Eric Winter Talks Chenford, ‘Feds’ Guest Stars, More (Exclusive)

[Warning: This content contains MAJOR spoilers for The Rookie Season 7 Episode 4 “Darkness Falling.”]

The Rookie‘s training officers had their hands full this week with each of the newbies getting a chance to prove themselves following a multi-car pileup that triggers a manhunt none of them saw coming. Nolan (Nathan Fillion) assigned his trainee, Celina (Lisseth Chavez), to take the lead on coordinating the LAPD’s handling of the scene, while Lucy (Melissa O’Neil) began to notice that her rookie, Ridley (Patrick Keleher), always seems to have some personal drama to excuse his lackluster job performance.

Bradford (Eric Winter), on the other hand, was accepting no excuses when Penn (Deric Augustine) failed to report that he spotted a handgun in the glove compartment of one of the wrecked cars. “They’re important mistakes,” Winter told TV Insider’s Booked: The Rookie Aftershow. “But even just a detail, he’s going to ride him and be on him about it endlessly to make him uncomfortable and hopefully never do it again.”

And speaking of details, exactly how did the ABC series pull off such a massive sequence when LA traffic is already a criminal situation? “We shut down a section…that pulls off the side of the freeway,” explains Winter. “So it was still a big section, it was a merger-exit type situation and it was in Long Beach and we shut down an important area. We’ve done it a couple of times on bridges and things like that and it’s [only] certain times of the day that they’ll give us that access. It’s not during rush hour or anything like that, but it’s still an inconvenience for sure.”

Disney/Mike Taing

“I remember getting there and going, ‘Damn!’ It was one of those moments when you’re like, this is impressive.” Just as impressive was how Winter was able to film the scene and still keep a date with wife Roselyn Sánchez…in another country.

“We shot most of the day. I mean, I think I got there and I only worked that one scene that day,” he recalls. “I was, funny enough, catching a flight to Puerto Rico right after that to do a movie with my wife there. And I remember being freaked out because I had a certain hard-out to go catch a flight at the airport. And I think I probably had a morning-call early and I don’t think I wrapped until four, so it was literally probably an all-day sequence.”

After showering in his trailer (“I’ve never showered in my trailer!”) and racing to John Wayne Airport in nearby Orange County, “my flight was canceled!” he exclaims. “I needed to be in Puerto Rico to start production as soon as I landed. I was supposed to land and then go to set to start filming for her movie, and then my flight was canceled. They found another flight at LAX, so I had to take a taxi that they paid for to take me to LAX. I actually was able to catch a plane and make the same connection. It was a whole thing.”

Later in the episode, we saw The Rookie: Feds alums Kevin Zegers and Devika Bhise bring their romantically linked FBI Special Agent Brendon Acres and forensics expert Antoinette Benneteau to the precinct to help with the case, but Winter was not part of the crossover. This time.

“Some [more] people do come in through the season,” he reveals. “I love Felix Solis. I get some stuff with him throughout the season.” In addition, Winter exclusively confirmed that Britt Robertson would also be making her way to the show as Special Agent Laura Stenson. “I get some great scenes with Britt. She’s lovely. She’s a lot of fun. So there are more coming throughout the season where we utilize Feds in the right way and still keep those characters active in our universe… It’s fun.”

Disney/Carlos Lopez-Calleja

Of course, we couldn’t get the guy on Zoom without asking about the current state of #Chenford, and as usual, Winter was insightful and optimistic about the course ahead for these characters he and O’Neil so adore.

“They never broke up because they stopped loving each other. They broke up because Tim didn’t feel he was good enough for her,” he points out. “And I think that’s what the fans have to understand… As a little time has passed, the wound is still there, but it’s healing. There’s a scab for Lucy. She’s trying to make amends with the situation the best she can.”

And it sounds like things will only get more complicated with the show’s upcoming Valentine’s Day episode. “Tim and Lucy find themselves in a very tricky situation…a moment,” Winter previews. “And again, like I said, these two have never stopped caring about each other. So you put two people in a compromising, weird position, and feelings come out. Maybe a little bit of their thoughts come out…I can tease that you’re going to get a moment where they have to check themselves.”

Ya’ll be warned!

The Rookie, Tuesdays, 10/9c, ABC