The Knowing – As the second episode of The Calling begins, Nora (Stephanie Szostak) and Leonard Conte (Steven Pasquale) are brought down to the station to look at Vincent’s backpack that was found in the dumpster. Avraham (Jeff Wilbusch) asks Leonard if he thinks his son is dead since parents often have instincts about their children. The question upsets Leonard so Avraham quickly apologizes. Leonard only knows that Vincent doesn’t have the tenacity to run away or stay away. After the intro, Dania Miller (Annabelle Dexter-Jones) visits Nora to give her baked goods and condolences. Once she comes inside, Nora tells her that there hasn’t been anything else besides the backpack. Nora asks if Vincent has ever said anything to her or Zack. Dania admits she might’ve said something to him because he seemed a little more trouble as of late.

She thought it might’ve been something at home so she asked him if he had other places to stay like with relatives. Although he shut down the idea, Dania worries that she might’ve struck a chord with him. When Nora asks if she told the police, Dania says no because she didn’t think anything of it. Dania worries that she planted the seed when it was really none of her business. She believes he’ll come back though. Avraham and Janine Harris (Juliana Canfield) go to Vincent’s high school and talk about it being a harsh place. They’re told that they’ll summon Benjamin Lafferty, but they need to alert his parents first. Avraham doesn’t think that is necessary so he asks the man to pretend that Vincent Conte is his child and he is missing. Detective Earl Malzone (Michael Mosley) waits for John Wentworth (Tony Curran) who accuses him of harassment. Earl explains that he is there to find out what he did see since he notices stuff.

John complains everyone judges him for being homeless and it breeds self-doubt that he has to live with. He denies being at the apartment on the day that John went missing. At the school, Benjamin (Elliott Fullam) confirms he is Vincent’s best friend. They know that Benjamin lied when he said Vincent was at school on Tuesday because the attendance records say otherwise. Benjamin claims he just thought Vincent had cut class so he didn’t want to rat him out. He insists he doesn’t know where Vincent is although he might’ve mentioned running away in the past. Vincent was in a good place since he had a date scheduled for tonight and it was his first date ever. Benjamin mentions that the date was with Hailey Townsend before he vomits in his mouth. When Avraham questions him about it, Benjamin says he doesn’t handle stress well. He goes on to say that Hailey may be the hottest girl in the whole school so Vincent wouldn’t pick this week to run away.

Hailey (Emma Rayne Lyle) is questioned next. She explains that they have French together and were going to go to a movie. While she says Vincent is nice, she admits that she doesn’t like him like that. She only agreed to go to the movies with him because she felt sorry for him and she wanted to make her boyfriend jealous. Her boyfriend, Billy Livingston, knew about their date because she posted it on Instagram. She admits there were some mean comments. At the station, Avraham goes through the comments with the others. Avraham learns what Wentworth said about not seeing anything suspicious. Earl is tasked with talking to Hailey’s boyfriend. Janine is meeting with the tech responsible for checking the phone. Zack (Noel Fisher) attends his writing class with Michael Rosen (Christopher Mann). Once Rebecca finishes, Zack agrees to read his writing which is a letter from a son to his parents. It is eerily similar to what has happened to Vincent.

Michael says it is excellent because it had intrigue and suspense. He thinks Zack should continue with it. Leonard asks Nora if she is attracted to the detective because she can sense it. Nora says he is feeling that when their son is gone. Leonard warns her that the detective they’re responsible for whatever happened to Vincent. They begin arguing as Nora admits she sometimes prays for the man she married to return. Nora says he disgusts her by the way he constantly undermines herself and Vincent. She is done lying to everyone including the detective. Later, Zack takes Dania out dancing. They get home and thank Angie for looking after the baby while they were away. Earl confronts Billy in a pub where he is playing pool. They sit down to talk about Vincent as Billy insists he didn’t even know the kid. Although he threatened to beat him up, Billy claims he was just messing with him and didn’t do it. Janine finds where Avraham has been eating thanks to Earl.

They talk about her desire to take and pass the lieutenant’s exam before she confirms that tech found some nuggets on the phone. First, it is discovered that Hailey was sexting Vincent. They also found conversations between Vincent and his tutor Zack Miller. There is one they cannot source. Whoever sent it says they’re always here to talk. It traces back to a prepaid burner phone without a registered account holder. Another message from the same number says, “That shouldn’t have happened.” The message was received on Sunday so something must’ve happened on that day. They tried calling the number but it seems to be disconnected. One message says, “You need to die already.” Janine says they know who sent him that. Avraham visits Leonard and Nora Conte to ask to speak to their daughter. When they talk to Olivia (Mattea Conforti), she claims she sends him texts like that all the time even though the police didn’t find any others.

It happened on Monday when they argued. Olivia explains that her brother isn’t popular at school and he makes it harder for her to be liked. She wanted him to be less embarrassing. On Monday, she told him her life would be a lot easier if he’d just crawl under a rock. The conversation escalated after that. Olivia says she loves her brother. Although she can’t say why he’d run away, she doesn’t think it would be because of something she said. She didn’t hear Vincent’s argument with his father since she puts her headphones on when they argue. Earl visits John again later that night. He knows that John taught Keyes at Rockefeller. They found a video of Vincent reciting one of his poems so they think it might be connected to Wentworth. John begins telling him about Frankfurt and suggests Earl might like him. John eventually admits that the boy seemed sweet, but questions if they all do. The next day, Janine calls Avraham to say she said it was just harmless and this is what high school girls do sometimes.

However, Benjamin thinks that they kissed. Vincent and Benjamin had a bet that whoever got French-kissed first would get $50. Vincent texted him on Monday saying he owed him $50. Janine speculates that Janine might be the one with the burner phone. That comment triggers something for Avi who rushes back to the Conte house to see Vincent’s closet again. Nora verifies that Vincent had the large luggage from the set although they don’t know where it is. She didn’t see it when he left, but Avi suggests he might’ve packed and moved it out sooner. He asks Nora to check for cherished possessions again before she begins freaking out. Leonard unlocks the door as Nora says she had the feeling from the beginning that he is dead. Avi feels something awful has happened but not that he is dead. Leonard catches them embracing and asks what is going on. At the station, Captain Kathleen Davies (Karen Robinson) tells Avraham that Leonard has filed a formal complaint.

She begins scolding him for holding Nora’s hand before that. Leonard is convinced that his wife has feelings for Avi and it is making him uncomfortable. She wonders if he is being his best detective self since they lost an entire day getting wrong when Vincent disappeared. They got it wrong because Avi took the mother at her word without getting confirmation. He believes he is their best chance of finding Vincent, but Kathleen isn’t sure since he isn’t doing his best work. Avi goes back to his desk to draw a fish and think about everything. He visits the synagogue and sings with the others until he receives a message from Nora who wants to meet. When Nora meets with him, she admits she needed to apologize for her husband and to her husband because what he said wasn’t unfounded. For whatever reason, she is drawn to him. Nora thinks he represents a certain compassion and sensitivity that have gone missing from her life.

She pleads with him to stay on the case because he is a good detective who feels her son. Nora believes he is her best chance of finding Vincent if he is still alive. Avi touches her hand only to be stopped this time. He goes back to the office to tell Earl and Janine about it. Earl convinces them to go out for drinks to talk about the case. He goes over the issues in Vincent’s life. Janine isn’t sure she would have it in her to think her child was dead if they went missing. She suggests Nora has to somehow know it if she feels it. Janine says they’ve made progress and Vincent is most likely dead because his mother is telling him. Dania puts the baby to bed before reading Zack’s writing on his computer. He catches her looking through his stuff seconds later. Although he claims he wrote the letter from Vincent to his parents, Dania doesn’t believe it because she knows Vincent’s handwriting.

Zack says they were written by Vincent when they were going over his college essays and he was encouraging him to dig deeper. As for the stuff on the computer, Zack wrote that for class while using some of Vincent’s thoughts. Although she says it is sick, Zack insists it is fiction and he just made it up. Dania doesn’t believe it. She is starting to believe that he has done something to Vincent.

 

The Calling Review

The second episode of The Calling delved deeper into the mystery surrounding Vincent’s death without giving too much away. Vincent’s backpack was found at the end of the last episode and followed up on this episode. It was also discovered that he hadn’t been to school on that Tuesday so Avi and his colleagues were wrong about the day he disappeared. While there are some questionable characters, nobody really stands out as being the most likely culprit yet.

There is clearly more going on with Zack Miller, John Wentworth, some of the kids at Vincent’s school, and possibly even Vincent’s family. The series isn’t revolutionary yet, but it is solid enough to remain entertaining through two episodes. The characters are mostly three-dimensional especially the victims and suspects although Avraham can come off as a little dry sometimes.

Depending on how things play out, The Calling may become a gripping police drama that parallels The Killing and other shows in the genre. It isn’t there yet, but it may become deeper and more disturbing in a few more episodes. The episode scores a 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of The Calling can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find our site beneficial? Consider supporting our work by following this link.