Did The Rookie Try Too Much with Celina's Character?

Summary

• The Rookie continues to attract viewers, but not everyone is happy with the show's characters.
• One of the most unpopular is Officer Juarez.
• Next season's format will likely allow her to develop more as a character.

The Rookie remains one of ABC's most popular projects, and for six seasons in a row, viewers have enjoyed the story of Officer John Nolan (Nathan Fillion), his colleagues, and his subordinates.

But for all of The Rookie's strengths, the show also has its weaknesses. This is especially true of the characters. Some don't get enough plot development, some aren't memorable enough, and some just turn out to be too annoying. One of them is Officer Celina Juarez (Lisseth Chavez), a rookie assigned to Nolan.

Unfortunately, fans feel that Celina is too much, even for a rookie.

Why So Many Fans Hate Officer Juarez

From the moment she appeared in Episode 3 of the fifth season, Juarez has established herself as a brash and stubborn rookie who acts rashly rather than thoughtfully and refuses to listen to her superior, John. Furthermore, Celina disregards all of Nolan's guidance and goes unpunished, while John continues to turn a blind eye to her reckless actions.

Juarez is too hot-headed, as fans have noted, and in real life she probably would not have passed the psychological evaluation test that all police officers must take. The character suffers from psychological trauma caused by the kidnapping and tragic death of her sister, and this stress apparently causes Juarez to lose her temper.

Of course, Juarez is the very first rookie for John Nolan, who has just been promoted to Police Officer III. This becomes a source of conflict, revealing Nolan's own experiences on the journey to becoming a worthy training officer. However, throughout the fifth season, Celina was just as arrogant and overconfident as she was in the introduction, and many fans just wish she would finally mature as a character and hopefully become a more reliable person.

And Yet She Gets Better with Each Season

Unfortunately, this is a big oversight on the part of the writers. Sure, we can blame Nolan for the attitude of Officer Juarez, as he did not establish the necessary subordination from the beginning and therefore she saw him more as a partner than a mentor.

Sadly, though, the reason has more to do with how rushed her introduction turned out to be. The Rookie puts a lot of emphasis on how imperfect its characters are, but Celina's whole problematic personality was too overwhelming given that we had a lot of other storylines to follow at the same time.

But closer to the Season 5 finale, Celina's character was somewhat corrected, and she began to appear as a more experienced cop. Thus, in Season 6, her gimmick is still a heavy reliance on intuition, but she no longer relies on 'spiritual' practices that are not backed by solid evidence. In the case of her joint investigations with Nolan, Juarez has also, thankfully, toned herself down a bit.

Next Season May Have More Room to Develop Celina's Character

Of course, Celina is still hot-tempered, and her superstitions are probably just cleverly hidden from her fellow LAPD officers. But considering that she grew up a lot in Season 6, we can be sure that a lot of people will love Officer Juarez in the upcoming seventh season.

Season 6 was shortened due to last year's Hollywood labor disputes, so the writers had to stick to a straightforward narrative, sacrificing less important storylines. In contrast, the show will return to its previous format next time around, as ABC has ordered 18 episodes for Season 7.

This will return The Rookie to an episodic format, allowing the writers to incorporate unrelated arcs and play with different genre elements. In other words, we should expect a lot more character development for Officer Celina Juarez as well.

Season 7 is scheduled for release in early 2025.