Monica Raymund's On Call Role Revealed: EP Talks Chicago Fire Vet's Brief Return To The Dick Wolf Universe
Warning: The following contains spoilers from the series premiere of Prime Video's On Call.
Monica Raymund's return to the Wolf Entertainment family proves short-lived. One month after the Chicago Fire alumna's stealth casting was revealed in the trailer for Prime Video's On Call, we can now confirm the extent of her part in the half-hour police procedural, as well as the creators' decision to enlist an old friend for a seemingly minor role.
Raymund, who for six seasons starred as Paramedic in Charge Gabby Dawson on the aforementioned NBC firefighter drama, is seen here as Officer Maria Delgado. She's the first character we meet in the premiere of Dick Wolf's inaugural streaming series... and the first casualty. In a surprise twist not three minutes into Episode 1, Delgado is shot and killed during a traffic stop — a gnarly execution that casts a shadow over the remainder of Season 1.
Tim Walsh, who co-created On Call with Wolf's son Elliot and previously worked with Raymund on Starz's Hightown, tells TVLine that they "needed someone to fill that role, to cast that shadow... and quite honestly, we're not being all that unique. Hitchcock did it with Janet Leigh, killing her off a quarter of the way [into Psycho].... We wanted people to believe it was a show about her, and it's not exactly what happens."
Delgado's death sets off a chain of events in the episodes that follow. The slain officer trained under Troian Bellisario's Traci Harmon, a veteran of the Long Beach police department who blames herself in part for what happened, and it alters her approach with new trainee, Alex Diaz (played by The Good Doctor's Brandon Larracuente).
"I do think that potentially she had a different relationship with previous trainees," the Pretty Little Liars tells TVLine. "When Delgado is killed, she takes some of the responsibility and wonders, 'What could I have done? Was I too buddy-buddy with her? Was I too easy on her? Because we shared this friendship and this camaraderie, did I not imbue something in her that might have saved her life?' And coming fresh off of that in the first episode, and then meeting Diaz, her new trainee, it's like, 'I'm not going to make that mistake again. I don't care if you like me, I don't care if we have a good time... I'm going to make sure that you are safe and that you are put out on the streets as a better cop than I ever could be.'"
Were you pleased to see Monica Raymund in the On Call premiere? Stunned by the nature of her limited role? Drop your thoughts in a comment below.