At the beginning of the episode, we watch as June (Sally Lindsay) sneaks through a dark house. She enters a bedroom where two people are sleeping. After the intro, June cares for her mother before leaving home and heading to work. She arrives at work and takes over for her coworker a short time later. Next, June meets with her daughter Hana (Taj Atwal). They speak about Hana’s pregnancy. Hana believes that Darren will be able to find them a new place to live. At home, she discusses selling the house with her mother. June learns that they’re going to let her go at work. She returns home and tries to put on a brave face.

Before too long, June sells the house. Then, she receives a call from Irene (Rosina Carbone) with Manchester Savings and Loans. June is told that they have discovered fraud on her account. She gives the caller her private details before being passed to a man named James. He convinced June to transfer her money to a new bank account. When the call ends, James tells everyone that this is how they should handle certain clients. We see that the call center is being operated from a small box in a big warehouse of sorts. After that, June attends a meeting for people who have been scammed out of money.

June is asked to tell her story and she does. She gets into an argument with her mother and they pass the blame around. After the meeting ends, June is confronted by Des (Daniel Ryan). After a little help, June remembers Des from her past. He invites her to share a drink with him. They sit down and Des tells June about getting scammed. He is convinced that he might be able to help her. They go to Des’s hideout and he tells her that he has been tracking scammers for the last 7 years of his life. He explains that the scammers who targeted her had to be professionals. Des explains that they called June’s house several times. They spoke with her mother to get information about her first.

Des takes her in his car and explains that the scammers take the money and move it into offshore accounts. Then, it comes back into the country into a legit company like Lizzie’s Fun Factory. While telling June about the investigation he has carried out, he takes her to the man who he believes is responsible. He says that this man doesn’t touch the phones but he does manage his workers. While there is no evidence of fraud at any of his businesses, Des is adamant that Wiley is involved. He eventually shows her a picture of Kirk Wiley (Paul Higgins). When June returns home, she finds Hana standing outside. Hana is having issues with her boyfriend so she moves in with her mother for the time being.

June’s mother believes that they’re going to be fine. In the morning, June notices that her daughter is experiencing morning sickness before joining Des. He takes her to his hideout and shows her the beige box he got from the hospital trash. He uses the phone to get in touch with someone named Schwab. He asks for the man’s address too. Des explains that the first number that called June doesn’t accept incoming calls. His beige box forces those phones to accept incoming calls. They go to the house in question and Des is forced to go in alone. He returns with an auto-dialer which puts out pre-recorded messages. Des explains that the man inside is old and doesn’t know he is involved.

When someone returns the call from the auto-dialer, they eventually get in touch with the scammer. He says that tracing the call leads back to the old man. That man told Des that someone was paying his bills as long as the box remains. At home, June’s mother says that they didn’t have to sell the house. She offers to call the agencies and help June get work. June gets angry and lashes out at her mother. When June leaves, her mother begins making calls. Next, we see June in Des’s City Club Cabs car. Des tells June that Kirk has lost his mother’s carer. Des believes that they’ll be looking for a new one and this could give them an opportunity to get June inside. When June returns home, she finds her mother dead.

It is believed that she might’ve overdosed on her medication and Des suspects that will give the insurance company an excuse not to pay. Later, Des tells June that Kirk is advertising for a new carer. June is hesitant to get involved but she decides to go through with it. She meets with Kirk the following day and is given a tour of his house. Since Kirk’s mother, Elisabeth (Elizabeth Counsell), is asleep, she isn’t introduced to her yet. June meets with Kirk’s wife Laura (Samantha Power) and daughter Lizzie (Katie Redford). June learns that they’re preparing for Lizzie’s upcoming wedding and they’re behind. After that, Kirk speaks with June about her experience with dementia patients.

June returns to Des and admits that she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Des believes that they’ll be able to find something if June becomes Elisabeth’s carer. He wants June to steal Kirk’s phone so he can clone it. Laura sends June a text message asking her if she can start on Monday. After that, June and Hana pick a picture for the funeral. We jump forward and see that June has accepted the job. Since she took it on short notice, Kirk and his wife decide to give her a little extra money. She tries to turn it down but they will not let her. When Kirk and his wife leave, Elisabeth says she is ashamed of that boy.

June questions her but Elisabeth begins rambling on about the television show she is watching. Laura finds June cleaning the oven. She tells her that she doesn’t have to do that since they have a cleaner. Then, June notices Kirk doing something odd around the pictures nearby. June goes upstairs and tries to get Elisabeth to speak about her son. She says something about someone drinking too much and that Kirk shouldn’t have been there. She says that Kirk cried but she thought he was making it up and Kirk shouldn’t have been there. After that, Kirk shows June a picture of Elisabeth when she was young. He speaks to her about his feelings of losing his mother.

He admits that she urinates on herself and that disgusts him. Kirk receives a call and this ends their conversation. Late one night, June asks Des about cloning Kirk’s phone. She wants to know how it works. She goes into Kirk’s house, sneaks into his bedroom, and takes the phone. She returns it to Des and he gets what he needs quickly. A light inside turns on as June rushes to return the phone before anyone can notice. June turns off the light, turns around, and Elisabeth starts screaming at her. Kirk comes down and notices that June has his phone. He asks about it before the episode ends.

 

Cold Call Review

I wasn’t sure what to think of Cold Call since it had pretty low scores and critical reviews elsewhere. However, I thought that the opener was very good. It wasn’t unrealistic and I am glad that they’re tackling an interesting subject. Suffice to say, the show is very unique. The acting was good and the episode kept me guessing. I couldn’t wait to see what was coming next. I will admit that it was slightly predictable though. Then again, there wouldn’t be a show if June hadn’t agreed to become Elisabeth’s carer.

However, I am not sure why they decided to cast Taj Atwal as Sally Lindsay’s daughter. That just doesn’t match at all and it seems more and more shows are doing this. That brings down the realistic level a notch. I really enjoyed the opener and can’t wait to see where it goes from here. This episode scores a 7.5 out of 10.