Sumith Prasad
John Nolan’s romantic life forms one of the most beloved storylines of ABC’s police procedural series ‘The Rookie.’ Throughout the five seasons of the show, John has dated several women and finally gets engaged to Bailey Nune in the fifth round. While he is getting ready for his married life with the firefighter, the viewers must be wondering what really happens to Grace in the series. The doctor forms an endearing relationship with the police officer but eventually vanishes from the latter’s life. If you are wondering about Grace, here’s everything you need to know about her! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Grace’s Journey: From Reunion to Choosing Family Over Love
Introduced in the second season of the series, Grace and Nolan became friends while the latter was in college, dating Sarah. When the couple broke up, Nolan and Grace ended up sharing an “intense” couple of weeks as they explored the spark they had. However, Sarah’s return to Nolan’s life, pregnant with his baby, put an end to his companionship with Grace. They meet each other after twenty years in the second season. The doctor lets him know that she is married and has an eight-year-old son. After they rekindled their friendship, Grace reveals to him that she vanished from her husband Simon’s life over a year ago.
Grace becomes a good friend of Nolan after their reunion. She extends her help as a parent when Nolan deals with predicaments concerning his son Henry Nolan. The doctor also remembers his birthday, astounding the police officer, and gifts him a steamer as a birthday present. It doesn’t take long for Grace to become more than a friend to Nolan. In the ninth episode of the second season, they go on a date to rekindle the spark they had while the police officer was in college. As the season progresses, they get back together as a couple. However, their relationship doesn’t last long.
Even after officially separating from Simon, Grace asks Nolan to take things slow since she hasn’t gotten divorced yet. She doesn’t want Nolan’s unexpected presence in her life to unsettle her child. Eventually, Grace decides to break up with Nolan to reunite with Simon for the sake of her child’s happiness. The doctor must have thought that her son deserves his father’s presence in his life, which leads her back to her husband. Nolan understands Grace’s wish and they both part ways.
Larter Leaves The Rookie for Other Project
Ali Larter’s exit from ‘The Rookie’ was always a part of the plans since the actress originally joined the show for just two episodes. At the time, Larter was working on a project she was slated to star in and executive produce, which gave her enough time to be a part of the procedural series. When the story arc of Grace grew from two to thirteen episodes, the actress was all up for it. However, the writers must have concluded the arc of Larter’s character with her breakup with Nolan so the actress could leave the show and focus on her project.
Although the project Larter was working on at the time, titled ‘The Sidelines’ with Ben Stiller as another executive producer, hasn’t materialized yet, the conclusion of Grace’s arc puts an end to the actress’ time in the show. After her final appearance in the series, Larter made it clear that she would be open to returning to the show in the future, especially after having a great time working with creator Alexi Hawley and lead performer Nathan Fillion. In the future, we may see Larter reappearing in ‘The Rookie’ for a guest appearance in the same way Mircea Monroe returned to the show in the twentieth episode of season 5 as Isabel.
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