Flashback: Stalker (Pilot)

Lt. Beth Davis and Det. Jack Larsen should be a great team when it comes to sleuthing out stalkers, because she is being stalked and he is a stalker (but not hers). At least that is how it looks during the pilot of Maggie Q’s 2014 procedural. She carried it well, but it was considered a little too intense for network TV—maybe not surprisingly so, since it was created by Kevin Williamson, the screenwriter of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Unfortunately, it is hard to compare it with her new series, Ballard, since it currently is not available for streaming, but it certainly showed Maggie Q could credibly portray a driven police investigator.

Frankly, Davis might have even more baggage than Ballard. The pilot only hints at her backstory, but judging from the way she secures her apartment each night, she clearly intends to be ready for an intruder. Ironically, handling stalkers is her job as the leader of the LAPD’s Threat Assessment Unit (TAU). Unfortunately, she often gets called into cases much too late, like the woman whose stalker immolates her during the prologue. That was a rough start that earned the series a reputation for brutality, especially by network standards.

Frankly, the pilot shows an inclination the straddle the boundary dividing dark serial killer/stalker thrillers from horror that should have appealed to Williamson’s fans. Indeed, the episode’s primary case is seriously creepy. Awkwardly, instead of resolving the second case, wealthy college weirdo Perry Whitley only shifts his obsessive attention in an inconvenient direction.

At this point, Magge Q and Dylan McDermott are not supposed to have chemistry together, but their bickering generates a good deal of sparks. The supporting cast has yet to have much chance to establish their characters, even including Elisabeth Rohm as the ex-wife less than thrilled to see Larsen. Yet, the recurring Erik Stocklin is unsettlingly creepy and clammy as Whitley, right from his first appearance.

Regardless, Maggie Q is the clear star, commanding the screen and overshadowing McDermott. If Ballard is a hit—and it should be, because it maintains the quality of Bosch: Legacy and plays to the strengths of Prime’s better series (Bosch, On Call, Countdown, Reacher, Cross)—it or another streamer ought to pick up Stalker. Only speaking to the pilot, it was probably better than you might have heard. While hoping to see more Stalker, Ballard is definitely recommended when it premieres tomorrow (7/9) on Prime.