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American police drama television series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Against the Wall is an American police drama television series created by Annie Brunner. The series stars Rachael Carpani as Abby Kowalski, a police detective who recently joined the Internal Affairs division of the Chicago Police Department.
Against the Wall | |
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![]() Against the Wall title card | |
Genre | |
Created by | Annie Brunner |
Starring | |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 13 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Running time | 43 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | Lifetime |
Release | July 31 – October 23, 2011 |
The series was broadcast in the United States on the cable channel Lifetime, and is a production of Universal Cable Productions. It premiered on July 31, 2011, following Drop Dead Diva.[1][2]
The series follows Abby Kowalski, a five-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department, who in order to pursue her dream career as a detective takes the only opening available—in the Internal Affairs Division. Abby's decision to join the department's internal affairs division puts her at odds with members of her own family, themselves members of the Chicago Police Department. Now Abby must find a way to do her job as an IAD detective without tearing her family apart.
On June 23, 2010, Lifetime placed a pilot order for Against the Wall.[9] Annie Brunner wrote the pilot, Dean Parisot was attached to the project as the director, with Nancy Miller serving as executive producer and Annie Brunner as supervising producer.[10][11] However, Dean Parisot was forced to pull out of directing the pilot due to the death of his wife; he was replaced by Michael Fresco.[12]
Casting announcements began in September 2010, with Rachael Carpani first to be cast, Carpani was cast as Abby Kowalski, "a policewoman who causes a rift with her three cop brothers when she decides to join the department's Internal Affairs Division."[13] Next to join the series was Treat Williams as Don Kowalski, Abby's father, "an old-school career Chicago cop who is rough around the edges but has a real soft spot for his only daughter" until she tells him of her new job.[14] Kathy Baker was next to be cast as Sheila Kowalski, Abby's mother, a Chicago cop's wife.[12] Marisa Ramirez, Brandon Quinn, and Chris Johnson, were the last actors to be cast, with Ramirez playing Lina Flores, Abby's new partner at Internal Affairs, Quinn playing Richie Kowalski, Abby's younger brother, a Chicago Patrol Officer, and Johnson playing Danny Mitchell, Abby's longtime friend, who is also a lawyer.[15]
The network green lighted the series on February 7, 2011, with an order of 13 hour-long episodes.[11] The series is produced by Universal Cable Productions.
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) | |
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1 | "Pilot" | Michael Fresco | Annie Brunner | July 31, 2011 | 1.78[16] | |
Detective Abby Kowalski has to juggle her first day on the job as a detective in the Internal Affairs Division while dealing with the fallout from her family of cops for choosing a career in IAD. Abby's first case with Internal Affairs involves investigating an officer's involvement in a barroom brawl. | ||||||
2 | "A Good Cop" | Vincent Misiano | Annie Brunner | August 7, 2011 | 1.77[17] | |
Abby Kowalski and Lina Flores attend the scene of an officer-involved shooting only to discover that the officer in question is Abby's brother, Richie Kowalski. After being reassigned to another case, Abby has to uncover the identity of a mole inside the Organized Crime Bureau, while she also keeps a close eye on her brother's case. | ||||||
3 | "We Have a Cop in Trouble Here" | John Terlesky | Nancy Miller | August 14, 2011 | 1.86[18] | |
Abby and Lina begin an investigation when an ex-con makes a complaint claiming that he is being harassed by members of the Chicago Police Department. Detective Carl Scott propositions Abby in return for revealing details on her brother's case. | ||||||
4 | "The Fifth Body" | Artie Mandelberg | Wade Soloman & Megan Lynn | August 21, 2011 | 1.82[19] | |
Abby and Lina conduct an investigation into alleged improprieties in the coroner's office after the body of a murder victim goes missing, only to appear in an online video that goes viral. | ||||||
5 | "Baby, Did a Bad Thing" | Norberto Barba | Denitria Harris-Lawrence | August 28, 2011 | 1.86[20] | |
The investigation of the homicide of a stripper is kicked to IAD and assigned to Abby and Lina when it is revealed that she was killed at a "members only" club for cops. Richie finds out about Brody and Abby's sexual relationship. | ||||||
6 | "Obsessed and Unwanted" | Timothy Busfield | Laurence Walsh | September 4, 2011 | 1.76[21] | |
Abby and Lina are assigned to investigate an officer who has been accused of stalking the psychiatrist assigned to him by the department. However, when she gets shot they re-focus the investigation onto the victim's husband. Richie is assigned a new partner who used to ride with his father. | ||||||
7 | "Countdown to Meltdown" | Kate Woods | Bob Lowry | September 18, 2011 | 1.88[22] | |
After witnessing the poor response time from 911, after a man has a heart attack in front of Abby and Lina, the two detectives decide to investigate the backlog of complaints about delayed reaction times from 911. Donnie Kowalski tries out for the Chicago Police Department SWAT team. | ||||||
8 | "Memories We Fear" | Holly Dale | Benjamin Lobato | September 25, 2011 | 1.33[23] | |
Abby and Lina investigate the erratic behavior of a crime scene photographer, which leads them to take over the investigation of a murdered model. Although, the case has Abby's remembering unpleasant stories her father told her about experiences he had. | ||||||
9 | "Lean on Me or Die" | Steven Robman | Mark Israel | October 2, 2011 | 1.48[24] | |
Abby and Lina grow suspicious of Nikki, an undercover officer, who they suspect may be turning over to the dark side. Brody turns to Sheila for advice on how to woo Abby. | ||||||
10 | "Boys are Back" | Tricia Brock | Jessica Mecklenburg | October 9, 2011 | 1.55[25] | |
The Kowalskis grow suspicious of Mackie's new boyfriend who is a former criminal that Don Kowalski put in prison a few years earlier. Abby and Lina investigate a case with a girl who was trampled during a convention, while they also investigate another case with a detective who fell from a balcony. | ||||||
11 | "Wonder What God's Up To" | Paul Shapiro | Nancy Miller & Denitria Harris-Lawrence | October 16, 2011 | 1.25[26] | |
Abby and Lina investigate a complicated case involving the suicide of a police officer; Mackie and Abby's brothers plan a surprise party for Abby. | ||||||
12 | "Second Chances" | Gloria Muzio | Suzan Olson Davis | October 23, 2011 | 1.43[27] | |
When Shelia hires ex-convicts in her bakery, Don starts to get worried about what the consequences could be for their family. Lina and Abby attempt to uncover what went wrong at a hazing of a recruitment academy in Chicago. | ||||||
13 | "We Protect Our Own" | Jeremiah S. Chechik | Annie Brunner | October 23, 2011 | 1.47[27] | |
When Don's ex-partner Paul is investigated for the shooting of his wife, Abby and Lina look into who really did it, which may lead to Don's old cases being reopened. Meanwhile, Lina worries if her partnership with Abby will change after the birth of her baby, and Abby's relationships with Danny and Brody heat up. |
Against the Wall has received mixed or average reviews, earning a score of 59 on Metacritic.[28] The New York Daily News said of the series: "Lifetime's new Against the Wall turns out to be first-rate drama. In fact, it's one of the best new shows of the year."[29] The Los Angeles Times gave a positive review: "There's much here to suggest that, if everyone relaxes a little, good things will come."[30] The Hollywood Reporter also gave the pilot a positive review:
But mostly Against the Wall is a pleasant surprise, with Carpani being a much bigger surprise. If Against the Wall can make its disparate parts work, it will be plenty more intriguing than a number of network procedurals. And in the cable game, that's already a victory.[31]
The pilot episode premiered with 1.8 million total viewers, scoring 0.9 million[32] viewers in the 18–49 demographic and 0.6 million in the 25–54 demographic.[32][33]
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