Entertainment
‘Will Trent’s Latest Shocking Season 4 Twist Will Be a Massive Game-Changer
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Will Trent Season 4, Episode 11.]
Summary
In episode 411 of the ABC series Will Trent, the GBI special agent (Ramón Rodríguez, who also stepped in as director) races to Puerto Rico to make sure his Uncle Antonio (John Ortiz) is safe. Just after arriving and because he doesn’t actually have any jurisdiction, he’s joined by a woman who introduces herself as FBI Agent Elkie (Mallory Jansen). The two end up trekking through the rainforest, on a trail following clues that lead directly to Will’s own past and more questions than answers, that will continue to reverberate throughout the rest of the season.
Collider recently got the opportunity to chat one-on-one with Rodríguez about pulling off the biggest episode of the series so far, the challenges of shooting in Atlanta and Puerto Rico, the urgency of the mission to find Antonio, the ways this will all become pivotal to what’s next, the importance of Will’s therapy, seeing James Ulster (Greg Germann) in the elf costume, how the dance between Will and Elkie came about, his favorite moment in the episode, the surprises still to come, and how there’s still plenty of stories to tell in a potential Season 5.
Episode 411 of ‘Will Trent’ Is a Juicy Roller Coaster That Will Ripple Through the Rest of the Season
“It is our largest episode. It’s huge.”
Collider: Between multiple people thinking that they’re doing Ulster’s bidding, to leaving a murdered woman in a refrigerator, to the spiders, to an FBI agent that seemed helpful turning out to be Ulster’s daughter, I feel like there are a lot of things piling on in this episode. What was your reaction to how it all unfolded when you first read it? Was there anything that most surprised you, especially with how much Adelaide was able to get away with before Will realized who she really is?
RAMÓN RODRÍGUEZ: When I read it, I actually really loved it. I was like, “Oh, this is juicy. And it’s big.” It was really a large-scale scope. It is our largest episode. It’s huge. I loved the twist, though. There are several really interesting twists and turns. The challenge then became, “How can we really try to preserve it as much as possible, so hopefully audiences don’t get too ahead, knowing that they’re really smart and can pick up cues.” And I think Mallory [Jansen], who played Adelaide, did a really great job. You have to let go and understand once you realize that that was a pretty masterful, insane plan to pull all that off. So now that you’ve let that go, you go, “Okay, we’re not going to get hung up on that,” and hopefully you just get sucked into it, and you’re just on this crazy adventure of an experience that takes Will to Puerto Rico. I love the motivating force that got him there, which is family. We know how much that resonates for Will, so the fact that family could be in danger, I bought that he would just pick up and go. Seeing Uncle Antonio in a new light as a ladies’ man was really fun and delightful.
And then, from the Atlanta side, we’re exploring Jeb and the RV and that chase, and we realize there are acolytes and tentacles that Ulster has out there. With the final result after the whole spider sequence and all the crazy cliffhanging moments, it was insane. It was a huge, massive, exhausting episode, but I absolutely loved it. We kept referencing Raiders of the Lost Ark meets Romancing the Stone. I wanted to show a new part of Puerto Rico with the jungle and the rainforest, and show the green, gorgeous, lush that is the island. We shot in Old San Juan because why not? It’s gorgeous. And there were the fun twists in it, learning who Adelaide really is, and then learning that Will knew a little bit, but he just played the game because he was desperate to find his uncle. There were just a lot of really fun elements. We got some great casting. Going back to Puerto Rico, the last time we were there was Season 2, but this time, as director, it was incredibly special. Seeing similar faces of the crew and their pride and having a Puerto Rican director bring the show to the island, there were a lot of high, wonderful, passionate, pride-filled moments.
‘Will Trent’ brings back its best villain to kick off Season 4.
It’s funny, I seem to only talk to you this season for episodes that ended with a cliffhanger that have Will’s life hanging in the balance.
RODRÍGUEZ: I’ve noticed that, yeah.
Much like with the one at the beginning of this season, I’m guessing Will is going to be okay since the show is still called Will Trent. But Adelaide is still on the loose, bodies keep turning up, and she wants to kill Will. What would you say to tease what comes after this episode? She’s clearly smart and someone who has done some planning, so what comes next?
RODRÍGUEZ: This episode really becomes the springboard and the catalyst for the rest of the season. A lot of the things we end up exploring story wise are all related to the events of this episode. Trying to find Antonio becomes mission number one, and finding Adelaide. As we were building Adelaide, and we teased it in episode 11, she’s very Ulster-like, manipulative and smart. She’s someone that can shapeshift. She can be an FBI agent, and then we see this other, very dark side of her. But we also met her mom in this episode, and I hope we get a sense that something wasn’t right there either. Something was off with this lady. Something was off in this family, obviously. It’s going to be a really fun journey. It’s going to be a real roller coaster from this episode to the very end. We’re still filming, but we’re almost at the end. A lot of the stuff that we’re talking about and dealing with are things that stemmed from episode 11. It becomes a very pivotal episode for the season.
I love Will’s therapist, and not just because I love Margaret Cho, but because she actually gives him some good advice. I really liked her suggestion of rebranding Ulster when he shows up. Were there conversations about or any different possibilities before deciding to rebrand him as an elf? What did you think of him in that costume?
RODRÍGUEZ: It was fantastic. I agree, one of the fun things in this season has been watching Will finally deal with some of these issues in therapy. Dr. Roach is just the perfect, quirky, left-of-center therapist. When they first spoke, she took him to pickleball. It’s just weird stuff. I loved that, in this episode, she does give him the thought of rebranding. She’s helping him reclaim the power because Ulster has had the upper hand with Will. From life through death, he’s been tormenting and really messing with him, so it was great to finally see Will have an upper hand in this relationship, and taking Dr. Roach’s advice to heart and actually implementing it.
The elf idea, I thought was hilarious, and then the idea got funnier. When we were scouting in Puerto Rico, I looked over, and I was like, “What if we made our own tree stump and had him come out of it like a Keebler elf hat on?” We were dying. Everyone loved it. Our production design team, that is amazing, made the perfect tree stump. Up popped Ulster on the day, and everyone just couldn’t hold it in. He was just so game and such a great sport about it. It’s a nice color in that relationship, which we don’t often get to see. And to be able to use Ulster to get some solutions was an empowering thing. It was great.
Ramón Rodríguez Says They Only Had a Couple Chances To Pull Off That Dance Between Will and Elkie
“That was supposed to be a larger scene.”
There are so many fun things in this episode that aren’t in a regular episode of Will Trent. It was nice to see Will spend some time with his uncle. It was also nice to see him have some time to hang out on the beach surrounded by music, drink, and dancing. I absolutely loved the moment when he took the hat off the other guy and put it on himself before he started dancing and even sharing the kiss, not knowing it’s Adelaide. What was all of that like to get to do? My only complaint is that I wanted more. Would you have wanted to do a whole dance number if there had been time and budget to do so?
RODRÍGUEZ: We did. That day was our final day in Puerto Rico. We were so up against it. That was supposed to be a larger scene. Literally, that is one of two takes that we had to do before they pulled the plug on us. So, it originally was a bigger thing. We didn’t have the time, sadly, but I still think it’s very effective. If that had been longer, that means something else in the episode would have likely been cut. But trust me, we were all very excited about that scene and that moment. To see Will in that fantasy and be the dancer and speak fluent Spanish, there was more to it, for sure, but we did the most quality version we could, that hopefully still felt effective.
Season 4 of the hit ABC procedural does a deeper dive into Will Trent’s mind, and it’s all the better for it.
What was the biggest challenge in pulling this episode off?
RODRÍGUEZ: It was such a large episode. We had massive stunts and wire stunts, with the cliffhanging moment. We had a ton of visual effects. We were shooting in two locations, and we were in Puerto Rico for the majority of the episode. The biggest challenge is always, and particularly for me while acting, is time. I was acting heavily in episode 410, and then I was prepping. I had half the normal prep schedule a director would have, for an episode that was the biggest episode we’ve ever done. It was a real challenge, but I really wanted to do it, so I didn’t make any complaints and I just pushed through. I spent every minute I wasn’t acting prepping and shot listing and looking at locations and looking at casting videos and finding wardrobe. I was doing all the things that a director has to do.
The nice thing is that I knew, when we wrapped the episode, we began our holiday hiatus, and I was just going to stay in Puerto Rico. I had a very clear goal. I was like, “Just get to the last day, and then you’ll get to have time off, and you’ll be in Puerto Rico.” I stayed there and it was lovely. I had family come visit me on set. Though it was hectic and there was chaos, and there were issues and problems, we were able to overcome them. I’m really proud of the work of the crew in Puerto Rico, and, of course, our Atlanta crew. Everyone was just hustling and wanting to make the best episode they could.
It feels like four seasons in, you can probably work your way out of just about anything at this point.
RODRÍGUEZ: Pretty much. And it’s nice when you have the same crew because now we’re a well-oiled machine.
You mentioned nearing the end of the season, as far as filming goes. Are you looking ahead and having conversations about Season 5 yet? Do you know where the show goes in the future?
RODRÍGUEZ: We do not know yet. Those conversations, everyone’s really focused on just finishing strong. We’re at that last 10-yard line, so that’s the main focus. But I will say there’s going to be plenty of story. Where the remainder of the season goes, there are going to be surprises. There are going to be highs and lows. There will be some questions answered. It is going to fully loaded. The way this episode rocks people and feels like, “Oh, wow!,” is going to continue as the season goes on. I think audiences are going to be floored in many, many ways.
Ramón Rodríguez Reveals That His Favorite Episode 411 Moment Made Him Emotional
“That was a nice little surprise blessing.”
What was your favorite moment in the episode? When you saw the whole thing finalized and put together, what most stood out to you?
RODRÍGUEZ: There are so many moments that I’m really proud of how they turned out. There’s stunt work that I thought came together beautifully. I thought there were some really fantastic performances. The guy that played Jeb was wonderful. The production design did such a great job with the RV and it looking disgusting. I thought the spiders in the tunnel came out great and creepy and scary. This wasn’t written on the page, it was a feeling and a thought I had on the day, but there was that moment with Lucy at the very end. I was pretty tired. I was pretty wiped out at that point. Directing and talking a lot, my voice was actually starting to give a little bit. I had this idea the morning that we were going to go shoot that scene with Lucy, and I said, “It’d be really cool and maybe even more emotional that, when she whispers in his ear than I scream, we don’t hear the scream. It’s a silent scream. The sound goes out.”
I did it to preserve my voice, but that’s also how things are sometimes. It’s very interesting, honestly. Problems arise and if you’re open to it and looking, you’ll find something that’s actually even better than the original idea. That, to me, is a perfect example. When I watched the editor’s cut of the episode, before I got to get into my director’s cut, and I saw that moment after having written her the note, the sound dropped out, and the camera came down from the sky, which in my mind was essentially Lucy’s spirit coming down to Will and then leaving him. I thought it’d be quite emotional, and when I saw it, I got emotional. I thought that was quite lovely. That was a nice little surprise blessing.
It’s also emotional because, before that, he experiences the moment of discovering the dummy in the bed that represents his mother and the recorder playing the baby’s cries in the trash can.
RODRÍGUEZ: Agreed. To see him losing his mind where he thinks it’s her, but then it’s a dummy, but everything looks like it’s staged the way his mom was found. He didn’t see that, but he’s seen her like that. It’s very dark. It’s very, very dark and tortured. Hopefully, it makes that moment [more impactful]. He says something about wanting a family. For someone like Will, who never had family, is facing death and realizing that he’s not going to get that, it’s pretty devastating. It’s pretty heartbreaking.
It’s very impressive how much you were able to pull off in this episode.
RODRÍGUEZ: That means a lot, honestly. I always want to continue to elevate and push, and not feel like we’re comfortable and that we’re just settled in. I want to keep elevating the show. I know the writers and the cast and the crew do, as well. This was one that I felt like we really got to step it up. Honestly, when we talked about it, I let everyone know, “Just so you know, we’re making a movie right now. This isn’t an episode of television. This is a feature film on a television schedule and budget.”
- Release Date
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January 3, 2023
- Directors
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Howard Deutch, Eric Dean Seaton, Holly Dale, Lea Thompson, Patricia Cardoso, Sheree Folkson, Bille Woodruff, Erika Christensen, Gail Mancuso, Geary McLeod, Jason Ensler, Mark Tonderai, Paul McGuigan
- Writers
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Inda Craig-Galván, Henry ‘Hank’ Jones, Karine Rosenthal, Adam Toltzis, Antoine Perry
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Ramón Rodríguez
Will Trent
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Erika Christensen
Angie Polaski
Will Trent airs on ABC and is available to stream on Hulu.
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