The Rookie: What happens to Seth Ridley? Details from the ABC police procedural, explored 

John Nolan and Lucy Chen have certainly come a long way in ABC's The Rookie in the past seven seasons. Starting as fellow rookies in Season 1, both displayed impressive growth and skills, which eventually earned them the title of Training Officers (TO), and Season 7 saw them welcome their first batch of rookies.

However, Lucy Chen's rookie Seth Ridley (Patrick Keleher) had trouble written all over him when he was introduced in the Season 7 premiere. Chen realised that Seth was a pathological liar who made sob stories to get out of difficult situations, where he showed incompetence in police work. Moreover, she also believed that Seth's cancer diagnosis was another fake story to get him a free pass during difficult situations.

When the situation got worse in The Rookie, Lt. Grey ordered Seth to take a blood draw and confirm his cancer diagnosis, which he denied, and was eventually fired from the FTO programme. However, Seth Ridley returned after a few episodes, where he took a bullet for Nolan, resulting in an amputation of his leg, which has seemingly ended his police career for now.

More on Seth Ridley in our story.

The Rookie: Seth Ridley was a problematic rookie for Lucy Chen

Seth Ridley was among the new rookies introduced in The Rookie Season 7, along with Miles Penn. While Tim had initially bet that Miles would wash out from the FTO programme first, it was Seth who started to show inconsistencies in his behaviour. Seth was a determined police officer, hungry to prove himself like others. However, as his TO, Lucy realised that he had a sob story for every incompetency, and he never owned up to his mistakes.

In Season 7, when Lucy Chen overheard Seth Ridley talking with Miles and telling him how his girlfriend died in a car accident, she knew something was wrong. His previous story about his drug-addicted girlfriend did not match the new one, and Lucy was naturally skeptical of her new rookie. While Seth Ridley made up another lie, telling that they were different girlfriends, Lucy was not convinced and shared her doubts with Tim.

However, just as Lucy and Tim were about to expose Seth Ridley in front of Lt. Grey, the latter informed them that Seth's cancer had relapsed, which forced Lucy to re-examine her evaluation.

Seth Ridley's return partially redeemed him in The Rookie

While Lucy was not convinced that Seth Ridley's cancer story was real in The Rookie, his actions in the episode titled Chaos Agent confirmed her suspicion. After Lt. Grey, Tim, and Lucy asked Seth Ridley for a blood draw (to confirm his cancer diagnosis), he declined the direct order, which had him fired from the FTO programme. However, this was certainly not the end for Seth Ridley, and he returned in Episode 16.

While the Mid-Wilshire was shocked at Seth Ridley's return, he was at least not Lucy's problem, as he was assigned to John Nolan. In a shocking sequence, Seth Ridley even took a bullet to his leg for his new TO and saved Nolan's life, which landed him in the hospital. The Rookie Season 7 Episode 16 revealed that Seth Ridley's gunshot wound was serious, and he ended up needing below-the-knee amputation. His police career ended, but he earned disability.

While Seth Ridley's heroic sacrifice earned him the respect of his fellow officers, he confessed that his cancer diagnosis was fake, and Lucy's suspicions were right. This immediately led Tamara to break off her engagement with Seth, but this was also a step forward for the rookie, who finally confessed and accepted his flaws for the first time.

The Rookie wrapped Seth Ridely's arc in Season 7 by giving him a partial redemption. While it is not confirmed if Patrick Keleher will return in Season 8, Seth's return is certainly possible in future seasons of the show. Since Seth came clean about his past and earned a disability, he can easily be brought back for another exciting case, giving him a chance to mend things with his original TO, Lucy Chen.

The Rookie will return with Season 8 on ABC in January 2026.

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