Travis Aaron Wade reprises his role as Cole Trenton in tonight’s episode
Travis Aaron Wade is back to reprise his role as Cole Trenton, the former torturer and enemy of the Winchesters. But this time, he’s not seeking vengeance. Tonight’s Supernatural episode, titled “The Things They Carried,” focuses on a murder case that involves a military man who happens to be a close friend of Cole.
Entertainment Weekly sat down with Wade to discuss his character on tonight’s episode. Certainly, things are different, but it doesn’t mean that Cole has become all buddy-buddy with Sam and Dean, but maybe we’ll see how much their previous interactions have had an affect on all of them. Travis explains the details of the episode:
On the murder case:
“A buddy of mine—we served together in the military—his wife has contacted me and says that he’s acting abnormal and she feels that he’s very ill and thinks that maybe it’s PTSD,” Wade says. “She’s not quite sure what’s going on with him, so she calls his best friend to come in and help. But the boys are already hot on the case, so we kind of run into each other and I’m not quite sure I want them helping my friend because I know the way they help.”
On the Winchesters having Cole on the case:
“Civilians have a very difficult time gaining information from the military,” Wade said. “But someone who has military experience or military contacts has something valuable for the boys that they’d probably have a hard time getting. So I’ve got information that can get them information.”
“And I don’t think they want anybody riding in their backseat,” Wade added. “But I’m an asset to them, and as long as I’m an asset, they’re going to have to work with me. And I need their wisdom and experience as well because I think they’re pretty good at tracking.”
On bonding with Sam and Dean:
“A lot of people tend to bond with the person they’ve been in a fight with,” Wade said. “I think there’s a natural occurrence within men once they’ve slugged it out, more so with me and Dean because we went toe-to-toe and we got a chance to fight each other.”
“I think [Sam] is a little bit more sympathetic. There’s a bonding that happens when you beat and torture someone. There is an actual scientific name behind it. It is an interesting phenomenon. So many people I know that have been through that in the military end up having some connection with their torturer.”
More on the Khan worm:
“There’s a history with the Khan worm with the show,” Wade said, bringing us back to the days when Dean killed his own cousin while under the influence of the Khan worm. And this time around, it sounds like the worm is just as lethal. “The Khan worm essentially dehydrates you and kills you, but it turns you evil prior to that so you’re on the hunt for liquids, essentially—blood or water, whatever you can consume because the thing is eating you alive. As you try to survive, you’re capable of doing possibly anything. I’ve been infected and I’m trying to save my best friend who’s been infected, so we’ll see how the boys are able to help me, if they’re able to help me at all. It could be bad. It’s not the easiest thing to survive.”
On dealing with the fans of the show:
“The more I hurt the boys, I think I lose fans,” Wade said, laughing. “Even on set, I’m like, ‘Do I really have to punch him?’ Because if I hit these boys, if I touch their faces, these female fans come at me, personally. They want to take out Travis, so it’s a very sensitive subject when it comes to hurting the J2’s.”
Supernatural airs Wednesday nights at 9pm on the CW.
Read more at EW.com.
