Dick Wolf’s new police drama, On Call, is Law & Order on steroids. Set in Long Beach, California, each 30-minute episode is jam-packed with violent encounters not allowed on network television where Wolf’s other shows (the FBI and Chicago trifectas) appear. The eight episodes include a severed head, a badly injured dog, a mentally ill man who sets himself on fire, and several bloody assaults. With so much action, character development takes a back seat, but what we do learn about each cop and criminal is enough to understand their motivations.
Like ABC’s The Rookie, On Call makes good use of body cameras, capturing the action as the police officers are seeing it. At times it makes for jerky video, but it also brings home how every situation a cop faces has the potential to turn violent.
Troian Bellisario (Traci Harmon) and Brandon Larracuente (Alex Diaz) Photo Credit/Erin Simkin/Prime Video
Officer Traci Harmon is played by Troian Bellisario not unfamiliar to cop/detective shows since her father, Daniel, created Magnum P.I., Quantum Leap, JAG, and NCIS. Bellisario made her acting debut at age three and guest-starred in an episode of Quantum Leap when she was five. She has an impressive resume, including playing Spencer Hastings in Pretty Little Liars, and her strong performance as Harmon is sure to bring her new fans.
Harmon is wound as tightly as her hair bun, training newbies to the Long Beach police force. One of her last trainees, Officer Maria Delgado (Monica Raymund of Wolf’s Chicago Fire), is gunned down on a traffic stop. The shooter, dubbed Maniac, is a member of the East Barrio street gang and Delgado’s killing sets off a vendetta as Harmon seeks justice for the dead cop.
Eriq La Salle (Sergeant Lasman) Photo Credit/ Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Morris
Harmon’s next trainee, Alex Diaz (Brandon Larracuente of The Good Doctor), is earnest and eager to please Harmon, but is warned by another young cop not to trust her. Harmon and Diaz do have something in common that soon bonds them. Harmon’s sister was a cop but after being injured on duty got hooked on opioids and is now a heroin addict and homeless. Harmon’s efforts to help her never succeed. Diaz’s brother is serving time in prison and their mother blames Alex when her other son is being targeted because of Maniac’s arrest.
Lori Loughlin (Lieutenant Bishop) Photo Credit/ Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Morris
Harmon was once a rookie herself and her mentor, Sergeant Koyama (Rich Ting) is eager to have her on his drug enforcement team. Harmon, however, has not endeared herself to her two superiors. Sergeant Lasman (Eriq La Salle, who also directs several episodes), blames her for a past screw up, and Lieutenant Bishop (Lori Loughlin, making her return to acting after her own two-month stint in prison for the college bribery scandal), knows that Harmon has threatened suspects to extract information. When Harmon is denied the promotion, she knows one of her bosses is responsible for the “brick” blocking her move. But in case the series is renewed for a second season, Harmon and Diaz will have to continue to ride together.
And if the first season is any indication, the second one will continue as a very bumpy ride.
On Call can be streamed on Amazon Prime.
Top: Troian Bellisario (Traci Harmon) in On Call. Photo Credit/ Elizabeth Morris/Prime Video
