Above all else, On Call Season 1 is the story of Officer Harmon (Troian Bellisario) and her trainee Officer Diaz (Brandon Larracuente). The two characters begin as total strangers, just starting out as partners. By the end of eight short episodes, though, they kind of come full circle. They manage to build up a partnership of mutual trust, peel back each other’s layers a little bit, survive some high stakes calls together…and then, their relationship takes a major blow because of a decision Harmon makes in the final episode. When Fangirlish participated in roundtable interviews with Bellisario and Larracuente ahead of the series premiere, we took the opportunity to ask the actors about their characters’ journey. Specifically, what was the turning point in that partnership? And was there a little bit of a betrayal there at the end?
As Brandon Larracuente told us, a scene that’s featured in the On Call trailer “was the moment where everything came into question and he had to make a definitive answer.” When Diaz says “I’m one hundred percent with you,” he means it. Because, according to Larracuente, “it was a matter of, in that moment, life and death.” So, Diaz “decided, ‘I have to trust this person fully. I might not want to, but I have to.'”
But what about Harmon? When did things start to click for her? According to Troian Bellisario, “there’s a moment in which…Harmon really needs Diaz. She really needs him. And she really wants to consider herself sort of above — not above his help, but that she doesn’t need to ask for his help, in a way.” She continued, “I think what’s so incredible about Diaz, and the way Brandon imbued that moment, was that there was so much strife in their relationship. And still, he holds out his hand to her in this way that is like, ‘I don’t expect anything back. I can just help you.’ And it’s really beautiful moment for their characters.”
That is, of course, what makes Harmon’s decision in the On Call Season 1 finale sting that much. So, back to our question about whether or not that was a betrayal. (Because that’s what it felt like when we watched the episode.) Bellisario told us that moments like the one she referenced above help us “start to understand…why the betrayal — which I totally agree feels like a betrayal. It feels like a betrayal to her; it feels like a betrayal to him. But at the same time, you understand that there is love and care in it.” If you’ve watched the whole series already, you know what we’re referencing here. And if not, let’s just say that sometimes, you have to hurt someone to keep them safer in the long run.
MORE: For more from the cast, you can check out our interview with Eriq La Salle and Lori Loughlin. We also spoke with co-creators Elliot Wolf and Tim Walsh about the show’s 30-minute episodes. And don’t miss our On Call Season 1 review!
Watch our interview with Troian Bellisario and Brandon Larracuente here.
Watch Troian Bellisario and Brandon Larracuente in On Call Season 1, now streaming on Prime Video.
