Will Trent just killed off a major character with a connection to our titular favorite. What does this mean for Will himself?
Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for Will Trent season 4 episode 2
Since Will Trent began, Will (Ramon Rodriguez) has clashed with twisted serial killer James Ulster (Greg Germann), who killed Will’s mother. While imprisoned, the man has continued to play mind games with Will, going so far as to claim he was Will’s birth father (which was proven false).
The Will Trent season 4 premiere had Ulster breaking out of jail and Will hunting him down. The episode ended with the GBI finding a burned-out car, and worried Ulster had killed himself and Will. As it turned out, it was staged, and Will was able to capture Ulster while mulling over murdering him. Before he could, he was knocked out and taken by a woman.
This was Susan (Michela Watkins), a prison guard who’d fallen for Ulster and was going to help him escape. That was short-lived when Susan discovered she wasn’t the only woman in Ulster’s life and held both men hostage. The pair were forced to work together to try and escape. It all culminated in Ulster being fatally shot before Angie caught Susan. The killer’s dying words to Will were “see you soon.”
While Will told his dad that the world was a better place without Ulster in it, is he really okay after this ordeal? And is Ulster truly gone?
What’s coming for Will in the Ulster fallout of Will Trent?
Talking to TVLine, co-showrunners Liz Heldens, Daniel Thomsen, and Karine Rosenthal discussed the episode, noting how Will seemed set to murder Ulster in cold blood. Thomsen stated that the last words are open to some interpretation.
“Will probably interprets it as being haunted by him. When he's home with Caleb afterward, you see Will is haunted. But there's a dimension to what Ulster means that Will is not anticipating, which we haven't talked about on this call.”
Rodriguez himself added to TV Insider:
“I think also somebody that’s tormenting and really testing Will in terms of it’s that kind of dark side versus the positive, and Ulster tends to want to pull into the dark and has some great lines about it…. It’s just a great question of, ‘Maybe you’re more like me than you think,’ which is really twisted for somebody who has lived such a rough life like Will, to have to hear that come from the person who murdered his mom.”
For better or worse (much of it worse), Ulster was one of the most important figures in Will’s life and seeing him dying has to affect Will. At the same time, the realization that he was willing to just murder the man will shake Will as well, making him wonder how much of that darkness rubbed off on him and if he can still be a cop.
The question if we’ve seen the last of Ulster isn’t as obvious as it seems. The premiere had Will imagining Ulster in his head, mocking him while also pushing him to notice clues. Perhaps Germann will return as this strange mental image to mock Will while also leading him to crack cases. He can be a manifestation of Will’s guilt as well as the dark side of his persona that Will wants to ignore.
Given Will’s taciturn nature, he’ll no doubt brush this whole thing off and want to get back to work. His coworkers will know that this is going to be a burden for a while and question how they approach the subject (especially given their own myriad of problems).
Thus, while Will may have closed the chapter on one of the biggest figures of his life, the aftereffects are likely going to keep affecting him and make Will Trent season 4 one of the darkest seasons yet for the series.
Will Trent season 4 airs on Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC.