SCHOOL VISIT: ‘Will Trent’ Ends Season 2 With a Word That Season 3
Is Coming During production on Season 2 of “Will Trent,” which was filmed and edited in Atlanta, the cast and crew got the news every TV show wants to hear: ABC was adding a third season.
“I’ve never had that experience before,” said Ramon Rodriguez, who plays Will Trent, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent with a myriad of quirks and traumas. “We had to tell everyone in person. It was a celebratory and somewhat surreal moment. We had to thank the crew. Then we had to go back and shoot a scene.”
Viewership has been steadily rising, giving ABC a police procedural that could potentially last multiple seasons. ABC said the third episode of the season had its highest viewership ever. The show, based on the book series by Atlanta author Karin Slaughter, wrapped its second season last month at Eagle Rock Studios in Norcross, where it shares space with Paramount+’s “Tulsa King,” starring Sylvester Stallone.
“We’re doing it right,” Rodriguez said. “It feels great. People are watching and spreading the word.”
Actress Erika Christensen, who plays tough Atlanta cop Angie Polaski, enjoyed six seasons of NBC’s “Parenthood” from 2010 to 2016. She said she’s an eternal optimist when it comes to a show that has longevity. She even bought a house in Atlanta before a second season was guaranteed.
“But that’s OK,” she said. “Atlanta is great!”
Jake McLaughlin, who plays Angie’s sarcastic detective partner Michael Ormewood, is just enjoying the ride.
“It’s like gold mining,” McLaughlin said. “I’ve done a lot of pilots. Some of them last a season. That’s human nature. I have five kids and I live in Idaho. I’m so grateful to be here. I’ll never retire!”
“Will Trent” is only getting ten episodes this season because of last year’s writers’ and actors’ strike, but will have at least 18 episodes for a third season, which will return in early 2025. The season finale airs May 21. The sixth episode of the second season, which airs April 9, ends on a happy note as all the main players gather for a buffet dinner. Will, a foster child who has just learned details about his mother, introduces his endearing uncle Antonio (John Ortiz), a family member he met just days ago.
“Family is something he’s always wanted,” Rodriguez said. “It’s the first time he’s met someone who’s his biological family and can answer some of his questions about his mother and his childhood and what happened. The ending of that episode was really sweet. It’s his personal life combined with his work life. It’s heartwarming.”
But happiness is never a lasting feeling on a show like this. By episode 10, Angie herself is in trouble. There’s a heated interaction and she defends her actions in front of Will in an interrogation room scene.
“The past comes back to bite her in the ass,” Christensen said on set last month. “This season finale is so big, it could be a feature-length episode.” Regular episodes take eight days to shoot. The season finale took 11 days. Will and Angie, who have known each other since childhood, tend to be on and off frequently. “When they broke up, they knew they could get back together,” Christensen said ahead of episode seven, which airs April 30. “They both had the best make-up we’ve ever seen and the worst break-up we’ve ever seen, both of them were about to go through.” Rodriguez said Will kept having flashbacks to his 12-year-old self, which culminated in episode seven. “We didn’t know what that meant,” he said. “That started to come to a head. It was really complicated.”
