Summary
Bosch was a show fueled by patience, sun-soaked streets, a righteous mindset, and the stoic Titus Welliver. The final season is by far the most suspenseful. It’s that rare show that knew it was time to go but never overstayed its welcome.
This review of Amazon Original series Bosch season 7 does not contain spoilers. The final season will be released on the streaming service on June 25, 2021.
The last time we saw our part-time curmudgeon, the stoic detective, he was tossing a bomb into the back of some empty holding cells during a trial that would determine his innocence of wrongdoing decades prior. He saved his daughter, partner, members of his squad, innocents, and even the bad guys and girls; that’s how Bosch rolls, you see. He had a code long before Omar showed up on The Wire. Michael Connelly’s series of detective books are as good as any gumshoe series out there. An insanely popular series that very few thought could be brought to the screen, especially with an actor that many would recognize the face but never know his name. They did, however, as Titus Welliver brought the great Detective Bosch to life. The Sherlock Holmes of the LAPD doesn’t need to quip something clever to solve a case.
What has separated the last few seasons of one of Amazon’s staple shows was its unexpected grittiness and office politics humor, a hallmark of one of the great police shows, David Simon’s The Wire. Simon was a former crime reporter covering the drug trade and murder police in Charm City. The same for Connelly, a newspaperman who covered L.A’s finest in the City of Angels for decades. Just because the streets of Los Angeles are sun-soaked doesn’t make the show any less authentic. Down from the casting of every single character, the show series has always been remarkably comfortable within its own skin. How else do you explain casting Welliver, Jamie Hector, Amy Aquino, and Lance Reddick in key roles and make it last for seven seasons?
This season takes us to the Hispanic section of Los Angeles, where gang violence has erupted that has cost a little girl her life. Bosch arrives to find an apartment building smoking from a fire with some embers still burning. He finds the fire escapes were nailed shut, causing the child to die of smoke inhalation. Bosch can handle most sights. But not the picture of an innocent dead child who was robbed of a chance to have a life. Has the famous Detective finally come to his breaking point?
Meanwhile, we haven’t even talked about his partner, Jerry Edgar (The Wire’s Jamie Hector). He shot a murderous kingpin who killed his Uncle even after he gave himself up, hands clearly in the air. Bosch’s daughter, Maddie (Madison Lynch), is still interning for the devil attorney herself, Honey Chandler (Mimi Rogers), trying to learn the law from the other side. Finally, Chief Irvin Irving (Lance Reddick) quit the mayoral race last season to assure his post for the future but now may find himself out of a job.
Bosch may never be given the credit it deserves for having such a hard hurdle to clear with its source material’s immense popularity. It has always been a character-driven show, highlighting the best part of the books while cramming together numerous cases at a time. That credit goes to famed producer Eric Overmyer. A man who produced such classics as Homicide: Life on the Street, The Wire, and Treme. All from the mind of a former crime reporter, David Simon, just like Connelly. It’s been a smooth, stoic match made in heaven. The fact of the matter is Bosch has always been a poor man’s David Simon production. Like The Wire, it has always more of a book brought to life than episodic television; the only difference is the California sunshine and health food restaurants. Oh, and that Bosch home skyline view. Eat your heart out, Michael Mann.
Season 7 is a standout for Titus Welliver, as his Harry Bosch has been pushed to the limit. With the sight of a murdered little girl, combined with personal tragedies in previous seasons and the ones coming, the stoic Welliver perhaps delivers his best performance of the series. As a season as a whole, it’s certainly its most suspenseful, if not close. The same goes for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’s Amy Aquino. Her Billett’s character finally takes on her oppressive male supervisors and underlings, with surprising results.
I’d lie if I said its spinoff invoking Welliver and Rogers to be IMDB’s first original series doesn’t kneecap the power of its finale. However, Bosch’s run has been a remarkable one; when you consider its lack of star power and the show’s main character’s penchant for uncomfortable silences. The difference is Bosch and its audience is like Vincent Vega and Mia Wallace: it’s rare to find a show you are comfortable with that doesn’t need to fill in the silence with filler.
Bosch was a show fueled by patience, the stoic Titus Welliver, sun-soaked streets, and a righteous mindset. It’s that rare show that knew it was time to go but never overstayed its welcome. I’ll raise a glass to that.
Read the recap of the first episode.
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