THE Season 4 premiere of The Rookie started off with a shock that fans did not see coming.
One of the show’s beloved police officers was killed off in the season 4 premiere, here’s everything you need to know…
Why did Titus Makin Jr leave The Rookie?
Titus has been part of The Rookie family since the show began in 2018 playing the role of Officer Jackson West.
Season four premiered on Sunday 26, September, and it looks like Titus won’t be making a return, as Jackson’s life came to an end.
Makin Jr is still yet to address reasons for his exit publicly. However, The Rookie Showrunner, Alexi Hawley shared that there was no other option but to kill Jackson.
Hawley explained: ‘It’s heartbreaking…but I didn’t really have a choice. [Titus Makin Jr.] wasn’t coming back, and because of the way we set things up with the [Season 3] finale, there was just no way to tell that story without Jackson.’
‘But we lean really hard into honoring how he was the heart of the show, and it was definitely impactful for us to have to deal with that.’
Titus has not been active on any forms of social media since mid-june 2021, but has made it clear he does not plan to do any exit interviews according to TV Line.
He does however have a successful music career under the name of Butterfly Ali, so this might not be the last we hear of him.
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What happened to Jackson West?
According to TVLine, actor Titus Makin Jr did not appear in the season 4 premiere as his character was played by a stand-in as he had already left the show after the season 3 finale.
The premiere picked up from the Season 3 finale, which saw Angela Lopez (Alyssa Diaz) and Jackson West being Kidnapped by Sandra “La Fiera ” De La Cruz (Camille Guaty).
In the beginning scene, Sergeant Grey (Richard T. Jones) was reviewing the security camera footage of Lopez and West being kidnapped in getaway cars.
Filmed from behind, a man who looks like Jackson is seen struggling with the kidnappers and then was eventually shot in the back.
As Jackson is now dead the team are now faced with finding his killer and rescuing Lopez.
Grey manages to track the killer, Amando down and then has the opportunity to shoot him, but decides to do the right thing instead, and arrest him.
The Rookie season 4 continues on ABC at 10/9c on Sundays following the premiere on September 26th.