The Rookie 6×09 “The Squeeze” Spoilers Ahead
Welcome to the first installment of Chenford Chats, a column dedicated solely to highlighting Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen’s interactions during the latest episode of The Rookie.
While the favored pair isn’t an actual couple at the moment, and tensions are flying particularly high, The Rookie 6×09 “The Squeeze” still manages to remind viewers of the fact that they know each other better than most. Tim is under investigation and still dealing with the heartaches of his past resurfacing, but now, he’s also a witness to Mad Dog taking his own life, which will continue to add trauma and break his spirit further. Lucy learns this through a phone call from Lopez, and when she later spots him walking to the elevators, she chooses to stop the machine and take a moment alone with him.
Chenford always have some of the best hugs on TV, and what we get this week might be in their top three so far. Because here, despite how much Tim holds back, he isn’t hiding the truth from her: having her in his arms means that, for a moment, he’s okay. He can breathe again, even if it’s just for a second. Lucy might still be mad at him (and she has every right to be), but she nonetheless adores him with every fiber of her being, which means she knows exactly how to comfort him. She knows he’s bottling everything up. She knows that he’s in pain, and she knows that Tim is the kind of man for whom physical touch matters.
It’s reminiscent of their juncture in the laundry room during The Rookie’s “Going Under.” Back then, Tim needed to hold Lucy in his arms both to protect her and to ease himself—to know that she’s safe, she’s whole, she’s physically okay. When Lucy asks Nolan how Tim sounds on the phone, Nolan replies with “tight,” yet in the elevator, Tim is anything but tight. He’s okay—fully fine, even for a split second. Eric Winter is incredible in showing us the subtle changes in Bradford’s physicality, so we understand everything, not only through Tim’s words but through his noticeably changed body language. It might be a fleeting moment, but it’s an essential one to represent how effortless it is for Chenford to unwind together. The way she fixes his shirt also acts as yet another form of caretaking—a way of showing him that he isn’t alone, even if he chooses to be. She’s there, willing to bear the burdens and carry the crosses with him.
It’s also riveting how moments like this often happen in confined, secluded places. It substantiates that wherever they are and how dark the world around them is, being in close proximity allows them to firmly believe that everything isn’t falling apart. It’s a love language that underscores not only how well they know each other but also showcases the fact that they’re both inherently selfless when it comes to their love. Protecting one another and taking care of each other is ingrained in them; it’s a seamless pull; it’s crucial to their own state of being, too.
It’s unclear when Chenford will get back together, but the episode ostensibly confirms why they’re meant for each other. Establishing an understanding and a language between couples isn’t always easy. It takes incredible actors to not only know their own characters but to intimately understand their partners as well. Melissa O’Neil and Eric Winter not only know Lucy and Tim respectfully but also know Chenford, too. With this meticulous understanding, no matter how brief the scene is, they load their performances with the warmth and delicacy necessary to make the interaction profoundly layered and tremendously significant.
Now streaming on Hulu: What are your thoughts on Chenford’s scene in The Rookie 6×09 “The Squeeze?” Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Disney/Raymond Liu