That was a season premiere full of surprises!
Many viewers guessed from the promo that James Ulster would appear on the Will Trent Season 4 premiere, but he took things to a new level by playing games with Will’s new family.
Will looked overwhelmed since he wasn’t officially on the case, and Amanda was being watched like a hawk by the temporary Deputy Director.
I spoke with the Will Trent EPs: Liz Heldens, Daniel Thomsen, and Karine Rosenthal.
In the second part of our interview, they discussed bringing James Ulster back, Will and Caleb’s fragile relationship, and how Will and Angie will always be family. They also detailed Amanda’s recovery process.
Check it out below.
Concerning the premiere, why do you think James Ulster is still obsessed with Will?
Liz Heldens: I think he was so in love with Lucy in his twisted, awful serial killer way. He was in love with Lucy and fascinated by Will.
He’s fascinated that Will faced such adversity and still grew up into a deeply good man. He’s curious about Will. There must be a monster in there somewhere. Will is afraid that he might be right.
Greg Germann is so delightful in the role. We didn’t get to have him back last season. It just didn’t work creatively. The trains didn’t meet, but when we came back to discuss season four, we wanted to revisit it.
Yes, he is as delightful as he is a monster on the show.
Daniel Thomsen: He has that ability to make you forget that he’s a monster. Sometimes, when we’re writing, we have to remind ourselves to show his bad side because we get through a scene where they’re so good together.
He’s so delightful and charming, but it feels so wrong.
Liz Heldens: The other ambition we had for Will Trent Season 4 Episode 1 was to give Will a showstopping reconstruction. We can’t do it in every episode because it takes a lot of time.
But we were like, let’s get back to that. Let’s serve up that Will reading a crime scene device. When we hit on the idea of Ulster being in it, we knew it would be awesome.
It certainly was. How do Will and Caleb’s differing styles affect the case and their fragile relationship?
Daniel Thomsen: This is something we’re still developing this season, and we’ve had some excellent episodes that you’ll get down the line between them.
What I’ve enjoyed exploring between Will and Caleb this year is how much it matters that they agree on everything.
Like, in other words, if they’re family and this is a father and a son and they both love each other and they both want to stay in each other’s lives, do they have to convince each other that their world is correct?
Or can they exist alongside each other with these little differences? I think what’s interesting and emotional is that we see a case later on in the season where they’re solving a case together in the rural area where Caleb operates, and Will helps him out.
It’s a little bit of them bickering the entire time, but it’s really sweet. They solve the case. They have a victory.
It tells the story of maybe this can work out, but then there’s always something underneath the surface. Will they encounter something that becomes a breaking point, where they can’t, um, keep it separate and compartmentalize like that?
Karine Rosenthal: What’s lovely about the two of them is that they may have many differences, but the thing that they share is perhaps a natural inclination not to talk about feelings or confront emotions head-on.
It’s a strange way of keeping the peace between people. They both have the mindset of “Oh, I don’t think we agree on this, but I want you in my life.”
They set aside their differences and move on, and we see that this season. Will’s always done that, though.
How much can he keep doing that, and when does he need to speak up about things and change how he’s behaving?
Liz Heldens: I think one thing about our show in general is that what doesn’t get said is just as important and takes up as much space as what does get said.
I think a good example of that is in Will Trent Season 1 Episode 13, when Amanda and Will had that scene at the coffee machine, where he realizes that she rescued him and that she wanted to keep him as her son.
We wrote a couple of passes where more was said, but then we decided these two characters don’t know how to talk about these things. It’s excruciating.
It ended up letting the actors do the work of struggling to say anything, and the best they could do was Amanda handing Will that necklace. I think that is just something that’s fun to play with on this show.
How will Angie’s engagement affect her long-time relationship with Will?
Liz Heldens: They love each other. They’re always going to love each other. This is another unique thing about our show. I think these two characters have been each other’s person since they were like 7 or 8 years old, and their relationship has been best friends and lovers.
I think they’re always going to be one another’s family, and they’re always going to look out for each other, and they’re always going to be a little uncomfortable if the other one is with somebody else.
Will is doing his best to be happy for her, and she is doing her best to give Seth a real shot and let him into her life.
Thank you. That was helpful. For my last question, what can you tease about the temporary Deputy Director? Is he just not used to their dynamics, or is he out for Amanda’s job?
Daniel Thomsen: Well, he is out for Amanda’s job. One thing we wanted to dramatize with Amanda is that she has nothing to prove. She’s been in this job for a really long time. She’s been incredibly effective. She handles herself and her professional self impeccably.
She gets shot on the job, no fault of her own. She’s trying to be a hero. It sets her back medically. Now she’s got a weakness, and the way life works is that someone sees that weakness and sees an opportunity to advance, even if they don’t deserve it.
It’s terrifying for Amanda to have to confront the ability, the possibility that mentally she still wants this, and she has not lost any of her ambition, her fortitude to be like a law enforcement professional, but physically, can she rise to the occasion in this moment?
It’s a presence that hovers over her this year as she tries to decide how fast she’s going to come back and how present she’s going to be.
She has to make a lot of tough calls over the seasons, protecting Will and standing up for him when he goes a little out of bounds.
Does that mean that if she does something that’s shaded a little out of bounds and Appleyard catches it or sees it, are there going to be consequences for that?
It’s a layer of paranoia that she hasn’t had in previous seasons. It’s really been an exciting challenge for her. And Sonja‘s been playing it great.
I can’t wait to see more of it. I loved the premiere, and it looks like a terrific season.
Ramon did such a good job directing the premiere. We’re really proud that he’s. He’s now become like, you know, it’s not just a one-off, like he’s got it. He’s a great director.
Will Trent airs on Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC and streams on Hulu the following Day.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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