The Rookie Season 9 Officially Sets Return Of Chen's Key Ally

The Rookie season 9 confirms another cast member, and it’s a returning favorite this time.

The Rookie season 9 will premiere January 6 on ABC at 9 PM ET. The long-running ABC procedural is moving to a new nighttime slot to make way for the long-awaited launch of The Rookie: North, a new spinoff headlined by Jay Ellis. But the original series is still going strong, with new ensemble additions and familiar faces popping up.

Veteran journalist Matt Webb Mitovich answered a reader’s question for his Matt’s Inside Line newsletter, revealing that Dylan Conrique will reprise her role as Tamara Colins during season 9. No additional details were shared. It marks the first time that Tamara has appeared in The Rookie since late in season 7.

Tamara is first introduced in The Rookie season 2, episode 3, “In Justice.” Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil) looks for her stolen car and finds Tamara living in it. The young girl struggles in life after the death of her parents, moving from place to place. At one point, when Tamara’s cousin kicks her out, she moves in to stay with Lucy. She even calls Tamara family.

Over the course of her appearances, Tamara goes undercover with Lucy, and the older half even helps her surrogate sister with a difficult death. In season 6, Tamara moves out to stay with friends in an emotional turn, though the character continues to recur. She develops a romance with Seth Ridley (Patrick Keleher), and they’re even engaged at one point. That goes south when Seth’s lies are exposed.

Tamara is back after The Rookie‘s season 8 ending, which closes with the cliffhanger of Lucy and Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) being abducted right after Tim proposes to Lucy. Both are things that Tamara would have big reactions to. Plus, considering her undercover experience, she could conceivably aid in the task of bringing Chenford back safe and sound.

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Elsewhere in the fan-favorite ABC drama, which is created and showrun by Alexi Hawley, Pretty Little Liars alum Torian Bellisario will recur as Stephanie Monroe, a single mother who becomes a police officer late in life. Along with Bellisario, who has already directed an episode of the procedural, guest actors include Psych alum Dulé Hill as Lt. Hughes, a veteran who may prove too distracted to do the job right as his personal life is in flux.

Chicago Fire‘s Molly Kunz also recurs as Quinn, a girl from a small town determined to become an EMT in Los Angeles. They’ll join a returning Rookie cast of characters that also includes Nathan Fillion as John Nolan, Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez, Richard T. Jones as Wade Grey, Mekia Cox as Nyla Harper, Shawn Ashmore as Wesley Evers, Jenna Dewan as Bailey Nune, Lisseth Chavez as Celina Juarez, and, the most recent addition, Deric Augustine as Miles Penn.

The Rookie season 9 premieres Wednesday, January 6, 2027, at 9 PM ET on ABC, followed by The Rookie: North at 10 PM ET.

The Rookie