Will Trent Season 4 Episode 1: Is Will really dead after James Ulster’s attack? Details revealed

Will Trent Season 4 Episode 1 is titled Speaking of Sharks. It dropped on January 6, 2026.

The long-awaited Season 4 of the crime drama on ABC had an explosive premiere that brought the fans to the edge of their seat. At the end of the episode was a burnt car, with two dead bodies and a tape recorder owned by Will, which led the authorities to believe that the senior investigator of the GBI had died.

The incredible cliffhanger leaves audiences wondering whether Special Agent Will Trent survived his encounter with a notorious serial killer, James Ulster, the man who murdered his mother many years ago.

Will Trent Season 4 Episode 1: Is Will really dead after James Ulster’s attack?

Will Trent Season 4 Episode 1 began with James Ulster hosting a food club in prison with a guard and fellow inmate Reed Hobbs, which was a ruse to escape the prison in violence. Ulster, played by Greg Germann, showed his manipulation skills when he made the troubled young Reed believe that he was his son. This psychological game was reminiscent of the twisted relationship that Ulster had with Will and, as such, establishes a frightening parallel that would trouble the episode.

During the escape, Reed hesitated to stab a guard, and Ulster attacked another officer with a baton, telling Reed that it was too late to turn back. The two escaped as officers in an unmarked police car, triggering a manhunt that would engulf the whole GBI team. The escape of Ulster did not happen by chance but was carefully planned. The time was set in such a way that it would coincide with the efforts by Will to recover and establish a relationship with his newly found biological father, Caleb.

The serial killer’s rampage across Atlanta left multiple victims in its wake. Ulster killed all those in a steakhouse but made it seem as though Reed killed them. This manipulation demonstrated how Ulster controls people and keeps a plausible deniability, which was the trait that made him one of the most dangerous antagonists in the series.

Will Trent Season 4 Episode 1 gave a lot of screen time to the mental state of Will, and it turned out that he was a man with anger problems and abandonment problems. Will also underwent therapy with Dr. Roach, played by Margaret Cho, who urged him to deal with his anger instead of being afraid of it.

These scenes also gave a very valuable insight into Will’s inner struggles, as we see that although he was trying to blend in with the large and loud family of Caleb, he felt overwhelmed and out of place.

The most moving moment in the episode was the relationship between Will and his nephew Calvin, a shark-loving young boy who was the clue to the final trap in Ulster. Will developed a quiet connection with Calvin in the noisy, multi-generational family of Caleb and could relate to the child who had similar feelings about being different. This association would play a key role when Ulster abducted Calvin to entice Will into his last battle.

Other character developments in Season 3 were also brought up in Will Trent Season 4 Episode 1. Michael Ormewood received chemotherapy and was re-allocated desk duty, and Amanda Wagner was still recovering after being shot. Angie Polaski, who is now visibly pregnant and having the child of Seth McDale, has agreed to his marriage proposal in a tender scene that highlights her complex feelings about moving forward while still harboring thoughts about Will.

Ulster kidnapped Calvin in a park, and Will agreed to give himself up in the place of the boy, and met Ulster at a picnic table by the riverside, where he zip-tied himself to his wrists. This act of selflessness illustrated how Will was determined to save the lives of the innocent people, especially the children, at the expense of his own life.

Before his surrender in Will Trent Season 4 Episode 1, Will got time to send Calvin away with Faith’s phone number, which saw the safe return of the boy to his family.

The climactic scenes of Will Trent Season 4 Episode 1 unfolded with heart-wrenching accuracy. Amanda, Faith, and Caleb found a car in a parking lot that was on fire, and there were a pair of dead bodies inside, and a unique tape recorder belonging to Will. The physical evidence was beyond question. Will Trent had apparently perished in the fire with the murderer of his mother. His colleagues and family felt the emotional impact, and Faith confirmed the identity of the recorder in a heart-wrenching scene.

Although it is apparent that Will died, various sources testify that it is yet another grandiose manipulation of James Ulster. Critics and reviewers have pointed out that without the titular character Will Trent, ABC cannot keep a series bearing his name, and, therefore, his survival is a logical story device.

Nevertheless, how he manages to survive, and the psychological price of Ulster’s manipulations, are key questions to continue in the future episodes. The car that was burnt had probably two other victims of Ulster’s killing spree, and the tape recorder was present to mislead the investigators and to give Ulster time to finish whatever endgame he had chosen.

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Also Read: Will Trent Season 4 Episode 1 recap: Ulster escapes, Will "dies"

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