Will Trent –Best of Your Recollection– Review: Officer Involved Shooting

“Best of Your Recollection” – WILL TRENT, Pictured: Todd Allen Durkin as Captain Heller. Photo: Zac Popik/Disney © 2025 Disney. All Rights Reserved.The episode begins with Captain Heller (Todd Allen Durkin) strongly urging Will to meet with his union representative and a lawyer. Stunned and in denial, Will insists, “I don’t need a lawyer.” But it quickly becomes clear that his situation is far more precarious than it seems.

The story rewinds to “two hours earlier,” revealing the events leading up to the shooting. Will and Faith (Iantha Richardson) are chasing a fugitive, Paco Ortiz (Marsuvio Sanchez), through an apartment complex. They split up.

 “Best of Your Recollection” – WILL TRENT, Pictured: Ramon Rodriquez as Will Trent. Photo: Zac Popik/Disney © 2025 Disney. All Rights Reserved.Approaching a blind corner, Will draws his weapon and fires two shots, one of which wounds the suspect in the arm. While handcuffing Ortiz, Will hears another boy calling for help. Responding, he finds Marco bleeding from a chest wound, slumped in a chair. A glance around reveals a hole in the wall—evidence that one of Will’s bullets ricocheted.

Back at the precinct, Will’s ex-girlfriend, Detective Angie Polaski (Erika Christensen), stops by his office to offer sympathy. Although their romantic relationship has ended, Angie and Will have been each other’s protectors since childhood.

Angie recognizes that Will is “underwater” and needs someone to fight for him, as he refuses to fight for himself. At that moment, his current girlfriend, Assistant District Attorney Marion Alba (Gina Rodriguez), arrives. Angie tells Will, “She’s here to help you. Let her.”

 “Best of Your Recollection” – WILL TRENT, Pictured (L-R): Ramon Rodriquez as Will Trent, Gina Rodriguez as Marion Alba. Photo: Zac Popik/Disney © 2025 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
Will’s numbness and self-recrimination are evident as he wrestles with the gravity of his actions. Marion’s cold, professional detachment only deepens his despair during her questioning. Will recounts the events leading to the shooting, explaining that it had been a routine day until the fleeing suspect drew a gun, forcing him to return fire. Marion presses further, prompting Will to ask, “Why are you pressing me?” Her reply— “There was no gun at the scene”—leaves him reeling, and he retreats to the restroom.

A flashback reveals that the night before the shooting, Will and Marion had been playing Pictionary with Michael Ormewood (Jake McLaughlin) and Faith when Faith’s son, Jeremy, called Will. Faith grabbed the phone and demanded of Jeremy, “Why are you calling Will while ignoring my calls?”

“Best of Your Recollection” – WILL TRENT, Pictured (L-R): Iantha Richardson as Faith Mitchell and Gina Rodriquez as ADA Marion Alba. Photo: Zac Popik/Disney © 2025 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
The gig is up! Will confesses he made Jeremy a confidential informant to keep him out of jail. Faith struggles to process the betrayal—both from her partner and her son. The tension from this revelation adds complexity to the narrative. Before the shooting, Faith tells Will she plans to request a new partner. Will is devastated. Did her announcement cloud his judgment?

The episode doesn’t shy away from procedural intricacies, focusing on two parallel investigations. The internal inquiry, led by Odessa Shaw (Kecia Lewis), is thorough and unrelenting, while the external investigation is overseen by the Atlanta Police Department (APD).

Before Faith meets Shaw, she confronts Will in the restroom. They agree to keep Jeremy’s name out of the official report. “I can’t lie,” Will insists. “You can,” Faith retorts. “You’ve been lying to me for weeks.” Ouch.

During her interrogation, Faith admits she didn’t see the suspect’s gun or witness Will firing his weapon. Shaw reveals there was no gun found at the scene. Despite her anger, Faith declares, “If Will says there was a gun, there was a gun.” Meanwhile, Angie, certain of Will’s honesty, leads the charge to find Paco’s missing gun.

“Best of Your Recollection” – WILL TRENT, Pictured: Jake McLaughlin as Michael Ormewood and Erika Christensen as Angie Polaski. Photo: Wilford Harewood/Disney © Disney 2025. All Rights Reserved. 

Angie’s empathy-driven police work stands out. She builds a rapport with Ruth (Deanne Bray), a hearing-impaired woman, and her daughter, Lily (Margot Anderson Song), who distrust the police due to a past “administrative error.” Viewers learn that the police department lost Ruth’s son’s personal effects after his overdose, delaying his funeral. Angie’s efforts to recover those effects earn Ruth’s trust. In return, Lily provides doorbell camera footage, which confirms Paco had a gun—though someone walked off with it.

Will is exonerated, his actions deemed justified. But Marion’s assertion that it was a “clean shooting” rings hollow to him. His response— “There is no such thing as a clean shooting”—is a stark reminder of the emotional toll his job takes, particularly when he fails to save a child.

Desperately, Will wants to confess to Shaw about the boy’s final moments. When it became clear the ambulance wouldn’t arrive in time, Will and Faith attempted to drive Marco to the hospital, but they were jammed up in traffic. The boy died, shattering Will. Shaw’s cold words— “The boy died from a gunshot wound to the thoracic aorta. Any other details, you will have to live with”—leave Will devastated.

The emotional climax of “The Best of Your Recollection” is both heart-wrenching and cathartic. Drenched in the boy’s dried blood, Will isolates himself, even from his beloved dog, Betty. When Angie shows up at his door, he lets her in. Their silent embrace is a powerful moment of connection in an episode that masterfully balances emotional depth with procedural precision.

This is Will Trent at its finest—unflinching, thought-provoking, and deeply human. It’s an episode that doesn’t just entertain; it stirs profound emotions. My eyes were brimming when Will scrubbed the blood from his hands. And that final image of Marion’s call going unanswered—Haunting. I’m eager to see where the story goes next.

How are you feeling about Will and Faith’s relationship now that Jeremy’s secret is out? Let me know in the comments.

Overall Rating:

9:10

Lynette Jones