Summary
Will Trentseason 2, episode 3, “You Don’t Have to Understand”, follows two parallel investigations between the APD and the GBI, and was a ratings smash. The show’s sophomore season opened with a two-part premiere in February 2024, asseason 2, episode 1 ofWill Trentpicks up six months after the events of the season 1 finale. It sees the shocking introduction and immediate death of Cricket Watson (Susan Kelechi Watson), Will’s (Ramón Rodríguez) love interest. Life has dealt another traumatic hand to Will, one that he must deal with the rest of the season.
Season 2, episode 2 picks up right from that moment as Will tries to figure out who killed Cricket with a bomb before any more innocents die. While these two episodes ofWill Trentseason 2 will surely be important in season 3, season 2, episode 3, “You Don’t Have to Understand” takes a step back. After two episodes of extremely personal events happening to Will, episode 3 returns to the “crime of the week” storytellingstyle that the procedural TV showis known for. However, the events of the episode still affect Will in a lasting way.
Will Trent Season 3: Everything You Need To Know
ABC’s quirky police procedural Will Trent adapts Karin Slaughter’s best-selling books, and the chihuahua-toting GBI agent will return for season 3.
Will And Faith Visit A Murder Scene At The Mall
The beginning ofWill Trentseason 2, episode 3, begins with a woman, Isabella Altman (Kaitlyn Bausch) walking into an abandoned mall, apparently set to meet someone. When she tries a door, the handle breaks off. As she looks at the sharp inner mechanisms of the broken handle, a black plastic bag descends around her head and her scream is cut short by a jump to black. The next day, Will and his boss Amanda Wagner (Sonja Sohn) arrive at the mall to investigate. There they find a dead man with the door handle stuck in his back.
Jason Ensler directedWill Trentseason 2, episode 3.
Will’s partner, Faith Mitchell (Iantha Richardson), is already there, and while Amanda goes to speak with Councilman Victor Carrie (Ricardo Chavira), hanging around outside, Faith and Will stumble upon another body. Though he has no ID or keys, he is clutching a purse with a bottle of folic acid tablets.Will also finds evidence that a woman was thereand that she was likely the intended target of a murder.From the bottle of folic acid, Faith also realizes she is pregnant.
Angie And Michael Investigate A Deceased Fitness Guru
The APD Looks At The Body Of A Man Who Collapsed At A Wellness Spa
While GBI is investigating the mall murders, Angie (Erika Christensen) and Michael (Jake McLaughlin) are at the morgue, looking at the body of Ted Burkle (Lucas Hyde), an investment broker and fitness guru who collapsed while at the Ruby Dreams Wellness Center. Hisautopsy reveals that he had a lethal dose of buprenorphine in his blood. Angie understands buprenorphine to be a fast-acting agent, so Ted was likely exposed to it soon before he passed.
The GBI Follows Leads On The Mall Murder Investigation
Faith And Will Talk To Councilman Carrie And Pastor Reggie
Amanda reveals to Will what she and her team have learned. The man with the handle in his back is Dale Sorenson, a known member of a biker gang who hires himself out as a hitman. The other man with the purse was Conrad Warren, a local youth pastor. Will reveals he’s learned the identity of the missing woman: Isabella Altman. Will surmises that someone lured Isabella to the mall, and paid Dale to kill her. However,he’s still not sure of Conrad’s role and so calls in his parents,who are accompanied by Pastor Reggie (Jerod Haynes), Conrad’s superior.
Every question Will asks Conrad’s parents is answered by Pastor Reggie, so Will removes Reggie to question him privately. Reggie insists Conrad was not involved and that he is not the father of Isabella’s baby. Will remains suspicious, distrusting religion in general, and goes to visit Reggie’s church, where Isabella was a member. There, he interviews the congregation and has a conversation with Reggie where Reggie tells Will that they both had pain in their youth. Despite his suspicions, Amanda traces Isabella’s parking pass to Councilman Carrie’s office, getting Reggie off the hook.
As Faith and Will leave their home, they both note how anxious Councilman Carrie was during their conversation.
Faith and Will head to Carrie’s home where they meet him and his wife, Erin (Jennifer Westfeldt). GBI learns Isabella was an intern on Carrie’s campaign and Erin is distraught to learn that she’s disappeared. As Faith and Will leave their home, they both note how anxious Councilman Carrie was during their conversation.
The APD Visits Ted Burkle’s Brother And Goes To His Gym
Ted’s Brother Joel Isn’t Much Help In The Investigation
Back at the other investigation, the APD interviews Ted’s brother Joel Burkle (Will Rothhaar), who tearfully says he and Ted were supposed to have a day at the spa together for Ted’s birthday. They were only a few minutes in when Ted collapsed. Though Joel can’t think of anyone who would want Ted dead, he admits that his brother was generous but could be self-centered.
Their investigation inevitably takes them to the Ruby Dreams Wellness Center. Summer Fairfield (Cara Mantella),the owner of the spa, is questioned when APD learns Ted intended to start his own spa, but Summer claims she had no problem with that. Angie and Michael also question another gym member, Wolfgang (William McKinney), whom Ted was supposed to go into business with.
Wolfgang claims there were no hard feelings when Ted backed out, but the APD finds one of Wolfgang’s branded essential oils melting on a hot stone, suggesting he is destroying evidence.
Wolfgang claims there were no hard feelings when Ted backed out, but the APD finds one of Wolfgang’s branded essential oils melting on a hot stone, suggesting he is destroying evidence. Despite declaring his innocence, Ange and Michael take him back to the department for more questioning.
Michael And Angie Realize Who Killed Ted Burkle
Wolfgang Gives The APD An Important Piece Of Information
Forensics reveals that the melted oil does indeed contain buprenorphine, incriminating Wolfgang, but he insists he’s innocent. He reveals that Ted stepped away from the business because his father was dying from cancer, something Joel failed to mention. Together they rush to the hospice care facility to find Joel sitting by his father’s bed. Surprised by their arrival, Joel begins telling the detectives how he’s been taking care of his father for two years. As he continues talking, it becomes apparent that Joel resents his brother for leaving him to care for his father alone.
Will Trentis based on a series of novels by crime author Karin Slaughter.
Furthermore, the detectives uncover that the Burkles' father was also paying his two sons through a trust, one that would all go to Joel if Ted was out of the picture. When Michaelasks Joel if his father was using buprenorphine patches for his pain, Joel’s face goes white, and he all but confesses. The APD prepares to take him in but allows Joel to say goodbye to his father one last time.
Faith And Will Have A Shootout And Deliver A Baby
Will Finds Isabella In The Middle Of Labor
Amanda and Will suspect that Councilman Victor is the father of Isabella’s baby but still have no way of finding her. Forensics comes back and shows Isabella’s fingerprints on the door handle. Conrad’s fingerprints are found on the knife that killed him. A second set of fingerprints is found on the knife belonging to a man with warrants for his arrest in Philadelphia. That man, Leonard Parker, turns out to be Pastor Reggie.Reggie is called back in and admits he changed his ways a long time agobut never paid for his crimes in court.
The knife came from the church’s kitchen and Reggie had no idea Conrad took it. However, he does know where Isabella is now — a safe house that the church uses for victims of domestic violence to protect them, as he was always looking out for Isabella. GBI goes to the safe house and discovers that Isabella has been abducted. They connect the shelter with Victor’s charity and go to his home. When they do, Victor comes sprinting out, yelling he only wanted to help. Before the agents can respond, Victor is shot and killed by his wife.
As Faith arrests Erin, Will delivers Isabella’s healthy baby boy and comforts him as his mother rests, telling him, “She’s gonna love you so much,” as Will cries profusely.
As they rush in after Erin, Will sees Isabella on a couch going into labor. Faith goes upstairs to find Erin sobbing, unarmed in the bathtub, devastated at her husband cheating on her. As Faith arrests Erin, Will delivers Isabella’s healthy baby boy and comforts him as his mother rests, telling him, “She’s gonna love you so much,” as Will cries profusely.
Will Talks With Pastor Reggie
Reggie Goes Back To Philadelphia To Stand Trial
With the two cases closed, the only thing left is to apprehend Reggie and return him to Philadelphia to appear in court for being the getaway driver in a robbery that saw someone killed. Reggie understands and doesn’t try to run this time. Will promises Reggie that he’s spoken with the Philadelphia DA, and he will take Reggie’s past years as a pillar of the community into consideration during sentencing.Reggie thanks Will and says that he hopes Will confronts his past, the same way that Reggie is now doing himself.
Will goes back to his office and cleans broken glass away from a photo he keeps of his mother. Amanda walks in to explain what happened: Erin learned her husband was unfaithful and paid Dale to kill Isabella. When the plan backfired, she set out to do it herself. Will considers what has happened to him in season 2. Amanda asks him what it was like delivering the baby, and he responds, “It took my breath away.”
Will, whose experience in the Atlanta foster care system has made it difficult to connect, has found a new part of himself after season 2, episode 3. In part thanks to Reggie’s example, Will takes a step towards confronting the sadness and loneliness of his past. With Isabella’s birth,Will realizes that he can love outside himself, and parenthood can be a beautiful thing.
Will Trent Season 2 Episode 3 Broke A Ratings Record For The Show
“You Don’t Have to Understand” Was The Series' Highest Rated Show After 35 Days
Will Trentseason 2, episode 3 ended up breaking a show record after it aired on July 10, 2025 (viaThe Wrap). Across ABC, Hulu, and other digital platforms,the episode scored 11.23 million total viewers in 35 days. The episode also earned a 1.63 rating in the broadcast demographic among adults 18-49, its highest rating since season 1, episode 4, “My Stupid Detective Brain”. The rating marked a 7% uptick from the prior week’s episode rating of 1.53. This 35-day rating was a massive increase from the episode’s live-plus-same-day rating of 0.36.
1
4.77
2
3.97
3
4.83
4
4.41
5
4.35
6
4.28
7
4.69
8
3.72
9
“Residente o Visitante”
3.89
10
“Do You See the Vision?”
4.08
This ratings record came after the season 2 premiere already broke the show’s record with the strongest viewership to date.Will Trentinitially debuted on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on ABC, but for season 2, it was moved to 8 p.m., beforeThe RookieandThe Good Doctor. This premium timeslot plus an explosive season 2 premiere is likely what drew in so many people.
Will Trent
Cast
Will Trent is a crime drama series that follows special agent Will Trent, who was abandoned at birth and raised in Atlanta’s foster care system. He becomes a dedicated agent with the highest clearance rate, driven by his experiences to ensure others do not suffer as he did.
