After the murder of one of them, the Long Beach police department is on edge. In On Call we follow new officer Diaz and his supervisor Harmon who, in between patrolling, try to find the perpetrators of the murder. There are already tons of police shows in today's TV landscape. A large part of this comes from Dick Wolf, who is not only responsible for the Law & Order series, but also for FBI and Chicago PD (including spin-offs). Yet this is apparently not enough for the now quite elderly TV maker. His latest title is On Call, a police series that was made for Amazon Prime Video and appeared on the streaming service at the beginning of this year.
Alex Diaz (Brandon Larracuente) is fresh out of the police academy and starting his first shifts at the Los Angeles Long Beach unit. This department just suffered a major loss, something that everyone in the station is still struggling to come to terms with. Alex wants to make a good first impression and starts his first shift full of enthusiasm and courage. His supervisor Traci Harmon (Troian Bellisario) has a lot of experience in training 'rookies' and sees Diaz as an interesting challenge.
The episodes last around 30 minutes, which is a bit shorter than an average police series.
The first few minutes of the series immediately set the tone. On Call opens with the brutal murder of policewoman Maria Delgado (Monica Raymund), who bleeds to death in the middle of the street. The series immediately makes it clear what kind of atmosphere you can expect. On Call does not shy away from intense images and portrays the situations the characters find themselves in in a raw and realistic way. Bodycam and camera images alternate, which provides an intense and immersive viewing experience. Each episode features different police cases, but Delgado's murder remains a common thread throughout the season.
Heading the Long Beach Police Department is Lieutenant Bishop (Lori Loughlin), a strict but fair executive determined to find Delgado's killers. Harmon gets along well with her, but her relationship with Sergeant Lasman (Eriq La Salle) is more complicated. They have a completely different view of police work and therefore regularly clash. These tensions are an important part of the story. The series shows that police work is much more than just catching criminals: from license plate checks to building network connections—everything plays a role in doing the job effectively.
The cast is full of well-known names and the acting is of a high level. Eriq La Salle was a striking appearance, especially because he can be seen as an actor again after years of working behind the scenes. He was also creatively involved in On Call as director of half of the season.
Although I have little to say about On Call in terms of quality, I am still not very enthusiastic about the series.
The episodes last about 30 minutes, which is shorter than the average police show. Yet it doesn't feel like anything is missing; the pace is fast and the episodes are constructed effectively. There is little attention to the private lives of the characters—almost everything takes place in and around the police car. Nevertheless, the characters are given sufficient depth and as a viewer you get to know them better with each episode.
I would like to warn animal lovers about episode six. Without giving any spoilers, I thought this was a tough episode to watch, especially because of the way a case involving a dog was handled. My heart broke. But to be honest, other heavy stories—for example involving children—were also impressive and movingly told. That's great, especially considering the fact that the series only lasts four hours in total and a lot happens in that short time.
Although I have little to say about On Call in terms of quality, I am not very enthusiastic about it. This mainly has to do with the lack of originality. Everything this series brings, I have seen before in other police dramas. After watching the eight episodes, I was impressed by the level, but I felt no curiosity for a second season.
On Call proves that even with strong actors and realistic, emotional stories, it takes more to really stand out in this genre. The idea is good, but with the enormous amount of police dramas, the series cannot distinguish itself from the rest.
Mike (1995) has been a member of MySeries since 2016 and is mainly active on the English version of the site. Since 2018, he has been actively translating news articles, columns, reviews and basically everything that ends up on the Dutch site. The original articles, columns and reviews were actually written by others. During the week Mike can be found at IKEA, where he is a national systems specialist and occasionally also in the classroom to teach an English lesson. In addition, Mike logically enjoys watching series and has actually been spoon-fed this from an early age. The genre doesn't matter, there is a place for everything in the otherwise busy life.
Lack of originality? The way of filming with bodycams, the almost continuous display of the work and not a family drama? Officers who rush from call to call and just do their job instead of solving a new crime every episode? I found On Call raw and very original, and certainly worth more than a 6.5
Some storylines may be too standard and the character development is not always that deep, but the mix of the personal stories of the officers and the crimes they solve are well balanced. In addition, the dynamics and the way of working of the police in realistic situations, especially in situations that can escalate quickly and where quick decision-making is essential, are filmed in a great original way through the use of bodycams, and my score is also a bit higher.
