TV Recap: "Will Trent" and Angie Polaski Receive Life-Changing News in Part 1 of the Season 3 Finale
May 4th was Star Wars Day, and one of the saga’s most quoted lines is “I am your father," which makes this May 6th episode of Will Trent feel extra topical. Marking Erika Christensen’s directorial debut, the penultimate episode of Season 3 deals with the aftermath of Angie falling off the wagon while also giving her character a potentially different future. As for the title character, we’ve seen Will Trent try to connect with the mother he never knew without much thought about the other side of his gene pool… until now! Let’s recap.
Season 3, Episode 17 - “Why Hello, Sheriff" - Written by Karine Rosenthal & Jordan Pope
In the mysterious prologue, we see a lot of chemicals and vials in a lab, and a close-up of gloved hands carefully working with them. A loaf of sandwich bread is involved, and at the end of the process, a sandwich is sealed in a plastic container, which is then given to a homeless veteran named Roy (Tom Nowicki) who lives in a tent.
After getting beaten up in a bar, Angie Polaski (Erika Christensen) finds herself in the emergency room. To make matters worse, her boyfriend, Dr. Seth McDale (Scott Foley), just arrived at work to take over her case. Living in sobriety himself, he instantly understands Angie’s pain and asks her if anything happened to cause this. She opens up about her mother, who was in a coma for 12 years before recently passing away. “You’re not the first person to fall off the wagon, it’s ok," he consoles her, before dropping a truth bomb - Angie’s pregnant! As her doctor, he advises her to stop drinking, and as her lover/baby daddy, he supports whatever she decides to do.
Special Agent Will Trent (Ramón Rodríguez) returns home from his morning jog to find that his partner, Faith Mitchell (Iantha Richardson), and boss, Amanda Wagner (Sonja Sohn), have made themselves comfortable, thanks to Will’s live-in dogsitter, Nico (Cora Lu Tran), and his adorable chihuahua Betty. Will’s colleagues are surprised by the home renovation project in the dining room, where a section of drywall has been cut out, but there’s no time for small talk. Amanda needs Will and Faith to leave for Bradford County immediately. The town’s deputy sheriff was killed in her home, and the governor wants the GBI to supervise the county’s hotheaded sheriff. Will is flustered that Amanda won’t allow him to change from sweatpants into one of his signature tailored suits.
Michael Ormewood (Jake McLaughlin) has finally put aside time to see a doctor, but time moves slowly at the VA hospital. When his number is finally called, the receptionist, Gloria (Jill Jane Clements), informs him for the first time that he needs to have a blood test before he can see a doctor, sending him off to sign up for one for another day. “Thank you for your service," she adds as she dismisses him and his valuable time.
Sheriff Caleb Roussard (Yul Vazquez) is about as inhospitable as can be when Will and Faith arrive outside the home of the deceased deputy sheriff. It’s clear that this is a tight-knit community, as evidenced by the neighbor, Diana (Malena Cunningham Anderson), who brings Roussard some banana bread and tells him about the three gunshots she heard around 2:00 am last night.
The deputy Sheriff, Joanna, lies dead on her living room floor with a gunshot to her back, joined by a deceased male. Deputy Kenny Hall (Michael Hanson) tells them his name was Levi, a local handyman, whom Joanna met last night at the local bar. Hall shares his assessment of the crime, but Will and Faith quickly see flaws in his theory. Will believes Levi was the assassin’s target, and their first attempt to shoot him through the window failed. The killer entered the home and killed Levi. Joanna’s gun was in her purse, and as the killer put her in a chokehold, she grabbed a knife and stabbed her assailant, who ultimately shot her in the back and fled, leaving behind their gun with no fingerprints and a knife covered in their blood. As Will explains, he uses a laser pointer, which catches the attention of Joanna’s black cat, Jellybean, who traipses through the crime scene, contaminating it. In the process of keeping Jellybean out of the living room, Will slams a double-glass door that already had bullet holes in it, causing the glass to shatter.
Will and Faith go to the bar where Joanna met Levi to ask questions. Will is hung up on a T-shaped brand they saw on Levi’s side, and the fact that among his possessions was a membership card for a gym in Atlanta, an 80-minute drive from Bradford County. The bartender, Bailey (Indya Bussey), remembers Joanna and Levi being all over each other. There was another man who seemed to be watching Levi like a hawk. She didn’t catch his name, and he paid for his root beer in cash, but she thinks he’s the son of a middle school teacher, Mr. Korda.
Who should be standing in the Korda’s driveway but Sheriff Caleb Roussard, one step ahead of Will and Faith. Roussard introduces them to Vince Korda (Kevin Dunn), an old friend of his. Roussard recognized the killer’s gun at the scene of the crime as one that Vince gave to his son, Beau, who has a checkered past of theft and drugs. Vince thought Beau was in Atlanta, seeming confused that his son was back in town. Roussard promises his friend he will handle everything, but the GBI reminds him they have to follow protocol.
Angie and Ormewood are tasked with helping out, going to the gym Levi had a membership card at. The manager (Keegan Reese Henderson) shares that Levi only ever seemed to go to the locker room to grab a backpack, which he would take across the street for a while, only to return and put it back. He is impressed by Ormewood’s strength as he pops the lock off with a crowbar. Inside the backpack, they find a list of names, some of which have been crossed out, which Angie assumes is a hit list. It’s accompanied by a printed manifesto that they quickly realize is part of a domestic terrorist group.
Ormewood returns to the VA for his blood test, frustrated when the trainee plebotomist (Jason Jamal Ligon) is unable to find a vein, so Ormewood does it himself. He then tasks Nico with being his placeholder in the waiting room, asking to be called when they get close to his number.
Back in Atlanta, Will rides the elevator up to the GBI, but when it stops on the APD level, he sees Angie at her desk looking somber, noticing the bruises on her chin. He goes to her desk and asks if she’s OK. She tells him about her mom dying, and her oldest friend instantly understands. Will comforts Angie by reminding her that she is who she is in spite of her mother, not because of her. And then he says something he doesn’t know he shouldn’t have said: “Some people just aren’t meant to be mothers." He’s confused when Angie suddenly closes up, saying they should get upstairs to get back to work.
In the GBI conference room, Faith shares what she’s learned about Founder’s Front, a domestic terrorist cell that denotes the rank of members with branded lines. She has a photo from a member who is in prison who ascended to the highest rank, and she reports that he is refusing to talk. Levi’s branding was partial, and the list of names found in his backpack wasn’t a hit list, but a list of journalists he was in contact with. Levi was a whistleblower trying to stop them. Pete Chin (Kurt Yue) seems uncharacteristically anxious as he announces that he assessed all of the evidence from the crime scene, confirming that the blood on the knife is a match for Beau Korda, Vince’s son. Amanda gets frustrated when Pete asks to speak to her privately. When they cross the hall into her office, Ormewood and Will make up a forbidden love plot between the two. Nico calls Ormewood to let him know his number is going to be called soon, so he heads back to the VA Hospital.
We see Nico in the waiting room as an elderly veteran, Roy, stumbles in, having trouble breathing. Nico offers him a seat and takes a number for Roy, who doesn’t think Nico looks old enough to be done with basic training. Nico jokes that they’re not in the armed forces, but that Betty is a Navy SEAL, which makes Roy smile.
Will gets called into Amanda’s office, finding the mood tense between his boss and Pete. Anxious, Pete speaks very technically about two blood samples from the crime scene that are a 48% match for the other, and Will doesn’t understand. “Sheriff Caleb Roussard is your father," Amanda says, clearing things up for Will, whose ears start ringing. He doesn’t seem to hear anything else Pete has to say. He can barely process Amanda’s voice as she warns him that Roussard is going to receive the same information in the forensics report. “Thank you for telling me," is all Will can say as he backs away from the earth-shattering news.
The clock behind Gloria reads 4:29 as Ormewood approaches the desk and is told the office closes at 4:30, so he will have to come back tomorrow and wait again. Ormewood is frustrated, but when Roy keels over, he is given something else to worry about. Ormewood and Nico help Roy up and decide to take him to see Seth.
Will is home alone, processing the shocking news by working on repairing his dining room wall. A knock at the door finds Caleb Roussard, Will Trent’s biological father, standing outside his door. Will tells him he doesn’t want to talk about anything other than the case, but Caleb notices the home renovation project, and we see where Will gets his meticulous nature from. Like father, like son. Will lets Caleb in - to his home, not his heart - but things get tense when Caleb says, “I respect your standards, son." Will pushes back against the label, even though Caleb likely didn’t mean it to sound so paternal. Caleb tells Will he wasn’t aware of his existence until today. Will tells him he’s not sure if he wants anything from him. “I hope that won’t be the case," Caleb says. But any time for healing will have to wait because Faith calls to say she has a lead on Beau.
Faith, Will, and Caleb rush to Beau’s apartment, but he doesn’t respond. Peering through the window, Will sees Beau bound in a chair, unconscious. What’s more, a fire is in the early stages of forming inside, with his smoke alarm starting to go off. Will and Caleb rush in, pulling Beau out into the yard. Caleb tries to perform CPR, but it’s too late. Beau is dead.
An afternoon bout of nausea brought Angie to a sitting position in the GBI women’s restroom. “It was an accident, just like me," she says to the toilet, believing her mother could be flowing through the pipes. “I’m scared, Didi," she says, unsure if becoming a mother will just cause history to repeat itself through her. When she steps out of the stall, she finds Faith at the sink fixing her hair. Angie asks how much Faith heard. “As much or as little as you want me to have heard," she responds, offering Angie some crackers, saying they helped with her nausea when she was pregnant with Jeremy. Angie turns down the offer, saying she hasn’t decided what to do yet. “You know, children are just people, Angie, and you’re good with people," Faith encourages Angie, offering help if she needs it.
Amanda finds Caleb in the GBI break room, bringing him a cup of coffee from her own machine, which is better than what the state provides. Vince is on his way, and Caleb is anxious about telling his friend he couldn’t save his son. Amanda tries to motivate him to rise to the challenge, but her main concern is Will. She warns Caleb that Will grew up without anyone around to protect him, a role she now fills.
Ormewood goes to the conference room to share that Beau didn’t have a brand on him, and likely wasn’t part of Founder’s Front. His cause of death was a lethal amount of heroin. They likely got to him just in time before the fire made his murder look like an accident. He questions whether Beau was framed, and Angie shares that among his possessions was a purchase order for lab equipment. From what they found in Levi’s backpack, they know that one of the Founder’s Front members did bioweapons research for the CDC. They realize that a biochemical attack is in the works, and Will hopes that Vince can help them. “We might not have much time," he fears.
Ormewood rushes back to the hospital, surprised to find Nico and Betty still there, keeping Roy company. Ormewood tells Seth about the potential bio attack, and he shares that he now has nine patients with similar symptoms to Roy's, and that none of them are responding to treatment. They make a plan to contact the CDC and NIH.
Vince is in tears over the death of his son, Beau, as Caleb tries to comfort his old friend. But Will comes in with some alarming information. The purchase order for lab equipment found in Beau’s apartment was actually purchased by Vince, who, prior to becoming a middle school teacher, was a biochemist at the CDC who was fired after being deemed unstable. Caleb is furious when Will accuses Vince of killing his own son to cover his terrorist activity, but Vince confesses. “I’d do it again if I had to," he declares.
Ormewood, Nico, and Betty find themselves in a tough spot when the hospital enters a code black lockdown. Seth warns them that they will need to get some PPE quickly.
Will Trent tells Vince it’s over. “No, it’s not over," Vince cruelly grins. “It’s just begun."
…to be continued in the season finale of Will Trent…
Next Episode: “Listening to a Heartbeat" - Airing Tuesday, May 13th, at 8/7c on ABC
Unleashed by a domestic terrorist group, a mysterious biological attack runs rampant in Atlanta. As Will and his team race to contain the threat and save countless lives, he’s forced to confront the complex dynamics of his own family.
Songs Featured in This Episode: