I’ve been saying it all year 2025 is shaping up to be the year of television, and Ballard is more proof of that. While movies this year have been sluggish filled with remakes and lacking in originality (even the new F1 film feels like a carbon copy of Top Gun, right down to sharing the same director) TV is thriving with bold, fresh content.
Ballard, a spin-off of Bosch, features Maggie Q in one of her most compelling performances yet. She plays Detective Renée Ballard, who is forced out of the Robbery and Homicide Division after blowing the whistle on a prominent officer. Relegated to the LAPD’s newly formed Cold Case Division literally stuck in the basement Ballard becomes the unit’s only full-time member, relying on her resourcefulness and a mismatched group of volunteers to dig through decades old unsolved murders.
When she takes on the politically sensitive case of a murdered councilman’s sister, what starts as routine quickly escalates into a dark and dangerous unraveling of corruption that could destroy her.
The writing is sharp, the pacing deliberate but engrossing, and the character work deeply satisfying. Ballard herself is layered tough, intuitive, haunted. The series avoids clichés and delivers genuine surprises along the way.
At just 10 episodes, this Amazon Prime drama is a taut, binge-worthy ride.
Crime dramas may be a crowded genre, but Ballard stands out. If this is where TV is heading, we’re in good hands.