Will Trent’s Ramón Rodríguez, EPs Talk Angie’s Fate, Will’s Mysterious ‘Debt’ and Introduction of Gina Rodriguez
A lot has changed since Will Trent torpedoed his life last year.
At the start of Tuesday’s season opener — directed by series star/executive producer Ramón Rodríguez — we learn that six months have passed since the GBI’s top agent arrested one true love Angie, then fled town. In that time, Will has started over as a private eye in Soddy-Daisy, Tenn. Meanwhile, back in Atlanta, Faith has a new partner at the GBI, and Angie — who, thanks to a lenient judge, has managed to avoid jail time — is working security at a gated community as she awaits a hearing that will determine her future (or lack thereof) with the APD.
Eventually, Will returns to Atlanta to assist on a case involving an old friend, Rafael Wexford (Antwayn Hopper) — who, along with his grandmother, Miss Pearl (Marla Gibbs), gave Will a home when he aged out of foster care. We’re told that Rafael did Will “a big favor once,” and they haven’t spoken since. Twenty years later, Rafael has gone on to become leader of local gang The Piedmont Kings, and he’s a prime suspect in the shooting of two APD officers, one of whom is dead. Rafael takes the fall for the murder, but only after the real killer — likely a dirty cop — kidnaps his daughter Sunny.
Along the way, Will meets (and bears his soul to) Assistant District Attorney Marion Alba (played by new series regular Gina Rodriguez), who agrees to keep the case open long enough for the GBI and APD to bring Chester Flynn’s real killer to justice. Heading into Part 2 (airing Tuesday, Jan. 14), it’s all hands on deck as Will, Amanda, Faith and Ormewood race to rescue Rafael’s daughter.
In separate interviews, which have been edited and condensed for clarity, TVLine spoke with Rodríguez and co-showrunners Liz Heldens and Daniel Thomsen about Tuesday’s Season 3 premiere….
TVLINE | When we first met Will, he was someone who buried his emotions so that he didn’t have to face his issues. But Will opened up a lot last year — both to Angie and to his uncle, Antonio. Coming out of Season 2, having lobbed this grenade on his relationship with Angie and fled town, how well (or not well) would you say Will is dealing with his emotions now?
THOMSEN | His speech that he has when he first meets Marion — about how he’s a pathologically scrupulous person, and if there was any other way that he could be, he would — is a great encapsulation of what he’s dealing with at the start of the season. He’s trying to figure out if his hopes and his desires — for what he wants his life to be, and how he wants to be able to relate to people and have a sense of family and intimacy — are compatible with his sense of the world and his sense of justice, and if he’s able to have it all. I think he’s feeling pretty burned out about it when the season begins.
