While not a flawless 45 minutes of television, “Listening to a Heartbeat” was a perfect execution of everything that makes Trent a standout. Balancing broad humor, heartfelt reconciliation, and high-concept action, the season finale delivered cinematic, Michael Bay-Esque thrills in spectacular fashion. Let’s review.
Picking up last week’s domestic terror plot, chaos erupted inside police headquarters. The Founder Front took GBI Deputy Director Amanda Wagner (Sonja Sohn) hostage in exchange for their leader, Vince Korda (Kevin Dunn). What followed was a tense, strategic showdown orchestrated by Detective Angie Polaski (Erika Christensen), who—while fearing a workshop—risked everything to eliminate the five hostage takers.
Angie cleverly uses her happy-face pointer to secretly communicate with Amanda, who responded via a coded message directing her to a gun hidden in an office. Angie skulked through air vents, covertly texting Captain Heller (Todd Allen Durkin), adding layers of suspense. Heller positioned his police snipers on the roof opposite Amanda’s office to assist with the eventual takedown.
Meanwhile, Captain Heller convinces Special Agent Will Trent (Ramon Rodriguez) to stand down rather than storm in to rescue Amanda. Heller knew that stalling increased her chances of survival. Unwilling to wait, Will and Sheriff Caleb Roussard (Yul Vazquez) investigate the tent of a victim affected by the biological agent.
Their search led them to a plastic container holding a dead rat, revealing how the Clostridium botulinum toxin was being dispensed. Alarmingly, the APD officers had unknowingly consumed breakfast burritos delivered in the same tainted containers. Franklin (Kevin Daniels) gently chided Angie for skipping breakfast, which she, thankfully, declined because of her delicate condition.
Beloved characters like Nico (Cor Lu Tran) are suffering from poisoning. Amanda hosted a press conference announcing that the governor declared a drastic emergency and that the CDC has an antidote. Hurray!
However, a crisis erupts when Atlanta police detectives Michael Ormewood (Jake McLaughlin) and Franklin (Kevin Daniels), along with Special Agent Faith Mitchell (Iantha Richardson), agree to escort the life-saving treatment to the hospital. Angie would have gone, but Faith—aware of her possible workshop drama—encouraged her to stay back, explaining to the men that Angie’s back was bothering her.
Michael Ormewood took the wheel of the armored truck—driving straight into an ambush set by Founder Front officer Raki (C.J. Padeva). Radio and cell signals were jammed, severing police communication. Vehicles were upended, and the police came under heavy fire from the domestic terrorists. Just when all seemed lost, a van full of champion archer schoolgirls found themselves in the crossfire—and yes, their expert aim helped save the day…Almost.
Michael, Faith, Franklin, and the girls ‘circled the wagons,’ and moved the cars to form a defensive barricade. Will and Caleb uncover the bio-terrorism lab’s location. Their interrogation of Rosie (Alicia Kelley), the wife of a Founder Front member, leads to the momentary tricking of her husband, Ben (Travis West), into divulging details about the terrorists’ phase-two plot.
As they barred the other terrorists at the lab from attacking, Will and Caleb, his newfound dad, talked. Caleb confesses that he had cared for Will’s mother. When he met her in Savannah, “it was love at first sight…Nothing sordid,” Caleb confessed. He assured Will that he would have married his mother had he heard from her again.
Wouldn’t have known that. Caleb expressed his desire to build a relationship, inviting Will to dinner to meet his wife and kids. Will agreed. Then, he turned to Ben and demanded answers about where the phase II ambush was taking place.
Although the archers managed to blow up a truck’s gas tank, a roaming sniper remained. In one of the episode’s most heroic moments, Michael hatched a plan to draw the sniper’s gunfire, referencing his brain tumor—”Tina Tumor.” Franklin and Faith joked about potential names: Justine Tumorlike, Tumor Willis—and Franklin concluded, “I’ll think of something, tumor or later.”
This moment balanced humor and dread, foreshadowing Michael’s brave next move. Michael scaled a car and sprinted into danger. The sniper emerged from the woods, but Faith and Franklin were out of ammunition. He zigged and zagged, miraculously avoiding gunfire. When the shooter stopped to reload, Michael lunged for a discarded weapon. Their eyes locked—the sniper smiled slyly, thinking he’d won—only for Will to arrive and run him over. Hurray!
