Melissa O'Neil and Eric Winter headed to a mystery location this week. The dynamic duo – who play Lucy Chen and Tim Bradford – gave fans a glimpse of a sun-soaked patch of woodland.
Sharing a selfie from The Rookie set on Wednesday, Eric, 48, wrote: "Love when we explore new locations on @therookieabc Can't wait to see how this turns out!"
Meanwhile, Melissa, 36, followed suit, posting a video of their idyllic surroundings. Among the comments, fans couldn't help but speculate over future storylines for 'Chenford'.
"Looks like Tim and Lucy are stuck in the peace and serenity and finding ways to talk," remarked one. "So Eric AND Melissa are in the same location, which means Tim and Lucy are!?" noted a second. Given their breakup in season six, it's hardly surprising that fans are hoping for a reconciliation between them. However, some fans are convinced that the filming location is pointing to danger.
Beneath Eric's post, one commented: "Nothing good happens in the woods on this show."
"This show & the woods is never a good mix, why am I lowkey scared," mused another.
Currently, details surrounding Lucy and Tim's arc are scarce. However, Eric has shed some light on season seven.
Speaking exclusively to HELLO!, the actor teased that they'll "continue to learn how to navigate their feelings while being on the job."
"We'll see them pick up in a place where they've shown that they care about each other and now they have to figure out, 'Can we give each other space to do our job and allow our feelings to stay in a safe place but not rush anything and hope one person doesn't go astray?'" he explained.
Eric added that Tim will also return to what he does best. "I do know we're gonna see Tim back in the field training rookies, which I think is what people always loved about Tim, I think people liked Metro Tim, but I think people do like training officer Tim, so we'll get him back out in the field," the star said.
For both the actors and the fans, Lucy and Tim's breakup came as a shock, but Eric also sees it as a "great opportunity" for storytelling.
"When I was informed about it by [showrunner] Alexi, I thought it was a great opportunity for us to learn more about Tim and why he would even go through that or put her through that. When we got that breakup scene, it's a very atypical breakup," he reflected.
"It's traditional in one sense – 'It's not you it's me' – but we talked a lot about it. Melissa had her way of approaching it and I had my way, and it was very different – I wanted to let a lot of it happen in the moment," continued Eric.
"What was interesting though was that there was no good reason for the breakup; Tim was just completely lost in who he is and what he had been through. He had lied to two people that were very important in his life and at the end of the day, he just didn't think he was good enough for her."
