TV Recap: “Will Trent” Uncovers a Multi-State Child Trafficking Operation

This week’s new episode of Will Trent serves up not one but two guest stars! Ariana Madix (Love Island USA) plays herself, while Scott Foley (Felicity, Scandal) is introduced as a potential recurring love interest for Angie. But of course, nobody can upstage Betty, who thankfully gets a lot of screen time in this episode. Without further ado, let’s recap!

Season 3, Episode 8 - “Abigail B." - Written by Antoine Miguel Perry

Michael Ormewood (Jake McLaughlin) has Angie Polaski (Erika Christensen) on speakerphone as he gets ready for a private security gig he picked up on his day off. He will be the security detail for Ariana Madix (Herself) for an event at her hotel. As he finishes getting ready, Faith Mitchell (Iantha Richardson) arrives at Ormewood’s house. She is in the process of selling her condo and might be renting a room from him temporarily, which will help with his financial slump in the wake of his divorce. Angie and Faith bring up the fact that Ormewood’s situation sounds similar to the plot of the 1992 film The Bodyguard.

Ariana Madix is disappointed that Ormewood didn’t arrive in a police uniform as he explains that he’s off-duty today. She immediately asks him about the rules of detaining a person against their will. He soon realizes that he’s there for someone’s intervention, with a gaggle of friends and family already assembled in the suite. The guest of honor, Raina (Kosha Patel), arrives, and she’s none too thrilled to be confronted about her drug use. When Raina tries to get out of the situation by going to the bathroom, Ariana insists that she leave her purse behind. They fight over the handbag, and drugs fall out. Ormewood bends down to grab them, and Raina sprays mace in his face.

Will Trent (Ramón Rodríguez) is out for a walk with his dog, Betty, at a busy park. He ties the chihuahua to a bench so he can use the restroom. As he goes in, Betty calls his attention to a scared-looking girl (Reya Anderson) being pulled along by a man in a tan jacket and cap. Will hesitates for a moment before going in the bathroom. But when he sees a child’s pink coat in the trash can, he panics and runs out. He scans the park and doesn’t see the girl. Then he spots the tan jacket and cap in the bushes. He sees who he believes is the man and chases him down, apprehending him.

The man (John Ales) refuses to talk in the interrogation room, telling Will that he’s a tax lawyer who will be acting as his own council. He threatens to sue Will for tackling him and detaining him without evidence. He knows he has 24 hours for them to charge him with a crime before they have to let him go.

A fight broke out after Ormewood was maced, during which Raina ran away. Ormewood hurt his left shoulder, but luckily, Ariana is EMT trained and helps set it for him. She offers to double Ormewood’s fee if he can help her find Raina. She believes her friend went to her favorite cowboy bar, Step Right In.

Will goes to the GBI conference room to meet with Faith and Amanda Wagner (Sonja Sohn) about the missing girl. The jacket is for a colder climate than Atlanta, and it has a name written on the tag - Abigail B. In the pockets, they find a brand of chapstick that is only sold in the Pacific Northwest. Amanda reaches out to airport security to look for footage of the girl coming off a flight from that region. Faith helps arrange a map of hotels in the area.

Angie was trying to perform an oil change on her car for the first time by herself. Pulled over on the side of a road, as she topped off the tank, a biker was nearly run off the road by a driver who didn’t stop. Angie rushed to help the man, Seth McDale (Scott Foley), who hurt his wrist in the fall. She offers to take him to the hospital.

Will returns to the man in the interrogation room with some new information. First, his name from TSA - Harlan Remy Jenner. Will pulls out a security camera screenshot of Harlan wearing the tan jacket and cap that were discarded in the park. Will also knows that Harlan flew to Seattle, was there less than 6 hours, and then flew back to Atlanta. The missing girl was also spotted coming off the same flight under the name Abigail Fielding, accompanied by a woman named Elenor Fielding, who was presumed to be the girl’s mother. But Will says the odd thing is that Harlan sat next to Abigail on the flight. Harlan remains calm, saying this is all circumstantial and that they won’t find footage of him with Abigail at either airport. Will offers Harlan some leniency on his sentence if he helps them get Abigail back. He insists that he’s innocent.

Back in the conference room, Will updates Faith and Amanda, adding that Harlan seemed to be anxiously checking Will’s watch for the time. He thinks Harlan is trying to stall until after Abigail’s next handoff in a series of child traffickers. He wants to trick Harlan into thinking it’s later than it is.

Faith enters the interrogation room, treating it like a break room. Harlan was offered Chinese food, which he ate. She closed the shades and turned up the heat. She makes small talk about a dream she had where her body had a hard time moving as if she was stuck in the mud. Recognizing Harlan’s sleepy state, she slows down her speech and he begins to nap in his chair.

Angie helps Seth fill out his intake paperwork at the emergency room. He likens Angie to a saint. While there, a woman next to Seth (Janice Miley Wesley) falls over, and he recognizes she’s having a seizure. He calls over nurses and begins to give them instructions. Angie is stunned to learn that Seth is a doctor.

The bartender (Erwin Chung) at Step Right In doesn’t speak English, but that’s no problem for Ariana, who knows Cantonese and asks him for information on Raina. He tells her he will ask around and be back in 15 minutes. While they wait, Ariana wants to join the line dancing class. Ormewood tells her he doesn’t dance, so she makes it a condition for him to get paid.

Marion Alba (Gina Rodriguez) is still recovering from her attack, both physically - a hairline fracture on her head - and mentally, with PTSD. But she has overcome these challenges to join in helping to find Abigail. Faith has identified Abigail’s real mother, Rebecca Brannon, who was found bound in her Idaho home by a relative. One of her neighbors was a registered sex offender, whom Faith believes was the first step in Abigail’s abduction.

While learning the line dance routine, Ormewood reveals that he’s a fan of Ariana’s work, having even watched her compete on Dancing with the Stars. Ariana tells him that Raina is like a sister to her and that she’s the one who encouraged her to follow her dreams to L.A. With the demonstration over, the music kicks in, and Ariana is surprised by how into it Ormewood gets, singing along to “I Like It, I Love It" by Tim McGraw. But all good things must come to an end. The bartender motions for Ariana to come over to hear his update.

Will Trent is haunted by this case, going to the empty press room with Betty to think. He envisions Abigail with him, promising to save her. Marion enters, sitting with Will and checking on him. Will kicks himself for not taking action sooner. He felt something wasn’t right the moment Betty barked at Harlan in the park. Without Will having to talk about his past, Marion deduces that he had an abusive childhood in foster care and consoles him. Faith enters with some good news. “We found the kidnapper."

A nurse (Sheryl Carbonell) flirts with Seth, whose arm is now in a cast, as she offers him stronger pain medication than ibuprofen. Angie is surprised when he declines, saying he’s sober. She shares that she is too. Angie reveals that she’s a detective, and while Seth was being treated, she tracked down the driver responsible. Seth suggests they have dinner together to celebrate.

The bartender gave Ariana the address of a warehouse, which she and Ormewood broke into. They find Raina tied up and free her from her binds. But on their way out, they are confronted by her drug dealer Silas (Kristopher Charles) and his henchman (Malik Haynes), who say Raina can’t leave until they receive the $5,000 she owes. Ariana offers her earrings, which she says are worth more than that. Silas is satisfied by that as payment, but he still wants to punish Raina by removing some of her teeth. Ormewood and Ariana both spring into action, fighting them off and escaping. As they rush out, Ariana’s heel gets stuck in the cement. Ormewood picks her up, carrying her out like the iconic scene from The Bodyguard.

$30,000 in cash was found in the kidnapper’s car in Idaho. Marion asks for a serial number of one of the bills and tracks it, saying it was minted in Georgia and entered circulation last week. Faith and Will set their watches forward 3 hours and return to the interrogation room, waking up Harlan. They tell Harlan about the money found on the kidnapper, and that they know he withdrew $10,000 from three local banks before his trip. The serial numbers match. Harlan claims he was robbed, which infuriates Will. He picks up a book and throws it at Harlan, nearly hitting him. Will yells that this is Harlan’s last chance to tell them where Abigail is and reduce his charges. “Fine, I’ll make a deal," Harlan gives in.

At dinner, Angie cuts Seth’s steak for him since he is struggling with his cast. Seth asks for the limit to Angie’s generosity, she says she hates doing laundry. Seth flirtatiously asks Angie if she’s being so nice out of guilt for parking in a bike lane, forcing him into the road where he had his accident. She confesses, and he asks her to make it up to him with a proper date when his arm is better. She writes her phone number on his cast.

Marion presents Harlan with a document to sign that says that the city of Atlanta and state of Georgia won’t prosecute him for any crimes relating to the trafficking of Abigail in exchange for her location. After signing, he tells them the hotel and room number they will find him at. Faith calls a local team to retrieve her. Harlan gets up to leave, but a man steps out of a side room, an FBI agent, who arrests Harlan. He’s confused, but Marion reminds him that as a tax lawyer, he should be aware of jurisdictions and since this crime crossed state lines, it’s in the FBI’s purview.

Will and Betty go to the hospital to see Abigail, giving her a stuffed chihuahua that looks just like Will’s dog. Abigail recognizes Will from the park and thanks him for saving her. He tells her a lot of people helped. “You are a very important person," he tells her, asking a nurse to get the girl some chocolate pudding. Abigail’s mom is on her way to Atlanta to be reunited with her daughter.

Marion waited for Will outside Abigail’s room. Sitting together, Will showers Marion with gratitude for stepping up to help despite her own pain. “Everything you did today, I asked, and you were there in spite of everything. I would like to take care of you." He invites Marion to his house, saying he’s there for her if she wants to talk, but they can also watch TV and eat popcorn, or just stare at the ceiling together. “Whatever you need," he offers.

At Ormewood’s request, Ariana stops by his house on her way to the airport to catch a flight to Singapore. He surprises her with a jewelry box, her earrings, saying the drug dealers gave them back to avoid an issue with the APD. She thanks him, and he thanks her for showing him more fun than he’s had in a long time. As a former contestant and current host of a dating show, she advises him to rip the bandaid off and get back out there. He asks when he should do that. “Now," she says, leaning in for a passionate kiss with her bodyguard.

Next Episode: “This Kid’s Gonna Be Alright" - Airing Tuesday, March 11th, at 8/7c on ABC

Will and Faith dive into the high-profile murder of a famous rapper, uncovering a web of corruption stretching beyond the music industry. Meanwhile, Angie and Ormewood investigate an underground swinger’s club, where nothing is quite as it seems.

Songs Featured in This Episode: