Waiting for The Rookie Season 9 just got easier! While we still have months to go before the new episodes, we’re getting a reason to revisit—once again—one of Season 8’s biggest episodes. The best? We’ll get to see even more of it! If you want to know what we’re talking about, keep reading!
The Rookie’s Extended Hulu Release Includes New Chenford Scenes
According to Deadline, Hulu will release an extended cut of Season 8 Episode 10 “His Name Was Martin” giving us never-before-seen footage. The episode will premiere on on July 20 and will be available in the Extras section of The Rookie’s landing page. The new cut will include approximately five and a half minutes of additional footage, making it the first time The Rookie has released an extended episode in this format.
And we love this idea! The episode followed Nolan and the rest of Mid-Wilshire as they tried to contain a group of hospital cleaning staff who began behaving like zombies after being exposed to dangerous chemicals inside Westview Psychiatric Hospital.
But beneath all the action, the episode delivered one of the most devastating moments of the season. After Martin attacked Lucy, she was forced to kill him in self-defense. The aftermath left her shattered and led to one of our favorites Chenford scenes.
The additional footage will expand the action inside the hospital but we will get scenes that were originally cut for time, including material that provides more context for that scene at the end of the episode. So, if you, like us, walked away wishing that final Chenford scene had lasted just a little longer, this extended cut sounds like exactly what we’ve been hoping for.
It’s also a pretty unusual move for a network drama. Extended versions of broadcast episodes rarely make their way to streaming services while a series is still airing, making this a first not only for The Rookie but potentially for an ABC scripted series as well.
Alexi Hawley Explains Why The Rookie Is Getting an Extended Cut
Explaining the decision, Alexi Hawley shared that “one of the many fun things about making The Rookie is that we have such a broad playground story and tone-wise. For 810, I knew I wanted to make something fun and scary and unexpectedly emotional.
But tension takes time to play out on screen, and I found myself in the editing room with hard choices to make.
I can count the number of scenes we’ve dropped in eight seasons on one hand (maybe two?), but I was up against a wall on this one. Network run times are set in stone. But Hulu’s are not. So, I picked up the phone and pitched the idea of releasing an extended cut as a reward to our amazing fans, who are so invested in the show.
Now they’ll be able to go deeper into the character journeys (especially for Tim and Lucy) and see the previously unaired scenes that enhance the episode in a unique way.”
And honestly? This is the best! One of The Rookie’s biggest strengths has always been its ability to balance action with character, and this episode was a perfect example of that. Knowing there were scenes that had to be left behind because of network runtime always felt a little disappointing, especially when the emotional fallout for Lucy and Tim carried so much weight and we needed more context to understand it at the time.
Now we’ll finally get to experience the episode the way Hawley originally envisioned it. And if those extra minutes give us more Chenford, more context, and more time with one of Season 8’s most memorable stories, we’ll gladly be pressing play all over again while we count down the months until Season 9 arrives.
