Will Trent has incorporated quite a few pieces of pop culture phenomena into its storylines. Will’s (Ramón Rodríguez) dog is named Betty Marie White Trent after his favorite Golden Girl. The show had a mini-crossover with The Real Housewives of Atlanta stars Phaedra Parks and Shamea Morton. Ariana Madix guest-starred this season as herself in a memorable episode. And, most recently, the show paid major tribute to General Hospital.
Tuesday’s (April 15) episode of the crime drama was titled, “A Funeral Fit for a Quartermaine,” referencing the Quartermaine family featured in the soap since the 1970s.
In the episode, Will helps his childhood frenemy-turned-gang leader Rafael Wexler (Antwayn Hopper) plan the funeral for his beloved grandmother whom they both lived with in their youth. Audiences were first introduced to Rafael and his grandmother in the season opener, “I’m a Guest Here,” when Will returned to the house after Rafael barricaded himself inside and told police he’d only work with Will and no one else from the Georgia Bureau of Investigations or Atlanta Police Department. Will and Rafael then got into a fight with Rafael before Grandma (then played by Marla Gibbs) came in and told them both to join her on the couch for some TV. Then, the two dutifully sat and enjoyed the soap with her.
History repeated itself (through a flashback to the past) in Tuesday’s episode. The show journeyed back to the moment when Will first arrived at Grandma’s house, looking for a place to stay since he’d been kicked out of his foster home after his 18th birthday. Grandma welcomed him with open arms, despite Rafael’s reservations, and invited him to join her on the couch to watch General Hospital, with the title credits transforming into Will Trent-themed character features.
Later, when discussing the casket selections available at the funeral home, Will asked Rafael, “Is it giving Quartermaine?” Rafael responded with, “Don’t do that. Don’t wear my culture as a costume.”
So how did all of this General Hospital love make it into Will Trent?
“We have a few GH fans on the writing staff,” co-creator Liz Heldens told TV Insider of the reference. “I used to watch it with my grandmother pretty religiously. We put that idea into the first episode of the season and then doubled down on the idea in this episode.”
We’ll have to wait to see whether Port Charles plays a bigger part in the continued events of Will Trent Season 3 now that Grandma is out of the picture — and Rafael has taken leave of Atlanta under protective custody as he cooperates with the police’s gang investigation. But fans of the show can almost certainly expect to see some more clever cultural allusions as the show finishes the final episodes of Season 3 and returns for Season 4.
