Say that much to “Will Trent,” a new ABC drama series: It’s found a compelling premise. Ramon Rodriguez, who plays the central detective, makes for a sympathetic and rootable character. The challenge for the show is to bring the story up to its level and that of its castmates.
Perhaps Rodriguez will make use of the source material; Trent, a Georgia bureau investigating agent based in Atlanta, grew out of the mind of novelist Karen Slaughter. Here, he is an intelligent yet fallible detective brought to the point of frustration by his learning disability and an accident in which he appeared to lose crucial clues. His missing objects lend texture and interest to the story; Rodriguez sells his anger well, too.
Will investigates a case that plays out (at least) in the show’s first two episodes; The ability to find new details and intrigue within a single story speaks to the show’s relative ambition. But beyond the crime he works for, we get to know Will primarily through the relationships — his troublesome relationships with a love interest from his past (played by Erika Christensen) and with his partner (Iantha Richardson). Richardson distills Will’s methods in this area pretty well, but with Christensen’s Angie Pulaski we see Will in his most extreme dimensions; The couple knew each other in their youth, when they both relied on each other to get over each other’s feelings regarding giving up foster care.
This show, like its network colleague, “Alaska Daily,” is a superior network drama in 2020, but it’s the ultimate network drama in 2020. Here, that means violent crime gets surprisingly popular, and character details are often well retold. through the performance, and then it is re-stated in an expository dialogue. Still, it’s hard to scavenge against a show that, in the context of its genre, seems admirably open to presenting its characters as something other than cool supercops. Will Trent’s tenacity, and his ability to pivot when proven wrong, promotes a show in which there is a little more going on than first meets the eye.
Will Trent premieres Tuesday, January 3 at 10 p.m. ET
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