Will Trent EPs Unpack the Finale, Will and Angie’s Relationship and Tease Season 4
The Will Trent Season 3 finale was action-packed, leaving Amanda Wagner and Michael Ormewood’s lives in jeopardy.
That affected the entire team, especially Will, who finally admitted how much Amanda meant to him.
TV Fanatic enjoyed chatting with the Will Trent showrunners and EPs Liz Heldens and Daniel Thomsen about why they revisited Will’s paternity, Amanda and Will’s relationship, and what’s next for the team.
So, the finale was action-packed. Did you always plan to revisit Will’s paternity, and what was the purpose of changing it nearly two years later?
Daniel Thomsen: Yes, we wanted to do that. We’ve been very interested in answering the question of who Will’s father is. I wanted to ensure that we gave enough space from the story of Will’s mother.
That successful story answered many of Will’s questions and gave him some stuff to pursue going forward. I wanted to ensure that we ran it to a place where it felt like we honored it before we brought in the dad.
This felt like the right time, and we hadn’t discussed it in a while. One of the things that made the story successful was that it came as a surprise. I hope people were surprised.
Sometimes, I would see publicity stills of Ramon Rodriguez and Yul Vazquez standing next to each other, and they looked like father and son.
I had hoped people wouldn’t guess this, but we hadn’t been discussing it on the show in a while. It comes out of nowhere in a way that I hope people are as surprised as Will was.
The casting for Sheriff Caleb was spot-on. Will we see him again?
Daniel Thomsen: Yeah, he’ll be back. We don’t know how many episodes or anything like that yet. But I think we feel that Will’s in a place in his life, and his relationship with Caleb is in a place where he’s ready to try.
I don’t think he knows exactly what he will find, and I believe he will be surprised. As Liz keeps putting it, it’s as if Will has reached a point on our show where he’s surrounded himself with his found family and feels more comfortable than he has in the past.
He’s a little settled there. Now, he has to go to the family that you don’t get to pick. It’s going to be interesting.
Yes, much of this episode centered on the found family. I loved that, but how will Will manage, and when will we know if Amanda survives?
Liz Heldens: Well, we’re still figuring everything out creatively. Just as he’s finding his biological father, his tether, his mother, Amanda, who’s been such a stabilizing force in his life, her life is threatened. We thought there was a nice symmetry there, and it was moving.
I was on set when we shot him talking to Amanda in the hospital. We’ve never seen him say anything like that to her. I think she wants that from him. However, neither is very well equipped to talk about their feelings, and their relationship can be contentious.
It’s a mentor-mentee relationship. It’s a gruff mother and an irritated son, and they’re not good at being emotionally vulnerable with each other.
That is fun for writing and acting because Sonja Sohn has had some incredible moments on the show.
Still, I wanted to single out her moment at the end of Will Trent Season 1, when they’re at the coffee machine and she buys him a coffee.
There’s so much those characters can say to each other, and she can’t do it. So, she gives him the necklace, and it’s clear she’s struggling with all this. She says, ‘This is for you,’ and then leaves.
Some of their best work has been watching people decide they can’t be vulnerable enough to say what they want. So, for him to say those things to her, even though she was unconscious, was profoundly moving to me.
I mean, that relationship is genuinely superb. Karen Slaughter created that relationship between Will and Amanda, and it’s terrific. I think it’s the gift that keeps on giving, and it’s because they’ll never hug each other. It’s just so hard for them to be vulnerable with each other.
Good point. Additionally, much of Ormewood’s character has centered on being a strong soldier for his family. He narrowly survived that gunman, only for his tumor to worsen. What is next for his medical journey?
Liz Heldens: Again, we’re still making creative decisions and discussing everything. But I think you hit it on the head; he identifies as a strong, capable, very male person.
He was a soldier. He’s a cop. He can physically take care of everything. To take that away from him would be destabilizing.
Daniel Thomsen: That was the perfect way to summarize him because we made a point this season. He has a lot of excellent physical moments, some of which are funny, while others are powerful.
However, as you can see, his movement through the world is physical. We’re hoping to throw him a massive curveball and then see what he discovers about himself that’s new.
I’ve enjoyed his newfound friendship with Faith. It’s been a fun new interaction.
Liz Heldens: I think new pairings and finding a way to pair people up on shows always pay dividends. I enjoyed seeing Amanda and Angie kind of on their caper in the finale, but yeah, Faith and Ormewood, that friendship has been good for both of their characters.
Absolutely. Angie has been through a lot. I never expected we’d see her mother again or Angie would be pregnant.
Liz Heldens: In the book, her mother is in a coma, so we pulled that from the book. It was all designed to be a piece. We learn a little more about her relationship with her mother, and then she finds out she’s pregnant, stopping her from falling further off the wagon.
Then, we watch her think about what it might be like to parent somebody, which, I believe, is something Dan keeps saying she felt she wasn’t worthy of. However, in the finale, she comes to realize that maybe this is something she could do.
I loved that. Does that mean Seth may stay if they’re going to have a baby together?
Daniel Thomsen: Liz had a prior relationship with Scott, who plays Seth, and I’d only known him as a fan. I loved how much he jumped into the show and felt like he’d been there from day one. As a producer, I want more of him.
Another topic Liz discussed was an idea she brought to the table early on: the concept of this season with Will and Angie apart.
We felt that the audience would assume Will’s relationship with Gina Rodriguez would improve, and that Angie would find a way to self-destruct, ultimately blowing it up.
What was great about Scott Foley joining the show was your belief in that relationship. It feels good, healthy, and exciting. He’s such a real actor who can stand up to Erika Christensen and give her something that feels honest.
The idea was that we would end the season unexpectedly, with Angie finding something healthy and stable, while Will remains adrift. We want to continue bringing Seth back and play out that story.
Yes, I noticed that it almost felt like a love triangle at the end, because Will was looking at them, and it nearly seemed like he was pining for Angie. Will it go that way, or will you consider bringing someone in for him?
Liz Heldens: All of our characters need to continue to grow. And what that looks like for Will and Angie is that they’re taking a slight turn in this direction. Those characters will always be intertwined in each other’s lives.
Whoever is with either of those characters will have to deal with the Will and Angie piece. If Will continues to grow, it means he will meet someone and find something, or, in other words, that’s what should happen.
However, we’re actively trying not to think about season four right now, so we can be energized when it’s time to consider it. Therefore, some decisions need to be made.
Of course. I know you hear this a lot, but are there plans to add Sara Linton to the series or make a Sara Linton spin-off?
Liz Heldens: That’s possible. The Grant County series is an extensive series of books, comprising 7 or 8 volumes, so that’s possible. We’re currently focusing on nurturing our existing characters on the show. If it’s the right thing, we’ll do it.
I respect that. I know how different the series are. So, with that, I’ll ask, what is the most challenging and fun part of adapting a beloved book series like this and making it your own?
Liz Heldens: The source material is terrific. The character of Will Trent was developed with such specificity and a rich history. Dan and I had both been sitting on the book for a long time, and then I pictured myself pitching a detective who can’t read.
But then I showed it to Dan, and he saw it. Having that source material was great. No one does a twist like Karen Slaughter, as seen in Will Trent, Season 1 Episode 1, where the body isn’t what you think it is. That was expertly and beautifully done in the book, and we just took it.
The most challenging part is people’s expectations about how actors are going to look. That is hard because no one wants to disappoint people.
I think the fact that this show landed at ABC meant it would be a slightly different kind of show than what you might be able to do at HBO. Right, Dan?
Daniel Thomsen: Coming to ABC made it easier because it took off the table a direct adaptation, because so many of the details and the structure of those long-form mysteries were. We couldn’t do it here.
But Karen was the first person to describe it this way. One of the joys of doing this is working with Karen, who is the best. She’s so funny. There’s a deep well of talent and skill in what she does. I was not prepared for how funny she was.
She likes the show. She says we occupy the same spiritual place that the books do. So even though our execution is slightly different, we’re telling the same types of stories. We’re liberated from having to make every detail the same because we just can’t as producers of television.
It doesn’t work that way, but we are on the same wavelength as Karen, in that she’s trying to take real, feeling human beings and put them through the wringer to figure out how they can come out the other side, still want to keep going, and have joy in their lives, while still feeling ready to face the day.
That resonates with us, those life challenges of adversity, no matter who you are. You have to keep going. We do it, and we do it the same way Karen does. There’s a lot of humor, work ethic, and just getting up and keeping going.
You can stream all of Will Trent on Hulu.
If you read this whole thing — wow, we’re impressed. Will
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