Will Trent just dropped not one, but two bombshells on its audience that will permanently alter the lives of our title character and his on-again/off-again girlfriend, Detective Angie Polaski.
First, the penultimate Season 3 episode revealed that Angie is pregnant with Dr. Seth Mcdale’s baby. Then we found out that Bradford County Sheriff Caleb Roussard (played by Yul Vazquez) is Will’s biological father.
The episode marked series star Erika Christensen‘s directorial debut — and it was quite the feat. Not only did she help shape quieter moments that would forever change the trajectory of the show, but she also set the stage for a bioterrorism attack in next week’s season-ender — an hour of television that co-showrunner Daniel Thomsen told me previously is “the biggest episode we’ve ever attempted.” When it begins, the hospital is on lockdown, and Ormewood, Seth, Nico and Betty (!) are all trapped inside. Only time will tell if they all make it out alive.
Below, Christensen unpacks Angie’s Season 3 journey and her directorial debut, and tees up an extremely intense finale (airing Tuesday, May 13 at 8/7c).
TVLINE | Now, unless IMDb has failed me — and it has failed me before, so correct me if I’m wrong — this is your directorial debut?
It is! I’ve directed short films before this that, understandably, had never made their way to IMDb, so this is it. This is the first time I’ve directed network television, for sure, which is a very specific beast.
TVLINE | I’ve interviewed actors about directing episodes of their shows before, but usually it’s an episode where A) he or she is not in it much, and B) it doesn’t change the entire trajectory of the show.
You’re right. The real behind-the-scenes scoop is that I was scheduled to direct a different episode. Because of two big scheduling factors, things got all swapped around, we ended up shooting them out of order, and I ended up shooting a different episode, so there was a whole lot going on.
I loved the Will/Caleb storyline, and I had such a great time exploring with those guys, both of whom I have known forever — my old friends. And then Angie and Seth’s storyline, too… I just loved exploring that, and playing with [recurring guest star] Scott [Foley]. He, himself, is a director, so we had fun debating various shots. He had fun disagreeing with me. [Laughs] But yeah, I’m so grateful for it. I’m just blown away by what a great script I managed to get a hold of.
TVLINE | I’d typically ask if there was one scene, in particular, that you found most difficult or most gratifying to shoot, or the most pressure to get right. But watching this one, with your directorial debut in mind, I clocked at least a half-dozen scenes — whether it was the stuff with Will and Caleb, Angie finding out that she’s pregnant, Amanda confronting Caleb after learning that he’s Will’s father or—
It’s all of the above! The biggest day was the day where we shot both our introduction to Caleb, in front of the [house], and then that whole crime scene culminating with the cat and the broken glass. There was a lot to shoot.
And I had my heart set on that reveal of Caleb — giving him sort of a villain’s introduction — and then we were all just, like, “Oh, God! How many things could go wrong with the cat and the stunt at the crime scene?” But everyone stepped up — the stunts and effects, everyone. Even the cat was such a pro! And the actor [Michael Hanson] who plays Deputy Kenny just killed it. It was brilliant. But going into it, that was the biggest, scariest day.
And then it was really gratifying to explore the scene where Caleb comes to Will’s house. I loved that. I love that so much because they’re not the most equipped men to deal with the situation that they find themselves in, so finding the dynamics, and what kinds of emotions will come up for them as they try to relate to each other — or, in Caleb’s case, trying to relate to Will — and Will inadvertent being won over by the end of the episode…. They end up at least developing respect for each other.
The other most gratifying thing was the very last shot of the episode. The writers and I had some very different iterations of what the end of the episode might be. The initial script was actually completely different, and then it was rearranged. for time we lost a whole, a whole kind of finale scene. And so then, working with just. the hospital and the interrogation room. I became obsessed with the relationship between the interrogation room and the hospital, and that final shot — that crescendo of chaos. I was obsessed. We actually shot that on Day 1, so when we got that, I was on cloud nine.
TVLINE | When we spoke last spring, you told me that you felt “oddly hopeful” for Angie heading into Season 3. I don’t have to tell you that this has been a whirlwind year for Detective Polaski. How are you feeling now?
Well, we ca n borrow her own words. When she’s speaking to Will in Episode 12 — when they’re lying on the floor after he accidentally shot Marco, and trying to navigate how he can move forward — and she says to him, “We’ve been through some pretty bad stuff, but we always end up back on our feet.” That wasn’t just her saying something to comfort him; that was what she felt was the truth — and was the truth for her, as well. It’s a core belief in yourself, knowing that you will survive no matter how brutal things can be. “I’ve been through some s–t, so try me,” is kind of where she is, and I don’t know what motherhood — or the potential of motherhood — might do for Angie. Being a parent really changes people. It’s an incredible transformation of the way you view yourself, even, so I don’t know what we might see from her, or if there are sides of her that we’ve never seen before because she has never felt the things that she is going to be feeling now.
TVLINE | That tees up my next question. Last week, we saw Angie dump Dee Dee’s ashes, then pour her drink out in hopes of breaking this trauma cycle. Should Angie choose to carry this child to term, do you think that, looking outward at herself over the next however-many years and seeing that she’s not making the same mistakes that her mother did, would be the ultimate way for Angie to heal?
Oh, yeah. Honestly, I think that would be incredible. She knows exactly what not to do. I think Will might have even said that when they thought that she might be pregnant at the end of Season 2. I think if she loved this child and, my gosh, if it’s a girl… right? If she treated her with kindness, and actually treated her in a way that she wanted [growing up], it would be so healing for her.
TVLINE | This whole concept of Dee Dee being, quote, “in the sewer,” is just so dark, and so funny. And I couldn’t help but think that, so Angie decided to have this baby, and we get more morning sickness scenes, this has the potential to become a recurring bit where Angie had deep conversations whilst hunched over a toilet.
[Laughs] It could be! Dee Dee will always be there!
TVLINE | We end this episode on, as you note, this “crescendo of chaos.” We’re backing out of the hospital, which is now on lockdown, and Ormewood, Nico, Betty and Seth are all trapped inside, and there’s a deadly bioweapon. How worried should fans be heading into next week’s finale?
They should be very worried. We uncover through the finale how easily communicable and how fast-acting this bioweapon is. Everyone’s in danger, especially if they’re in the hospital, stuck with all these people who’ve already been infected, so they’re all at great risk.
