The Calling

The series puts a spiritual spin on the police procedural, carrying out a compelling investigation but ultimately struggling to uncover anything profound.

We’re not always sure how Avraham’s devotion and his methods of detection are coming together; his talents seem more savantish than religious. But for all the questions he might provoke, he may also inspire an observant following.

The show doesn’t dig very deeply into Avi’s method, or how his belief system enables him to perform his tricks, nor does it follow through on any of the ethical issues his unconventional methods might raise; it simply pursues the procedural material. That wouldn’t be a deal-breaker if the two missing-person cases that make up the eight-episode season were more compelling. They lean hard on very familiar crime-solving tropes, cycling through red herrings on autopilot.

With Kelley writing and Levinson directing, there’s no chance that The Calling is going to look or feel like the average network police procedural. ... We’re just not sure what to make of how Avi is characterized on the show, if any of his fellow cops are anything but one-dimensional characters. ... Completely short circuits a deeper sketch of Avi himself but makes religion and faith into a tool instead of a way of life.

Where a shrewder series might have dug deeper, eventually hitting on a distinctive identity of its own, The Calling only grows shallower and duller as its eight-episode series progresses. The Calling‘s descent into mediocrity is made only more disappointing by the glimmers of potential it shows early on.

Because this is nonetheless a cop show, “The Calling” is content to pad Avi's work life with hallowed tropes. ... Each supporting character is played with enough charisma, despite the show’s progressively dull tone and visual palette that turns Barry Levinson’s initial two episodes into generic work.

Much of his [Avraham's] expert findings rely less on intuition than on an ability to detect the groaningly obvious, as when a young interviewee loudly gulps and Avraham yelps “You just vomited in your mouth, Benjamin, and I can see that you’ve swallowed your vomit. Are you nervous, or is this something you do?” ... [David E. Kelley's] trademark precision and knack for character seems to have evaporated. “The Calling” boasts a good idea for a central figure — but that’s about all it’s got.