Ballard – Season 1 Episode 2 'Haystacks' Recap & Review
Episode 2 of Ballard Season 1 starts with Ballard arriving at the lodge crime scene. She introduces herself to Detective Neylon, the man in charge. Neylon is unhappy that she is on his turf, but tries to be accommodating. He allows her to check the crime scene and promises to call her once he gets the ballistic report. Before leaving, Ballard talks to the manager and checks out the CCTV footage. Unfortunately, the murder was not caught on camera, but a suspicious man catches her attention. She quickly takes a picture before leaving.
Outside, Zamira waits, and Ballard tells her that they will secretly work the case. She calls Laffont and sends him the victim's details. Laffont asks her to call Bosch, but she refuses. Neylon believes Yulia was killed in a robbery gone wrong, but Zamira and Ballard think otherwise. They follow one of Yulia's co-workers to a local salon. The woman refuses to talk since she is undocumented. Ballard allows her to leave and talks to the salon manager. The manager tells them more about Yulia, but nothing substantial enough to be a lead. Luckily, she recognises the unhoused man in the picture but doesn't know his name.
They head back to the office and debrief the team. Ted is frustrated to be sent on the hunting mission. Meanwhile, Ballard and Zamira start creating the case board and going through all the evidence. Ballard leaves to talk to Laura's mom but runs into Pearlman. He is mad that Ballard is looking into Yulia's and Laura's cases.
Ballard tells him about the connection between Sara and Laura. She also reminds him that all cases are important. As they talk about the cases, it dawns on Pearlman that Brian might not have killed his sister. Brian was doing a military tour. Ballard promises to get Pearlman answers and calls Laffont to check out Brian's alibi during Laura's murder. Laffont suggests they bring Bosch in, but Ballard refuses.
The visit with Laura's mom doesn't go as smoothly as Ballard hoped. As she leaves Laura's mom's house, someone starts tailing her. Unfortunately, Ballard doesn't realise she is being followed. She heads to her therapy session where we learn that someone tried to rape her. Her therapist worries that Ballard is too hurt by the betrayal of her fellow officers. Ballard switches the topic back to the shooting. On her way out, she runs into Olivas and two other male officers. One of the officers makes a crude sexual joke, pissing Ballard off.
Back at the office, Colleen finds the last advert that Laura worked on. Martina finds a possible connection between Laura and Sara. Sara was in the drama club, and the killer might have met them through acting classes. Laffont gets an update on Brian's alibi, forcing them to drop him as a possible suspect. It also turns out that Leyton never submitted the bullet that killed Yulia to ballistics. Ballard sends Laffont to do it, and Colleen offers to join him.
On the other hand, Ballard visits Brian and apologises to him. Brian is relieved to hear he is cleared, but sends her away.
In the meantime, Zamira joins Ted in searching for the unhoused man. After a while, their search leads them to a guy named Frosty. Ballard joins Zamira and Ted to make an arrest, but Frosty tries to make a run for it. He ends up breaking his leg. Given that Frosty is hurt and too high, they call it a day and drop him at the hospital first.
After a long day, Ballard calls Aaron after getting hurt during the arrest. Aaron drops by her house and says she only calls him on the bad days. They end up sleeping together, and Aaron accidentally flashes Tutu the following morning.
On the other side of town, Ballard meets with the captain after Neylon reports her for working her case. The captain sides with Ballard and asks her to take over the case since she arrested Frosty. However, the captain asks her to close the case perfectly or lose the case. Before heading to the office, Ballard drops by Ballistics. She begs Freddie to run the ballistics on her John Doe case and prioritise the Yulia case.
She later meets with Zamira at the hospital to interrogate Frosty. Unfortunately for them, Frosty suffers from mental issues. Even when sober, he can barely make a coherent sentence. Zamira and Ballard believe that someone intentionally paid Frosty to kill Yulia because he was too lost already. When asked about the gun, Frosty claims he buried it, and it turned into roses. With no clear answers, Ballard and Zamira leave.
At the office, Colleen is still traumatised by her first visit to the morgue. Laffont comforts her, and they get back to the case. Ballard sends Zamira and Ted to try to find the gun Frosty disposed of. Bosch makes an impromptu visit and asks to talk to Ballard in private. He is unhappy she didn't reach out, but doesn't take it personally. He invites her for lunch and tries to encourage her to find the silver lining in her current situation. Bosch also mentions that he found the alibis of two witnesses problematic in the Laura case.
Back on the street, Zamira and Ted find Frosty's gun near a rose mural. Zamira calls Ballard, and they rush the gun to Freddie. Unfortunately, the gun can only be linked to Yulia's case. As for the John Doe case, Freddie says the bullet was never presented and thus never analysed. Zamira is sure she called in to request the bullet analysis. She couldn't follow up as she left the force, but now, she is certain someone in LAPD wants this case to go unsolved.
The scene then cuts to Ballard's stalker calling someone. He assures the other party that the case is closed and Frosty will be taking the fall. The other party gives him new instructions. The episode ends with the stalker arriving at work, and we learn that he is a police officer.
The Episode Review
Ballard feels betrayed by her former colleagues, and she is intent on proving her case. It seems like Zamira also has an issue with Olivas, but she is hiding the truth. Ballard is facing a lot of issues in this case. As soon as she gets a lead, it turns out to be nothing. They thought Brian was their guy, but he was innocent. Frosty gave them nothing. There is always someone a step ahead of Ballard, and based on the closing scene, we know he is either in the force or has some officers on his payroll.
It doesn't help that Ted's attitude continues to affect the morale of the team. He is always complaining and telling on Ballard. He might want to focus on doing his job to help Ballard close the cases quicker!
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