• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, January 3, 2023

The first new network drama of 2023 shows great promise -- if it can steer clear of the usual TV-show clichés.

Unfortunately, two of these showed up in the pilot’s final scene, putting a dent in my enthusiasm for the show, “Will Trent,” about a police detective who has his own idiosyncratic way of practicing his profession. The show premieres Tuesday night on ABC.

Will Trent’s official title is Special Agent for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) based in Atlanta. He is a star detective with a knack for closing cases that stymie everyone else.

Detectives with unique deductive powers and abilities are plentiful on TV -- some successful and some not. It all depends on the story and the writing.

First impressions are important, right? The Will Trent character makes a great impression from the get-go.

One reason for this is that the show reveals aspects of his life and backstory bit by bit -- organically, you might say -- without a lot of forced, awkward exposition -- or worse, a dreaded narrator.

The other reason is the actor who plays him, Ramon Rodriguez (pictured above with co-star Sonja Sohn). He plays Trent with just the right mix of detachment and intensity.

In the tradition of all such TV detectives, Will’s story has unique aspects. We learn in Episode 1 that Will is dyslexic and grew up as an orphan.

The character is a creation of mystery writer Karin Slaughter, who so far has written 10 “Will Trent” mysteries.

In the premiere of “Will Trent,” Trent is assigned to a brutal murder case in a well-to-do neighborhood.

By the time he gets there, police have cordoned off the property and investigators are already hard at work piecing together what happened.

Trent is not exactly greeted with open arms. At the moment, just about everyone in law enforcement -- GBI or Atlanta police -- despises him for a previous case in which he was assigned to investigate corruption among his fellow agents.

Nevertheless, Trent strides into the crime scene and silently makes a number of close observations. He then comes to conclusions that fly in the face of the work already performed by the police on the scene. And he is right, of course.

What transpires is a fast-paced investigation with surprise twists and turns all aimed at finding a kidnapped teenage girl before it is too late.

It’s great stuff, but then, near the end of the episode, the show’s pace comes to an abrupt halt when Will is home and is visited by an old flame -- another cop played by Erika Christensen -- and within a few seconds they are in an amorous clinch in a sex scene that has no business being there.

I sometimes call this kind of thing “TV-itis,” which is an affliction of TV shows brought on by a producer or network exec’s great, and usually irrational, need to make a TV show look like all the rest of them.

Then, after enduring this gratuitous, meaningless sex scene, a knock on the door heralds the shocking arrival of a surprise visitor. And then, fade to black -- yes, a cliffhanger.

This was unfortunate because the case Will was investigating surely called for it to be wrapped up by episode’s end.

Maybe it’s just me, but cliffhanger endings make me feel like I’ve been had when they require me to wait a week to see what happens after I have invested an hour waiting to find out.

 “Will Trent” premieres on Tuesday (January 3) at 10 p.m. Eastern on ABC.