Under the lens takes a deep look at films by focusing in on one or two particular areas of the picture that helped to define it for better or for worse.
Bosch Legacy Season 2 is a 2023 TV Police Procedural based on the book series by author Michael Connelly. The Premier was directed by Sharat Raju and it stars Titus Welliver, Mimi Rogers, Madison Lintz, and Stephen Chang. The plot for the two-episode premiere is as follows, Maddie Bosch has gone missing, and it’s all hands on deck to find her. Bosch allies with Chandler, Mo, and an old friend in a race against the clock to save his daughter’s life.
UNDER THE LENS: ACTING AND STORY LENGTH
Acting: Titus Welliver is just a powerhouse as Harry Bosch, and in these episodes, he is finally allowed to unveil the more emotional side of the character. For example, after getting a call from the morgue about a Jane Doe who has come in, he rushes in to see if it’s his daughter, when he finds out it’s not, he breaks down, sobbing and crying, the terror of the moment and the relief mixing together. Titus Welliver sells every emotion and moment of this heartbreaking scene.
Madison Lintz as Maddie Bosch also got to flex her acting chops in these episodes, always a good actress, in the original series she was mostly sidelined but had begun to play a leading role in Legacy. In this premier she gets the opportunity to run the full gambit of emotions, showcasing a rock-hard character who is brave beyond belief, yet begins to crack as death begins to seemingly close in around her. She plays Maddie as very human, someone who is well trained, yet scared, who is able to use her training to save herself.
Story Length: One of the strengths of Bosch Legacy Season 2, and indeed the old mainline show on Prime, was that it always knew exactly how long to draw out a story. It may have been tempting to have Madie’s kidnapping be the whole plot of the second season, however that would have been emotionally exhausting for the viewer to see a beloved character tortured for 10 episodes.
S2’s premier took the story just as long as it needed to be without overextending its narrative, by the time the credits rolled and Maddie was saved, I was very satisfied in the story that had been told. This plays into the very good writing that Bosch has always showcased, the writers of the show know its characters and audience very well, and thus are able to time its character development and plot progress down to the minute and second.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Seeing J Edger in a more substantial role was nice, his interactions with Harry were a welcome return to form
- The episode score was a nice surprise
- The way Maddie is filmed while buried alive is well done and claustrophobic.
QUOTABLE QUOTE
Harry Bosch: Maggie’s been taken, tell me what I’m supposed to do?
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Have you ever experienced a family member being in danger and there was nothing you could do? How did you cope with this?
CONCLUSION
Overall, this was an excellent two-episode premier for Bosch Legacy Season 2, while Bosch: Legacy at times feels like a natural extension of the previous show, it has forged its own path. As the title “Legacy” is very much part of the narrative, we see Bosch struggle with his purpose now that he is no longer an LAPD detective, and we now follow his daughter as a “Boot” in the LAPD, including her own frustration with the old way that the LAPD works.
The twin episodes allow us to catch up with a few old friends, such as Bosch’s former partner J Edger, who we have seen has grown into a full-fledged Detective, a few others pop up to lend a hand or ear to Harry as he tries to find his daughter. Actor David Denman shines as the villain of the premier Kurt Dockweiler, a serial rapist who is desperately trying to escape the tightening noose around him.
The Lady Vanishes and Zzyzx operate more like a movie than two TV episodes, with unbelievable tension, emotion, and thrills. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, and as the credits rolled, I was immensely satisfied with how this story was concluded, and excited for what Bosch Legacy Season 2 would bring going forward.
5/5 Stars
