The Rookie is not going to be back on the 2026 TV schedule, since it’s once again being held for midseason, and the wait could not be more excruciating. The Season 8 finale ended on a major cliffhanger that saw fan-favorite couple Chenford getting kidnapped right after they got engaged. Now, there’s no telling how things will go for them come Season 9. So, while the actors know this was "really bad," I also get why they loved it.It’s no secret that Melissa O’Neil’s Lucy Chen and Eric Winter’s Tim Bradford have been through the wringer, together and individually, since the start of the series. Their relationship has been a roller coaster, but Chenford was as strong as ever in Season 8 after they finally got back together. It seemed like they were going to get their happy ending after officially getting engaged at the end of the finale...until they were drugged and taken by people tied to a crime boss. During the show’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con, which CinemaBlend attended, the moment was eventually brought up, and O’Neil admitted to feeling all types of feelings when she read the script:Honestly, when I was reading it, because the first time, it was like, ‘I can’t believe he’s finally giving it to them. I’m in shock.’ And then the next moment I was like, ‘See? I knew he wasn’t gonna give it to them!’ And I also, admittedly, felt my heart went out to everyone who is deeply invested because I was like, ‘This is gonna be hard.’ It was great. It was very rough to shoot that day. It was very unceremonious. We were chasing the light.Chenford is arguably the most-loved ship on The Rookie. Fans have been rooting for Tim and Lucy since the very beginning, and even though it took them a while to get to where they are now, it was worth the wait and their breakup in Season 6. Tim had talked about wanting to propose for a few episodes in Season 8 and trying to find the right moment. And the end of the finale was definitely the right moment, until it wasn’t. O’Neil was definitely right to assume that creator Alexi Hawley had something up his sleeve and that the fans were not going to be happy.Considering it is The Rookie, you kind of have to expect that something bad is going to happen right after a character finally has a happy moment. Nothing can ever go as planned, whether that’s a wedding, a birth, or even a proposal. While O’Neil was shocked and empathetic about this, Winter was mainly excited for Chenford’s next chapter:It was interesting. The whole thing was kind of moving quick. We had to knock it out, but I think seeing that script was surprising and it made me laugh, kind of like, ‘Ha ha. This is really bad.’ It was great. The stuff I love.Leave it to the actors to be excited about a kidnapping storyline just as characters get engaged. But, honestly, I get where Winter is coming from. I confess that I do sometimes like seeing characters suffer because it raises the stakes immensely and it makes for entertaining television. For example, Tim and Lucy's relationship is sure to be tested as it seems likely that they'll do whatever they can to help each other even though they're both in danger. That being said, it would also be nice for them to have a happy moment that's not immediately followed by something terrible. They’ve dealt with so many obstacles over the years, and will probably deal with many more. To that point, Hawley piggybacked off what O’Neil and Winter were saying, noting that he hopes this roller coaster has only connected the fans more to the series and the characters:We’ve been on a very long ride with these two, and it feels like there’s been a lot of ups and a lot of downs, some of which have made people happier than others, but I think, you know, hopefully when we look back at the, whenever the end of this ride is, which hopefully is not soon, it just feels like an epic journey that we’ve been on. You just were on the edge of your seats for a lot of it, and you were feeling sort of connected.I definitely hate that we have to wait until at least January to find out what happens with Chenford, but hopefully all will turn out okay. The aftermath of the kidnapping, though, might be a bit tough depending on what they go through. At the very least, Hawley already wants Tim and Lucy to appear on The Rookie: North, so I'm hopeful they'll recover from this. However, we'll just have to wait until midseason 2027 when The Rookie Season 9 premieres to find out what happens. All eight seasons are streaming with a Hulu subscription.