The ABC cop drama will never be the same.

Will Trent undergoes ‘painful but exciting’ reset after killing off major character in shocking twist

The ABC cop drama will never be the same.

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

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April 15, 2026 12:06 p.m. ET

Sonja Sohn (center) on 'Will Trent'. Credit:

Disney/Matt Miller

- Will Trent is bidding farewell to a main cast member after killing off one of its most beloved characters.

- The ABC cop drama has already been renewed for a fifth season.

- "It’s such a reset for our characters in a way that is painful but exciting," says series showrunner Karine Rosenthal.

**This article contains spoilers from *Will Trent* season 4, episode 15, "The Blank Expanse of Nothing."**

*Will Trent* will never be the same after killing off one of its central characters.

The Tuesday, April 14, episode has forever altered the fabric of the ABC show by marking the death of Sonja Sohn's Amanda Wagner, the GBI deputy director who has served as Will's (Ramón Rodrìguez) mentor and protector since the series began.

The latest episode, titled "The Blank Expanse of Nothing," saw Amanda secretly working with the FBI to track down the Commander, the mysterious young man linked to Adelaide Trevens (Mallory Jansen) and the cult-like group devoted to serial killer James Ulster.

Amanda seemed to successfully tail the Commander, but when the time came to confront him, she was intercepted by an unseen assailant. Unbeknownst to her, Will was secretly in contact with Adalaide, who called him on a burner phone to say that she'd left him a gift. At the episode's end, the harrowing present was revealed to be Amanda, dead in the street.

Sonja Sohn on 'Will Trent'.

Disney/Matt Miller

In an interview with *Variety*, series showrunners Liz Heldens, Daniel T. Thomsen, and Karine Rosenthal promised that Amanda’s death "sets off a chain of events that is going to take us to the end of the season."

The season has three episodes remaining, but rest assured,* Will Trent* has already been renewed for a fifth season at ABC. And in the aftermath of Amanda's death, the show will be undergoing some serious changes.

"Amanda has been the character who has protected Will for as long as she has known him,” Rosenthal told the publication of Sohn's character. "So this gives us the opportunity for a completely new dynamic in the GBI, because her replacement will not have that same relationship with Will. Her death had the most impact on the most amount of characters. It really sets everybody reeling from this enormous loss. So it’s such a reset for our characters in a way that is painful but exciting for season 5.”

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The trio of showrunners also made sure to celebrate Sohn, who was aware of her character's death early on and handled the news with "an impressive amount of grace.”

Thomsen noted, "Nobody gets to always exit their shows — even on the writing side — on their own terms all the time. It’s hard to do that with grace. So it was just very impressive. She is a total pro.”

Longtime viewers of *Will Trent *will recall that Amanda had a prior brush with death in season 3, when she was shot during a hostage situation. Heldens admitted that there were discussions about killing her off at the time, but said "no one had the heart to do it," adding, "I don’t think we were ready, honestly."

Ramón Rodrìguez and Sonja Sohn on 'Will Trent'.

Disney/Matt Miller

On the bright side, Amanda's death doesn't necessarily mean we've seen the last of Sohn. The show has a tendency to bring back departed characters as projections of Will’s mind. In that way, the door remains open for Sohn's return.

"That’s always a little comforting that we have a mechanism by which we could bring people back if Will needs to work something out,” Heldens told the outlet.

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*Will Trent,* which has never been shy about deploying shocking plot twists, just celebrated its most-watched season to date. The procedural is based on Karin Slaughter’s *New York Times *bestselling book series and follows Special Agent Will Trent, of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, who was abandoned at birth. He uses his unique point of view in the pursuit of justice and has the highest clearance rate in the GBI.

New episodes of *Will Trent* air Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and stream the next day on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.

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Source: “EW Crime”