Ballard is the latest series on Amazon Prime Video based on the works of Michael Connelly. The previous two were Bosch and Bosch Legacy. There is also a show on Netflix based on The Lincoln Lawyer. Connelly has built an empire with his LA based books. Rene Ballard is another character based in that world of cops, lawyers, and reporters. She made her first appearance last year in the last episode of Bosch: Legacy, where Harry teamed up with her for the first time. These two characters crossed over in the book multiple times. This appearance by her was the way for audiences to get accustomed to her before she was in her own series this year. I felt like I was right back in this world watching this new series.

Rene Ballard (Maggie Q) has been demoted from LA Detective to the head of the cold case unit funded by a city councilman. Jake Pearlman (Noah  Bean) that has a crack team of ex-cops, Thomas Lafant (John Carroll Lynch) Samurai Parker (Courtney Taylor), Ted Rawls (Michael Mosly) volunteers, Colleen Hatteras (Rebecca Field) and interns, Martina Castro (Victoria Moroles)  who work out of The Ahmendson Recruitment Center in LA. Out of sight out of mind is the idea by putting her here. She has upset a few people in the LA Police Department, so her and her team have to turn over cases quickly, including the case based on the death of the councilman’s sister, and one dealing with police corruption. Primarily based on Desert Star and The Dark Hours, Ballard Season 1 had created a similar tone as Bosch which is a good thing as far as I’m concerned. 

Maggie Q is a good actress, and I’ve liked some of the things she’s done in the past, including The Protege, MI: 3, and The Divergent Films. This is the best role of her career. She plays a detective who lives adjacent to a beach and surfs in her free time. She drives an old tan duster and has a roommate Tutu (Amy Hill), who is like a mother figure to her. She’s dealing with a past traumatic incident in her life, so she’s relatively standoffish to a lifeguard who may be a love interest. She has her own private life, but her job is her real life. She takes it very seriously. She has a lot of things that mean a lot to her regarding her job and who she works for. This, similar to Bosch, is the theme of this series. 

The supporting cast of Ballard get their moments to shine. Specifically, the Carroll Lynch Taylor and Moroles characters. The supporting cast of actors was chosen very well. It didn’t take me very long to get into this group of characters. As a fan of Bosch I was waiting for Titus Wrlliver to show, considering Harry Bosch is in the books. These types of procedures always have a supporting cast, and this one does that as well. They aren’t the best group, but they grew on me as the show progresses.  I would have liked to see Harry Bosch, but overall, the series cast of good guys and bad guys were pretty good.

The writers of the series including Michael Connelly, the creator of the books, Michael Alaino, Julieta Castillo, and the series directors  Patrick Cady, Jet Wilkinson, Sarah Boyd and others did a fantastic job adapting Connelly’s books. They captured the essence of what he was going for in the books. The city of Los Angeles is once again used as a character in the series like it was before in the Bosch shows.Various restaurants and locations are very noticeable. Popular eateries and so for are very upfront in the series. That’s one of my favorite things about these shows.They are love letters to Los Angeles like the books are.

One of the things I love about the Connelly books is from chapter to chapter there are twists and cliffhangers.That is how the shows are as well. From episode to episode of this series, there are shocking discoveries and very sad things that happen.The shows are set up similarly to the books, with each episode being like a chapter. With that kind of structure, the episodes tend to have a lot of surprises. With a 10-episode season, you need to get into the story fast. That’s what Ballad does, once again, similarly to the Bosch shows.I loved that about these series. There is no dragging along the story and the characters’ motivations. Shorter streaming shows are where it’s at these days.

Ballard once again proves that these shows based on Connelly’s book are working. The fast-paced story, along with twists and turns as well as cliffhangers similarly to the books, makes sense. Maggie Q, as the title character, was fantastic casting. She owned every scene she was in in action sequences.  The supporting cast is all good with a few standouts, including Carroll Lynch,  Taylor, and Moroles. The writing and direction are good, but as a whole, this was a great addition to what has already been established in this universe of cops, lawyers, and criminals. I can’t wait for the next season of this show.

3 ½

Dan Skip Allen