Season 1 |
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Episode Guide
Episode 1 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 2 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 3 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 4 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 5 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 6 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 7 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 8 -| Review Score – 4/5
On Call Season 1 kicks off with the death of an officer named Maria Delgado at the hands of a gang member. Much of the first episode focuses on the aftermath of her death — the heightened security, a tribute constructed in the police station’s hallway, and restlessness among the officers.
This sets the tone for the rest of Amazon Prime’s new series, as a cop drama infused with the point of view of its protagonists and protagonists only — veteran officer Traci Harmon and her new trainee Alex Diaz, who is fresh out of the police academy.
Season 1 accompanies the pair on their patrol route in Long Beach, California, as they get called in for a variety of situations. We see the city through the officers’ eyes and witness the way they strive to protect its citizens, working incredibly hard and always for the betterment of the people.
On Call grabs hold of this point of view and doesn’t let go. To hone in on that perspective, it also frequently switches to depicting events through the officers’ body cam footage.
Even when Harmon and Diaz make mistakes, it’s always with the right intentions. In fact, when things go awry, Harmon assures Diaz on multiple occasions that “it” wasn’t his fault. This is a surprising lack of accountability for a cop drama in this day and age but the series is too focused on empathising with its lead characters to actually critically engage with them.
The same can be said about the rest of the series as well, which tries to talk about broad social issues like drug addiction and homelessness. But the conversation never gets past “drugs are bad” and doesn’t bother exploring why people might be forced into being homeless.
The writing faces the same issue when it comes to the show’s larger plotline — Delgado’s murder. The search for her killers leads the police to Long Beach’s gangs and a growing rivalry between them.
Except, we don’t actually dive into the gang dynamics of it all. The story then turns towards a larger police versus gang conflict. Again, we stick to the police perspective here. The only member from the “gang” side of things is a local bar owner named Smokey.
Smokey is not only Harmon’s contact in the East Barrio gang, he becomes the face of all gang activity in Long Beach itself as he’s the only gang member with significant screen time and an actual personality that goes beyond physical threats.
The others, even mysterious “bosses” that Smokey keeps referring to, stay in the background like one faceless unit. So when the series makes a hullaballoo of how intense the feud between the police and the gangs has been, it’s hard to take seriously.
It’s also hard to appreciate On Call’s attempts to be woke. Throughout the season, Harmon butts heads with another cop named Sergeant Lasman. Lasman disagrees with Harmon’s more peace-advocating tactics and, on a number of occasions, praises the “old” methods. Later in the series, Lasman reminds Harmon that as a black man and a white woman, they both grew up in different versions of Long Beach.
A poignant statement and a heck of a dialogue. But does the series explore this further? Dissect why wokeness could mean different things to different people? How race plays into police authority? No, it simply moves on.
It’s a shame because On Call features solid actors who embody their characters and it has a quick, easy-to-binge structure. Each half-hour episode covers two to three incidents that Harmon and Diaz get called to. These disturbances vary from a mentally ill man setting himself on fire to a confused, old man who has left a hospital mid-treatment to a robbery at a couple’s house which really turns out to be a case of infidelity.
There’s quite a range of subjects here and it does stop the story from getting monotonous. Of course, these situations are all handled on the surface level as well but that wouldn’t be an issue if the larger storyline was explored more deeply. Ultimately, On Call Season 1 is high on the thrill and the chase and could tick all the boxes when you’re in the mood for a quick watch. But if you’re looking for a meatier story, this cop drama will let you down.
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Verdict - 6/10
6/10
I absolutely loved it i watched it back to back 3 times!! Then to only find out the one only dick wolf was the creator, only excited and thrilled me more. also to no this should have a season two coming soon I never new dick wolf to make short stories, if not already in the making dicks newest and hugest new hit out deff should be on call I love both characters they killed it. And it will be nice to watch diaz grow from a rookie to dective.It’s been a while and I’m a chicago pd and svu girl from day one and I’m thrilled to know there maybe a new huge TV hit with multiple seasons. After yellowstones huge success and now is no longer airing the people are dying to see who what and when the new huge dying every week dvr hit will be out and know it won’t be going any where for a while. It’s like svu and chicago pd I’ve grown with for so long it’s like there family lol. I’m ready to add new members to that family!! Thank you dick wolf