Bosch: Legacy: Even Better than Bosch!

As you readers of this blog may recall, I said Bosch was the best cop show on television.  I was therefore not too happy that it concluded, and I expected to be at least somewhat disappointed by its sequel Bosch: Legacy, which I just got around to watching on Amazon's new FreeVee service.  Well, I now think just the opposite: I thought the first season of Bosch: Legacy, which continues the story of Bosch, now a private detective, and his beloved daughter Maddie, now a rookie LA cop, was better even than Bosch.

First and foremost, the acting was better than ever, with Titus Welliver as Bosch, Madison Lintz as his daughter Maddie, and Mimi Rogers as the other powerful character, defense attorney Honey Chandler.  And the stories were both more plentiful -- and, as always interweaving -- and by and large even better than what we saw in previous Bosch seasons.

Not only that, there were more surprises.

[Spoilers follow ... ]

My favorite was the revelation that Ida (played by Kate Burton) killed Whitney Vance (good to see William Devane back on the screen, if not in much action).   The Russian assassin was handled well, and the Russians as bad guys rang especially true with what that monster Putin has been doing in Ukraine (which played no part in Bosch, but I'm just saying).

About the only thing I didn't like as much as in the original Bosch was the theme song.  But, in all fairness, Caught a Ghost's "Can't Let Go" is a flat-out masterpiece and among the best theme songs ever sung at the beginning of a TV series.  And I guess I would have liked to have seen a little more of Jerry Edgar, but I'm not inclined to quibble, because what we did get is a Harry Bosch really coming into his own as a human being and his daughter becoming a truly impressive adult.

Count me in for the next season.

See also Bosch: First Half: Highly Recommended ... Bosch: Second Half as Fine as the First ...  Bosch Season 2: Dragnet with Uber ... Bosch 3: Best Season So Far ... Bosch 4: Delivering and Transcending the Genre ... Bosch 5: Room with a Killer View ... Bosch Season 6: The Best Police on Television ... Bosch Season 7: Can't Let Go

                   another kind of police story 

Bosch 5: Room with a Killer View

Amazon Prime put up the fifth season of Bosch last Friday, and I've got to say, though I really enjoyed all the prior seasons, this one was the best (I've said this after every season).  It has more of Bosch's customary panache, with the punch-in-the-face surprises, top-notch acting, and well-drawn nexus of plots we've come to expect from this drama.   At this point, it's not only the best cop show on television - in Los Angeles terrain that surpasses the many excellent homicide-cop shows that take place in NYC and Chicago - but must be counted among the best cop shows ever on television (I think I said this after most of the seasons, too).

The repartee is sharp as ever, laugh-out-loud funny, profound when need be, and cutting-edge current, as always.  A female detective says she's "polyamorous".   Back in the office, an old-salt high-ranking officer complains about the lousy coffee, "you might as well drink straight stomach acid, cut out the middleman".   Harry asks Maddie if she remembers the MLK quote from her senior high school year, "the arc of the moral universe ..."  Earlier, she advises Harry to "watch your six with her".

Maddie has really come into her own this season.  She was always Harry's daughter when it came to doing what she wanted, and now she's applying this to directly helping her father.   In fact, I not only thought Maddie had her best season, so did Lt. Grace Billets.   Plaudits to Madison Lintz as Maddie and Amy Aquino as Billets.   Come to think of it, attorney Honey Chandler (well played by Mimi Rogers) had her best season, too, and delivered some of the best twists in the narrative, starting with taking on Harry as her client.   Speaking of which, Titus Welliver, always outstanding as Bosch, was even more outstanding in this fifth season.   Jamie Hector as Jerry Edgar and Lance Reddick as Irwin Irving are excellent as ever, too

Getting back to the locale, Bosch always captured the unique Los Angeles mix of stunning beauty and rotting degradation.   Bosch's apartment is high up and indeed has a "killer view," as Maddie says.  But his job takes him through the dregs of society.   There are never any outright happy endings in Bosch - we have to be happy that at least he survived - but this one really goes to the dog(s).   If that's not clear, give yourself a treat and see season 5, after you've seen the previous four.

See also  Bosch: First Half: Highly Recommended ... Bosch: Second Half as Fine as the First ...  Bosch Season 2: Dragnet with Uber ... Bosch 3: Best Season So Far ... Bosch 4: Delivering and Transcending the Genre

                   another kind of police story