Will Trent’s Ramón Rodríguez, EPs Tee Up ‘Tense’ Will/Angie Reunion, Reveal When Scott Foley Will Make His Debut
Say goodbye to “Tennessee Will.”
After solving a cop’s assassination and returning Rafael’s daughter Sunny to safety, Will Trent went home and underwent a highly anticipated transformation. Following a shower and a shave, the GBI Special Agent slipped into one of his signature, Betty-approved three-piece suits. Gone was the casual attire he acquired in Soddy-Daisy.
More from TVLine
Angie, meanwhile, pleaded her case for reinstatement. If they let her back on the force, she swore that she would be the absolute best version of herself.
Alas, viewers will have to wait a bit longer before Will and Angie find themselves occupying the same space. In the meantime, series star/executive producer Ramón Rodríguez, and co-showrunners Liz Heldens and Daniel Thomsen, are giving TVLine readers a taste of what they can expect — not just of Will and Angie’s reunion, but of their respective relationships as Season 3 brings new love interest into their lives.
TVLINE | Will and Angie do not share any scenes in Episodes 1 or 2. What is it like when they first come face to face again?
RODRíGUEZ | Oh, it’s going to be tense. It’s really hard. They’re forced to have to be in front of each other. They never got to talk about what happened, what transpired, the reasons why. She has her feelings [about the arrest], and Will has his feelings and his reasons — so, when they do end up working together, and they have to confront what happened, it’s a very difficult thing. I know from Will’s perspective, it was a decision that he felt he truly had to make, morally and ethically. He also knew that this information about what Angie did and was a part of was going to come out [either way and] he would rather be the one to arrest her…. They have some real conversations, and realizations, about what their relationship is or is going to be, and it’s tough.
TVLINE | When does that reunion take place?
HELDENS | In Episode 4 (airing Tuesday, Jan. 28), she and Will end up on a case together, and the emotional throughline of that case is Will and Angie coming back together. What does that look like? They have it out in a great way. It’s really charged, and they’re both really hurt. At the same time, it’s easy for them. They still can make each other laugh. But there’s a big blow up, and I think it’s really entertaining.
THOMSEN | Obviously, the story of whether ex-lovers can still be friends has been done before, but I feel like there’s something [new] that we’ve been trying to explore: They’re not just ex-lovers, they’re each other’s life-long soulmates. They’re stuck in this building together, having to solve cases continually, and when they’re in scenes together, they can’t help themselves from — as Liz was saying — making each other laugh. They’re both really good at their jobs, they’re both sensitive, and they know each other better than anyone else, so they can’t just turn it off completely. But I think what’s been really interesting, and what we’ve been able to explore this year is that, whenever they have space to think about [their relationship], it’s really fraught, and then they back away from each other. At certain points in the season, maybe one person wants that friendship more the the other. What’s great about [Ramón and Erika Christensen, who plays Angie] is that we’re able to spend a lot of time this season with them in an uncomfortable place, but it’s still really arresting to watch. It’s not a downer. It just feels very human and vulnerable, and then they also have these other relationships that we hope people like as much as we do. They’re fascinating counterpoints.
TVLINE | Scott Foley is set to recur as Angie’s new love interest. When can you say about Dr. Seth McDale and when he makes his debut?
HELDENS | Episode 8, so we’ve got a little bit of a wait. He’s a doctor, and he works in the emergency room of the hospital that’s nearest to the police station. We wanted him to be in the ecosystem, you know? We go to the hospital a lot on our show, so it made sense. He is somebody who might be able to chime in on a case. He was designed as someone who has some sobriety under his belt and would be this really mature guy who is not going to take any of Angie’s crap. I’ve worked with Scott Foley before [on Fox’s The Big Leap]. I love him, and he just comes in, kind of drops out of the sky in Episode 8, and then they go on a little adventure together.
TVLINE | We’ve now seen how Will and Marion interact in a professional setting. How does that relationship evolve outside of GBI headquarters?
THOMSEN | Marion enters the world because of this case, but we liked the fact that she could be somebody who could be interesting to Will on a personal level. She is sometimes involved in cases, other times she is not. What’s cool about that is that it gives Will space. It’s not like she’s his partner. When she’s handling her own stuff and not involved with one of his cases, then they have space to be, like, “Hey, come over for dinner.” That is what allows them to bond in a way that Will hasn’t been able to [bond with someone before].
HELDENS | We’re experimenting with Angie and Will having relationships with — I don’t know how else to say it — people who are not f–ked up, you know? Marion is an emotionally healthy person. You get the sense that she comes from a big family. She probably talks to her parents regularly, was told “I love you” growing up… so what does putting Will in a relationship with somebody like that look like? Will and Angie — which is a such a central relationship on this show — had so much in common and would just kind of let each other not talk, so what does it look like if we put both of those people, starting with Will, in relationships with good communicators? What’s the friction there? Gina Rodriguez is just instantly likable. There is an instant openness and warmth to her. As an actor, she’s so subtle and funny, so smart and so great, and it just seemed interesting to put Will with somebody like that.
TVLINE | Ramón, after dressing down in the premiere, how did it feel slipping back into one of Will’s traditional brown suits at the end of Episode 2?
RODRíGUEZ | It was a weird thing because everybody seemed to really like relaxed Will — “Tennessee Will,” as they called him. Just a different vibe, a different look, a different swagger. When they first saw me on set, I’ll never forget, it was really funny… people were like, “Wait a minute, that’s not the Will we know,” and then they got used to it, and then when I had to shave and put on the suit, they weren’t so comfortable with that Will. I’m curious how audiences are going to feel about it because it was interesting to watch the response [from cast and crew]. It was very visceral. They were like, “Wait, that’s not Tennessee Will anymore!” But I think it felt comfortable for the character. It was a nice thing. He puts his suit back on, and it feels familiar.
TVLINE | Another big change at the end of Episode 2 involves Rafael’s daughter Sunny (new recurring guest star Kyrie McAlpin), who goes to live with Amanda. Talk to me a bit about that storyline and the potential you see there.
HELDENS | We wanted to open up Amanda’s personal life a little bit this season. We have a great location in her condo, and we wanted [to explore] the idea of what it feels like if you’re a mature woman and all of a sudden you open up your home to a child. What is the disruption there, and what does that feel like to her? Amanda has always been a maternal figure. She’s an aunt figure to Faith, she has very maternal feelings toward Will, and we thought it was an interesting thing to throw at her.
What did you think of Part 2 of Will Trent’s Season 3 premiere? Grade it via the following poll, then leave your full review in Comments.
Best of TVLine
Sign up for TVLine's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Solve the daily Crossword
