‘BALLARD’ PRIME VIDEO REVIEW: A DETECTIVE LOOKS FOR HOPE
A spin-off from another successful series that has since ended its run, Ballard is a buzzy new crime drama that is EP’d by its author and features Maggie Q as the titular character.
Ballard (2025) Prime Video TV Review
Leading LAPD’s cold case division isn’t an easy job, but leading a division that is woefully underfunded, well this presents even more problems. Still, the work of Detective Renée Ballard (Q), even when people try to silence her, is what fuels her. Now she looks to find hope for those who never got answers. Her team of volunteers includes Samira Parker (Courtney Taylor), a former cop who is jaded by the department but comes back because of Ballard’s compelling ask; the ex-partner of Ballard’s Thomas Laffont (John Carroll Lynch) comes back just to help Renée; and then there is reserve officer Ted (Michael Mosley), a man keeping an eye on the team, and Ballard specifically.
Also helping her is Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver), the retiree detective who Renée knows from the past. Together, this team along with other talented volunteers who each excel at what they do, Ballard sets out to give people the hope and answers they’ve long looked for.
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‘BALLARD’ PRIME VIDEO REVIEW: A DETECTIVE LOOKS FOR HOPE. Reviewing the new #PrimeVideo show #Ballard with #MaggieQ. #BoschLegacy #TitusWelliver Share on X
As a show that I didn’t see any of the original episodes of (which was the Welliver led Bosch and then Bosch: Legacy), I don’t know how much of this show relies on it to make full sense. However, I am guessing like any good drama, this was built and produced to stand on its own two feet which is to tell more of Renee Ballard’s story. Credits tell me that Maggie Q only appeared in one installment of Bosh: Legacy, so I’m assuming her story doesn’t need it to make sense. As a result, I think it’s safe to say that this story is its own “person.”
The show is a ten-episode binge release that I obviously didn’t see the whole season of. But I do like what I see. It’s also fabulous to see Maggie return to a leading role like this after liking her in Nikita and the very short-lived Stalker. She again plays a character hiding, as usual, secrets. There are layers to her (and perhaps other characters too) as well as the counterparts to the characters which are the cases. The show is about solving different cold cases, but the thread throughout is the death of a girl who is the sister of a demanding councilman.
If the preview at the end of episode one is an indication, there will be lots of secrets and soul searching. Some of which promises to be quite intriguing.
Photos: Alamy
Stream, at publication, all ten episodes of Ballard exclusively on Prime Video
Content: the show begins with a big “shoot-out” with cops chasing a suspect. There is an exchange of gunfire. Other gunfire or fist fights will, I am sure, play a prevalent role in other episodes. We see bodies at the morgue. Social and political things crop up in discussion including talk of victims being less important because of race. Women recount being assaulted (non-graphically). A couple spends the night together (episode two) and we see him walk out to the kitchen nude; we see a full shot of his backside. Another character may is in a same-sex relationship (if this bothers you). There is profanity including the F-word. The show rates 16+.
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