mayaruffin

[mayaruffin]

Anyone else absolutely frustrated, devastated and just... sad about how Chenford is written in S7? 😭

[mayaruffin]

I’ve been hesitant to say this because I don’t want the DELUSIONAL Chenford fandom to attack me but it has to be said at this point:

1. Tim is not emotionally intelligent enough to be with ANYONE romantically, ESPECIALLY Lucy. That man KNOWS he has both baggage AND trauma and is refusing to do anything about it. Yeah, no. He needs to be ALONE (I would say until he figures his shit out but let’s be honest he’s old af it wouldn’t even be worth it)

2. (I meant to say this in my first post) If you want Chenford to be together right now, as in wanting them to either hookup or legitimately resume their relationship in the next episode, (or ANY episode before he puts forth any effort to better himself) then YOU ARE THE FUCKING PROBLEM (and the reason the writers room will probably keep thinking it’s ok to continue to nosedive any character development for Tim or Chenford)!! I can’t stand seeing people get so turnt for what is in all reality a large pile of bullshit for the last 5 weeks. You must also either subconsciously or consciously HATE Lucy Chen because anyone who likes or respects her would not root for her to be with someone who REFUSES to get any type of help for his OBVIOUS mental health issues.

[mayaruffin]

Hello all,

I’ll try to keep this brief but this IS a stream-of-consciousness so don’t get your hopes up 😅.

First, I’ll introduce myself: My name is Maya. I’m 25 years old. I’ve been a fan of The Rookie since early 2022. And what I’m about to say is in NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM an insult to ANY of the cast or crew (save for maybe Alexi Hawley). But I need to get this off my chest and since I have no IRL friends that watch/care about The Rookie, I’m posting my thoughts here.

Now I’m no wordsmith (I majored in mathematics) so what I’m about to say probably won’t be as succinct and/or poised as some of the other posts I've seen on here discussing the same topic. But the writing for Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen is abysmal, abhorrent, and any other synonym you can think of. And 5x12 is when it all started going downhill.

What I’ve always been drawn to with Chenford, other than their uber-attractiveness, is the fact that they have never, at least not in the first four seasons, beat around the bush with each other. They’ve never been afraid to say whatever it is they need/want to say to each other. I think them having that type of deep relationship with each other as work colleagues made me kind of forget that they don’t really interact outside of work and therefore they were never actually as close as I had them painted in my mind. I think I’ve now realized that that’s why it took THEM so long to realize the attraction we as viewers saw them have for each other from very early on. So it was incredibly mind-boggling to see them constantly go behind each other’s backs and refuse to have the same deep meaningful conversations we’re used to seeing them have with each other once they got together romantically. I, for one, don’t personally think they GOT TOGETHER too fast. I mean, they realized that they both felt something deeper than friendship and acted on it. It’s not that unusual. However, I do feel like they progressed entirely too fast for two people who, again, were never THAT close. I didn’t want to say anything at the time because I, like all the other fans, was just happy to see these two people I had been rooting for finally get together but the whole “grandkids” and “our kids” thing felt very awkward and out of place, especially considering that they’ve since broken up. I just feel like that’s not something you mention, even casually or jokingly, to someone you’ve just started seeing romantically, no matter how long you knew each other beforehand. Now that the lack of quality content we could have seen in Season 5 has been addressed, we can move onto everything wrong with the steaming pile of shit that was Season 6.

I will admit that I have not seen a single episode of The Rookie since 6x06 but I have kept up with it on Twitter and Tumblr, so I have some inklings about what’s been going on since the breakup. But let’s start with episode 1. While I understand that Lucy was under a lot of stress and that the particular part of her personality that expects sometimes too much of herself is a direct result of how her parents treated her growing up, I truly feel that she was unfair to Tim and that he was right to give her space to cool off. Moving onto Episode 2, which by the way was INCREDIBLY overhyped and not AT ALL worthy of being episode 100 (it needed to be said and this is MY stream-of-consciousness) where they again had an opportunity to have a deep, meaningful, adult conversation, they totally butchered it. They have a real elephant in the room in terms of their relationship with her wanting to be UC and his issues with his ex-wife in the same career field and all we got was him saying that he would “deal with it” with “by himself” being heavily implied. The rest of season 6 up until he ghosted her was forgettable (I literally don’t remember what happened) so let’s get into when shit (AKA the writing) REALLY hit the fan and all 5 (four if we’re being honest) seasons of Tim Bradford’s character development went down the drain.

So you mean to tell me at his jurassic age, this man (Tim, if you aren’t following), after Lucy said that a relationship with him that didn’t work out WAS NOT WORTH risking their friendship for, convinced her to enter into a romantic relationship with him and said that he loved her while hooked up to a lie detector in a tone that implied that it was crazy she even had to ask, ghosts her for days, KNOWS that she’s fucking spiraling (calling, texting, leaving voicemails), and then shows up to her apartment talking about “I wanted to see you” as if she was just gonna be cool with that? Fully prepared to not explain his actions in the slightest mind you! That scene pissed me off more than any other scene in season 6. AND THEN HE DUMPS HER WHILE SHE’S STANDING OUTSIDE WAITING FOR HIM READY TO SUPPORT HIM! AND USES THE OLDEST LINE IN THE BOOK TO DO SO! It’s not you, it’s me? Really? Like, the worst writer in the world couldn’t have come up with that bullshit. Why introduce a whole new conflict when they had so many issues to deal with already? It makes no logical sense. If the purpose of seasons 5 & 6 was show us that the two of them don’t know each other as well as they thought or as well as we thought, congratulations you fucking nailed it. And then to top it all off, you have her risking her life to save his ass AGAIN being reduced to “kindness”. Of all the things Alexi has said in post breakup interviews, of all the things Melissa has said in post breakup interviews, of all the things Eric has said in post breakup interviews, none of that has convinced me that Chenford aren’t endgame more so than Tim saying he would pay back all “the kindness [she’s] shown [him]”. What an insult to Lucy and what an insult to dedicated and patient fans. I’m heartbroken by that bullshit and I only started watching 3 years ago. I can’t imagine the pain and heartbreak suffered by people who’ve been rooting for them since 1x01.

Moving onto season 7, which again I haven’t seen, we have lost the plot even more, which I have to say, I didn’t think was possible. I know we’re only 2 episodes into a 20 episode season but good lord what is this writing?! They’ve written Tim to be an emotional manipulator and Lucy to be an emotional punching bag. I have to say I’ve never once considered any of Lucy’s storylines to be trauma porn, even when she was kidnapped by a serial killer. But the writing for her character in these first two episodes is downright offensive. There is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON the two of them should be that chummy with each other after what Tim did her without him having done ANY noticeable work towards bettering himself. All she asked for after he played so viciously with her heart was an adult conversation. Call me crazy but I don’t think that’s THAT much to ask for from someone, especially someone, again, at his jurassic age. And instead of giving her that, he’s all smiley and flirty and “let’s make a bet” with her at work. Now, don’t misunderstand. Lucy is not blameless in this particular situation. While he is being emotionally manipulative, she is without a doubt letting him because why she is acknowledging that bullshit at all is beyond my comprehension. Again, this man has done absolutely no work towards bettering himself. He’s still the same “broken” motherfucker that he was when he broke up with Lucy yet somehow they have this entirely different dynamic? I’m not buying whatever it is they’re trying to sell. And don’t even get me started on the payback line during the food truck scene cuz I don’t wanna touch that bullshit with a ten foot pole. Whoever wrote that can kiss my ass.

All that to say, atp, I really don’t want Tim and Lucy to get back together. Tim was right about one thing: Lucy Chen deserves better. You would think that would mean that he should be better but he clearly doesn’t want to so I feel she should cut her losses and be with someone who appreciates her heart.

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.