Raymund left Chicago Fire in season 6, then again in season 8 after a brief cameo. It was sad to see her go, but it has also been exciting to

see her venture out and attempt different roles on the small screen. One Chicago fans perked up when they saw Raymund was cast in the

new Prime show On Call. A Dick Wolf production, On Call seemed like a perfect use of the actor’s skill set.

It was, in some ways. Monica Raymund was a no-brainer to implement in another procedural drama, and she’s actually the first face we see in the On Call pilot. She plays Officer Maria Delgado, a veteran within the Long Beach Police Department. Makes sense. Raymund is a familiar face to Dick Wolf fans, and the producer loves to recycle proven talent.

The thing is, Raymund doesn’t appear in another scene. The opener of the show sees her character pull someone over, only to get shot within two minutes. It’s an absolutely devastating twist, and one that sets a very grim tone for the rest of the pilot and the show.

Raymund may have played a big role in selling the show, but the actor was a red herring for the true leads of On Call, Officer Traci Harmon (Troian Bellisario) and Officer Alex Diaz (Brandon Larracuente). The show’s co-creator, Tim Walsh, explained his reasoning behind the Raymund bait-and-switch in a new interview with TV Line.

Walsh, who previously worked with Monica Raymund on Hightown, likened the opening of the show to the opening of the horror classic Psycho (1960). He wanted to emulate the twist opening, in which the perceived main character is killed off in the opening act. Raymund, as a result, was his Janet Leigh.

“Hitchcock did it with Janet Leigh, killing her off a quarter of the way [into Psycho],” Wash posited. “We wanted people to believe it was a show about her, and it’s not exactly what happens.” The co-creator felt like the actor possessed the right mixture of gravitas and familiarity to sell the idea of leading the show.

Walsh’s gambit certainly worked. Delgago’s death in the On Call pilot was an absolute shock, and while we will miss Raymund (yet again), it definitely has our attention locked on what happens next.