"The Talmud teaches us to see a single human being as the whole world," declares Avraham Avraham (Jeff Wilbusch), in Peacock's new police series, "The Calling." “That each person is entitled to infinite respect and concern. They are all precious.” It may come as a surprise to those unfamiliar with the work of David E. Kelley, in which everything ultimately returns to the legal arena, that Avraham is deploying this wisdom not merely as spiritual teachings, but as an explanation of his method. of interrogation. If Avraham, like Kelley's previous characters from shows like "Ally McBeal" or "The Practice," has a particular gift when it comes to getting the information he wants, it's his humanity: He's very attuned to what others want. listen, and he provides the empathic reactions that will get them to the finish line.
All of which makes Avraham a compelling case study and at times a somewhat hollow character. His complete fusion with his work, his ability to erase the self that is to mirror the needs of suspects, means he's most interesting when operating in counterpoint to an extreme incident, while we lose him. when little happens. . As if to compensate, the writer Kelley, adapting Dror Mishani's series of novels, has constructed a series of operatic plots. But it becomes hard to sustain: There's so much going on in "The Calling" that little ends up carrying weight.
Stars: Jeff Wilbusch, Juliana Canfield, Karen Robinson
The backbone of the series is Avraham's relationship with his partner (Juliana Canfield): would you think they have a lot to learn from each other? The relationship is very well drawn at times, with Canfield's character expressing a desire not to become compartmentalized and cold that really lands. But, when one considers it, how could one not? She and her partner barely have room to breathe amid a cascading series of mysteries involving a missing child, a potentially guilty aspiring fiction writer, and a daycare center owner with seemingly shady motives, among others. These last two, especially, seem like gestures to depict street-level New York City life in a sociological "Law & Order" style, but Kelley's pen has become less sharpened over time.
This also applies to Avraham's particular experience. Much of his expert findings are based less on intuition than on the ability to spot the obvious, as when a young interviewee gulps and Avraham yells, "You just vomited in your mouth, Benjamin, and I can see you swallowed your vomit." ". . Are you nervous or is it something you do? His connection to the spiritual realm also generates a few howls, as when, when questioning a suspect, he declares, “A famous rabbi once said, the truth will set you free. That rabbi was Jesus Christ.”
It's been a tough stretch for supporters of Kelley, who has been responsible for some of the biggest hit TV shows of the last quarter century, from "Ally McBeal" to "Big Little Lies." Rarely since the heyday of "McBeal" has she been as ubiquitous as she is in this broadcast moment. And yet, in recent shows including "Anatomy of a Scandal" and "The Lincoln Lawyer," her trademark precision and skill for her character seem to have evaporated. “The Calling” has a good idea for a central figure, but that's all she has.
“The Calling” premieres Thursday, November 10 on Peacock.