, who became such a respected officer in his career, thanks to his first T.O.'s guidance.

Bishop was a no-nonsense LAPD officer who advised Lucy Chen to break up with Nolan, as it would reflect poorly on her career. While I assumed that Bishop was cold and very practical, it was revealed that she grew up in the foster system and frequently changed families.

While Tim was too harsh on his rookies, Bishop had a different mentoring approach. In the show's initial episodes, she was assigned difficult cases because Sergeant Grey did not trust her rookie and wanted to test him on every opportunity he had.

Bishop had many opportunities to give up on Nolan, who was an unconventional rookie because of his age. Still, she transformed him into a brilliant and competent officer, who eventually leads his own team in The Rookie.

The Rookie: Afton Williamson's exit was highly controversial

While Bishop had to shift to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives because she did not reveal proper information about her foster brother while joining the Academy, Williamson's exit was the result of off-screen controversy on the sets of the procedural.

As per multiple news outlets, Williamson announced her departure from the show in 2019 due to racial discrimination and racially charged comments from the executive producers and the production's hair department.

It was also reported that Williamson faced s*xual harassment at the hands of the show's recurring guest star, Demetrius Grosse, and the hostile environment eventually escalated to abuse with the hair department head, Sally Ciganovich.

While The Rookie's team announced that an investigation had cleared the accused, Williamson took to her Instagram and wrote:

“What saddens me the most is that the lengths that were taken to Deceive, Lie, and Cover Up the Truth, were far greater than those made to Protect and Maintain a Safe Working Environment for Employees.”

Announcing her exit, she wrote:

''I will not be returning for Season 2 of The Rookie." I owe it to you my amazing fans to share the Truth. Throughout the filming of the pilot, I experienced Racial Discrimination/Racially Charged inappropriate comments from the hair department and bullying from Executive Producers.''

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