TV Recap: A Trio of Stories Shake Up "Will Trent" - Heists, Goodbyes, and Ghosts
This week’s episode of Will Trent features not one, not two, but three concurrent storylines, which finds the titular character taking a bit of a backseat. While Will Trent doesn’t have a new case to solve, he does get a little bit of closure from Marco’s death, which has been haunting him. The opposite can be said of Angie Polaski’s desire to heal old wounds with her mother. While they both deal with their personal narratives, recapped under separate sections, the procedural case of the week takes Faith Mitchell and Michael Ormewood away from Atlanta.
Season 3, Episode 15 - “The Most Beautiful, Fierce, Smart, Powerful Creature in the Whole World" - Written by Britta Lundin & Juliette Strangio
Island Diamond Heist
Robie Island’s luxurious Mirage Resort is preparing for its grand opening with a soft opening, and among its guests are GBI Deputy Director Amanda Wagner (Sonja Sohn) and her best friend and former partner, Evelyn Mitchell (LisaGay Hamilton). They’ve had a few issues with their rooms, and they’ve gone back to the front desk to change them again, but the manager, Lance (Jeff Hiller), is in the back. One of the wealthy guests, Blaine Frost (Landon Price), needed to store his diamonds in the hotel safe, using a 5-finger biometric scanner to lock it so that only he can retrieve them.
While Lance reassigned rooms for Amanda and Evelyn, another hotel host, Lola (Lacy Hartselle), with an obvious baby bump, serves them complimentary cocktails. With their rooms sorted out, Evelyn tries to coax Amanda into finding a little romance on their holiday, pointing to Blaine as a potential hookup for her friend. Amanda says she wants nothing more than to read a book during her break, but Evelyn recalls their younger years when Amanda’s nickname at the APD was “Randy Mandy" and how she had a revolving door of dalliances. Not taking no for an answer, Evie sparks a conversation with a handsome man, Alonso St. James (Jason Alan Carvell), making introductions and quickly backing away.
The next morning, Amanda and Evelyn pass an influencer, Annaliese (Victoria Parks), complaining about the hallway lighting. They pass a security guard, Garrett (Jaiden Kaine), who opens a guest room after not getting a response from the guest inside. Amanda stops when she hears the guard yell, grabbing some ice bucket liners for her and Evelyn to wear on their feet so they don’t contaminate a crime scene. Amanda is surprised that the head of security for the resort is so squeamish about the dead body in the bloody bed - Blaine Frost. Examining him, they discover that his right hand has been severed and removed. Evelyn notices that Blaine had a jeweler’s hoop and diamond certifications on his dresser. Amanda realizes he must have diamonds stored in the hotel safe, which uses a biometric scan.
Evelyn calls her daughter, Faith Mitchell (Iantha Richardson), inviting her to the island to help with the case. The timing couldn’t be more perfect, as Faith’s roommate, Michael Ormewood (Jake McLaughlin), just told her about his brain tumor, and he’s stressed because the VA hospital just pushed his appointment back. He needs something to distract him, and he eagerly agrees to join.
Faith and Ormewood arrive at Mirage to find Lance complaining that Lola smells like burnt hair. She tells him she was cleaning one of the fire pits, and it flared up. Faith asks Lance for a floor plan of the resort as well as security footage, learning that the cameras have yet to be installed since they aren’t officially open yet. In the back room with the safe, Faith lifts the cloche on a room service tray, finding a bloody plate but no hand. She calls Robie Island PD to come turn the place into a crime scene. She also orders the island be locked down, with the ferry ceasing operation to trap the murderer and thief. Lance thinks he can keep this hidden from the other guests, asking Faith and Ormewood to wear clothes that are less “procedural."
Amanda and Evelyn accompany Faith and Ormewood as they try on preppy vacation clothes. They share details about the case, such as the vault being opened at 12:30 am and the hand needing to be warm for the biometrics scan, so Blaine’s murder must’ve happened around then. Lance brings over the floorplans, and they ask for his alibi - he was on a Zoom call learning Thai for a potential hotel job in Phuket. Blaine was at the hotel to sell diamonds to a man named Mars St. James, and Ormewood worries that subpoenas will take too long for the island’s lockdown. Luckily, Evelyn reveals she made friends with Mars and his crew at the hotel pool, showing them a selfie and listing off all of his people, which includes Alonso, Mars’ brother. Faith thinks the killer must’ve used the garden path to get to the office with the warm hand, but Lance says that would require a universal access key after 11:00 pm, and the only person who has one is Garrett.
Evelyn went to the spa. Thankfully, she brought her phone, which allowed her to call Faith.“There’s another body," she tells her daughter as she looks at the dead security guard’s body slumped over a bench, bleeding from the back. “It’s Garrett."
With her book, “Murderous Tides," Amanda visits the hotel’s bar to read and have a drink. She soon finds Alonso seated nearby, reading the exact same book, and they bond over the fact that it’s being adapted and how the casting choice seems all wrong based on the author’s description of the main character (an inside joke for fans of Karin Slaughter’s Will Trent book series, where the title character is tall and blonde). To Amanda’s surprise, she finds Alonso very easy to talk to, and they both overshare about their past. “I would love to take you to bed tonight," Alonso proposes to Amanda, who can’t believe she’s still doing things like this as she nears her 60th birthday. “There’s still plenty of time to make new mistakes," Alonso smiles.
Lance brings Faith, Ormewood, and Evelyn a box of evidence from Garrett’s office. Faith is confused as she examines the items, which include a red wig. Meanwhile, Lance gets frustrated when Lola calls to announce that she’s going into labor. He doesn’t believe her since she is still a month out from her due date. Ormewood begins to receive intel on Mars’ entourage, learning something troubling about his brother, Alonso.
“Hello, Randy Mandy, welcome back," Amanda smiles at herself in Alonso’s bathroom mirror, glowing. Seeing his bathroom bag open, she peeks inside, finding several prescription bottles and quickly realizing that they’re not filled with pills, but with diamonds. She puts on in her purse just as Alonso opens the door with his gun drawn. Amanda rapidly draws her’s in response, announcing that she’s the GBI Deputy Director. Alonso drops his weapon just as Faith and Ormewood rush in, announcing that he’s a jewel thief. “I did my time," Alonso says. Amanda tells them about the diamonds she found, and he promises he has receipts for them.
Alonso’s receipts check out, as does his story. Twenty years ago, he served time for stealing diamonds. “I’m retired now, but I know this world," he says, offering to help with the cast. To his knowledge, there’s only one jewel thief who is this sloppy, a mysterious woman known as “The Falconess." Faith wishes the hotel had security footage, which gives Evelyn an idea. She leaves, returning with Annaliese’s phone. As a team, they scroll through all her selfies, looking at the backgrounds. In one of the photos, they see Blaine walking with a thin woman with red hair that covers her face. Faith thinks it’s the wig they found in Garrett’s evidence box. And then Lance drops a bombshell - Lola is having her baby today, and emergency services have ordered the ferry back in operation so that she can get to the hospital.
Faith and Ormewood show other guests the photo of the mysterious woman, and nobody recalls seeing her. They watch Lola being wheeled out into an ambulance as Lance becomes hysterical. Rumors of the murders spread fast throughout the resort, and all of the guests are planning to be on the ferry. Ormewood recognizes Blaine’s dog, who is tugging his handler towards the fire pits. He asks to let the dog sniff, and the good boy leads him right to the burnt remains of Blaine’s right hand. He and Faith have the same epiphany, rushing out front to stop the ambulance.
They watch Lola jump out of the back of the ambulance and take off running. Pursuing her through the parking lot, Faith and Ormewood narrowly dodge bullets from Lola’s gun. But eventually, they are able to disarm her, pinning her down. Faith pulls the fake baby belly off Lola, finding a compartment inside that is filled with diamonds. “Got you, Falconess," Faith says.
In the hotel lobby, Amanda and Alonso share a goodbye kiss. He asks her to call him.
We see Faith and Ormewood return home. He thanks her for helping him take his mind off his medical scare, sharing that he named his mass Tina Tumor. Ormewood asks Faith to do something that night, and they settle on watching a marathon of their favorite ex-wives' reality series.
Angie’s Mommy Issues
Angie Polaski (Erika Christensen) hasn’t spoken to her mother since 2012, in part due to unhealed wounds, but also because she’s been in a coma. Having received an alert that her mom opened her eyes, she rushes to the hospital alongside her friend and sponsor, Franklin (Kevin Daniels). The moment she sees her mom, Didi (Molly Price), laying in the hospital bed with gray hair and no makeup, she has an instant memory.
2004 - Young Angie (Savannah Hutson) is upset about the job she lost. Her employer said she didn’t look the part, so Didi tries to cheer her daughter up by doing her makeup. She gives her an empowering mantra - “I am the most beautiful fierce, smart, powerful creature in the world, and everyone else can suck it." As Didi finishes Angie’s makeup, she asks her to promise to never let her hair go gray. “A woman with gray hair might as well be dead."
That statement rings in Angie’s head as she sees her unconscious mother with gray hair and no makeup. She gives Franklin a list of supplies, and he soon returns to help give Didi a makeover. “She really hates gray hair," Angie tells him. Franklin is worried about Angie, reminding her that everything she’s ever shared about her mother has made her seem like a monster. Angie snaps at him, saying this is her mother, and he unfortunately gets a work call he has to respond to. Angie promises to call him when this gets resolved.
2012 - The last time Angie saw her mother. She was new to the APD, so imagine her surprise when her mother ended up in a cell for drunk driving, sending two injured people to the hospital. Angie visited Didi’s cell only to find her mother angry that she couldn’t get her off the hook. Angie brings up an unhealed wound - a memory of being 5 years old and dropped off for two days with a man named Stevie, and the horrors she endured. Didi claims to have no memory of this. “I remember it every day," Angie said, shaking, asking her mom to admit to what she did. It turns into a fight. “I only did the best I could," Didi yelled at Angie, “and if you can’t see that, that’s your problem." Didi belittles Angie, telling her how silly an alcoholic like her looks in a police uniform. “Sometimes I think when God gave me you, he was punishing me," Didi says, which made Angie cry. “I’m done," she vowed. “Get one of your dealer boyfriends to bail you out." Didi seemed unburdened as Angie walked out of her life forever.
Angie puts the finishing touches on her mom’s makeup. “Please wake up," she begs her. “Everyone deserves another chance." Angie climbs into the hospital bed, curling up against her unconscious mother and resting her head on her shoulder.
Didi wakes up Angie, who wants to call a nurse in, but Didi says she wants to wait. “I want to say something," she says, apologizing for being a bad mother. She shares that she pretended not to remember some of the things she did because facing them was too painful. She knows saying she’s sorry won’t fix it, but she says it anyway. “I need you to hear me say I’m proud of you," Didi says, as Angie cries, happier tears than in her last flashback. Didi talks about addiction being something you can’t choose. And she apologizes for giving that trait to her daughter. “We’re the same, Angie."
Angie wakes up to the sound of Didi flatlining, calling the nurse for help. She cries, begging Didi to stay with her. But her mother is gone.
Instead of calling Franklin, Angie goes to the bar and orders a whisky neat. She gives a toast - “To Didi" - as she pours the drink back and looks at herself in the mirror behind the bar, nodding knowingly.
Will Trent Deals with Marco’s Family
Will Trent (Ramón Rodríguez) and Nico (Cora Lu Tran) return home from walking Betty, who won’t stop barking at the corner of the living room. Will realizes the window has been pried open from the outside, sending Nico and Betty to the garage for safety while he investigates. Hearing a noise in his bedroom, Will draws his gun and enters, finding a boy (Carlos Solórzano) fumbling inside a backpack. Will grabs the bag from him and looks inside, finding a gun. “You killed my brother," the boy tells Will.
At Will’s kitchen table, the boy - Diego - is given a sandwich as Will asks what he was going to do after shooting him. Diego seemed to think he would go free, in part because Will, who killed his brother, isn’t in jail. Diego asks Will if he’s going to call the police. “Worse," he says, “I’m going to take you home and talk to your mom."
The haunting memories of Marco’s come flooding back to Will as he returns to the apartment building where his erroneous bullet went through a wall, killing Diego’s 12-year-old brother. Marco’s mom isn’t home yet, so Will decides to wait outside the door. But the chirping of a smoke alarm in need of a new battery reminds him of the cadence of Faith’s turn signal, which takes Will’s mind back to the car where Marco died in his arms. When he hears a thud inside the apartment, he opens the door to find Marco fumbling with a ladder. With his older brother gone, Diego is now the man of the house and feels he has a responsibility to change the smoke alarm’s battery, even if it’s out of reach for him. Will helps, and he’s standing on the ladder when Mrs. Sanchez (Kimberli Flores) walks in, seeing her surviving son with the man who killed her eldest. Will tells her how Diego came to his house with a gun, which he gives to her, along with information about how to properly dispose of it. “Great idea, give all the guns to the cops," she snaps, “What could go wrong?" Will begins to apologize, but she kicks him out.
Back at home, we see Will talking to Betty about what happened, fearing he’s made things even worse for Marco’s family. Nico overhears, suggesting that Will see a therapist. He tells her he already saw one and it didn’t work. Nico tells him about a friend who likes their therapist, offering to pass along that clinician’s information. “Betty’s free," Will counters. “Well, Betty licks her own butt," Nico retorts.
Will is surprised when Mrs. Sanchez shows up at his door, announcing that Diego is out in the car. “I told him I was coming here to forgive you," she says. “He can’t see me angry like this anymore." She doesn’t know where her son got the gun, but she took his advice and turned it in. “I hate you," she tells Will, saying she doesn’t believe she can actually forgive him, but she needs her son to believe it’s possible. She’s about to leave when she stops, asking Will to describe Marco’s last moments. He tells her how he held Marco’s wounds as tightly as he could. “He was brave, so brave, and he asked for you." He shares how Marco apologized to her for cutting school. “I held him as he passed, and for a long time after." Mrs. Sanchez thanks Will, tears in her eyes, as she leaves. Will stands still in his living room as Betty joins him at his side.
Songs Featured in This Episode:
Next Episode: “Push, Jump, Fall" - Airing Tuesday, April 29th, at 8/7c on ABC
Will and Faith fight to clear an innocent woman’s name while uncovering a deadly drug ring. Meanwhile, Angie spirals after a traumatic event, and Ormewood grapples with his diagnosis, unsure of how much to share with those closest to him.