TF1 unveils a new American series, Will Trent, from May 15. The adaptation of a novel about the fate of an FBI agent, abandoned at birth and endowed with extraordinary abilities.
TF1 is continuing its marathon of launches and all-out tests in the spring of 2024, with the aim of seeing new series with high audiences bud and perhaps even blossom. After a surge of new concepts for French detective series, it is an American series that the first channel is broadcasting this time, from Wednesday May 15, 2024, at 9:10 p.m. Will Trent tells the story of a senior Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) agent who, despite his dyslexia and a childhood spent in the foster care system, is able to solve desperate cases thanks to his past and his point of view. unique view.
The story of this cop abandoned at birth is based on the literary saga “Will Trent”, by Karin Slaughter, a bestseller in the United States with around fifteen volumes, novels and short stories, published between 2006 and 2023. And TF1 didn’t go looking for Will Trend in the back of a cupboard. In the United States, where season 2 has just ended on the ABC channel, the series has been such a hit that a season 3 has already been announced. At the beginning of April, an episode of this second season, the highest rated of all time, even broke an audience record with just over 9 million multiplatform viewers over seven days, according to ABC.
Ramón Rodríguez, who plays the title role of Trent, finds his first real hero here after appearances in around ten films (Attack on Subway 123, Transformers 2: Revenge, Need for Speed) and as many series (New York, Special Unit, Charlie’s Angels). He is accompanied by other faces little known to the general public in France: Sonja Sohn in the role of Amanda Wagner, Erika Christensen in the role of Angie Polaski, Iantha Richardson in the role of Faith Mitchell and Jake McLaughlin in the role of Michael Ormewood.
The Will Trent series deemed better than the books
The good news about this Will Trent is that Karin Slaughter, who invented the character for her books, is an executive producer on the series, along with Liz Heldens and Daniel Thomsen. A guarantee of respect for the original work, but also of success in the alterations made for the screens. And this is undoubtedly what makes many fans say that the Will Trent series is sometimes even better than the books.
“Last year, when I first wrote about Will Trent, I hadn’t read any of Karin Slaughter’s books. I got distracted, but I finally pulled out the first book in the series library last month I hated this book so much that I almost put it in the freezer,” an American blogger recently wrote about the saga.
Once is not customary in the adaptation of a literary saga into series, Internet users who already knew Will Trent say they are indeed delighted with all the changes made to the plot. If Karin Slaughter’s first novel, Triptych, had rather won over the critics, the transformation of certain characters, starting with the cop Michael Ormewood, a key character but also a sociopath who kills women, is rather welcome in the television version. Other drastic changes were made which also seem to have been very popular across the Atlantic. But telling you more would risk spoiling the whole adventure of this endearing cop.