The Rookie's Afton Williamson played Talia Bishop in Season 1. Here's who Bishop was and why Williamson left the series at the end of the season.
Afton Williamson (The Night Of, Banshee) played LAPD Officer Talia Bishop in the first season of the ABC police procedural The Rookie. She served as the training officer for Nathan Fillion's character John Nolan, who became the oldest rookie in the Los Angeles Police Department after surviving a bank robbery. With her goal of eventually becoming a detective and then Chief of Police, it appeared that Bishop would stick around for the entire run of the series.
Talia Bishop was a member of the LAPD assigned to the Mid-Wilshire Division as a training officer. Bishop grew up in the foster care system and escaped a turbulent childhood, determined to build a successful career. She worked closely with John Nolan throughout the first season, and even though they often didn't see eye-to-eye, Nolan respected Bishop's position and mentorship. Even though his mistakes and dangerous experiences in the field were sometimes costly and had the potential to affect her growth in the LAPD, Bishop saw plenty of potential in Nolan and reminded him that he wasn't like the other rookies. She encouraged him to find his voice and not treat his age as a liability, but consider it a strength.
Many Season 1 storylines explored Bishop's past and personal life, as the show would later do with other officers. In the episode "Homefront," Bishop reconnected with one of her foster brothers and learned he had a criminal history. She struggled with wanting to get close to him but also feeling ashamed of his former illegal activities, to the point where she didn't list him as one of her foster siblings on her academy application. However, Bishop confronted her inner judgments about him and later rectified her actions.
In the Season 2 premiere "Impact," it was revealed that Bishop had moved on from the LAPD. The character had become a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). She was not seen on-screen and has never reappeared on the show, for reasons which became clear when Williamson came forward with her claims about what had happened behind the scenes.
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