After months of anticipation, Prime Video’s Bosch spinoff Ballard debuted on July 9, 2025, and the outcomes may hardly be higher. Due to a contemporary a part of Los Angeles hardly ever seen in Bosch, a stable ensemble forged, compelling chilly instances, and a magnetic flip by Maggie Q within the title function, Ballard is each a well-known and reinvigorated tackle the police procedural franchise.
Even when Ballard by no means fairly reaches absolutely the peak of Bosch‘s investigative exploits, it is rather more absorbing and simple to look at than the earlier spinoff, Bosch: Legacy, which strayed a bit too removed from the lead detective to give attention to his daughter. With all 10 episodes dropping on Prime Video without delay, Ballard is an irresistible binge-watch completely tailor-made for the summer time.
‘Ballard’s Connection to ‘Bosch,’ Defined
Ballard
- Launch Date
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July 9, 2025
- Community
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Prime Video
- Administrators
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Jet Wilkinson
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Courtney Taylor
Samira Parker
Primarily impressed by Michael Connelly’s 2022 novel Desert Hours, Ballard continues the Bosch franchise by turning the highlight on Renée Ballard (Maggie Q). Ballard has been unfairly demoted from the LAPD’s Theft-Murder Division (RHD), however is given a second likelihood to guide a chilly case unit comprised of reserve officers and volunteer investigators in West Los Angeles.
Ballard’s chilly case unit contains the supportive and easygoing veteran reserve, Thomas Laffont (John Carroll Lynch); shrewd former LAPD officer Samira Parker (Courtney Taylor); regulation intern Martina Castro (Victoria Moroles); unlikable grump Ted Rawls (Michael Mosley); and the plucky volunteer Colleen Hatteras (Rebecca Area).
Gripping viewers from the beginning by opening with a mid-chase by way of a dry cleaner’s enterprise in West L.A., Ballard pursues a prison with a shotgun in tow. As soon as she catches the prison, Ballard opens a chilly case involving the homicide of native politician Jake Pearlman’s sister, Sarah. Regardless of being underfunded, understaffed, and carefully monitored by the RHD, Ballard and her staff hyperlink the homicide of Pearlman’s sister to a case Harry Bosch investigated: the homicide of Laura Wilson.
From the beginning, Ballard seems like a pure, unforced continuation of Bosch. Earlier than assembly Harry Bosch in particular person, franchise star Titus Welliver narrates the case recordsdata that Ballard reads about Wilson’s homicide, lending nice anticipation for his onscreen look. When Welliver seems and utters the title of Episode 2, “Haystack,” his recommendation to Ballard seems like a real torch-passing second moderately than a glorified fan-service cameo.
‘Ballard’ Is Each Acquainted and Refreshing at As soon as
Bosch followers will probably be delighted to know that Ballard largely adheres to the identical narrative construction, pacing, and tone as the unique collection. A part of the familiarity entails opening extra chilly instances than one, permitting the staff to research a number of unsolved crimes because the overarching hyperlink between Wilson and Pearlman’s murders hangs over them. This prevents dullness, fatigue, and repetition by giving the staff new murders to research moderately than working the identical previous drained case from begin to end.
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The pacing stays as quick and targeted as the unique Bosch, with the identical assured tone that made the present so irresistible. But, the wonderful thing about Ballard is the way it embraces the variations and the similarities to its predecessor. That is most noticeable within the West L.A. setting, a definite transfer to provide the spinoff a singular vibe.
In contrast to Bosch, which frequently adopted Harry investigating probably the most harmful crime-ridden components of Los Angeles, Ballard takes viewers to the sunny coast, the place Renée lives together with her lovable Bohemian grandmother, Tutu (Amy Hill), on the scenic waterfront. Whether or not questioning tattoo store house owners on Venice Seaside, meditating within the ocean on her surfboard, or taking lengthy walks down the seaside and drives down the Pacific Coast Freeway, Ballard‘s change of surroundings is exactly what the franchise wanted to reinvigorate itself.
Character Conflicts Are as Compelling as Ever in ‘Ballard’
After all, Ballard would not be very memorable if there weren’t compelling character conflicts to make viewers care about Renée and people round her. Because the present unfolds, viewers be taught that Renée is the sufferer of a previous sexual-abuse trauma that she tries to neglect by burying herself in her work. She feels that the extra chilly instances she will resolve, the extra she will management her previous and its impact on her thoughts, physique, and soul.
Renée additionally feels deeply slighted by her superiors within the RHD after she was improperly demoted for submitting a sexual harassment grievance about her RHD superior, Robert Olivas (Ricardo Chavira). However for Renée, her actions main the chilly case unit are much less about private redemption than about religious salvation. Renée seeks to unburden herself from her previous trauma as a lot as she desires to avenge Olivas, the delicate nuances of which give the present extra layers than even perhaps Bosch.
Regardless of having only a few notes to provide the present, one factor that would have been unnoticed is Renée’s remedy classes. It could have been more practical to let the viewers observe, by way of Renée’s conduct, that she is in a state of psychological unrest that has no straightforward rationalization. The remedy classes are too fast and handy to show the subtext of Renée’s trauma. Letting viewers do the work would have been extra satisfying. Nonetheless, given what transpires on the finish of Season 1 and because of Maggie Q’s incandescent efficiency, extra Ballard is needed.
Why ‘Ballard’ Ought to Be Renewed for Season 2
Past the wealth of Michael Connelly’s supply materials, the primary purpose Ballard ought to be renewed is the luminous flip by Maggie Q in arguably her finest function since Nikita. Somewhat than enjoying a job solely constructed round her bodily prowess and motion bona fides, Q performs Ballard as a personality who has simply as many emotional, religious, and psychological hurdles to leap as she has unhealthy guys to batter and chilly instances to unravel.
By no means backing down from the problem, Q lights up the display within the lead function of a headstrong and fiercely unbiased lady whose work is tied on to her trauma. The mix of basic crime fixing and character improvement is top-tier, with Bosch followers certain to acknowledge how blurry the road between Ballard’s work and residential life turns into.
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After all, rankings and viewership would be the main determinants for a Season 2 renewal. Fortunately, Ballard has already shot to the second-most-watched TV collection on Prime Video after sooner or later. The collection additionally has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score based mostly on 9 early evaluations. Given the refreshing setting that additionally serves as a vicarious trip spot for many who can not journey to coastal L.A., Ballard deserves a minimum of one other season.
Another excuse the present should return is the dramatic cliffhanger that concludes Season 1, a storytelling development within the Bosch franchise. Ending the collection now would painfully rob followers of seeing what transpires after such a pregnant pause. With the story set as much as increase sooner or later, Ballard is off to the precise begin wanted for a Bosch spinoff. Ballard is out there to stream on Prime Video.