Throughout the film series, McCall is "a man of principle who roams the West of yesteryear helping people in trouble while struggling to get himself out of trouble—clearing himself of a false murder charge".
[4] In the first film, McCall "finds himself caught in the middle of a deadly feud in a frontier mining town",[3] and falling in love with a local girl named Nora, played by Lise Cutter.
[4] Although the film received "excellent notices and ratings", NBC declined to pick up it up as a series, preferring to order additional 2-hour TV movies continuing the story of the original.
[2] In the fourth film, McCall "learns that he has fathered a son with Nora", and encounters "Richard Farnsworth as a serious-minded lawman, [and] James Remar as a cold-blooded killer".
[2] By the end of Badlands Justice, McCall had still not been able to clear his name, leading critics to anticipate further installments resolving this issue; however, no more of the films were made.