Triggering memories seemed to be the theme of Will Trent Season 2 Episode 8.
The series has delved into Will's childhood this season, and it finally revealed the traumatic event that he had blocked out for years.
Elsewhere, when Michael and Angie investigated an Army Ranger's death, it brought up some feelings about Michael's time in the military.
We haven't even started discussing how important Lily's case was since she had been missing for 13 years, and certain clues from her case triggered Will.
As mentioned in the Will Trent Spoilers, Lily's case reminded me of The Promise episode from CSI: Vegas because no one initially took her disappearance seriously, and the trail went cold.
There are 60,000 missing Black women in this country. We’re going to get justice for this one.
Amanda
This case was personal to Amanda and Faith since so many Black women went missing and never were found.
Parts of the case seemed stereotypical since she seemed like a good girl who was in sports, helped out in the neighborhood, and had an older boyfriend that no one liked back then.
Her old boyfriend, Derek, seemed hostile and unhelpful when they questioned him. Everyone knows the old boyfriend is the first suspect, especially if he had prior run-ins with the law.
Derek: Are you arresting me?
Will: Not now. Not yet.
Derek: Well, until you do, you all can kiss my ass.
It was difficult to discern who would want to hurt Lily. The neighbors, the Royers, said their daughters adored her. Their main problem was that they caught Derek and Lily kissing while she was working a few times, but the wife blew it off as normal teenage behavior.
Mr. Royer's older son, Ethan, ended up filling in several missing pieces. His sketches matched the earlier tree sketch that Will and Faith found in Lily's room. Something about that tree sketch haunted Will. More about that in a bit.
Ethan's reaction to Lily's disappearance threw everyone off. They were only acquaintances, but he started abusing drugs after she went missing, and Will found an exquisite sketch of her in Ethan's belongings
Either he was secretly in love with her, or he had been obsessed with her. When Will learned that Ethan was treated as an unwanted guest and slept in the office with a window that overlooked Lily's room, he worried who else saw things.
Will couldn't handle this case. It triggered too many bad memories of impropriety, and Faith was the one who showed how much Lily Watkins mattered to people.
People did not forget. They were destroyed. Lily Watkins mattered.
Faith
Will has always kept everything bottled inside, but this secret was eating at him and giving him nightmares. He couldn't make sense of why Jack got shot, and Angie and Antonio grew worried as Will became distracted.
"Why Is Jack's Arm Bleeding" was one of the busiest episodes because Will kept remembering key details of his childhood during Lily's case. That tree sketch was pivotal because it triggered a memory of a flour canister with a similar picture.
Will kept replaying that flour canister until he remembered hiding Jack's gun and the bullets in the flour canister because he was trying to protect the other children. Will thought he had covered his bases, so he didn't understand how Jack got shot.
Seeing that Ethan's dad likely kidnapped and killed Lily triggered Will again, and he couldn't even finish processing the case. When he returned home, his memories finally flooded back to him, and it was fortunate that Uncle Antonio was there to pick up the pieces.
Here’s where it all happened. I blocked it out. I didn’t want to remember.
Will
Will has always felt unloved, and as these flashbacks unraveled, they made even more sense. These were so painful to watch as Will revealed how Sleeveless Jack used to hit his wife, Anna, and the kids.
I got his gun. I wanted to kill him! OMG, I tried to kill Jack. I shot him. What the hell was I thinking?
Will
Will hoped he could protect Anna and shoot Jack instead, but he made things worse because Jack beat him with the gun and murdered Anna in front of him. Will had blocked it out, and Antonio tried to reassure him that an abusive monster caused this tragedy, not him.
Will has been through so much lately, and I love that he recognized that it's time to be kinder to himself. That may include taking a vacation with his uncle or this fresh start with Angie.
They've both matured to realize what they need, so they are going into it with a fresh perspective, not just their baggage. They're willing to do the work.
I want this time to be different, Ang, me and you. I like having you in my life. It just feels right.
Will
We saw how much work Angie was willing to do as she finally helped Crystal process her sexual assault. Crystal had been leeting older men flirt with her to forget her trauma. She really is like a miniature Angie, and Angie wanted to nip that in the bud.
Thank goodness Crystal called before things got out of hand again.
Crystal: I go home with random guys to pretend I’m someone else.
Angie: Honey, I didn’t know you were having such a hard time.
Crystal: I tried. I tried to pretend it never happened like you said.
These were the scenes we needed Angie and Crystal to have. She's a kid who has to process this on her own and needs to fall apart.
Thankfully, she should heal better now that Angie arranged for both of her mentees to live together.
The series didn't even include a humorous case in this episode. When Angie and Michael investigate an Army Ranger veteran's death, that stirred up some feelings about Michael's time in the Army.
Ever since Amanda's centric, the rest of these character-rich episodes have focused on multiple stories. Knowing that Michael blamed himself for his friend Rudy's accident helps us understand why he's cautious about blaming another vet for Harry's death.
Michael knew what kinds of catastrophes happened on the battlefield and how devastating it could be to call the wrong code. Dredging up those memories to solve an old mystery only leads to trouble.
I bet. Stirring up those memories can be dangerous.
Michael
Still, even after learning the truth, he was determined to take out Wallace alive. He didn't want any more blood, and he tried to do the honorable thing as a brother in arms. It bothered me that Wallace practically spit at that and attacked Michael.
This was a wonderful arc for Michael, and he never realized how little he talked about his Army career until his children badgered his army pal Rudy (Kurt Yaeger) with questions.
He could finally forgive himself and let others see him as a hero. This may be a massive step for Michael and some of the other characters, as memories are all about perception.
Over to you, Will Trent Fanatics. Are you relieved we finally know the truth about Will's traumatic past? Do you want to see more of Will and Angie?
What are your thoughts on Michael's military history?
We'd love to hear your thoughts, so please share them with us below.