The long wait for the return of Will Trent is nearly over, with the Ramón Rodriguez-led crime drama set to come back to ABC early in the 2026 TV schedule. While The Rookie fans have been waiting just as long for a new season, Will Trent viewers had not one but two life-or-death cliffhangers for the series regulars back in May of the 2025 TV schedule. While there's still a week (and turn of the year) left, executive producer Daniel Thomsen previewed the aftermath of the cliffhanger involving GBI Deputy Director Amanda Wagner.
As fans who watched live on ABC back in the spring or streamed afterwards with a Hulu subscription will remember, Amanda was shot in the Season 3 finale, and the credits rolled without confirming her fate. Technically, Ormewood's fate was also uncertain due to his health crisis, but I think I'm just one of many fans who were more concerned about Amanda's seemingly more urgent crisis.
EP Daniel Thomsen spoke with TV Insider about how Will Trent will pick up for Season 4, first delivering a silver lining in the fact that Amanda will indeed be alive after being shot, but a "toll" is coming. He shared:
She’s going to survive this, but it’s going to take a very visible toll, which is kind of interesting… Amanda, for the first three seasons, has been very much defined by how together she is at all times. She doesn’t come to the office unless she’s ready to go. And now she’s not going to be able to do that, and so it’s going to be interesting to see how she adapts to that.
Amanda has gone through plenty of crises over the years, often as a rock for Will and Faith. This time, it sounds like she can't just jump into action at the office. While fans can breathe a sigh of relief at the news that she survived and there's an arc planned for her rather than the injury being used to write actress Sonja Sohn out as a series regular, she's facing plenty of new challenges. Thomsen went on:
And also, I think it’s a story about somebody who is feeling like, as much as she’s accomplished in her life, it’s always like, ‘What have you done lately? And there’s people who want her job. There’s people who want her place in the world.
The executive producer also confirmed that a person who wants Amanda's "place in the world" is a newcomer, and the show is "introducing the character" in Season 4. This seems to be another wrinkle for the new season beyond what Ramón Rodriguez already teased. Daniel Thomsen also confirmed Ormewood's survival for any fans who were as worried about that character as they were about Amanda, previewing consequences of "what it means to have brain surgery and chemo."
The two characters will even be paired for part of the season, so let it not be said that Will Trent is afraid of exploring new directions with characters a few seasons in! The preview from ABC for the new season doesn't drop spoilers about the aftermath of Season 3 for Amanda or Ormewood, but it's a safe bet that Will himself has a lot of challenges ahead. Take a look:
Tune in to ABC on Tuesday, January 6 for the Season 4 premiere of Will Trent at 8 p.m. ET, ahead of the return of Kaitlin Olson's High Potential Season 2 at 9 p.m. ET and The Rookie's Season 8 arrival at 10 p.m. ET. The network has moved Will Trent around on Tuesday nights a couple of times since the premiere in 2023, but it seems that the first slot on Tuesday nights in primetime may be its long-term home. New episodes will also stream next day with a Hulu subscription.
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