Everything Will knew about his traumatic past changed (and somehow became more traumatic) in Will Trent season 2, episode 8, and his revelation will have a lasting impact on the show. ABC’s police procedural crime drama is based on the book series of the same name by Karin Slaughter and follows Will Trent, a highly skilled Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent who is dyslexic and scarred (both physically and mentally). Growing up in an orphanage fundamentally changed him, and season 2 explores more of his childhood and repressed memories as Will finally comes to terms with his past.
Starting in the Will Trent season 2 premiere, Will begins to see fragments of memories from his past in the orphanage that he had repressed. As the season continues, Will struggles to piece them together, and his hallucinations of his younger self unfortunately affect his work at the GBI. He’s been depressed ever since Cricket died in the first episode from an explosion that Will tried to prevent, and it all comes to a head in episode 8, when Will finally remembers a horrible memory that he accidentally buried long ago.
While working on a cold case, the flashbacks that Will has been seeing since Will Trent season 2, episode 1, come together to form a specific memory, and that, understandably, causes him to break down. Will rushes home and begins to recall a traumatic event from his childhood. As a child, Will bonded with one of his foster mothers, Anna, but her husband, Jack, was extremely abusive to her and the children, both physically and mentally. One night, Will gets sick of it, so he takes a gun that was hidden in the house and points it at his foster father.
After Will shoots Jack in the arm, the older man takes the gun from him and starts hitting him with it. Jack is about to shoot and kill him, but Anna stops him and tries to wrestle the gun from him. Unfortunately, Jack shoots and kills the only person in Will’s life he felt comfortable with and loved. Since she died trying to save Will, he blames himself for the traumatic experience.
Given Will’s reaction to the memory (and Ramón Rodríguez’s impressive performance in that Will Trent scene), it will take the GBI agent some time to come to terms with it.
Luckily, Will’s Uncle Antonio arrives at his house just as he breaks down. Will tearfully explains to the only family member he knows how he repressed that painful memory. Antonio comforts his nephew and tells him that his adoptive mother’s death was not his fault. But given Will’s reaction to the memory (and Ramón Rodríguez’s impressive performance in that Will Trent scene), it’s going to take the GBI agent some time to come to terms with it.
Now that Will is aware of the contents of his repressed memories in Will Trent season 2, he can’t go back to the way he was before he remembered his adoptive mother’s murder (and blamed himself). The GBI agent has already endured enough trauma before he remembers the horrific night his adoptive father killed someone he cared deeply about, and despite Antonio’s best efforts, Will still blames himself for the incident. Ultimately, Will’s traumatic backstory (all of it) changes the course of the ABC drama as the main character tries to come to terms with it.
With just two episodes left in Will Trent season 2 — “Residente o Visitante” and “Do You See the Vision?” — the first of which sees Will travel to Puerto Rico with his uncle to feel more connected to his mother. Antonio is taking his nephew to the island where his family was born to help him feel better after his heartbreaking revelation in episode 8. However, Will won’t be able to resolve his issues by the end of season 2, as his trauma is deep-seated and will affect his personal and professional life going forward.
