Will Trent has consistently raised the bar for himself with each episode, and that was certainly true in the season 2 finale, which saw Angie Polaski, played by Erika Christensen, get into a lot of trouble, jeopardizing her standing in season 3. The ABC police procedural crime drama, created by Liz Heldens, Karin Slaughter, and Daniel T. Thomsen, is based on Slaughter’s Will Trent book series. However, the show takes a lot of creative liberties and doesn’t follow the novels religiously, allowing it to surprise audiences as often as it did in the season 2 finale. Christensen’s Angie is Ramón Rodríguez’s Will Trent’s oldest friend (and on-again, off-again girlfriend) on the ABC series. Will and Angie met when they were kids in foster care, and from then on, they were each other’s safe space. As they grew older, Will and Angie’s relationship turned romantic, but with personal issues and relationship trauma, it was difficult for them to maintain a healthy relationship. At the end of Will Trent season 2, it seemed like Will and Angie had finally figured out how to make their relationship work until everything came crashing down around them.
In the finale of Will Trent season 2, Will, Faith Mitchell (Will’s partner at the GBI), and Michael Ormewood (Angie’s partner at the APD) were investigating a serial killer who was killing pedophiles or sex offenders. Using his specialized investigative skills, Will deduced that the killer they were looking for was a woman, and one of her signs was leaving a small toy in the mouths of her victims. When Angie stops by the GBI for an interview, she sees the case sheet and realizes that the robbery is likely Crystal, a teenager whose murder she helped cover up in season 1. Will eventually knows that he can no longer cover up Angie’s lie (due to his status in law enforcement and his morals), so he takes Angie and flees town at the end of the Will Trent season 2 finale.
Crystal kills Lenny (who abused Angie as a teenager, then moved on to Crystal) in Will Trent season 1, and Angie pleads guilty, claiming that she killed Lenny in self-defense. Unfortunately, Crystal’s killer instincts never go away, and she begins killing men who remind her of her mother’s dead boyfriend. Angie attempts to confront Crystal in the season 2 finale, but the teenager runs away from her, trips and falls on a rock, fatally hitting her head, and falls into the river. By the time Angie catches up with her body, it’s too late — Crystal has bled to death.
Angie explains what happened to Will and Faith, who are curious as to why the APD detective thought Crystal was capable of murder. Will then revisits Lenny’s case and discovers the truth. He is forced to make an impossible decision — do nothing about his new revelation or arrest Angie for tampering with evidence (which will leave him heartbroken). Ultimately, Will knows that he can no longer cover up Angie’s lies (due to his status in law enforcement and his morals), so he takes Angie and flees town at the end of the Will Trent season 2 finale.
Although Will Trent season 2 ended with Angie being arrested for lying about Lenny’s death, Erika Christensen is expected to return for season 3. Ultimately, viewers will have to see how Angie’s arrest (and presumably subsequent trial) plays out and whether Will can redeem himself with Angie. The season 2 finale didn’t give her character any closure, which she deserved, especially considering how important Angie was to the ABC series and Will’s story. Additionally, Will Trent co-showrunners Liz Heldens and Daniel Thomsen teased their plans for a third season for Angie when speaking to TVLine. “One of the things I really wanted to look at is, in real life, the way police officers experience the justice system is different than the average person, especially when there’s a just cause involved,” Thomsen explains. “I think we want to take our time and try to figure out what this would be like for someone [like Angie] who’s been in this situation [involving Lenny]. I mean, Liz, you can tell me if I’m wrong, but I don’t know that it’s going to be like a long trial. That’s probably not the area we want to explore. But I think this would mark a very important change in Angie’s life.”
