Streaming Sunday – Will Trent

Streaming Sunday features TV series or movies adapted from books I’ve read, offered on at least one streaming service and I’ve watched.

Will Trent  is based on the book series  of the same name by Karin Slaughter. It’s set in Atlanta, Georgia and is focused on Will Trent, a Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) agent who is dyslexic and, despite that learning disability and a troubled upbringing, is excellent at what he does. He’s surrounded by a bevy of interesting and equally dysfunctional characters who are also highly skilled. If you’ve ever read any book by Slaughter, then you know the stories aren’t easy. The series premiered in January and airs on ABC and streams on Hulu. It was renewed for a second season  prior to the season 1 finale and is the network’s highest rated new show. All 15 episodes are now available for streaming.

The series stars Ramón Rodriguez as Will Trent and he’s surrounded by an outstandingly talented cast, including veterans Erika Christiansen and Sonja Sohn. It was adapted and created by Liz Heldens, Daniel T. Thomsen and Karin Slaughter.

No one is more surprised than me at how much I love this series! Prior to the airing of the first episode, a large group of us on Goodreads who love the book series (it’s in my top 5) had extremely low expectations of the planned television version and groused about it in one of our groups. Our biggest gripe was that it was being developed on ABC who has a miserable track record of sticking with new series beyond one season. And, we didn’t trust the adaptation because the books are gritty, far from the fare you find on that network. Our next biggest issue was with the casting of Will Trent, who is physically polar opposite of Rodriguez and we felt his physicality was an important element of the stories. We grudgingly agreed we’d watch the first episode and were shocked at how Rodriguez captured Will. To a person, we are all over the moon about the series!

How are they getting this series so right? It’s all due to Ramón Rodriguez. In one of his interviews, he acknowledged that he read most of the books are learned the character. While we thought Will’s physicality mattered, we soon learned it was all those other things that define the man, including his relationship with Betty, his beloved chihuahua (a scene stealer). I’ve always enjoyed Rodriguez’s performances but this one allows him to showcase his stellar acting skills. The dialogue is snappy and all of the characters are extraordinarily well developed, far beyond what I normally see on network TV.

If you haven’t watched the show yet, you can find it on Hulu or on demand at ABC. I’m behind in most of the TV series I follow but not this one. I can hardly wait for the next season to start. And, it looks like season 1 only focused on the first two books so this could go on forever.