Dogs have been a staple of police dramas for decades, and the acclaimed new cop series Will Trent is no exception, but this show turns it on its head. Typically, a dog is a police dog trained to assist police in specific criminal cases. Trained police dogs, both fictional and non-fiction, are typically medium to large-sized, aggressive, and strong dogs like German Shepherds and Labrador Retrievers. However, Will Trent has a secret weapon that turns the classic police dog stereotype on its head.
Betty, whose real name is Bluebell, appears in the opening scenes of Will Trent’s pilot episode. The lead detective, Special Agent Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, adopts Betty after finding her tied up alone in his neighborhood. Since Betty is a small pet and not a trained member of the K-9 unit, she primarily serves as Will’s loyal and comforting pet. Despite her small size and seemingly docile nature, Betty proves her strength throughout the first season of Will Trent.
Like their real-life counterparts, the purpose of a police dog is to search crime scenes for evidence, explosives, illegal drugs, and missing persons; protect officers and citizens from harm; and attack suspects who are trying to escape. Not a police dog, Betty the chihuahua avoids most of these duties and simply waits anxiously for Will to return home. Every time Will comes home after a hard day at work, he picks Betty up and rubs her fur, both out of love and because it relieves stress. Betty happily reciprocates Will’s affection, and often, when Will is anxious about a murder investigation, Betty will jump into his lap to comfort her owner.
Betty also shows loyalty to other people in Will’s household, such as his dog walker, Nico, a young nonbinary person who has run away from home and estranged from his family, and Will’s on-again, off-again girlfriend, Atlanta police detective Angie Polaski. Angie appears to have little interest in befriending the Chihuahua, but her attitude changes when Will goes missing in episode 7, “Unable to Locate.” Worried about Will and their previous argument, Angie confides in Betty, who listens attentively to the detective’s grief before affectionately licking her hand. Later, in episode 10, “Pterodactyls Can Fly,” Betty happily interacts with a young boy traumatized by the murder of his family. Betty’s sweet and cuddly nature contrasts with the big, tough police dogs.
In the final episode of Will Trent, Betty risks her life for her loyalty to Will and Angie. She first attacks a serial killer who is kidnapping Angie, then leads Will to the killer’s basement, where Angie is being held hostage. Considering all of her actions in the series, it seems like Betty is a role reversal for the other role people recognize as Bluebell: Wink, the thieves’ pickpocket in Cruella. Seeing Bluebell as Betty, the cute but sometimes fierce pet of detective Will Trent, is an interesting contrast to the chihuahua’s star turn as a petty criminal.
