The ABC drama won’t return until midseason, alongside “High Potential.”

Why Will Trent fans will have to wait until 2027 for season 5 ‘reset’ after season 4’s bloodbath

The ABC drama won't return until midseason, alongside "High Potential."

By Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on Entertainment Tonight and Popsugar.

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May 12, 2026 4:35 p.m. ET

Ramón Rodríguez on 'Will Trent'. Credit:

Wilford Harewood/Disney

- *Will Trent* season 5 won't premiere on ABC until 2027.

- Similarly, season 3 of the network's top series *High Potential* will also air during the midseason.

- "We want to give viewers a chance to watch these shows with as little interruption as possible across the season," said Ari Goldman, ABC's SVP of Content Strategy and Scheduling.

Fans have secured the season 5 renewal for *Will Trent*, but now comes the true test of loyalty — waiting for the premiere!

Much like its previous seasons, the ABC series — which debuted in 2023 and stars Ramón Rodríguez as the titular character — won't return to the small screen until the network's midseason. That means fans won't see how things have changed with Will and company after season 4's devastating losses until January 2027.

Similarly, season 3 of the network's top series *High Potential* will also air during the midseason, pairing up with *Will Trent *for another round of what Ari Goldman, ABC's SVP of Content Strategy and Scheduling, revealed was lovingly dubbed "Tuesday Cluesday."

"What we've seen the last several years, and we've really proven this out with *Will Trent* and *The Rookie* back in midseason of 24 and 25, is we want to give viewers a chance to watch these shows with as little interruption as possible across the season," Goldman told *Deadline *in a recent interview exploring the network's 2026-27 schedule. "So I think when we get to the midseason plans, and you think about the opportunities that we have on the ABC schedule, going from New Year's Rockin' Eve to the College Football Playoff, the Grammys, the Oscars and obviously the Super Bowl. I think we have such amazing momentum at the start of 27 to bring the show back in a big way."

Jake McLaughlin, Iantha Richardson, Ramón Rodríguez, and Kevin Daniels on 'Will Trent'.

Wilford Harewood/Disney

Goldman noted that *Will Trent* and *The Rookie*'s success as midseason replacements in the last couple of seasons before the latter was moved to Mondays to make room for new series *R.J. Decker, *was the perfect indicator for success for *High Potential*. The Kaitlin Olson-led ABC crime series earned the biggest season 1 to season 2 increase for a network drama since *Glee* back in 2010.

"So, clearly, the show is resilient," he said.

And while ABC hasn't revealed what will join *Will Trent* and *High Potential* for a new Tuesday Cluesday next year, the network did announce the lineup for fall. *R.J. Decker *will remain airing in its Tuesday 10 p.m. slot into the fall where it will air after* Dancing With the Stars.*

*R.J. Decker* reportedly received a partial renewal order, which means if it continues to be a hit with viewers in the fall, it could be expanded and potentially reunite with *Will Trent* and *High Potential* on Tuesday in January.

ABC's other series — including *Scrubs, Abbott Elementary, Celebrity Jeopardy, Shark Tank, 9-1-1, 9-1-1: Nashville, Grey’s Anatomy*, and *Celebrity Wheel of Fortune* —will all retain their usual fall timeslots.

'Matlock' showrunner explains why season 3 won't premiere until 2027

Everything we know about 'High Potential' season 3 so far, including one major cast shakeup

*Will Trent* season 4 proved to be the series' most shocking outing yet, with multiple deaths thinning out the ensemble and making for an uneasy future. First, Amanda, Will's mentor, was killed while investigating a cult-like group forming around a serial killer. And then Dr. Seth McDale (Scott Foley) died in a car accident while driving his wife Angie Polaski (Erika Christensen) to the hospital to deliver her baby.

Meanwhile, Will and Faith Mitchell (Iantha Richardson) team with Angie and her fellow APD detectives Ormewood (Jake McLaughlin), and Franklin (Kevin Daniels) to investigate a sex-trafficking ring that may or may not have ties to some very powerful figures. Will and Ormewood will be working together as partners, and Faith and Angie will also pair up.

While there's no official synopsis for season 5 just yet, showrunners Liz Heldens, Daniel T. Thomsen, and Karine Rosenthal teased a bit of what to expect in an interview with TV Insider.

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"Going into season 5, it just really felt like we needed a reset and some new energy, and some new dynamics," said Heldens, saying the season 4 deaths aligned with "what we thought was best for the future of the show."

Thomsen, meanwhile, said the trafficking case allows for a story about how "power corrupts, and we’ve got these good guys who aren’t going to let that hold them back."

Judy Reyes, Javicia Leslie, and Kaitlin Olson on 'High Potential'.

Raymond Liu/Disney

*High Potential* had a similar run during season 2, which included a brutal, blood-soaked moment that put Capt. Nick Wagner's (Steve Howey) survival in jeopardy.

Olson previously teased what's next in a chat with PEOPLE, sharing that there are "so many places that we can go with this next season."

"It's very exciting and it definitely starts with, does Wagner make it or not?" she acknowledged. "Now more than ever, now that somebody that she deeply cares about got really hurt or is potentially dead, everything changed. I mean, I think she just wants to put the lid back on, but it's too late. That's just always so much more fun to watch when things are completely off the rails, and it's certainly more fun to play."

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