Will Trent Kills Off A Major Character — But Have We Seen The Last Of [Spoiler]? EPs Weigh In

"Will Trent" returned Tuesday with the second half of its two-part Season 4 premiere, forcing Will back into James Ulster's orbit — and to reckon with just how close he comes to crossing the same moral line as the man who murdered his mother.

Season 4, Episode 2 picks up where we left off: at a burned-out crime scene. Medical examiner Pete can't make an official call — all signs point to a murder-suicide involving Will and Ulster — but Angie is able to deduce, based on the flip phone fused to the passenger's chest, that the body isn't Will's. The scene was staged.

We then rewind to the day before. Ulster abducted Will at gunpoint, but Will fought back, knocked him out, and threw him into the back of his Porsche. When GPS directions pointed him toward GBI headquarters, Will deliberately turned away. Haunted by Ulster's past escapes — and the innocent lives left in his wake — Will wrestles with whether bringing him in is enough, or whether stopping him for good is the only way to prevent more bloodshed, even if that means murdering Ulster himself.

Before Will can act, a woman (played by Michaela Watkins) intervenes, drugging him, freeing Ulster, and hauling them both off in a trailer. She is soon revealed to be Susan Barno, one of Ulster's many fiancées — and someone far more dangerous than he anticipated. What follows is a warped psychological standoff, as Susan toys with both men and mutilates Ulster.

Lynsey Weatherspoon/Disney

Back at the precinct, the team identifies Susan as a corrections officer with access to missing stun cuffs and a family-owned warehouse. Angie, who'd just been rushed to the hospital for cramping and ultimately diagnosed with Braxton-Hicks contractions, tracks the lead (despite Seth's reservations) and arrives first. There, a confrontation erupts: Angie wounds Susan, Ulster is fatally shot, and Will is there when Ulster takes his dying breath. The serial killer's final words to Will are chilling and unresolved: "See you soon."

In the episode's final moments, Caleb checks in on Will, sensing that his son isn't being fully honest about what happened when Ulster was in the back of his car. He hopes Ulster's death brings Will some measure of relief, but Will can't bring himself to think of it in those terms. All he can muster is an impersonal platitude about the world being a "safer place" without Ulster in it — and Caleb accepts what little his son is willing to offer.

What follows is Part 2 of my conversation with co-showrunners Liz Heldens, Daniel Thomsen, and Karine Rosenthal, who unpack Ulster's final words, what Will did (or did not) actually intend to do, and how Angie's decisions — and a certain someone in her life — could impact her relationship with Seth.

TVLINE | Will comes dangerously close to crossing a moral line with Ulster. He even says he would've killed him — but if he'd actually gotten the chance, do you think he would have gone through with it?
ROSENTHAL | I don't think so...
HELDENS | I think the season is about whether he has that in him. Would he have killed him in cold blood when Ulster was tied up? Maybe not... but maybe! That tension — what Will is capable of — is what we're playing this season.

TVLINE | Ulster's final words to Will are "see you soon." How does Will interpret that?
THOMSEN | 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.

TVLINE | Caleb clearly senses Will isn't telling him the full truth about what happened when Ulster was in the back of his car, but he chooses patience over confrontation. Is Caleb, in that moment, able to justify what Will nearly did? If not, what's going through his mind as he lets Will off the hook?
ROSENTHAL | Caleb understood Will's choice. By asking but not pressing, he's letting Will know, "I'm someone you can talk to if you need to, because I get it." It's supportive and loving.
HELDENS | They're both men of few words. It's an honest scene of, "You'll tell me when you're ready... or you won't."
ROSENTHAL | The not talking is everything. He asks, Will doesn't answer, and now they know where they stand. No judgment. No need to talk about it again.
THOMSEN | And Will and Caleb never finished their conversation about shooting Reid either. They're choosing to be with each other rather than force the other to see the world their way.
HELDENS | What's unsaid is as important as what's said. We don't have to put subtext in everyone's mouth. Silence can be more moving.

Lynsey Weatherspoon/Disney

TVLINE | Angie wants Seth to trust that she can keep their daughter safe — but is that something she can realistically promise? And on Seth's side, moving forward, how much will his past loss complicate his ability to trust a partner whose job comes with inherent risk?
THOMSEN | Another great thematic pickup. I don't know that it's my question to answer, but as a fella, I found it moving. Ultimately, she's in charge of that person — they're physically embodying the same space. You just have to trust. It's not something people write songs about, but it's part of it.

TVLINE | On lesser shows, the storyline would be that the new guy in Angie's life is jealous of Will. That's not what you're doing with Seth, right?
HELDENS | Right. Seth is a very confident person. He's not easily threatened. What Angie has gotten is a gift: a mature man who loves her, understands her past, doesn't judge her, has been through his own trauma. Saying yes to that is scary because she never thought she'd have it. Deep down, she thought Will was the only one who could love her because he's the only one who really knows her. We'll see her relationship with Seth deepen, and Will is still her family. There's tension — but not in a super TV, romantic‑triangle way.