#putting this in the Rovker tag so someone can maybe tell me

[bucksboobs]

"they've only just begun exploring tommy as a character" bro he's a guest star, why are you acting like he's a main character? Did they explore Taylor Kelly much as a character? No they did not so what makes you think they're gonna do anything with Tommy?

He literally had less then 2 minutes of screentime in the final two episodes, including 55 seconds in the finale. Like...I highly doubt they're gonna be exploring him much aside from the Gerrard of it all and likely setting up his mutual break up with Buck.

Could Tommy be in multiple episodes to wrap up his arc, maybe the first 4-5 episodes, yes of course he can. Tim and Lou have been very adamant that this is an arc, Tommy is not a permanent fixture on 911.

Could he be in more episodes yes but he's going to be filming SWAT year round. SWAT and 911 are on two conflicting networks, his role on SWAT is bigger then his role on 911 and it's going to get bigger in S8 just from the story they're telling and set up in the finale with his character still being on the team while other series leads flew off into the sunset. SWAT starts filming in mid September so basically he's free for 911 for 2 months so the first 4-5 episodes before SWAT becomes a priority.

So the more interesting question you’ve posed is “did they explore Taylor Kelly as a character that much” and the answer is that they tried once or twice with her episode with her dad and arguably her whole thing with Jonah that led to their breakup. I do actually think it’s a mistake to not make LIs at least compelling as characters if they don’t want them to feel disposable and Tommy, to me, is compelling.

The second part is more of the same “rumors” that Donovan Rocker, who had been in 5 episodes in the past 3 years of the show, is about to become a Major Character because … idk I don’t watch this show and no one’s given me a good reason why Rocker HAS to become a main in season 8 of SWAT.