Television series

Will Trent

Name: Will Trent
Genre: Drama, Crime
Released: 2023
Cast: Ramón Rodríguez, Erika Christensen, Iantha Richardson, Jake McLaughlin, Sonja Sohn

A procedural about a Georgia Bureau of Investigations agent with the highest case clearance rate, driven by his abandonment as an infant and years in foster care. Grounded, character-focused crime drama with genuine stakes. For viewers who want competence and humanity over spectacle, and don't mind that the cases matter less than who's solving them.

TVMaze rating

3.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like procedurals where the case is a doorway into a character's history, with a lead whose warmth and rough edges carry the hour more than the forensics do.

Skip it if you want a tight, self-contained case each week, since this keeps circling a long personal arc and its sentiment can stretch an hour thin.

What it asks of you: Expect a full hour per episode and a patient build across four seasons and fifty-nine episodes, with the procedural mechanics handled briskly so the slower character threads get room.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Bosch2015

A detective with a code, obsessive about justice for the forgotten. Same engine: one cop's singular vision of right and wrong, case after case, with real consequences for his relationships and career.

But Slower than police procedurals you might be used to. The investigation matters more than the drama, which some find meditative and others find glacial.

Homicide: Life on the Street1993

The gold standard. Detectives defined by trauma and principle, solving murders in a broken system. Every episode earns its weight. Will Trent walks in its tradition and knows it.

But Twenty-year-old show, dense ensemble cast, brutal tonal shifts. Requires attention and tolerance for the unglamorous side of detective work.

The Closer2005

A detective with an unshakeable moral compass and the highest closure rate, navigating politics and procedure. The investigation and the character are fused. Same DNA as Will Trent, executed with precision.

But Brenda Leigh Johnson can be abrasive by design. If you need to like your lead character immediately, this might frustrate you early on.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Will Trent

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Godless2017

Both are about a broken person finding purpose through protecting others, working within structures (law, town) that don't quite contain their integrity.

A mining town run entirely by women. A man with a dark past arrives. A Western that's actually about community, resilience, and people trying to build something decent. Same emotional engine as Will Trent: someone damaged trying to make amends through service.

But Only one season. Only four episodes. Feels more like a novelette than a series. If you need long-form investment, this frustrates rather than satisfies.

The Wire2002

Five seasons about Baltimore systems—police, drugs, schools, politics—and people trying to do right within them. A masterpiece about institutional failure and individual integrity. Will Trent's world expanded to panoramic scale.

But Sixty episodes, dense with characters and street language, uncompromising about pace. Demands real commitment. Not a show to half-watch.

MINDHUNTER2017

FBI agents with unconventional methods building a new investigative discipline. Character-driven, intelligent, grounded in real psychology. Two seasons of exemplary procedural drama before Netflix cancelled it.

But Methodical to the point where some viewers found it slow. The second season lost focus. Ended unresolved, which may or may not bother you.

Rectify2013

A man released after nineteen years for a murder he didn't commit tries to rebuild a life in a small Southern town that never forgave him. Quiet, profound, about grace and damage and the cost of injustice.

But Deliberately paced. Some call it meditative; others call it slow. The emotional payoff requires patience and an appetite for subtlety.

Mare of Easttown2021

Kate Winslet as a small-town detective solving a murder while her own life fractures. Character and case are inseparable. Grief-soaked, intelligent crime drama that treats its detective as a full human being.

But Only four episodes, so no long-form investment. Punishing in its emotional weight. Not a comfort watch by any stretch.

Criminal Minds2005

Profilers hunting serial killers, driven by empathy and insight. Faster-paced than Will Trent, more gothic, but shares the idea that understanding the criminal mind requires a certain kind of damage in the detective.

But Leans into spectacle and shock value. Fourteen seasons means inconsistency. Less interested in procedure than in the psychology of monsters.

Unforgiven1992

Both explore whether damage from the past can be redeemed through present action, and whether justice is ever just.

Clint Eastwood as a retired outlaw turned pig farmer, drawn back into violence by necessity. A Western about the cost of justice, the mythology of the law, and whether a man can ever truly leave his past behind.

But A slow, meditative film about ageing and moral reckoning. Not an action movie, though violence erupts. Demands you sit with discomfort rather than resolve it.