Will Trent - TV vs Book

[IdLikeToBeAFraser]

If you are watching/reading, be warned, my question is about a very fundemental difference between the books and the TV show (series 1) and how this might play out. Stop reading now if this is not something you want to know about.

I watched Season 1. Thoroughly enjoyed it and as Season 2 started, decided to see how the books are. But the fact that Michael is intrinsically a BADDY in the first book (I've only read most of book 1 so far), twhile, it appears, in Season 1 he is a flawed but overall good man..... its messing with my head? Do we think that in Season 2 (or subsequently) they'll turn it all on its head and make him a baddie after all!?

Because I haven't read any of the other books, I don't know if the story in season 1 is completely fresh or is based on one of the later books and if they're threferoe doing the stories in a random order (Reacher style) or if they're making up entirely new stories and they've decided to make Michael a long term character we like?

Bumping for evening crowd.....

I've only watched the first two episodes of the second season so far (loved the first one) I was thinking today about how they've fundamentally changed the character of Angie from the books. She was much more self serving and heartless in the books. I'm guessing Michael will end up doing something bad to do with his wife but it will be more of a grey area then what he does in the books and the rest of the characters wi be conflicted in what to do about it.

The Will Trent books are my absolute favourite, the writing add character development is just perfection and I love Will. I love Will and Sarah as a couple but the TV adaptation fails very very flat in comparison and is not comparable in any way shape or form really. It's so different I just imagine them to be different franchises.

In the books Will is incredibly social awkward, does everything he can to avoid conflict and is treated terribly by the women in his life. He's desperate for love and to be loved but doesn't even raise he's worthy of it until he meets Sarah. He's also very tall and with blond with a very athletic physique. Angie is an incredibly traumatised woman that is very clearly unstable and enjoys torturing Will like a vindictive child ripping the wings off flies. Wills uncle is a monster in the books. Will has nobody until Sarah. The only real similarities between the books and the series is some story lines and the characted names. Everything has had been changed and messed with.

I love the books too but I'm glad Sarah's not in the series as she's my least favourite character. The series is very different from the books but I'm enjoying it as it's own thing. I agree the Will in the series is not the same Will as in the books but I like both versions. I do like the relationship between Will and Sarah in the books but I'm not really missing it in the series, I do kind of hope Lena turns up. I wonder if Karin Slaughter didn't give them the rights to Sarah's character in case she sells a grant county series.

And OP in answer to your question they made a lot of changes from the books. So they play with the timelines, in the books, angie isnt assigned to work on cases Wills on, they change who some of killers are and conflate several chacters into one. Most the cases angie and Michael work on aren't in the books and there's some episodes which I think aren't based on the books at all but i
I havent read all the short stories.i think they use the books as jumping off points and then craft new stories to fit the series format. The Reacher series is much more faithfull to the books.

I just started book 2 and obviously the overall story is the story in season 1. I will continue to hope that michael is NOT, in fact, a serial killer!

It isn't like the books at all is it. I just wish they'd called him Fred Smith and did a programme in its own right and I could enjoy it. I love the books and the programme is so wrong I can't watch it, saw two programmes and my blood pressure couldn't take anymore. None of the characters feel right to me and if they used different names I wouldn't recognise it as anything to do with the books.

@Iwasafool I agree, but I do watch the show but don't think of it as Will Trent the books at all if that makes sense, I just enjoy it as a TV show.
When I first started watching it it really bothered me how different the characters were but I read the first books so long ago I barely remember them anymore so I have mostly got over it 😃

This has reminded me to check if I have read the latest books and I have three to read so thank you @IdLikeToBeAFraser for bringing that to my attention 😁

Maybe I'll try it again, I just wish they had different names and I didn't keep thinking that isn't ..........

@Iwasafool I felt that way about the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time books/show. Then, weirdly, I reread all the books, then went back to the TV show and in my head, started treating it almost like a completely different series set in the same universe and absolutely LOVED them.

I am only 1 book in but am interested in the view that Angie is so different. I think she's the character that to me seems the most the same between books and show so far.