Bosch

 

Adapted by Eric Overmyer as an Amazon Prime Video series (seven seasons) from Michael Connelly’s long-running crime novel series, Bosch follows veteran LAPD detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch (Titus Welliver). Working alongside Det. Jerry Edgar (Jamie Hector) under the command of Lt. Grace Billets (Amy Aquino) out of the Hollywood division, Bosch investigates homicides while raising a teen daughter, Maddie (Madison Lintz). His dedication to the belief that “Everybody counts or nobody counts” and his stubborn refusal to back down put him not only in danger but also at odds with police brass such as the politically ambitious Irvin Irving (Lance Reddick).

 

In the wake of morally ambiguous The Shield and sociological magnum opus that is The Wire, a more straightforward police procedural such as Bosch can seem like an anachronism, a throwback to the days of 1990s Law & Order. While it is true that Bosch lacks the audacity of police officers murdering their own team members to cover up their corruption or fabricating a serial killer to clock overtime hours, its lower-key approach is far from staid and sanitized. What it lacks in ingenuity, it makes up for in earnestness, atmosphere, and craftsmanship.

 

It helps that there is so much source material from which to draw. Connnelly, a former Los Angeles Times crime reporter, has written more than twenty Bosch novels during the past three decades, and a typical season of the show stitches together plotlines from two or three of them. This is a pragmatic move on Overmyer’s part that makes the show accessible to those who haven’t read the books while capturing enough of their essence (even when changing details) to avoid aggravating those who have. It ensures that there is plenty going on each season though it may not always seem that way due to the show’s slow, deliberate pacing.

 

For those with the requisite patience, however, character development pays off handsomely. Welliver is an excellent character actor, and this role is no exception, but his take on Harry doesn’t have quite enough gravitas to carry the series. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to. Edgar’s law-bending pursuit of a protected Haitian war criminal, Grace’s battle against sexism in the department (as well as a homophobic witch hunt initiated by a rival), and Maddie’s journey toward finding her place in the world are all compelling, and they help establish the ensemble as more than a collective of suits spouting one-liners. Even Irving, mostly antagonistic in the books, is given more humanity here, his political maneuvering juxtaposed against his parental anguish.

 

Beyond that, the series makes good use of Los Angeles locations, and, especially, music. Harry’s love of jazz is retained from the novels, and the show’s opening theme (“Can’t Let Go” by Caught a Ghost) is extremely catchy. You won’t find Rian Johnson levels of camera wizardry here, but Bosch is atmospherically engrossing in its own right.

 

Those who tie a work’s worth to its willingness to disrupt the status quo will likely roll their eyes at Bosch’s conventionality, but writing it off as just another cop show overlooks the complexities in the lives that it tracks.