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Officer Aaron Thorsen is a recurring character in the fourth season and a main character in the fifth and sixth seasons of The Rookie, played by Tru Valentino. His badge number is 14483, and his training officer in Season 4 was Detective Nyla Harper. After Harper goes on maternity leave in Season 5, John Nolan helps to finish his training before he is promoted to Police Officer II in "Dye Hard". Thorsen and Harper's call sign was 7-Adam-19. He first appears in season four, episode two, "Five Minutes".

Biography[]

Aaron is the only child of famous rapper Lincoln Thorsen and Yvonne Thorsen, and had a very privileged childhood. He was raised in Los Angeles and became famous on TikTok for flaunting his extravagant lifestyle. At some point in his childhood, he became very close to Patrick Hayes, to the point that his father, Dexter Hayes, "had to buy two of everything" as they were always together. Aaron chose to study abroad in Paris while in college, living with Patrick in a shared apartment. They later befriended other students like Everest Sanders and Rowan Clausen with the four traveling the country to party.

One night, Aaron went to the bathroom in the middle of the night and discovered Patrick dead with his throat slit. As the only other occupant of the apartment, Aaron was arrested as the prime suspect in Patrick's murder. Aaron became the subject of a media circus following his arrest. After multiple mistrials and over a year in French prison, Aaron was acquitted in the courts. However, at the time he joined Mid-Wilshire the court of public opinion remained largely unconvinced: he had lost most of his friends, and Patrick's father was still certain that Aaron was the perpetrator.

Aaron ultimately went to the police academy to find a new purpose in life. As Sergeant Grey tells Detective Harper, Aaron "had to sue to get into the academy. But he earned solid scores once there." In his own words, "I will always strive to tip the scales towards justice... because I know what it's like when they're tipped the other way."

Season 4[]

Aaron is Nyla Harper's second probationary trainee. Harper's first nickname for Aaron is "Five Minutes", because that's how long she thinks he'll last before he quits the FTO program; however, after proving his mettle in his first day of training, Aaron reveals he is personally traumatized by the name for reminding him of the night Patrick died. Harper agrees to come up with a new nickname for him, as it's "kind of her thing." Aaron later solved the goal of a cat burglar who had come to LA for a matter. Because of Aaron, the squad set up a successful sting.

In "End Game", Aaron is approached by his mother to come on her new reality show and give his account of Patrick's murder to clear his name. He is initially hesitant, but ultimately decides to accept.

In "Hit List", Aaron is dismayed when the reality show's camera crew follows him and Harper on plain clothes day. He is also shocked when he pulls over Dexter Hayes, Patrick's father, for running a stop sign. Disgusted Aaron was now a cop, Dexter reveals how he still holds him responsible for killing his son, becomes belligerent when he sees the cameras, and tries to hit Aaron, forcing Aaron to arrest him. Aaron decides not to charge him and Dexter is released, and due to the outside interference Harper decides to end plain clothes day early and attempt it again later. Much later, he tries to pursue a car driven by assassins of crime boss Matteo Rubio. Despite Harper's instructions to not worry about property in a chase, Aaron failed to reach the fleeing vehicle.

In "Real Crime", Aaron reunites with his old friends from his time in Paris on his family's reality show, who insist they never believed Aaron was guilty. While filming, the show's producer Morris Mackey is found murdered in the Thorsen house and the circumstances are almost identical to Patrick's death. Everyone in the house, including Aaron, is suspected in the murder. Once again, Aaron maintains his innocence. In the process of investigating the crime, it is revealed Mackey was killed when he revealed that he discovered Patrick's real killer. Much later, Angela Lopez discovered the true killer of Patrick Hayes and Mackey is Aaron's friend Rowan Clausen. Rowan's family was struggling financially, after he befriended the ultra-wealthy Aaron and Patrick, he used the Thorsen family jet to smuggle drugs from their trips in Europe as a way to earn money. When Patrick found out, Rowan murdered him to hide his crimes and framed Aaron. Rowan later killed the reality show producer Morris Mackey after he figured out Rowan was Patrick's murderer, framing Aaron again. Rowan is later arrested by Chen and Bradford and confesses. Afterwards Aaron's innocence is no longer in question, he mentions that he should have realized Rowan was up to something and wondered why Patrick never told him because things might have been different. Afterwards, he is approached by a remorseful Dexter and they reconcile. During a documentary of the case, Aaron ultimately decides to quit the reality show, saying it fulfilled its purpose as his name has been cleared. He makes the choice of living his life and honoring Patrick by being a cop.

In "Backstabbers," Aaron spends a day riding with Tim Bradford. Aaron expects to be bombarded with "Tim Tests," but instead Tim advises Aaron that they will spend the day trying to figure out his "super power" as a police officer. Initially Tim believes that Aaron's super power is his money and connections and derisively calls him "Batman." After Aaron expertly de-escalates a tense domestic situation, Tim determines that Aaron's time in prison has given him compassion and empathy for those who have been through incarceration, making him a more thoughtful and careful police officer.

Season 5[]

After finishing his training under Nolan in "Labor Day", Aaron is promoted to Police Officer II.

During "The Fugitive", he is tasked with watching Lopez's mother Emilia Lopez after she was hospitalized from a beating. Aaron makes small talk with her and she offers to set him up with her attractive niece Isabella, who is a dancer, if he sets one of her sons up with one of his cousins, he agrees upon seeing the picture. Much later, Lopez arrives and tells Aaron he was wasting his time on her cousin, something he agrees.

In "Death Notice", he gets Lopez and Harper to help him investigate a string of home robberies.

During "Daddy Cop", he and Nolan follow increasingly large leads after they discover criminals hiding at the station.

In "Death Sentence", he joins Chen to help Tamara when the mother of a child she babysits goes missing. Along the way, he tells Chen that he made a decision to live financially independent from his parents, thinking it was best to use this as a way to develop into his own man. However, he fails miserably after having many struggles, he pleads to his parents to reconsider.

In "The List", he becomes friends with Celina Juarez, the new rookie and Nolan and others suspect that they are dating. Juarez reveals that she and Thorsen are close because they play Dungeons and Dragons together to blow off steam, but insists they cannot date as he is a Scorpio and she "can't deal with Scorpios". However, this still doesn't stop their friendship.

During "Double Trouble", he investigates a garbage bin and finds a corpse inside. Aaron calls in it and reports it as Sgt. Tim Bradford but the latter is revealed to be alive and begrudgingly tells Aaron it was a lookalike named Jake. In an interview, Aaron admits his surprise by the resemblance.

In "A Hole in the World", Thorsen tells Juarez that he knows what it's like to not know what happened to someone you love, citing his own experience.

In "Under Siege", after being shot by Luke Moran, Aaron is taken to the hospital and put in a medical induced coma. Celina stays by his side and talks to him by bringing up their favorite games in order to keep him around.

Season 6[]

In "Strike Back", complications occur that put Aaron into emergency surgery, worrying a witnessing Celina, Lopez, and Wesley. However, Aaron ultimately survives the surgery and in the following weeks makes a full recovery. He purchases a new motorcycle while attending a physical therapy, though doesn't tell his doctor of this. While he is eager to get back on the streets, Grey has him assigned to desk duty until he is fully cleared and the crew who shot him are detained. When Nolan and Bailey's home wedding is threatened by a neighbor's demolition plans, Aaron insist that they move their venue to his family's spiritual retreat, out of gratitude for Bailey's actions in saving him.

At Nolan and Bailey's wedding, Aaron and Celina are talking about their respective recoveries when Aaron impulsively kisses Celina while drunk. Celina is taken by surprise and deflects Aaron's action, for which he apologizes. He discusses the kiss and their ensuing awkwardness with the department psychiatrist, Blair London, and eventually Aaron and Celina realize that it's just going to take time to get over the misunderstanding.

In "Escape Plan", when an apprehended London was brought in, Aaron was in charge of processing her. He coldly ignored her attempts to apologize for her manipulations and leading him on, before hands her off to processed.

Season 7[]

As of "The Shot", Aaron had transferred to the North Hollywood Division. Celina mentions that he did this for a fresh start away from London's manipulations.

In Three Billboards, Aaron is mentioned by Nyla regarding the investigation into a smear campaign against the LAPD that they were investigating.

Personality[]

In the past, he was a stereotypical rich boy who partied all the time and would flaunt new purchases on social media. Nevertheless, he hung out with his best friend Patrick who was the closest thing to a brother of his. Patrick's murder and Aaron's arrest for it changed him greatly.

Having been wrongfully incarcerated for two years, Aaron became more serious and became a cop to ensure that his unfortunate experience does not befall anyone else. While he may experience PTSD from seeing a scene that reminded him of him of his friend, he showed his determined side by adamantly telling Nyla Harper even if he fails to be a good cop in her eyes, he'll continue until he succeeds.

Once his name was cleared, Aaron decided to move past the experience and grow from it to become a better cop. He showed no grudge against those who accused him, as seen when he forgave Dexter Hayes for attacking him due to his misguided grief.

Appearances[]

Notes and Trivia[]

  • He expressed a desire to become a detective in "The Collar".
  • In the first few episodes of season 6, Thorsen refers to a friend of his as "Lil Gherkin". This is the real-life account name for someone who has produced one amateur hip hop tune, "The Price Is Wrong".
  • He is an only child but has several cousins named Tara and Melody, who he is close to("The Fugitive").
  • Like Wesley Evers, he hails from a wealthy family and went to private school (Evers talked about this in the episode "Real Crime").
  • He has been taught by two of the most experienced officers, Nyla Harper and Tim Bradford.
  • He is a Scorpio, placing his birthday somewhere in late October or early November. ("The List")
  • His ClipTalk username was a_Thor$en.98. ("Real Crime"); as of 5x21, he has "4 million followers on ClipTalk".
  • In spite of his cleared name, he is still recognized from the true crime documentaries. (“The Reckoning”)

Internal Links[]

THE ROOKIEe
Characters John NolanWesley EversCelina JuarezNyla HarperBailey NuneAngela LopezWade GreyLucy ChenAaron ThorsenTim BradfordZoe AndersenTalia BishopJackson West
Cast Nathan FillionShawn AshmoreLisseth ChavezMekia CoxJenna DewanAlyssa DiazRichard T. JonesMelissa O'NeilTru ValentinoEric WinterMercedes MasonAfton WilliamsonTitus Makin
Recurring characters Isabel BradfordBen McReePercy WestJessica RussoNick ArmstrongGrace SawyerRachel HallDoug StantonTamara ColinsQuigley SmittyMiles PennSeth Ridley
Recurring cast Mircea MonroeCurrie GrahamMichael BeachSarah ShahiHarold PerrineauAli LarterJasmine MathewsBrandon RouthDylan ConriqueBrent HuffDeric AugustinePatrick Keleher
Seasons 1234567
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