Will Trent – Push, Jump, Fall – Review: Anxiety, Keep on Trying Me

“Push, Jump, Fall” – WILL TRENT, Pictured (L-R): Gregory
L. Wilson II as Shooter, Antwan “Big Boi” Antwan as Ace, Yolanda Ross as
Bernadette Fleury. Photo: Wilford Harewood/Disney © 2025 Disney. All rights reserved.
As usual, the episode presents a tale of two crimes. Special Agents Will Trent (Ramon Rodriguez) and Faith Mitchell (Iantha Richardson) investigate the death of Rooster (Gregory L. Wilson) at Bill Pickett’s Rodeo, a historic Black rodeo in Atlanta. On the surface, the evidence overwhelmingly points to veteran rider Bernadette Fleury (Yolanda Ross)—so much so that the rodeo owner offers a $10,000 reward for her capture and the return of her horse, Pancake. The bounty raises concerns about potential vigilantism, prompting Amanda Wagner (Sonja Singh) to push Will and Faith to find Bernadette before someone else does.

Will’s keen observational skills lead him to focus on the blood found far from the victim and the dead cowboy’s expensive shoes, indicating that Bernadette is likely injured—or she wasn’t alone in the barn where Rooster died. Faith seeks insight from Bernadette’s friend, Ruby Steel (Jacinte Blankenship), a former rodeo performer. Ruby knows Bernadette’s troubled past, which includes being assaulted and labeled a problem on the circuit.

Will and Faith turn their attention to Bernadette’s ex-boyfriend, Flynn Callaway (Antwan Mills). His house, littered with horse feed and manure, suggests he knows where she is—but he’s not talking. Before they can get more out of him, Callaway is murdered.

Meanwhile, Murph (Nathan Hesse), enticed by the reward money, tries to capture Bernadette. Instead, she ties him half-naked to a tree—not exactly the actions of someone fleeing a murder charge.

With Callaway dead, Bernadette calls Will. He urges her to surrender, laying out his theory of Rooster’s murder. Bernadette confirms the presence of a third man, whom Will dubs “Broken Nose” (Myles Humphus). Bernadette, not sure she can trust the GBI, refuses to come in. Faith picks up on the background noise in the call, recognizing that Bernadette is calling from Goodwill Ranch—a place where she conveniently once worked.

“Push, Jump, Fall” – WILL TRENT, Pictured (L-R): Ramon
Rodriguez as Special Agent Will Trent, Iantha Richardson as Special Agent Faith
Mitchell. Photo: Daniel Delgado/Disney ©
2025 Disney. All rights reserved
Will and Faith set up an overnight stakeout at Goodwill Ranch. Officially, they’re there to surveil Bernadette, but the conversation veers personal. Will confesses to Faith that Marco’s brother came to kill him, and a piece of him wishes that he had. He also laments his struggles with therapy—finding a good therapist is proving harder than anticipated. Faith does her best to get her buckaroo to buck up, but Will doesn’t seem to be listening.

As they surveil Bernadette, she surprises them by surveilling them instead. The next morning, she invites them to breakfast—actions that further suggest she’s no killer. Bernadette encourages Will to interact with Pancake, but he’s intimidated by the horse’s size. She reminds him, “Horses respond to who you are, not who you think you are.”

Just as Will starts to warm up to Pancake, gunfire shatters the moment—Bernadette takes a hit. Chaos erupts, and Faith finds herself in a classic Western standoff with Broken Nose, fingers twitching near triggers. The tension hangs thick until Faith, cool as ever, has the fastest finger. One shot, one takedown—the cowboy loses, the cowgirl wins.

Faith agrees to stay with Bernadette, while Will leads Pancake, sick from ingesting cocaine Broken Nose tried to conceal, to safety. The situation provides Will with unexpected equine therapy, as he likens the horse’s suffering to his own internal turmoil, as he’d described the pain of his anxiety to his therapist (Margaret Cho) as “a bag of boiling snakes.” Sharing his “optimism drops” with Pancake, Will helps the horse push forward.

“Push, Jump, Fall” – WILL TRENT, Pictured (L-R): Ramon
Rodriguez as Special Agent Will Trent, Margaret Cho as Therapist. Photo: Wilford
Harewood/Disney © 2025 Disney. All rights
reserved.
When Will finally gets a cell signal, he calls for a veterinarian because Pancake is down. In a moment of desperation, Will pleads with the horse, “If you live, I live. We’re choosing to live.” It’s unclear if even Will believes his own words.

Fast forward. Pancake pulls through. Bernadette is back in the saddle. But Will? That remains uncertain.

  

“Push, Jump, Fall” – WILL TRENT, Pictured: Ramon Rodriguez as Will Trent. Photo:
Daniel Delgado/Disney © 2025 Disney. All
rights reserved.

While Will and Faith navigate the rodeo mystery, Detectives Angie Polaski (Erika Christensen) and Michael Ormewood (Jake McLaughlin) investigate the death of a man they must determine resulted from a push, jump, or fall. The subplot serves as a foil for the detectives’ personal struggles.

Michael, pushed by the fabulous Bon Bon (Jonny Beauchamp) and Josiah (Kenneth Mosley), is encouraged to complete his end-of-life paperwork due to his brain tumor. Their Abbott-and-Costello dynamic—characterized by rapid-fire banter and comedic misunderstandings—adds levity. Bon Bon’s hilarious mix up of words “transparence, nitpoking, and lethargic,” is met with Josiah’s corrections: “transference, nitpicking, and cathartic.”

“Push, Jump, Fall” – WILL TRENT, Pictured (L-R): Jonny Beauchamp as Bon Bon
Chiffon, Erika Christensen as Angie Polaski. Photo: Wilford Harewood/Disney © 2025 Disney. All rights reserved.

Meanwhile, Michael and Angie jump into the investigation when the coroner, Pete (Kurt Yue), reveals James Webster’s corpse without preamble, grossing out the detectives. Webster’s widow, Danielle (Erika Robel), describes him as a devoted father and bird enthusiast. With no known enemies, they rule out “push”. However, the family’s insurance agent, Tim Shivers (Matthew Cornwell) notes Webster was on antidepressants, suggesting “jump”—until a receipt for a new bird feeder, purchased on the day of his death, contradicts that theory.

Security footage reveals Tim recovered Webster’s dropped bird feeder and attempted to pass the death off as suicide—motivated by the bonus he’d receive for a self-inflicted fatality. Michael slaps on the cuffs, charging Tim with evidence tampering and interference in an investigation.

Angie and Michael pat themselves on the back, but their personal battles remain unresolved. Despite Michael’s heartfelt talk with his kids, Angie spirals, heading to a bar instead of a meeting.

Angie’s attempt to flush her mother’s remains—played partially for comedy—was cringe-worthy at best. She ends up on her knees, grinding against the filth of a bar’s bathroom floor—sticky with who knows what, reeking of stale beer and regret. As if that weren’t enough, she stumbles into a couple’s fight and becomes their target. The blows leave her more than physically defeated—they force an existential reckoning.

The show often balances self-aware humor, but in this episode, the line between levity and insensitivity is blurred. When dealing with topics like murder, abuse, and trauma, forced humor can feel out of place—akin to laughing out loud at a funeral.

“Push, Jump, Fall” has moments of intrigue but lacks the spark of previous installments. While the modern-day Black rodeo setting provides fresh visual appeal, the episode functions as a bridge rather than a standout, holding things together but failing to leave viewers with momentum.

Overall Rating:

7:10