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Five people in police uniforms standing together© Disney

The Rookie viewers 'scared' for fan-favorite character after season 7 episode 5

Detective Nyla Harper is on the hunt for a serial killer

Nicky Morris
TV and film writer
February 5, 2025
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Viewers who tuned into the latest episode of The Rookie were left "scared" for one of the show's most-loved characters: Nyla Harper, played by Mekia Cox. 

Warning! Spoilers for season seven, episode five ahead. 

In the latest episode, Nyla returned to work after being stabbed and temporarily paralyzed while investigating a serial killer's potential hideaway. Upon her return to the office, she's convinced the police should be looking at vending machine operator Liam (Seth Gabel).  

WATCH: Are you watching the new series?

While Nyla doesn't have enough evidence to arrest Liam, she lets him know that the LAPD has eyes on him and will be there when he claims his next victim. 

"You'll be discreet for a while, but you won't be able to stop yourself and you will take another victim, and we will be there," she told him. "You've gotten away with everything because you moved in the shadows but now you’re in the spotlight and you will stay there until I find a way to hang these murders around your neck and lock you away forever."

THE ROOKIE - Mekia Cox as Nyla Harper© Disney/Gizelle Hernandez
Fans are concerned for Nyla Harper

While fans praised Nyla's epic "power move," with one person hailing the detective as "the GOAT," many were left concerned for her and feared she had put a target on her back by challenging Liam. 

One person wrote: "Ok as much as I LOVE baddie Nyla coming out, I'm scaaaaaaaared  #therookie," while another added: "I hope that creep doesn't go after Nyla and her family, but I have a bad feeling. #TheRookie."

Two men in janitors' uniforms walking down hallway© Disney/Carlos Lopez-Calleja
Seth Gabel plays Liam

A third person agreed, penning: "I have a bad feeling about this... Nyla's family is gonna be targeted in the future, aren't they?" 

Speaking about the storyline in a recent interview, Mekia revealed that fans haven't seen the last of Liam. "He comes up every now and then," she told TV Insider

MEKIA COX, ALYSSA DIAZ in The Rookie© Disney/Carlos Calleja-Lopez
Nyla is on the hunt for a serial killer

Nyla has had a lot on her plate this season, both at home and at work. The detective hit a rough patch with her husband, James (Arjay Smith), earlier in the series when he invited his activist friends to their house for a meeting, forcing Nyla to sneak out. 

Sharing her doubts about their marriage, Nyla told him: "Sometimes I worry that we got married too fast. I love you, James, but that does not change what I do for a living."

ARJAY SMITH, MEKIA COX in The Rookie© ABC
Nyla and James are going through a rough patch

Commenting on her character's dilemma, Mekia said: "She's the one who said, let's get married. But I think she's questioning everything in that moment and she's frustrated and she knows that he's frustrated as well."

The actress continued: "And there's been a lot of that, I think, recently for them and she doesn't know what to do about it. So she's grasping for straws. She's trying to figure out what the best thing is to do."

The Rookie airs on Tuesdays at 10/9c on ABC.

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