Season 1 – Ballard

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Tom F 13h I guess this is about as good as one can expect from this sort of dad TV. See more Sarah P Dec 2 They worked pretty hard to make Ballard one-dimensional, stoic and emotionless. I imagine botox takes some of the blame, but not all of it. She works fine as a side-character in Bosch with no backstory, but there isn't enough there to make me care about her, and they don't tell us anything worth caring about. She contrasts markedly with the characters around her who actually have emotions, even if they barely have backstories either. The core story is ok, if derivative and predictable. The delivery is slow and with the protagonist wooden and unlikable, there is no reason to keep watching. See more James E. @awarriorscry Dec 1 Horrible. How is this even in the same universe as Bosch? This show feels like it was written by people more interested in preaching than storytelling. If Bosch was the original Star Wars trilogy, and Bosch: Legacy the prequels, then Ballard is the equivalent of The Acolyte—all style, no soul, and none of the weight or grit that made the originals great. I can’t believe I sat through the entire season. The big “twist” is that the killer is targeting women because they were getting promoted, which lands with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. The characters feel plastic, and Maggie Q delivers every scene like she wandered in from a daytime soap. The heavy-handed messaging is so on-the-nose it borders on parody. Honestly, I hope they greenlight another season just so Amazon gets a painful reminder that audiences actually want good writing—not lectures. See more Bob S @aremes Nov 29 spoiler alert. Critics like seeing characters killed off, because it's "artsy", and "realistic", and they are too busy formulating their reviews to get attached to what they see in front of them. But if you want "realistic" death, you should watch a documentary, not a drama where the characters, if they are well-written, build a bond with viewers. Julian Fellowes likes to kill off his characters too, for some reason; sometimes it's just convenient for him when a cast member leaves. So perhaps this screenplay author was influenced by such and therefore feels the need to do the same. But it's unnecessary to the major point of the story, and is a betrayal of those viewers who have invested hours in watching. So, from that point of view: The first episode is filled with about as many cop-drama cliches as could be fit into one hour. But more creativity emerges in following episodes, and the characters are each different and we get attached to them -- unfortunately. The performances are uniformly wonderful. I would say NOT to watch, unless you are one of those viewers who simply doesn't get attached to figments of a writer's imagination. Go watch an equally good show that doesn't make you feel like you have a hole in your stomach later. Also, the Amazon Prime commercials are strikingly long and numerous and very annoying. See more Cyns Corner Nov 29 Ballard delivers a grounded detective story with solid team chemistry and a steady investigation that unfolds at a satisfying pace. Some repetitive visuals and a slightly forced final confrontation hold it back a bit, but fans of Michael Connelly’s world — especially Bosch readers — will feel right at home. A strong foundation for Season 2. Video review: https://youtu.be/fWKFB63BrZo See more Allison S. @Schnacks Nov 3 3.5 Main character is a little too perfect, needs more flaws like all the best TV detectives. See more Read all reviews

Ballard — Season 1

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