The fourth season of Will Trent began with a high-stakes game of cat and mouse, leaving fans with a massive question. The premiere, titled “…Speaking of Sharks,” ended with a burning car, two bodies, and the belief that Special Agent Will Trent is dead. While the evidence points to tragedy, this shocking moment is almost certainly a calculated trap set by his greatest enemy.
The ABC drama returned on Tuesday, January 6, 2026, picking up five months after the chaotic events of last season’s finale. Will is trying to build a new life, but the sudden escape of serial killer James Ulster pulls him back into a dangerous chase that culminates in a devastating cliffhanger.
The Premiere’s Shocking Ending: A Car Fire and a Tape Recorder
The final minutes of the episode show Will’s colleagues and father facing a horrifying scene. They find a car on fire in a parking lot at night. Inside are two burned bodies. The key piece of evidence is Will’s distinctive tape recorder, which is recovered from the scene. For the characters, this physical proof leads to one terrible conclusion: Will Trent and James Ulster both died in that fire.
Acting Deputy Director Amanda Wagner hands the recorder to Will’s partner, Faith Mitchell, who is forced to confirm it belongs to Will. This moment seals the team’s fear, making Will’s death seem like a tragic fact. The emotional impact is immediate, with Will’s biological father, Sheriff Caleb Roussard, and the entire GBI team reeling from the loss.
Why Will’s “Death” Is Likely a Clever Trick
Despite the convincing evidence, several factors point to this being a manipulation by James Ulster, not a genuine death. Show producers and critics agree that the title character of a major network series is very unlikely to be killed off in a season premiere.
This scene is classic Ulster strategy. The serial killer is a master manipulator who specializes in making other people do his dirty work and creating scenes to mislead authorities. Earlier in the episode, he murdered everyone in a steakhouse but carefully framed his young accomplice, Reed Hobbs, for the killings. Staging his own death in a car fire with a planted piece of Will’s property is a logical next step for a criminal who always plans ahead.
The burned bodies are likely two other victims from Ulster’s spree, placed there to buy him time and freedom. As one recap notes, the tape recorder was planted “to mislead the investigators and to give Ulster time to finish whatever endgame he had chosen”.
James Ulster’s Escape and Deadly Game
The chain of events that leads to the cliffhanger begins with Ulster’s brutal prison break. In a scene at the start of the episode, Ulster hosts a “food club” with a corrupt guard and inmate Reed Hobbs. This is a ruse. Ulster manipulates the troubled Hobbs, even suggesting he views him as a son, and convinces him to stab the guard. Ulster then kills another officer with a baton, and the two escape disguised as police officers.
Once free, Ulster’s violence escalates. He and Hobbs go to a steakhouse owned by one of Ulster’s former clients and kill everyone inside. Ulster later calls Will directly, taking credit for the escape but insisting the murders were Hobbs’s doing. He tells Will, “I just want my freedom. I’m not coming after you”. This, of course, is a lie designed to draw Will out.
The call is a psychological attack. Ulster references Will discovering his real father and chillingly insists, “I am Will’s real father”. This toxic connection is at the heart of their conflict, as Ulster is the man who murdered Will’s mother.
Will’s Personal Struggles and a Critical Connection
While Ulster hunts, Will is dealing with major changes in his personal life. He is in therapy with Dr. Roach, played by Margaret Cho, and is learning to process his anger instead of burying it. He is also awkwardly trying to connect with his newfound biological father, Caleb, and his large, noisy family.
At a family dinner, Will forms a quiet bond with Caleb’s grandson, Calvin, a young boy obsessed with sharks who feels overwhelmed in the crowd. Will reassures Calvin that sharks can’t get him on land, a moment of gentle understanding. This connection becomes the key to Ulster’s final trap. The killer deduces Calvin’s importance to Will, kidnaps him from a park, and uses him as bait to force a confrontation.
To save Calvin, Will agrees to meet Ulster alone at a riverside picnic table. He sends Calvin to safety with Faith’s phone number and then surrenders himself, placing zip-ties on his own wrists. Ulster ominously states, “Time to die,” setting the stage for the fabricated death scene that follows.
Major Updates for the Rest of the Team
The premiere also checks in on the rest of the GBI team, who are all dealing with the fallout from last season’s attacks:
- Amanda Wagner is back on crutches, still recovering from being shot. She returns to the office specifically to pull Will off the Ulster case, fearing he is too emotionally involved to be safe.
- Michael Ormewood is undergoing chemotherapy for a brain tumor. He is reassigned to desk duty, where he uses his skills to help the investigation from behind a computer.
- Angie Polaski is now visibly pregnant with her boyfriend Seth’s child. In a tender scene, Seth McDale proposes, and Angie accepts, though she confesses to a colleague she sometimes imagines a life where Will was the father.
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What Comes Next After the Cliffhanger
The story continues immediately in Episode 2, titled “Love Takes Time,” which premieres Tuesday, January 13, 2026, on ABC. The official description confirms the team will be “scrambling for answers” while Will, “trapped and wounded, races to outsmart his captor”. This makes it clear Will is alive but in grave danger.
In an interview, star and episode director Ramón Rodríguez teased the season’s focus on Will “unraveling” as therapy brings difficult emotions to the surface. The return of James Ulster forces Will to confront the deep-seated anger and trauma he has spent a lifetime controlling.
The aftermath of Sheriff Caleb’s decision to shoot and kill Reed Hobbs will also create conflict. Caleb acted to protect Will, but he overrode Will’s attempt to peacefully resolve the situation, straining their fragile new relationship. As producer Liz Heldens noted, “Caleb is used to being in charge. That’s a recipe for conflict” with Will, who values his independence.
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