The following contains spoilers for The Rookie Season 4, Episode 22, "Day in the Hole," which aired Sunday, May 15 on ABC.
Most of the news about The Rookie this week involved it officially becoming a franchise after ABC picked up its spinoff led by the show-stealing Niecy Nash. However, the announcement came just before the flagship series had plenty of its own drama in the Season 4 finale. Viewers had seen several game-changing subplots in the previous episode, including Wesley deciding he wanted a career change and Nolan in trouble with the police union president.
The most talked-about one, though, was that Bradford found out something very important about his girlfriend: she never wanted to get married. Viewers immediately began speculating that The Rookie was opening the door for Bradford and Chen to finally become a couple. That discovery did indeed have massive implications during the season finale, in which Chenford had another huge moment.
The main plot in "Day in the Hole" followed Nolan and Bailey. As a form of punishment, the union president had temporarily reassigned Nolan to the border town of Frontera, and a lot happened there in a short amount of time. Nolan arrested the man at the top of the ATF's most wanted list -- but the next morning, a whole band of baddies showed up and tried to bribe him to release the suspect. When he refused, they engaged Nolan and his deputy in a Wild West-style shootout. The whole story was overly dramatic, but it worked as a way to preview how Nolan will adapt as a training officer by showing his interactions with his deputy.
There was even more drama back at the Los Angeles Police Department when Chen's friend Tamara bought a car from seized car auction. Unfortunately, she didn't get to keep it because the trunk was full of heroin. That was the catalyst for The Rookie's subplot, because the car's previous owner Jake Butler looked exactly like Officer Bradford. The only difference between them was their mental capacity; Butler wasn't the brightest bulb in the chandelier. As a play on their names, Chen decided to call the duo "Tim and Dim."
After "Dim" sang like a bird, the LAPD had all the information about who he was delivering the drugs to. The team made the decision to send Bradford undercover as "Dim" and try to make a bigger arrest. The scheme worked too well when Bradford accepted another job from the drug dealers, so they held off on the arrest.
Another strange plot twist happened when Lopez arrested "Dim's" girlfriend Juicy -- she looked exactly like Officer Chen. This was clearly The Rookie setting up Chen and Bradford to go undercover together. The undercover operation didn't happen in the finale, but they started preparing for it, including practicing their PDA so that they would look like a real couple. Bradford started with a quick kiss, but Chen laid it on him.
Unfortunately, any further Chenford development was stopped when Tamara walked in on them kissing. Chen and Bradford both acted like the kiss was strictly professional, but it was clear to all parties involved that it was much more. While The Rookie fans don't know for sure if the undercover operation storyline will pick up in Season 5, it's fairly obvious that Bradford and Chen are finally headed down the path of becoming Chenford.
The Rookie airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on ABC.