Written by Marley Ghizzone
Bosch Series Premiere Plot Summary
I have only ever written about shows that I like. Even when I have been critical it came from a place of love and support. I always energetically and fanatically talk, scream, cry, write about my love for any show I watch. Therefore this is going to be a new experience for me because Bosch, starring Titus Welliver as the gravelly voiced Detective Harry Bosch, is both boring and wildly uncomfortable.
Based on Michael Connelly’s best selling series, the first episode follows the LAPD Detective while he tries to solve the murder of a thirteen year old boy. He is simultaneously standing trial for the death of a suspect in a serial killer investigation.
The first problem was the death of the suspect in the serial murder case. In the past months there have been high profile cases involving white male cops and victims of an ethnic background. Hence, beginning a new show with the death of a Hispanic man, who may or may not have been armed or guilty, by the hands of a white cop confused me. This introduction did not endear me to the title character.
But there was an even bigger dilemma that I had- the dialogue. The dialogue was so tremendously dreadful, I wish I could transcribe the entire episode and write my comments next to each line. However, that would be incredibly time consuming so I will settle for saying that it was clunky and very ill-paced. Somehow every exchanged felt expository while still conveying nothing. The dialogue was too slow, too obvious, and too unoriginal.
We are given an insight into Bosch’s personality early on in the episode. He and his partner Jerry Edgar (Jamie Hector of The Wire), are arguing on the roof because Bosch took the weekend shift without asking Edgar (Hector.) Edgar (Hector) says, “man, you gotta get a life. Most guys would love a stint on the DL.” To which Bosch replies, “Yeah, well, I’m not good with down time.” Their exchange was not only ridiculously bland, but it did nothing to deepen the characters. Bosch is a workaholic cop and a rule breaker. This is unheard of.
Which brings me too the last reason I didn’t like the show. I’ve seen it before. There are a multitude of cop shows out in the world and the crime genre is chock full of white, male detectives. There are numerous cops with a storied past and penchant for breaking the rules. I have no bone to pick with cop shows. In fact, I am still mourning the cancellation of Southland. But if you are going to delve into an already over saturated genre, you have to be different.
Bosch is cookie cutter. I don’t care about Harry Bosch. (Neither does he. Ba-da-bum.) I don’t care about finding out about his childhood. (He was abused in foster care and it affects his work ethic.) I don’t care if he gets a guilty verdict in the shooting case. (He won’t.) I don’t care if he finds the killer. (He will and there will be a wacky twist.)
I felt that Bosch was an attempt at an old school, back to basics cop show with a film noir vibe. The effort was a valiant but unfortunately useless. I rate this show two out of five stars. At times It was painful to sit through, the dialogue made me want to scream, and the characters were two-dimensional. However, I can’t fully give it one star because I would feel super bad yet I personally do not recommend Bosch for your next binge watching session.
Rating: 2 out of 10
Click here to stream Bosch on Amazon.
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