Will Trent showrunners Liz Heldens and Daniel Thomsen have opened up about why the season 2 finale ended with a flashback to Will’s future life with Angie. At the end of Will Trent season 2, Will was about to confront Angie for tampering with evidence and giving false testimony so that Crystal wouldn’t be implicated in Lenny Broussard’s death. He ended up having a lengthy flashback where he proposed to her, before returning to reality and capturing her.
Speaking to TVLine, Heldens and Thomsen explained why Will Trent season 2 ended with a lengthy flashback to a possible future between Will and Angie as a couple. The showrunners explained that the flashback was meant to show the life he gave up by capturing her, while also playing with his inner feelings like other elements of the show. Check out what Heldens and Thomsen had to say below: Daniel Thomsen: This is the most powerful way to show the audience what Will has given up. Throughout the film, we really emphasize Will’s moral principles—they’re like his North Star—and this is the most heartbreaking situation he could find himself in.
Liz Heldens: The other thing about Will is that he’s not a character who expresses a lot of desires. He doesn’t ask for anything, generally. He’s an introverted character. We find ways, as much as we can, to release his desires—he talks to his mother, who’s not really there; he talks to Betty; he uses a tape recorder—but he’s never been a character who has any hope for this normal, beautiful, magical, wonderful life. This season, with the way Uncle Antonio helps him forgive himself [in Episode 8], I think he’s starting to change, to be able to want things, to want a future, to want some scope in his life. He’s not a character who’s going to look at another character and say, “I really want to have a family with you one day.” You have to look at his face and anticipate what he might want. This is a glimpse into his dream, and I think that would be a powerful way to express his inner desires.
Will and Angie’s relationship has had some ups and downs throughout the series, with the pair often supporting each other with a romance that sometimes leads to multiple breakups. When the protagonist learns that she tampered with evidence to prevent Crystal from being posthumously linked to Lenny’s death, he has to make a crucial choice. However, instead of choosing to let his romance with her continue, which could have led to a life together, he threw it away for the sake of justice for the deceased.
With Angie now in custody, it is clear that Will Trent season 3 will focus on the consequences of his decision. This will include her punishment, as well as the reactions of those around him when they learn of what he has done. The two will likely be isolated as they were before, their trust in each other, along with the trust others have in them, now damaged by their decision. Season 3 will have to show the couple working hard if they want to regain that trust in each other.
With Will Trent season 2 revealing more of the protagonist’s backstory, it seems that this truth may have changed him. His decision seems to be the culmination of his character arc this season, even if it comes at the expense of his relationship with Angie. While it’s likely that the damage he’s caused between the two of them is irreparable, nothing is set in stone between these two until season 3. For now, though, it seems like their trust in each other has been eroded and will likely remain so unless something major changes.