I finished watching Season 6 of Bosch yesterday. Unsurprisingly, I loved it.
Bosch is one of those shows – a gritty crime drama that hooks you in, that you can’t stop watching until you’ve watched till the end. But it’s also so much more than that.
Bosch is set in LA and Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch is a detective at Hollywood Station. Harry is a “good cop”, as good as they come. Firm of character, resolute with his morals and ideals, and to see that justice is served he’ll go to great lengths and do as much as is humanly possible. But this is not a cliché police drama where the cop is a saint who catches bad guys and there’s always a happy ending. There is depth.
The show tackles real issues and problems. Besides the issues it talks about through its imagery and words, it subtly alludes to things that happen that are uncomfortable to bring up and makes you think about them. For example, it hints at holes and faults in the law – the ones that don’t have an obvious solution, the ones that make the system unfair at times. I’ll leave it at that. There is a lot of depth.
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But Bosch is not a show that does pretentious indirect social commentary to be perceived as some intellectually superior work of art; that would be an untrue and probably the worst way to describe it. There is so much more to it (yes, I know I’ve said this before). The style is distinct and the show feels like a well-made true crime series with just the right amount of drama. There is little to no absurdity. It’s beautifully done. The cinematography, the plot lines, the way the story is told, the dialogues, the pace, the “vibe”.
It is atmospheric. And that’s what I love about it the most.
Harry Bosch’s home is this cantilevered masterpiece artwork of a house up in Hollywood Hills, with glass walls that overlook the city of LA, where he listens to jazz on his turntable on silent nights. The house appears several times throughout the six seasons, and never once have I not been struck by that view. If, like me, you’ve never been to LA, Bosch will make you fall in love and dream of this city. The atmosphere is so powerful, it appeals so much to my senses and stirs up all kinds of emotions. I just want to go and fucking live there sometime.
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One of the things that impressed me is how the characters are so well done. They have their own personalities, and sometimes their own stories that run in parallel to that of the protagonist’s, and it doesn’t feel like a muddled up mess. That is some brilliant screenwriting right there.
Bosch is an adaptation of a series of novels by Michael Connelly. I recently found out that he is actively and heavily involved in the production of the show. He maintains a somewhat regular blog about it on his website, which is pretty cool. I look forward to picking up the books soon.
It’s late, I should sleep. Thanks for reading.
