Dept Q vs. Maggie Q: Who wins? Ballard is a worthy follow-up to Bosch

Review by C.J. Bunce

Chemistry is everything, and that’s demonstrated in the first season of the new series, Ballard. The unusual assemblage of mostly volunteer cold case staff workers under Maggie Q’s Renée Ballard has it. For seven seasons of Bosch, featuring Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch stories with Titus Welliver in the title role plus two of the three seasons of the follow-up series Bosch: Legacy, viewers were treated to some of the best stories of L.A.’s Finest. The series had a spark and crisp brand of storytelling that the adaptation of Connelly’s The Lincoln Lawyer didn’t harness, but Ballard is a different story. In fact, you can put Ballard up against the best heavy hitting dramas of 2025 like Dept Q and its first season is every bit as exciting and immersive. Now streaming on Prime Video, it’s a series where you won’t want to wait a minute for the next episode.

Despite what amounts to cameo appearances by Bosch actors Titus Welliver, Jamie Hector, Mimi Rogers, Troy Evans, and Steven A. Chang, this series stands on its own. John Carroll Lynch (Zodiac, The Founder, Ted 2, The Drew Carey Show) is a veteran cop with lots of experience, and we get glimpses into his home life with husband Leo, played by Community star Jim Rash. Courtney Taylor is Samira Parker (Abbott Elementary, Shrinking), a former cop with a difficult past who Ballard brings back into the fold. Michael Mosley (Castle, Criminal Minds, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) is Ted Rawls, the most layered and unique character on the show, an impatient and opinionated security company CEO with a passion for police work–when he’s not offending others. Rebecca Field (The Residence, L.A.’s Finest) is Colleen Hatteras, a quirky volunteer whose instincts guide her. And Victoria Moroles (Never Have I Ever, Bloodthirsty Hearts) is Martina Castro, a law student intern who falls for the wrong guy in a way that has an impact on the team. They are all thrown at viewers as the new crew, a different brand of LAPD cop squad–very different from those we met in Robbery-Homicide. The writers find their strengths and weaknesses and somehow they gel quickly. Ten TV hours later and we’re ready for more.

Maggie Q’s Detective Ballard steers them all in the right direction, with a hefty load of intransigent characters ready to stand in her way. Furthering a recurring storyline we saw many women on the police force wrestle with in Bosch and Bosch: Legacy, Ballard is restrained by systemic sexism at every step, unfairly viewed by her fellow officers for filing a complaint against her partner for assault (in backstory), a complaint she lost. As she’s trying to create a department from little resources, that man, Ricardo Chavira’s Robert Olivas, is never far away. But she soon learns she’s not his only victim. In her corner is Hector Hugo’s Captain Berchem, and sometimes the brother of her first cold case victim, a city councilman named Jake Pearlman, played by Noah Bean. Ballard’s personal support team is led by Magnum PI’s Amy Hill as grandmother Tutu, with sporadic romantic visits by doting first responder boyfriend Aaron, played by Michael Cassidy (Resident Alien, Army of the Dead).

Other familiar actors include Alain Uy and Kevin Dunn. Although it seemed like an easy fit, there was no sign of Bosch stars Madison Lintz or Denise G. Sanchez.

On the job harassment is a key focus of the season, along with making do with few resources. And no cop squad ever had less resources. Ballard encounters the goods and bads–but mainly the bads–that eventual Captains Johnson encountered in The Closer, Raydor faced in Major Crimes, and Billets faced in Bosch, but Ballard isn’t quirky like Johnson or have a severe edge like Raydor. Maybe it’s Connelly’s signature but Ballard and Billets seem to share that same brand of survival skill. That means cool under pressure, and savvy when playing her cards against the Powers that Be.