Will Trent

Starring Ramón Rodríguez and based on the bestselling book series of the same name, Will Trent is a new addition to ABC’s winter lineup. Featured in its trailer is a cover by Superhuman of the enduring 1970 hit All Right Now, originally by Free.

The trailer begins with just the opening piano chords playing faintly in the background as we first become acquainted with Trent. A reverse cymbal leads to a cut in the music in time for a dog’s whimper, setting a comedic tone. The opening riff is slightly cut and spliced, timed to synch roughly shot by shot. Note the use of the strings at 0:34 to reinforce a moment of sentimentality as Trent looks at an old photograph. At 0:52 a fuller arrangement is played as the emotional stakes are raised, as we learn a bit more about Trent’s character. The match cut at 1:03 from the punch to the person jumping off the bridge is timed judiciously to a climactic moment in the music (with the use of telltale epic percussion). At 1:15 the tone veers back towards the comedic with the use of an additional dinging sound, adding a humorous synch point to Trent’s eyebrow raise. At 1:15, we can hear how the chords for the song are rearranged in triple (rather than 4/4) meter, heightening the drama.

Overall, the track serves as an effective counterbalance to the various one-liners that punctuate the trailer. It offers the free-spirited nature of the original track, with Superhuman’s various trailerized embellishments, such as the use of strings. While not original in the least—the trailer for The Orville Season 2, from 2018, uses the same track—if the goal is to be serviceable, the tonal and thematic ambiguity of the song has proven to be useful here. The music is kept at a low-key level, even as the punch lines reflect Will’s lad back character. Perhaps the notable insight here is that there can be trailerized cover versions of songs that are generic enough to be widely used in such disparate series as The Orville and Will Trent. Of course, the real tell would be to see whether the track continues to be used, and if the use of trailerized covers across multiple series may yet prove to be a trend.

Will Trent premiered on ABC January 3rd.

— Curtis Perry