On Call Leaves You With More Questions Asked Than Answered
We’ve all seen the popularity of police procedurals like Law & Order, Chicago PD, The Rookie, and 9-1-1: Lone Star. Dick Wolf’s first to-streaming series On Call is the newest addition to the list starring Pretty Little Liars star Troian Bellisario and Party Of Five’s Brandon Larracuente. The series follows rookie cop Alex Diaz paired with a tough training officer Traci Harmon as they track down an East Barrio gang member responsible for the death of fellow officer Maria Delgado.
As a big Pretty Little Liars fan, Bellisario’s acting is phenomenal in this series and her chemistry with Larracuente shines throughout. Her ability to display Harmon’s rigidness yet empathetic and at times humorous nature nicely bounces off Larracuente’s endearing portrayal. You get the sense of their connection immediately as they are there for one another with Harmon helping Diaz calm down in high-stakes situations. They’re polar opposites and it’s a bit cliche, but it works. Aside from the two leads, the supporting cast holds their own with Lori Loughlin as Lieutenant Bishop, Eriq La Salle as Sergeant Lasman, and Rich Ting as Sergeant Tyson Koyama. Though we don’t see much of them until later in the series, their performances are believable and hold a lot of the essence of a classic police force with their sternness and protectiveness.
From dealing with drug addicts to neighborhood disturbances, the season premiere primarily focuses on not only catching the murderer — who also goes by street name Maniac — but also the serious players in the gang including big time killer Smokey (Lobo Sebastian). Much of this ends up falling a bit flat with them catching Maniac mid-season with not much mention of him afterwards. The chase felt thrilling, but it gets hard to stay invested due to a lack of build-up.
It’s clear that Delgado’s passing strikes a cord with Harmon, possibly due to the fact that Delgado was her trainee. However, it seems deeper than just that fact alone. Harmon uses Smokey to gauge whatever intel she can get on Maniac’s whereabouts and succeeds. You can feel the tension between her and Smokey throughout the series and it left me wondering way more about their past, especially the last line he told her after trying to bust his drug drop. Her desire to seek justice for Delgado is only explained by her ferociousness and tears. There’s something there that isn’t explored enough with this season and leaves a few big ah-ha moments unfulfilled. Likewise, both characters have their own subplots as Harmon reveals she has an estranged ex-cop drug addict sister and Diaz has a brother in lock-up for a crime he allegedly didn’t commit. We get a few glimpses into these stories and, although interesting, it doesn’t give enough to understand their characters as a whole.
The pair often go out for different calls including subjects of child abuse, overdoses, and domestic violence. I wish the series spent a little more time on these topics that very much distress Harmon and Diaz in the same way. It seems they’re holding back a little bit from spending too much time getting viewers emotionally invested in these other cases while their ultimate goal is to focus on East Barrio. Unfortunately, this only adds to there not being enough context behind the duo and the vulnerability they display. On top of this, Harmon’s relationship with the other officers aren’t explored enough either. Diaz displays a certain distrust in Harmon due to other officers informing him that she can’t be trusted. This puts a strain into their partnership and Diaz flip flops between trusting and not trusting Harmon. Granted, Harmon does reveal why Lasman may have a grudge against her. It is the first season and I don’t expect for it to all be laid out, but I only hope that if the series gets renewed that those storylines are further fleshed out.
Between the series implementing engaging camera work including body cam footage and solid performances from the leading actors, On Call has all the great basics of any cop show with exhilarating action scenes and a few emotional moments. However, lack of character and world-building hinders the build-up towards the main plot. It has all the potential to improve if the series gets a season two renewal. With the finale nicely setting up for another season, we’ll just have to wait to see what’s in store for Harmon and Diaz.
On Call is out now on Prime Video.
