“The Calling,” an eight-part show, is based on a series of novels named Avraham Avraham, written by Dror Mishani. It was created and written for television by David E. Kelly and takes us inside the world of a detective named Avraham. The detective was known inside the police department for his uncanny means and methods of solving cases. Avraham solves three cases in “The Calling,” Season 1 and often risks his life to make the truth known to the world. So, let’s see if our lead detective is able to understand the motivations of the culprits or not and the extent to which his spiritual interventions help him in solving the case.
Spoilers Ahead
Was Vincent Conte Dead Or Alive? Did Avraham Find The Real Culprit?
The first episode of “The Calling” Season 1 starts with Nora Conte going to the New York police department to meet detective Avraham, as her son Vincent Conte, had been missing. Avraham told her to keep calm as he didn’t take the matter seriously and believed that her son would eventually return. When Nora went to meet him for the second time, Avraham realized the gravity of the situation. He started investigating the matter immediately with Janine Harris, who was assisting him on the case. Janine had heard about the peculiar means and ways of Avraham. She aspired to be like him one day. She keenly observed how he talked to people, how he interrogated them, and how, amidst such chaos and darkness, he didn’t forget to give them the due respect, if and when required. It is also a noteworthy point that he always knew when a person was lying. Avraham was a religious man, and he always thought the police officers, considering the nature of their work, were at risk of losing faith in humanity. One by one, Avraham and his team started interrogating everybody who they thought could have a plausible reason to kidnap Vincent. He met the neighbors of the Conte family, who lived a floor beneath them.
Zack and Dania Miller knew the Contes, and they told the detectives that Vincent didn’t share a very good relationship with his father. Dania said that she heard them arguing the night before Vincent disappeared. Zach Miller, who was an aspiring writer, had a suspicious look to him and Avraham knew instantly that he was hiding something. It came to be known that Zach used to teach Vincent, but the latter had stopped after a point. Zach and Vincent used to share a very close bond, and Leonard had always felt that there was something more to it. He had his suspicions that the two were involved romantically. Leonard had a very obnoxious demeanor, and he was also in the list of suspects.
Zach was trying very hard to make it big as a writer and believed that he had the talent to do so. His mentor, though, thought differently. Michael Rosen believed that Zach was not meant to be a writer. He was so sure about it that he called Zach and told him to stop entertaining this dream of his. Zach was hurt by the bitter words of his mentor. He was adamant about proving to him and to the world that he could write. He knew that Vincent was missing, and he took that as the theme for writing his next piece.
Zach wrote a series of letters that a missing boy would send to his parents. He imagined the issues he would be having. He imagined how Vincent would have told his parents why he had run from the house. He read it in his class, and his mentor was shocked to hear such an impactful piece of writing from him. Michael Rosen knew that Zach lived just a floor below the missing boy, who was all over the news. Rosen had his doubts about Zach, and after going through the letters, he felt it was imperative to go to the police and inform them about it. He entertained the possibility that maybe Zach had a role to play in the scheme of things and had gotten his hands on the letters written by Vincent. In fact, even when Dania accidentally saw the letters on his laptop, the first thought that came to her mind was the fact that Zach was still in touch with Vincent. This led Dania to start suspecting her own husband. She even went to the basement because, strangely, she had this feeling that Zach would have hidden him there. But she couldn’t find anybody or anything to corroborate her doubts. Avraham was, for the time being, entertaining every possibility. The neighbors, the family, and the friends—everybody was in the radar. Janine was able to retrieve Vincent’s chats that he had with his friends and colleagues over the last few days. There were some cryptic messages about his involvement with a girl, and about how fast things had escalated.
Avraham interrogated Benjamin who was Vincent’s best friend, Hailey who was apparently dating Vincent, and also Billy Livingstone who was Hailey’s boyfriend. Avraham knew what he had to do. When the odds were not in his favor, and the truth seemed to be hiding somewhere in the dark, he decided to play a bluff. And surprisingly, it worked. He brought Dania for questioning and told her that Vincent had told everything that had transpired between him and Dania to his best friend, Benjamin. Dania was dumbfounded. She didn’t know how she should conceal the information further. She told Avraham that she had kissed Vincent once when he had come to her house. It was a moment of vulnerability where two people, who were going through something very similar in their respective lives, indulged in something they shouldn’t have. Nora and Leonard were also informed about the same. Zach felt distraught upon hearing about it. Everybody was blaming him for indulging his student, but instead, his own wife had crossed the limits. But still, even after the letters and everything, Avraham couldn’t establish who was responsible for the probable kidnapping or murder of Vincent.
Avraham had an intuition that Nora and Leanord were hiding something. Olivia, Vincent’s real sister, felt quite disturbed and Avraham knew that it was necessary to talk to her alone. But Leonard wasn’t giving them that opportunity. He was always present on the scene whenever Avraham wanted to question Olivia or Nora. Avraham had noticed one very strange thing. Whenever he spoke to Nora, he always felt as if she had already presumed that her son was dead. It was quite unlikely for a mother to think that way unless and until she had reasons to believe that it had actually happened. Avraham was very sure that the parents were hiding information. Dania had sent those letters, which were written by Zach, to Nora. Still, Nora chose to not say anything to the police. She was sure that the letters were not written by her son. Following his intuition, Avraham called Nora to the police station. He once again bluffed and told her that they had found Vincent’s dead body. And it worked. Nora told Avraham that Leonard had found Vincent in Olivia’s room in an untoward situation. She told Avraham that Vincent was gratifying himself and Leonard lost his cool when he saw that. Vincent was assaulted by his own father, and he died on the spot. Leonard had then used one of the suitcases to pack his body and throw it in a nearby water body.
Though the case had been solved, Avraham was still pondering over certain details. Something didn’t seem right. The story was convincing, but still, the detective felt that he was missing out on something crucial. He was talking to Zach and Dania when he had an epiphany of sorts. Dania was talking about how she couldn’t imagine Vincent doing what he was being accused of. It all became clear to Avraham. He went straight to Nora Conte’s house and asked Olivia if Vincent was actually there in the room. Olivia was petrified, and she couldn’t utter a word. Nobody understood what Avraham wanted to imply. Olivia spoke, and the truth came out in the open. It was not Vincent but his father, Leonard, who was gratifying himself in Olivia’s room. Vincent had walked in and seen his father in an uncompromising position. Leonard got scared, and he beat Vincent to death. Nora had probably known this fact, all this while. The truth was so disgusting and horrifying that Nora forced herself to believe that nothing of the sort had ever happened. But Avraham saw through their motivations and helped the poor boy get justice.
Who Had Planted The Bomb In Anna Harvey’s Daycare?
In the fifth episode of “The Calling,” we see that Avraham, Janine, and Earl get information that a bomb has been planted in the daycare center owned by Anna Harvey. Earl had visited the daycare when they had received a threat, but Anna Harvey didn’t take it seriously. Avharam knew as soon as he met Harvey that she was hiding something. But he couldn’t do much about it because he didn’t have any incriminating evidence against her. Avraham and Janine were not able to decipher what role Anna Harvey could have in the proceedings. They all wanted to save the daycare from being bombed, and it felt like the owner herself was not interested in doing so. When Janine reached the daycare on the day the bomb was found on the premises, she saw a suspicious man. That man started running as soon as he saw NYPD officers. Janine chased him and took him to the police station. That man was named Brad Holt. Brad stuck to his narrative and said that he just got nervous, which is why he started running away and that he didn’t have anything to do with the bomb. Avraham knew that a person who didn’t have any criminal record couldn’t be held in the police station just because he had run after seeing a police officer. There were multiple threats made in the subsequent days, and Sarah, who was working for Anna Harvey, noticed something peculiar. She decided to tell Avraham and Janine about it. She went to the police station and told the detectives that she had heard Anna Harvey talking over the phone, probably to the kidnapper. She said that Anna talked to the person as if she knew them from before.
Meanwhile, detective Earl Malzone, who had been following Brad Holt for a while, had noticed that often, he used to stop in front of Harvey’s daycare center and stare at it endlessly. Earl was sure that Brad had a role to play in the scheme of things. His wife, Marcie Holt, had also been contacted, but she was positive that her husband couldn’t do any such thing. The detectives decided to check the laptops and computers of every person they suspected. They didn’t find anything on Marcie’s system, but they did find out some dubious searches that were made via Brad’s system. Brad was searching for how to make a bomb. Earl was constantly keeping an eye on Brad. One day he followed him inside a warehouse and was shocked to see Anna Harvey and Brad Holt in a compromising situation. The following day, an anonymous person assaulted Anna, and she had to be admitted to the hospital. Avraham told Marcie about her husband’s affair with Anna Harvey in the hope that he would get some vital information from her, but Marcie was clueless, and she didn’t know anything. She didn’t plant the bomb, though she was devastated after hearing that her husband had an extramarital relationship. Anna Harvey regained consciousness, and Avraham convinced her to tell the truth. Anna had not told anybody about it till then, as she was scared that the truth would endanger her life. But she found the courage and decided to lift the veil. She told the detectives that Brad and Marcie’s child used to come to her daycare. Marcie had found out that Brad was infatuated with Anna. She became very jealous and insecure, but Brad didn’t stop seeing Anna. Anna told Brad that they would have to end their relationship, but the latter threatened her by saying that he would blow up her daycare center and ruin her life. Anna Harvey confessed that Brad was the one who had been threatening and blackmailing her for quite some time. The detectives caught hold of him and took him into custody.
‘The Calling’ Season 1: Ending Explained – Did Avraham Find Elisabeth Serra? Was Elisabeth Dead Or Alive?
While investigating the bombing case, the NYPD detectives accidentally bumped into another case. A man named Paul Serra, whose sons used to go to Anna Harvey’s daycare, was present at the scene. While passing Janine, he told her that the bomb was fake. Janine had taken a picture of the man with her mobile phone. Along with Brad Holt, Paul Serra was also one of the prime suspects in the bombing case. Avraham and Janine went to interrogate him, and they found out that his wife, Elisabeth Serra, had been missing for quite a few days. He told the detectives that she had gone to Mexico, where her parents used to stay. Paul said that Elisabeth needed some time off as things hadn’t been great between them. The detectives tried to reach her in Mexico, but they couldn’t. Danny Serra, Elisabeth and Paul’s son, told the detectives he had two fathers, and though Paul thought that Elisabeth was in Mexico, she was actually with the other father. Danny had a mental disorder, and his fantasies had now become his reality. As per the therapist, a split had occurred where the real and the imaginary coexisted in his subconscious mind. Avraham felt that the kid had started to believe that his mother would never come back. But even though he was saying a lot of stuff that was derived from his imagination, there were figments of truth to it as well.
Avraham came to know that Elisabeth worked at the Valley Forge Club as an event planner. It was an exclusive club with an extremely expensive membership. At this point, the detectives believed that Elisabeth might have a role to play in Anna Harvey’s bombing case. But soon, they realized there might be two different cases, i.e., Day care center bombing and another involving Elisabeth Serra’s disappearance. In the Valley Forge Club, they met Mr. Rasgon and came to know that Elisabeth had become quite close to Peter Hanney, a famous and affluent businessman. They shared an intimate bond, and his presence undermined Paul’s authority. Peter said that he had convinced Elisabeth to run away with him. He had made all the arrangements, and they were supposed to sail away in his yacht, but Elisabeth didn’t show up. Paul, all of a sudden, told the detectives that he had found his wife, who was in Mexico City. He said that he was going to take a flight that night to meet her. Avraham and Janine knew that they had only about 10 hours to find some incriminating evidence against Peter or Paul. Avraham was very sure that either Peter or Paul was behind the death of Elisabeth.
Elisabeth and Paul got a tip about a crypto investment, and they earned a lot of money through it. But Paul wanted to invest in something riskier, and soon they lost all their money as quickly as they had earned it. Paul was eager to prove his worth to his wife, but his one bad investment spoiled every plan he had. Paul was working in the house of one of the members of the Valley Club when he learned about a tip. But later, it seemed like the anonymous member wanted to mislead Paul, which is why he gave him a wrong tip. The fake hedge fund account in which Paul had invested all his money belonged to Peter Hanney, who had thought that if Elisabeth lost everything, she would come to him. Though Peter was responsible for misleading Paul, he hadn’t killed Elisabeth. Peter loved Elisabeth and wanted to start a new life with her. Paul came to know about it, and he couldn’t control his anger. He killed his wife and then hid her in a secret room in his own house. He later moved her to one of the houses where he was working and buried her under the tiles. Paul wanted to take his life, but the detectives intervened at the right time. They took him to the police station, where he confessed to killing Elisabeth. Paul tried to escape the police station and was shot by Captain Katherine Davies. It was a tragic end to the life of Paul Serra.
Will There Be A Season 2 Of ‘The Calling’?
In the last scene of the series, “The Calling,” we see that John Wentworth, the vagabond who was often contacted by Avraham and other detectives for information, had died in very mysterious circumstances. Avraham considered him a good friend. Wentworth had earlier told Avraham that he had some information that could prevent a crime from happening. It is possible that the people who were planning to commit the crime knew that John was going to talk to the police. John’s death left a lot of questions unanswered. Maybe in the second season of “The Calling,” we will witness how Avraham solves the mystery and unravels the truth. The death of his friend had left him distraught, and for sure, he was not going to give up unless and until he found the perpetrators responsible for the act.
“The Calling” is a 2022 Drama Thriller series created by David E. Kelley.
