Lucy Chen - Detective vs Sergeant
The Rookie made a really interesting shift for Lucy this season. I think it was the right one, but it skipped over a lot of what should have happened to get her there in a way that feels satisfying and honors everything she's been though to this point.
Lucy's career path has been a fascinating one the show has been tracking for long time. Nolan solidified his choice to pursue TO back in season 3. Lucy has been dabbling with undercover since the same time. Lucy then serves as a Sergeant's Aide to Tim, which was largely a way to keep Tim and Lucy in the shop together (thank you, writers!), but on different terms. Tim was still the boss, but Lucy was now a fully fledged officer who needed to be more capable than the average patrol cop to fill this role. She also got experience on the best cases, and a front row seat to patrol leadership from the best in the game (Tim Bradford).
It's at this point I'd like to address something I see confusion about among the fans. This is my best interpretation of roles and rank based on the reality established within The Rookie, which is not necessarily the same as real life. Patrol Officers and Detectives are different ranks within the LAPD. The are Sergeants who supervise patrol officers and sergeants who supervise detectives. Sergeant's Aide is a role Lucy filled, but not a rank. I'm not sure if the role of a "Sergeant's Aide" even exists in real life. Detectives are not necessarily in a patrol officers chain-of-command, but they have some authority to give tasks to patrol officers if those officers are working a scene that the detective is in charge of or are helping on a detective's case. We also meet people like Sergeant Mark Murray and Sergeant June Zhang, who I imagine are Sergeant Detectives who do undercover work. Anyone could potentially be tapped for undercover work, but detectives have more power and control when they do so. Undercover is not a special rank. If Lucy had been promoted to detective, she wouldn't have been obligated to do undercover work. She could have filled a more traditional investigatory role.
We are all aware of the recurring character trait that Lucy is not a quitter. The show did telegraph both in season 5 and season 6 that Lucy might not do well in the detective promotion process. This was a bold choice. It was devastatingly realistic that a hard working, smart, capable person would not be promoted. I was actually kind of impressed that the show made that choice. Obviously, her not ranking high enough on the detective's exam is neither quitting or a failure, but the type of obstacle we are used to seeing Lucy overcome. So it seems in character for her to continue pursuing that.
We know the main reason Lucy wants to become a detective is so that she can more readily work undercover, something she loves and is good at. We also know that Tim was never a fan of the idea, even when he was still her TO. Even when she proves herself in his eyes and he tries to be supportive, it's difficult for him. Especially when their relationship becomes romantic. Tim Bradford is not a man who would feel less than due to his partner's success. He has real experience and has suffered the consequences of being with a full time UC. It's understandable that, for both their sakes, Tim wouldn't really want Lucy to do UC.
Tim and Lucy have also at least casually discussed future plans that involved kids. We've had enough examples of both men and women UCs to show that UC can wreck your private life (Isabel, Harper, Tim's friend Mack). Noah Foster suggests that UCs can't really have deep personal relationships. I don't think Lucy Chen would want to leave her children for months at a time to go pretend to be someone else and live among criminals. That's not the same as being a parent who occasionally works late nights and weekends. Lucy never seems to really reconcile her career plans with her personal life plans.
(Also, I know parents in the military deploy and sometimes leave their families. I'm not suggesting they want to leave their families or that they're bad parents/partners. Even if both of these situations were real, they'd be different. But also, they're not both real. I'm talking about fictional characters on a TV show).
Back to Lucy not being a quitter. It would be in character for Lucy to pursue this until she achieves it, and continue doing it long past when she wants to. There's a difference between quitting - giving up in the face of hardship - and quitting - you've tried it, perhaps even mastered it, and decided the path isn't for you. I think Lucy would have a hard time distinguishing between these two. Additionally, Tim loves the fact that Lucy has no quit in her. I'd argue it's the first thing about her he respected. If she "quits,' UC to be with Tim, she may fear she's losing the thing that made him love her in the first place.
Even with all of this, Lucy would still struggle with the idea of "giving it all up for a man," even if it's the right man. Even if it has nothing to do with his ego. It may feel anti-feminist (it's not). It may also impact how other Primm-like superiors view her. Even though that would be wrong, Lucy values her career, and that would be a hard sacrifice.
On top of it all, Tim is the number one person Lucy goes to, in all aspects of her life. He is her confidant, and in some ways, still her mentor (I understand if you feel a little icky about that, but it doesn't bother me). While Lucy and Tim do need to discuss all of this, Lucy needs another, more objective, sounding board. There are people who would have some wisdom here, but none could fully understand. Nolan and Grey are men who could never understand the consequences of making a career sacrifice as a woman in a male-dominated field. Lopez is Tim's bestie. Nyla is the obvious choice. Lucy has learned a lot from Harper. While Harper was right in a lot of ways, I always felt she was a tad harsher than necessary. I know that's part of her style, and Lucy can thrive off of people being hard on her, but I just want someone to show her a little compassion. Lopez and Harper also never had to try to establish themselves in their careers while dating a superior officer. This is one of the many ways in which I miss the mentorship that Anderson gave Lucy. I think she could have the firm, but gentle touch that could help Lucy realize she can walk away from UC, and that wouldn't make her a quitter or anti-feminist in anyway. She'd also encourage her to push past the sexists who would think less of her for the choice. Even without Anderson, I think Lucy would get there eventually.
This is what truly brings us to the sergeants path. There have been crumbs for this, too. Lucy clearly wanted to be Tim's Sergeant's Aide not just because of Tim, but because of the experience and exposure she would get. She also did well as watch command and can take control of a situation when she is feeling confident. It also pushes back on the idea that the best cops become detectives. Smart, capable, compassionate cops are needed on patrol, too.
I know that I haven't addressed the breakup in all of this. Given that we all knew they would get back together before he even left the parking lot, I don't know that it's all that relevant. And they are clearly still considering each other in their decisions, even if their not officially together. They basically promised to wait for each other. And all of the issues I've laid out are still ones that exist. The show may choose to skip over them and make them irrelevant due to the choice to make her a Sergeant, but to me, this is the process that needed to happen to get Lucy to that place.
I love this path for her (though I would have liked more hints that she was considering it before she shared it with Tim). Leaving behind something she worked so hard for (UC) would be challenging, but it embraces the idea that you can change direction in life without it being a failure. It also solidifies something else I think the show has been demonstrating for awhile - Lucy Chen is the most talented and well-rounded cop on The Rookie!
