‘Will Trent’ Bosses Break Down the Big Finale Twist and Hopes for Season 3
[Warning: The following post contains major spoilers for Will Trent’s season 2 finale, “Do You See the Vision?”] Well. Will Trent (Ramón Rodríguez) made a choice he never wanted to make. Not only did he finally realize that Angie (Erika Christensen) wasn’t the one who killed her former abuser Lenny, but Crystal (Chapel Elizabeth Oaks), but he also realized that Angie’s decision directly led Crystal to become the serial killer who left scores of bodies scattered around town in revenge for her own atrocities. Though Will and Angie are finally committed to each other—to the point where they even envision adding kids to their fancy new dining table—he decides to turn her in for her crimes…but not before he (and we, by extension) see a vision of the happy life the couple could have had if he had covered for her.
After a season of battling past demons, raising a family, and creating a happier home with Angie, here’s another trauma for our brilliant detective to deal with.
With Season 3 in the works, we tapped the show’s executive producers, Liz Heldens and Daniel T. Thomsen, to break down the heartbreaking ending and consider what to expect when the show returns to ABC midseason.
You guys did a great job here. How would you write yourself into this ending?
Liz Heldens: We’ll find out on June 3. [Laughs] No, we have some ideas, but… it’s nice to be able to throw all the pieces up in the air and find out where they’re going to land. And so I think that’s going to be a fun, challenging change for us. Right, Dan? Do you have any plans?
Daniel T. Thomsen: No, I mean, I think one of the things that people love about this show is how authentic it feels to what these characters are going through, and I think that kind of big change that you have to figure out how to get through is a part of life for everyone. And so, yeah, we’re excited to find out what that looks like for her as well as him being forced to contemplate a chapter in his life without Angie.
So one of the saddest parts about it is that they start to settle down the most—at least in terms of their relationship—after Will has dealt with his demons all season. Now that the rug has been ripped out from under them, can you talk a little bit about how you decided to do that?
Heldens: I think the idea of Crystal came up last year when we were coming back for Season 2 and we were trying to give the network a shape. One of our writers, Kath Ligenfelter, who co-wrote the ending, was like, “Oh, she should come back and be a serial killer.” And then we were all like, “Shut up. That’s crazy.” As usual, no one had a better idea. But we really liked that Angie did something last year that she really thought was for the best, and she really thought that she didn’t allow her former foster father to take another victim’s life and ruin another person’s life, and she thought that by taking the blame for killing Lenny last year, she was making amends, and that came back to haunt her. Because I think the great thing about the way it ends is that you can really understand everyone’s perspective in the story. I think anyone can understand why Angie did what she did, and everyone can understand why Will had to do what he did. And so it seemed like a really great arc for us to pay off.
We know where Angie is going, but do we know where Will is going?
Heldens: We don’t know. We have some ideas, but we’re not sure yet.
Do you think Will was really hesitant about making that decision?
Heldens: Yeah, I think he definitely was. I think he walked down the hall and got in the elevator, and I think he didn’t know what he was going to do. When he says to young Angie in his office — like, “I don’t know if I can do it” — he really didn’t know if he could do it. And I think there were times when he contemplated the whole future with her if he could just let this go.
Yeah, I was going to ask, was that in his head? The images… Was that his imagination as he was walking or was it like a tease for the fans to trick us?
Heldens: I think it was both. It was in his head. But like, it could have happened, and hopefully people will watch for a little bit before they start to realize, “Oh, this really didn’t happen.”
Will commented to her earlier in the
