Ranking the 5 Main Characters of Will Trent
Since Will Trent doesn’t have many main cast members, viewers have had a chance to really get to know all five of them over the last two seasons, making it pretty easy to rank the show’s characters. The ABC police procedural crime drama, created by Karin Slaughter, Liz Heldens, and Daniel T. Thomsen, is based on characters from Slaughter’s Will Trent book series. While most of the people in the crime drama are taken from the novels, Will Trent (the show) deviates a bit from the source material in terms of plot, cases, and character details/background.
Despite forging its own path rather than adapting directly from the books, Will Trent has been a huge success for ABC. The show has consistently earned impressive ratings throughout its 23-episode run and has only gotten better over time. A TV show that increases its ratings in its second season is almost unheard of. Will Trent can attribute this to its great writing, its ability to separate its story from other police procedurals, its compelling cases, its surprising twists, and of course, the performances of its cast. Without the cast and Will Trent’s characters, the show would not have been as successful.
As if anyone could doubt it, Jake McLaughlin’s Detective Michael Ormewood is Will Trent’s worst (main) character. McLaughlin is fantastic in the role, as he has been in his previous TV shows (e.g. Quantico). However, the reason behind Ormewood’s last place has nothing to do with McLaughlin’s performance, but with the fact that his character was a terrible person throughout Season 1. Yes, Ormewood undergoes some subtle character development in Will Trent’s Season 2 story, but it’s not enough to overcome the likes of his partner, Angie, or Will, Faith, or Amanda.
I’m afraid that Gina Rodriguez’s Will Trent in Season 3 will be exactly like Susan Kelechi Watson’s disappointingly fake
Gina Rodriguez will be on Will Trent in Season 3, but I’m worried that her character will suffer the same fate as Susan Kelechi Watson in Season 2.
Ormewood is a cop who fits in well with the officers of the Intelligence Unit at the Chicago Police Department. He doesn’t really follow the rules and is a hothead. Ormewood often lets his anger get the best of him, which is why he treats his suspects and witnesses so poorly in Season 1. However, he gets better in Season 2. At the beginning of Will Trent, Ormewood is just a one-dimensional character who is easily disliked. Fortunately, the show peels back his layers as the episodes go on, which is why it becomes harder to dislike Ormewood in Season 2.
Will Trent giving Ormewood an enemy (his wife, Gina) in the Season 2 finale also helps his development significantly.
Ormewood’s anger management issues are explored, as is his seemingly perfect family life, which is actually the furthest thing from perfect. Will Trent giving Ormewood an enemy (his wife, Gina) in the Season 2 finale also helps his growth significantly. Just as he becomes a better father and tries to be a better husband, Gina wants to take her and the Ormewood children away from him, creating a fascinating backstory for McLaughlin and his development in season 3.
Detective Angie Polaski’s past is incredibly tragic, but it has defined her character for so long, which is partly why she’s near the bottom of this list. Erika Christensen’s Will Trent on the ABC TV show is easy to sympathize with given her past. However, that doesn’t stop Angie from being the most surprising Will Trent character. Her choices (in her work and in her personal life) are confusing, to put it mildly. Angie hasn’t grown much over the course of the crime drama’s two seasons – in fact, her character has regressed, as evidenced by the season 2 finale.
