‘Will Trent’ Season Premiere: Going Back To Find What’s Left of His World

The two-part season premiere of Will Trent wrapped up this week, and everyone is living in the aftermath of Will’s decision to have Angie arrested at the end of Season 2.

Angie is working as a rent-a-cop for an HOA that has a doggy doo-doo DNA database to identify errant sidewalk poops. And Will, being an emotionally mature, well-adjusted adult, fled to Tennessee with his dog Betty, where he grew a shadow of a beard, installed a chin-up bar, and is taking pictures of cheating spouses to make a living.

But he’s still a member of the GBI and Amanda Wagner’s (Sonja Sohn) favorite. So, when a cop winds up dead, and the suspect asks for Will during a standoff, she tracks him down to bring him home.

Things have changed at the GBI in Will’s absence. Ormwood (Jake McLaughlin) is working with the team, and Faith Mitchell (Iantha Richardson) found a new partner in timid Special Agent Gross (The Bye Bye Man’s Douglas Smith). Is Will happy to be back? No. Is anyone happy to see him? Also no. Everyone’s mad that he ran away without asking for or accepting any help. Even Nico (Cora Lu Tran) slams a door in his face.

The one person who is glad to see him is the man who asked for his help. Rafael Wexford (Antwayn Hopper), a childhood friend of Will’s, is also a dangerous criminal being framed for the murder of a police officer. He asks Will to help clear his name. Before Will can get very far, Rafael unexpectedly gives himself up and confesses to the crime. His false confession complicates things but also reveals a corruption and cover-up plot that they set up as the overarching story for the season.

The murdered cop was trying to blow the whistle on high-level police corruption, which is the perfect introduction for this season’s newest cast member, Gina Rodriguez. Rodriguez plays Assistant District Attorney Marion Alba. She’s a ball of energy and confidence who isn’t afraid to get involved in the case or challenge Will’s process. Alba is a necessary ally because the corruption case involves a kidnapped child and goes so far up the chain you might mistake Atlanta for New York City.

This was a great start for Rodriguez’s character, who will hopefully inject some fresh energy and a new dynamic into this season. Because at the end of the premiere, we’re back to one with Will shaving his stubble, donning one of his signature suits, and ready to get back to business. Angie is standing before a review board, hoping for another second chance at being a good cop. In an episode about corrupt cops doing bad things, it’s hard to support the idea of Angie Polaski getting her job back for any reason besides keeping the plot going.

It’s equally hard to say Angie and Will should be together. Not without a lot of therapy, at least. Have either of them learned or changed at all? Will has become more open about his dyslexia, employing an accessibility app he calls Eduardo that reads things out loud for him. Has Angie learned anything about herself while biding her time in the suburban hellscape where she works? She has to ask ChatGPT to write her review board speech, so it seems doubtful. Theirs feels like a relationship doomed to a cycle of hurting each other and conditional forgiveness. They both deserve better. I’m sure the show will spend a couple of episodes pretending they might not get back together before they make some questionable decisions and wind up in bed.

At the end of Season 2, Will Trent left town because his world fell apart and he didn’t want to put the pieces back together. Now he’s back in Atlanta, and it remains to be seen what shape the puzzle will take over this season.

New episodes of Will Trent air Tuesday nights on ABC and stream the next day on Hulu.