Amazon TV review: Bosch Season 7

Written by Belinda

Review Overview

Every

10/10

Body

10/10

Counts

10/10

Rating 10/10

Rating Bosch bids a gritty, gripping farewell with this enthralling final chapter.

We’ve been bashing on about Bosch for the past six years and now, the final season of Amazon’s detective drama is upon us – at least in its current guise (a spin-off is already in production). For six seasons we’ve heaped plaudits on every aspect of the show, from its gritty realism, its sun-soaked, jazz-infused noir setting of Los Angeles, the perfect casting and the crew behind the scenes, all of which return for its last hurrah. Eric Overmyer also returns with his wealth of experience, writing, directing and executive producing, his influence felt throughout. With all the pieces in place, can the final season deliver us the same high standards it has set itself? The answer is a resounding yes.

Starting with a Molotov cocktail thrown through an apartment building window – resulting in the deaths of five people, including a 10-year-old girl – Season 7 builds the case exposing shocking truths and new levels of corruption within the very organisations built to serve and protect. Bosch has always been a tight series and this season grips the cuffs even tighter – partly due to Covid-19 restrictions meaning that only eight episodes could be made opposed to the usual 10, but mostly because that is what we have come to expect of the series. Like its eponymous detective, the show has been driven and straight to the point; nothing is shown for the sake of it. Even the countless cameos and callbacks to seasons prior do not feel superfluous or tacked on because they serve to progress the narrative.

There is a lot packed into the eight episodes, each story feeling just as important as the next. The risk is so high that none of the characters feel safe and the tension so palpable that in some scenes you find it hard to breathe. Maddie Bosch (Madison Lintz), who we have seen grow up through this series, is searching for her purpose. She has been surrounded by people doing good for the community and giving a voice to the voiceless that she wants to play her part, even if it means being caught in the crossfire. Chief Irving (Lance Reddick) fights for himself to get a second term in office – by any means necessary – while Honey Chandler (Mimi Rogers) defends a client who is willing do anything to keep himself from serving jail time, including naming names who do not want to be named. Jerry Edgar (Jamie Hector) struggles with his actions in the Avril shooting from last season; Grace Billets (Amy Aquino) tries to keep the misogyny at bay all while Hollywood Homicide prepares to shut its doors for the final time as it is absorbed into West Bureau. There is a lot to pack in and yet it flows all seamlessly, each story weaving into the others that not one moment feels unnecessary.

Bosch (Titus Welliver) has always been an honest cop, seeking truth and justice. He refuses to let things go, as evidenced by the photographs of cold cases he keeps at his desk – the system might have forgotten these victims, but he doesn’t. As the media dub the child killed in the fire “the little tamale girl”, Bosch is always quick to correct them and anyone else by reminding them she has a name. It is this determination in the face of insurmountable odds and lost hope that makes Harry Bosch such a good detective and enthralling to watch; he will leave no stone unturned.

This final season might not be full of explosive shootouts or radioactive chemicals; Harry Bosch might be getting older and his wardrobe fuller with thick-knit cardigans, but even if Bosch were reduced to directing traffic, he would make it the most important job in the world and we would watch it.

The closing of the department mirrors the closing of the series. The final chapter has been written on what was at the time Amazon Prime Video’s longest running original series. Other stories will be told, but not here and whatever comes next for Amazon’s Bosch universe cannot overshadow what has come before it. Bosch has been an incredible, gritty, gripping, tense series that has perfectly adapted Michael Connelly’s novels and given us a series that can be spoken of in the highest regard.