‘Will Trent’s Biggest Creative Mistake Yet Proves the Show Is Losing the Plot

For most network procedurals, main character deaths are to be expected at any given turn, and viewers have to go in with the knowledge that their favorite characters could be killed off at any time. Such are the rules for intense and long-running series like Grey’s Anatomy, and Criminal Minds. There are other procedurals, though, that have lighter tones and have thus essentially guaranteed the safety of their core main characters, like High Potential, and — until this week — Will Trent.

Will Trent has never shied away from darker storylines, particularly through its characters’ tragic backstories and the heavy cases that they work each week. Still, though, the show has an unspoken agreement with its viewers that the main characters will always make it out alive, and that things will always get better. No character has had to survive the sort of lasting stakes that would change the status quo or destroy the show’s darkly comedic tone. As of this week’s episode, though, Will Trent has broken its core rule and irreparably damaged the show, with the shocking death of Amanda Wagner (Sonja Sohn).

‘Will Trent’ Season 4 Just Killed Off Amanda Wagner In a Devastating and Disrespectful Way

Image via ABC

Amanda Wagner has always been a fundamental part of Will Trent, and the show should never have killed her off, especially since she’s still alive in the Karin Slaughter book series on which the show is based. That said, if Amanda had to die, it would’ve made more sense to have her die from her gunshot wound last season. She could have died in an intense moment in the Season 3 finale after being shot, or in a quiet moment this season from long-lasting complications. Instead, Will Trent gave Amanda a disrespectful off-screen death that only seems to serve the purpose of furthering Will’s (Ramón Rodriguez) story arc. James Ulster’s (Greg Germann) serial killer daughter, Adelaide Trevens (Mallory Jansen), has been torturing Will since she abducted his uncle, Antonio (John Ortiz), several episodes back. In this episode, “The Blank Expanse of Nothing,” Adelaide has agreed to negotiate Antonio’s safe return with Will, on the condition that he doesn’t tell anyone.

Related

9 Episodes After Ulster’s Death, ‘Will Trent’ Has Officially Found Its Next Great Villain

James Ulster has a disturbing successor.

Advertisement

Will has been faking an illness to take some time off work and deal with Adelaide. Nobody knows that he’s in contact with her, but Amanda finds out when she goes to Will’s house to check on him. Later, Amanda goes off on her own to look into The Commander, a child who’s working with Adelaide, before she’s then surprised by someone who sneaks up on her. This is the last time we ever see Amanda Wagner alive. At the end of the episode, Adelaide interrupts her meeting with Will to explode at him for telling Amanda. She then gives him a “surprise” that turns out to be Amanda’s dead body. Instead of an emotional on-screen death, all Amanda gets is a violent off-screen stabbing. To make things worse, her death is only used to show Will’s brief reaction, undercutting the emotional impact of this major loss.

Amanda Wagner’s Death Is the Kiss of Death for ‘Will Trent’

There are absolutely certain procedurals that can get away with killing off main characters, but Will Trent is not one of them. It has a small, tightly-knit ensemble cast that will be forever changed by Amanda’s loss. Everyone cares about her, but Faith (Iantha Richardson) is losing her aunt and mentor, and Will is losing the person who named him and put him on this path. Will Trent is also a funny, silly show that regularly breaks up its dark cases with delightfully ridiculous dream sequences and quippy banter. There will be no going back to the silly humor or tight-knit GBI / APD dynamic of the Will Trent from before Amanda’s death — take 9-1-1, for example, which shifted away from being a hopeful show about found family and instead became a heavy show about grief after Bobby Nash’s (Peter Krause) death.

In a post-episode interview with Variety, Will Trent‘s showrunners, Liz Heldens, Daniel T. Thomsen, and Karine Rosenthal, explained their controversial decision. They teased a “completely new dynamic” and “a reset for our characters” that will change the entire show forever. The problem is, Will Trent doesn’t need a reset. Season 4 has been firing on all cylinders. The only weak spot this season has been that the show hasn’t given Amanda much to do beyond brief storylines related to her recovery from the shooting and a betrayal from her recent ex-girlfriend (Janina Gavankar) — both of which put her job in jeopardy. Will Trent has clearly been setting up a storyline where Amanda temporarily loses her job and gets replaced by the conniving Bill Appleyard (Jason Davis), so it feels very out of left field for the show to kill Amanda off at this point. By killing off Amanda, Will Trent has proven that it’s not wedded to consistency in its storylines, and it is no longer the show that fans fell in love with.

Will Trent airs Tuesday nights at 8:00 P.M. EST on ABC.