Susan Kelechi Watson

Q: Such a big deal was made about Susan Kelechi Watson of “This Is Us” joining “Will Trent,” why was her character killed off in the season premiere?

A: Though it wasn’t known before that episode aired in February, the ABC series had a specific purpose for making that move as it pertained to Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Trent (played by Ramon Rodriguez) going forward. He and Watson’s explosives-expert character Cricket Dawson established a connection quickly, and it seemed that it would proceed rapidly from the professional to the personal, since they were planning to go on a date.

What ultimately happened prevented that social occasion from happening, since Cricket didn’t have enough time to disarm a bomb that had been planted in the bureau’s parking garage. She was killed by the explosion, which she had tried to contain in a room within the garage … and her death added to the pain that Will already was trying to handle from other situations, including the murder of his biological mother and the strain of his complicated relationship with police detective Angie Polaski (Erika Christensen). Though she might not be a lasting physical presence on “Will Trent,” then, Cricket still has a place on the show as a spectre destined to continue to haunt Will as he makes his way through the show’s sophomore round. The addition of the character did its job for the brief time Cricket was around, since that season-opening episode achieved a ratings high for the series up to that point – not an easy thing to achieve in its Tuesday time slot against another crime procedural, CBS’ well-established and muchwatched “FBI.”