Reviewed by Ramona Prioleau

Bosch debuted in 2014 as Amazon Prime’s first original dramatic program. Based on a series of novels by author Michael Connelly, the show features Hieronymous “Harry” Bosch, a detective who works in downtown Los Angeles. The show is not episodic like Law and Order SVU or CSI, but there’s a lot, especially in the first season, that will be familiar to viewers of other crime shows.

Bosch is played by actor Titus Welliver, a tried and true television actor who, up until now, had never really had his time in the spotlight. Bosch is perfect for Welliver though. The actor, who has appeared on shows like Lost, Deadwood, and The Good Wife, find the perfect balance in the character. Short but never too gruff, just but not afraid to question authority, Welliver delivers a performance that is undoubtedly harder to pull off than it looks. He’s without a doubt one of the reasons the show is so easy to watch.

The show really spreads its wings in its later seasons. Shaking off the cable feel and turning into something cinematic, the second through sixth seasons of Bosch are something entirely its own. They are pulpy without being corny, thoughtful without being controversial. There’s much more nuance that one would expect from a show about a veteran cop working in Hollywood, and the show regularly tackles social issues in a patient manner. It’s one of those rare programs that gets better the more you watch it. The show balances its tense and high-action moments with ones of real tenderness and character growth. This, in addition to a masterful interweaving of subplots and B stories, allows Bosch to tell multiple, equally engaging multiple-episode stories through its seasons.

Bosch has flown relatively under the radar for its run, but that’s no reason not to check it out. It has consistently proven itself to be one of the best shows on television, and there’s no reason to think that the seventh and final season will be anything less than the previous. M

January 2021