On Call – Season 1 Episode 5 Recap & Review

Episode 5

Episode 5 of On Call begins with Diaz being in a surly mood because he got dumped by his girlfriend. Harmon opens up about her own divorce from a cop in the LAPD. Diaz then gets a message and he asks Harmon if they can make a stop — he needs to meet his mom. They do and Harmon tries to introduce herself but Diaz’s mother doesn’t like cops and blames them for taking away Diaz’s brother, Gabriel’s future.

Harmon goes back to the car and Diaz’s mother says she got a visit from a relative named Eddy. He says East Barrio now has a hit on Gabriel’s head because of what Diaz did. Diaz is worried but doesn’t tell Harmon what’s happening.

They get called to an incident and find a woman banging on the door of a house. Her name is Tina and she says this is her ex-husband, Mark’s house. He has had her daughter Abby for two days now and hasn’t dropped her off at school, which is worrying Tina.

Harmon knocks on the door which is opened by a woman who Tina says is Mark’s latest girlfriend. Harmon enters the house and searches it but doesn’t find Abby. They go to a shed in the back and find the little girl strapped to a chair, with two men standing by her. They pull the girl to safety and then Harmon turns on the father. He says the other man is a priest and they were doing an exorcism because they believe she’s possessed.

The paramedics arrive and one of them speaks with Harmon. They seem to have had a previous relationship until Harmon asked for some space. He then tells Harmon that he saw her sister on a beach. Harmon doesn’t particularly want to find her because she has previously stolen from them in order to buy drugs. She labels her a lost cause.

Harmon and Diaz get back on their patrol and Diaz finally tells her what’s going on with his brother. She suggests putting Gabriel into protective custody but Diaz says that would further ruin Gabriel’s life. Diaz asks if they can speak to Smokey to get East Barrio to stop but she says they can’t.

They then spot a car being driven recklessly and Harmon calls for the car to pull over. They find an old man driving the car except he’s confused and in just a hospital gown. Harmon says they’ll get him back to the hospital.

Just then, Diaz gets a call from Gabriel who tells him he’s okay and not to do anything stupid. Diaz asks Harmon to connect him with Smokey again and she refuses, she says he’s too dangerous, particularly after they caught Maniac. She’s convincing him to take protective custody again when they notice a couple arguing and shouting at a nearby petrol station.

They approach the couple and see that a child is waiting inside the car. The woman accuses the man of threatening to kill himself and says he needs help. The man grows aggressive when the officers intervene. He douses himself in petrol and threatens to set himself on fire. Diaz tries to talk him down but the man puts his lighter on and sets himself on fire. Diaz pulls the small boy out of the car just in time.

Later, Diaz feels conflicted because the father is now on a ventilator in a hospital. Harmon once again tells Diaz he did the right thing by stepping in and things would be worse if they hadn’t. She also explains the rumours about herself.

A year ago, Lasman’s partner went too hard on a suspect and when Harmon pulled him off, he shoved her. He was fired for the incident as well as a few others who tried to cover it up but Harmon says she didn’t make the complaint. The others blame her anyway. She then warns Diaz not to question her integrity again at the end of On Call Episode 5.

The Episode Review

On Call Episode 5 goes back to the standard format of multiple incidents; except this time the larger picture revolves around Diaz. The incidents themselves span different issues, the one with the little girl is particularly dark. Our main leads seem to be dealing with more and more intense situations each time which is good.

However, while there is plenty of variety here the series never dives into any one situation. As a result, the surface-level nature of the story could get a little monotonous in the coming episodes.

As for Diaz’s side of the story, putting a hit on Gabriel definitely amps the tension back up again. The officers might need to dive back down into gang politics in order to save him. Although, it is odd that only Diaz’s family is in danger, considering he was only one of the many officers who went down to catch Maniac. I’m hoping this will be explained later on but for now, there is enough intrigue in the story to keep watching.