Ballard is another mystery series based on novels by Michael Connelly. Maggie Q stars in this one as Det. Renée Ballard who has been stuck in a basement working cold cases with a team of unpaid volunteers.
Ballard is a brilliantly told mystery/police story from the man who brought us The Lincoln Lawyer and Bosch. It’s well written for television by Michael Alaimo. The pacing is well done, the suspense and tension ongoing, the twists and surprises are not transparent, and the actors are excellent. Maggie Q is so good in this. I’ve seen her in a lot of things, but she’s simply perfect here. I think it’s the best role of her career and she has 45 acting credits on IMDb.
After getting in hot water while partnering with Robert Olivas (Ricardo Chavira), Ballard gets stuck in a basement working cold cases. The first case her team tackles involves the unsolved murder of LA councilman Jake Pearlman’s (Noah Bean) sister. This case brings some attention because of the councilman and it leads to a serial killer who hadn’t even been recognized as killing multiple women before.
Ballard was a character in Bosch: Legacy. Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver) shows up now and then in this series.
Ballard’s team is volunteers and reserve officers. The folks with badges include Tom Laffont (John Carroll Lynch), Ted Rawls (Michael Mosley), and eventually Samira Parker (Courtney Taylor). Like Ballard, Parker has bad history with Robert Olivas that drove her to quit the force for a while. Also helping in the cold case section are Colleen (Rebecca Field) and Martina (Victoria Moroles), both civilians.
Another important character is Ballard’s grandmother Tutu (Amy Hill) who lives with her.
The series is 10 episodes of dogged detective work to solve several cases. There’s a supply of cold cases including the serial killer one they discover, there’s a group of corrupt cops to uncover, and there are long lost children to return to their parents. Everything is interwoven and well-written.
The series ends with a cliffhanger. Michael Connelly has written several Renée Ballard novels, so I hope the cliffhanger means there will be more to come with these characters. I thought this season was excellent and would love to see more.
Most of the directors were women: Sarah Boyd, Jet Wilkinson, Tori Garrett, Logan Kobens, and Nefertite Nguvu.
All 10 episodes of this series are available on Prime Video now. If you love a good mystery, I recommend you watch it.
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