The Protector

Bosch: Season 1

To say that each TV and cable channel have a wide variety of shows on any one of the networks is an understatement. It’s where they find the inspiration for their shows is what is interesting to me. Like movies, TV has based shows off of comic books and even video games. What I find the most interesting is when shows are based off of books, especially a series of books. Game of Thrones, True Blood, and Orange is the New Black. Unlike film, TV can delve deeper into the book and extract some of the best scenes or characters from the book due to the length of a TV season. Even within 10-13 episodes per season, writers and directors for shows based on novels can really bring out a main character and what makes them tick. Since Netflix has garnered great success from their original programs, Amazon Prime has started to release some programing of their own. On February 13, 2015, Amazon Prime released the first full season of Bosch. 10 episodes based on three books from crime novelist Michael Connelly.

Detective Hieronymus 'Harry' Bosch (Titus Welliver Argo) is a gruff and cynical detective that works out of Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollywood division. Life for Bosch isn’t so good right now as he is being sued for a wrongful death shooting by the widow of a serial killer. This trail is not looking well for the LAPD, so while the trail is going on Bosch is being assigned low profile cases. One of the cases that Bosch picks up is human remains of a 13 year old boy in Laurel Canyon. After the preliminary findings of the corner, it has been determined that the boy was murdered approximately 20 years ago. Across town, Raynard Waits (Jason Gedrick Dexter) is scouring the city for his next victim. Though Waits’ search comes to an unexpected halt when he is pulled over by a uniformed police officer and is found with a body in his van. These two cases become intertwined when Waits tells the District Attorney that the boy in Laurel Canyon was his first victim and will tell the police everything if they can drop all other charges. It is now up to Bosch to solve a 20 year old case and figure out if Waits is telling the truth or not.

FINALLY! I have been waiting for someone on some channel to adapt Connelly’s books. I am a huge fan of Connelly’s books, not only his Bosch series, but especially of the Mickey Haller books. Lionsgate adapted The Lincoln Lawyer starring Matthew McConaughey and that adaption was good for the film, but due to the large amount of Bosch novels, TV is the perfect medium to bring the detective to life.

Titus Welliver does an amazing job in his depiction of Bosch. Welliver is not a big star in film nor TV, however he brings Bosch to life perfectly. Welliver delivers Bosch’s curtness and hard exterior in a great way and yet when Welliver is doing scenes with Maddie (Madison Lintz Parental Guidance), Bosch’s daughter, he gives the audience a sweet and soft side to Bosch. Welliver is Harry Bosch. Jason Gedrick also provides an outstanding performance as Raynard Waits. Gedrick slowly escalates Waits’ craziness throughout the season. I loved this because each episode he became more psychotic and more unpredictable. I also loved Lance Reddick (John Wick) on this show too. Reddick plays Deputy Police Chief Irvin Irving during this season. Irving is a no-nonsense type of guy and he knows how to play the politics game. Irving wants to be Chief of Police and he is willing to do anything to make that happen. Reddick uses his unmistakable deep voice and stature to bring sophistication and command to his powerful character.

One of the best things about this show is how it uses the city of Los Angeles like a character. Most times when films or TV shows are set in L.A., the city is viewed in two different ways; this glitzy/glamorous town where dreams of fame and fortune come true or rough gang-like city that is unyielding to its people. Bosch, however, uses L.A. as a keeper of secrets that is waiting for Bosch to uncover. Like Connelly does in his books, Bosch pays respects to the city for all its glory. The show doesn’t try to expose the city in one light or another.

The Bosch series of books are awesome reads and I was really excited to here that Bosch was being adapted. There are so many layers to Bosch that cannot be uncovered in a two hour movie. The only suggestion that I have for the series is focus on one book like Game of Thrones and True Blood. The first season of Bosch is based on three of Connelly’s books, City of Bones, Echo Park, and The Concrete Blonde. All great books, but I just think that the show should focus on one book so that the audience can get the full effect of just how great a character Bosch is.

For those of you that enjoy cop-dramas and even noir-like movies, then Bosch is worth checking out.

The Verdict: Worth Your Time—9/10