Neil Brazier | On 19, Mar 2016

Warning: This contains spoilers. For a spoiler-free look at Season 2, see our review of Episodes 1 to 5. Read our interview with lead actor Titus Welliver here.

Season 2 of Amazon Prime Video’s gritty detective cop show, Bosch, fully learns from its predecessor’s disappointments and concludes with as much drama and intrigue as its first half. With his case forging links with an Internal Affairs investigation, Hollywood Homicide detective Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver) has even more tightropes to walk, paper to dodge and crime to solve in the City of Angels.

In our review of Episodes 1 to 5, we said that Bosch doesn’t rely on high-speed car chases or gun fights to bring you drama. While that is still the case, the back five episodes certainly use violence and action to their advantage, ending the show with an epic and explosive stakeout. It doesn’t shift the tone away from what the show is; rather, when action is used, it stamps the scene with authority and, in some cases, is quite shocking. Although one scene outside the bank does feel exaggerated and provides a highly convenient way to tie up any loose ends, Bosch beats harder wielding his weapon.

When Season 2 reaches its conclusion, there are still a number of questions left unanswered. Not only the fate of Veronica Allen (Jeri Ryan) and the money left behind by her ex-husband, but also uncertainty about Bosch’s family and his place within it, him having made great strides with both Eleanor (Sarah Clarke) and Maddie (Madison Lintz). After their abduction, Harry insists that they stay with him and as well as helping Eleanor clear her chequered past, he gets to spend quality time with his daughter, even if that means bringing her to work with him. And just when Harry is starting to put things into the correct order, prioritising dinner with Maddie over a phone call from work, a few days later, he abruptly leaves the house without a word to her.

As Harry pieces his family back together, Deputy Chief Irvin Irving (Lance Reddick) is losing his. The secrets he keeps about his son come back to haunt him and have disastrous consequences on his marriage. As a result, Irvin plunges himself into his work. Not being allowed to work the case he wants, he takes matters into his own hands and when you go off the books, you need to call Harry Bosch. Irving and Bosch find that they have more in common than insubordination, as Harry discovers these two cases intersect and both are able to help one another. As the episodes progress, the pace of solving the cases increases and lots of information is come across almost too easily with very little detective work and tight lips suddenly becoming loose.

This is also the case for the plot strand taken from the novel The Last Coyote – it isn’t until the final episode that Harry does anything about the news surrounding his mother’s murder and again, things seem to wrap up quickly – presuming the on-screen conclusion is, in fact, the end. There seemed to be more to the story than we are told and Harry still hasn’t got any real closure, so this may be picked up if Season 3 is given the green light.

Jeri Ryan brings fresh air to a villainous role, her complex character every bit as conniving and cunning as she is ravishing. And with further fine turns from Brent Sexton as Carl Nash and Matthew Lillard as Rykov, Bosch is in fine company with his supporting cast. But it’s the eponymous detective who is the real star of the show, so much so that it’s almost impossible to understand why this is Titus Welliver’s first leading role. With Bosch, he leads a captivating drama with a complex, layered narrative. It’s a role he has made his own and one that demands to be seen again. Bosch has proved itself worthy of standing alongside all the other detective dramas out there. Here’s hoping it holds Amazon down and reads them its rights to a third season.

All episodes of Bosch: Season 2 are available to watch exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, as part of a £5.99 monthly subscription. For more on the show, read our reviews of Season 1 here.

 

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