Spoilers ahead for Episode 17 of Will Trent Season 3, called "Why Hello, Sheriff," and available streaming now with a Hulu subscription.
Will Trent’s third season has been airing on the 2025 TV schedule, and still keeping fans on the edge of their seats. As the procedural gets closer to its season finale airing next week, all the stops have been pulled, and we already got some big surprises. But the latest episode delivered what might be the biggest surprise of them all, and it involved quite the important new character. The ep also marked Erika Christensen's directorial debut, and she explained why filming that day was pretty scary.
Christensen has portrayed Detective Angie Polaski across all three seasons so far, and was excited to handle double duties for the season’s penultimate episode as director. Despite this being her first shot, Christensen went all out (namely due to scheduling issues) as the Sverance cast member Yul Vazquez arrived to shake things up as Bradford County Sheriff Caleb Rousard, and he certainly shook things up as it was revealed that he was Will’s biological father! Dun dun dunnnn!
Christensen told TVLine that filming both his introduction and the big reveal, combined with other elements, amounted to quite the scary day. But she also noted that it was brilliant, saying:
The biggest day was the day where we shot both our introduction to Caleb, in front of the [house], and then that whole crime scene culminating with the cat and the broken glass. There was a lot to shoot. And I had my heart set on that reveal of Caleb — giving him sort of a villain’s introduction — and then we were all just, like, ‘Oh, God! How many things could go wrong with the cat and the stunt at the crime scene?
The reveal came after a loose cat trampled over a crime scene, resulting in a door being broken and glass shards cutting the officers, including Ramón Rodriguez’s titular character and Caleb. This then led to blood samples being tested by forensics and revealing the fact that Caleb is, in fact, Will’s biological father.
Directing a scene that at first doesn’t seem like a big deal but turns into one of the biggest plot twists, if not the biggest plot twist, of the series can be intimidating. Since Will Trent was absent from the fall lineup last year, and Season 3 didn't premiere until January, this was hopefully exactly the kind of game-changing shock that helps justify such hiatuses.
Not only was filming the reveal a big ordeal, but the entire crime scene sequence took a lot of work to pull off. Christensen recalled what it was like filming at the location, including everything that went down with that cat, and still managing to put it all together.I can only imagine how it was seeing it all come together, both on-screen and off. But as she attests, it was definitely a group effort.
But everyone stepped up — the stunts and effects, everybody. Even the cat was such a pro! And the actor [Michael Hanson] who plays Deputy Kenny just killed it. It was brilliant. But going into it, that was the biggest, scariest day.
Having nailed such a very chaotic scene that was then bookended with a shocking reveal, Christensen also recalled what it was like filming the scene between Will and Caleb when all was said and done. Since the newly discovered information was a huge blow to both of them, their interactions were a bit awkward at first, but Will eventually came around to the idea. Christensen loved seeing it all go down, knowing how important those initial connections are for the future. As she put it:
And then it was really gratifying to explore the scene where Caleb comes to Will’s house. I loved that. I love that so much because they’re not the most equipped men to deal with the situation that they find themselves in, so finding the dynamics, and what kinds of emotions would come up for them as they try to relate to each other — or, in Caleb’s case, trying to relate to Will —and Will inadvertently being won over by the end of the episode…. They end up at least developing respect for each other.
There is still the finale that fans have to look forward to as the thrilling series continues, so there will certainly be more to come from this new father-son relationship, as well as the upcoming fourth season. What will come from it is unknown, but it sounds like it was just as fascinating to watch it film in person as it was to watch it on-screen, especially since Christensen was directing such a big moment that will change Will Trent moving forward.
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