The actress talks to ETonline about season six of the ABC cop drama!
Things are about to get serious for the folks on Rookie Blue.
The Canadian cop procedural returns stateside for a new batch of episodes, picking up three weeks after the evidence room bombing left 15 Division reeling.
After a much-needed respite, Officer Andy McNally and Detective Sam Swarek are ready to return to the daily grind. But when Andy is attacked by an intruder at a co-worker’s home, things threaten to turn deadly. (Watch the intense scene above.) There’s also the fact that Sam’s ex Marlo Cruz is pregnant with his baby – a life-changer could turn Andy’s world upside down.
WATCH: The 9 Hottest Shows You Can't Miss This Summer!
“This is a really big episode. We ended last season with Marlo’s baby, and this is basically where the bomb drops,” Missy Peregrym tells ETonline ahead of Wednesday’s premiere. “You’re going to watch how Sam deals with that.”
Put simply, it’s going to be incredibly complicated.
Peregrym jumped on the phone with ETonline ahead of the U.S. debut (it’s well into its season-six run in Canada) to dish on the explosive premiere, Sam and Andy’s new challenge and the future of Rookie Blue.
ETonline: How do you think Andy will handle Marlo's baby bombhell?
Missy Peregrym: Andy has no idea and that was really important to me that we played it that way. Sometimes on TV, it plays out as expected – this is going to happen, then this is going to happen, and this is how you’re going to feel. There’s just no way you can handle that news and understand how to [react to] that. There are so many emotions that come up – grief, for not being a part of Sam’s first child; anger, for the fact that it’s unfair; and confusion over the fact that you can’t really be angry because nothing is wrong. This isn’t an ideal situation and she has a really hard time figuring out where she fits and what a family looks with the information that they have.
NEWS: Find Out If Your Favorite TV Shows Are Coming Back!
ETonline: How does this forever change Andy and Sam’s relationship?
Peregrym: That’s what you’re going to be watching this season. It doesn’t change her love for him and it doesn’t change his love for her, and the fact that they wanted a family together. It’s really difficult because it affects your life so severely, but you can’t live your life as if there isn’t going to be another human being involved. There are all these lines and boundaries for figuring out what is the best thing. I’m sure Andy feels selfish because she wants to have it her way, but at the end of the day, you’re going to want to make sure that this child is cared for and loved in the best possible place it can be welcomed in.
ETonline: Andy has evolved so much over the course of the past five seasons now, but in the premiere, she’s attacked by an intruder at her colleague’s home. How different is this experience from the others she’s been victim to?
Peregrym: Andy’s been attacked a lot. (Laughs.) I think it’s always startling. The way that it started [for her on the show] was that everything is scary, everything is overwhelming and everything is threatening. But at this point, I really do feel like Andy has got a fierceness to her and a confidence and competence because she knows herself better. And because of her journey and all the times she could’ve quit or opted out for something different, she’s chosen to be in this. At this point, she takes her job very seriously and yes, it affects her but in a great way. She gets fired up. If anything, she’s finding her voice a lot more because of everything she’s been through. It’s not necessarily about pleasing everybody and doing everything according to somebody else’s rules, but naturally following her instincts. Every human being does that as they get older and that’s been fun to play – and important.
ETonline: In regards to Andy’s relationship with the other members of 15 Division, which dynamic shifts or evolves the most this season?
Peregrym: The second-most important one, aside from Andy and Sam, is really with Oliver. He’s really been a father figure to her and I love their relationship, but it isn’t like that anymore. It isn’t like a father-daughter situation in the same way that it was before. With anyone you fight with or you don’t understand or there’s a misunderstanding so big and hurtful, when you get through that, your dynamic shifts and that’s what’s happened with her and Oliver the last two seasons and we’re going to be going into that more this year.
ETonline: Can you highlight an upcoming episode that we should keep our eyes peeled for?
Peregrym: This is one of my favorite seasons by far that we’ve shot. I’m really excited about all of it and where the writers took the relationships. It was a delicate balance with how they were going to do things and I’m really proud of this next season.
ETonline: Is there any indication that this is it for Rookie Blue?
Peregrym: We have no idea! Yeah, we’re still [waiting] as usual. Every year we go through this where there’ll be episodes that air and hopefully we’ll be finding out soon if we’ll be going back. It really could go either way, I’ll say that.
Rookie Blue premieres Thursday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.