Mid-Week Wrap-up: Sophomore Seasons, Streaming (part 1)... Bosch

Whenever I’m rehabbing an injury or working on my daily step total, I tend to spend a fair amount of time using cardio equipment. The downside—as anyone who’s ever stepped foot on a treadmill, exercise bike, or elliptical machine will probably agree—is that working out on them can be deadly dull. 

My life-hack to curing the monotony? I multi-task, distracting myself from the repetitive boringness by streaming things I want to see.

Coming up over the next few days, then, a little look at some things I streamed (all while on gym equipment!) over the past month… all in their second (or fourth, in one case) seasons.

Bosch
I’ve been a Michael Connelly fan—including his long-running Harry Bosch police detective series (now twenty books in)—forever. So, the Amazon show which he exec-produces—based on those same characters, and simply called, “Bosch”—has been a welcome addition to Connelly’s oeuvre, and the recently-released Season 4 is, for me, the best one, yet. 

In the fourth season, the L.A. cop finds himself investigating the murder of a prominent civil rights attorney (killed the night before what promised to be a very nasty, public case targeting the LAPD was slated to begin). The police force seem to have universally hated the dead lawyer, so it’s pretty much Harry-&-team against the rest of the LAPD. The public, on the other hand, feels little love for any of the local cops, but all the sympathy for the slain crusader, and are preparing to start rioting. 

While tensions mount across the city—and Harry tries to ferret out where an internal info leak is coming from—he’s also dealing with issues on the home front, as his teenage daughter (Maddie) struggles with impending adulthood, while ex-wife Eleanor continues doing some shady undercover work for the FBI.

As with any production, excellent writing is only part of the alchemical equation that makes it great; the actors have to be up to the task, as well, and in “Bosch”, they definitely are. Anchored by the always-intriguing Titus Welliver (here, a world-weary, driven, haunted, brash, but generally-decent guy)—and matched by Jamie Hector (the partner with whom Harry doesn’t always see eye to eye), Lance Reddick (the commissioner, with whom Harry shares a like/dislike relationship), Amy Aquino (Harry’s immediate supervisor and friend), and Madison Lintz (Harry’s daughter), among others—this is a cast you’ll wanna cozy up on your favorite chair with a nice bourbon, and binge for a couple episodes at a time, absorbing all the nuances.       

Beautifully-shot in locations across L.A. and artfully-directed, Season 4 is, to me, “Bosch” all grown up: the cases hit hard, taking everything up a notch; the interpersonal dynamics feel that much more poignant; and there’s ample evidence of growth and learning. Well done, all. And, long live Harry Bosch, a somewhat-worse-for-the-wear, tarnished angel, in a city reputed to be full of ‘em.

~GlamKitty