Review: Bosch season 6

Bosch, season 6 (Amazon Prime, 2020)

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

After a medical physicist is executed and the deadly radioactive material he had with him goes missing, Detective Harry Bosch finds himself at the centre of a complex murder case, a messy federal investigation, and a catastrophic threat to Los Angeles - the city he's pledged to serve and protect. 

Nine years ago I was talking to Michael Connelly at an event in New Zealand about the character of Harry Bosch being stuck in 'Hollywood Hell' - the rights to one of crime fiction's finest characters tied up in seemingly never-ending but never-going-anywhere film development. It's amazing to think about all that's happened since, and how those torturous times in a roundabout way ended up blessing viewers with a sublime longer-format screen adaptation.

While the Harry Bosch of the Bosch television show (played to perfection by Titus Welliver) may differ in some ways (age, which war he fought in, who he's partnered with) from the book character who's been entertaining us for almost thirty years, and the various seasons refresh, blend, and give new spins to a variety of tales from Connelly's excellent books, the underlying tone and spirit of the series is pure Bosch.

Season 6 opens with the theft of radioactive material from a hospital, and a murder. Things quickly escalate in a variety of ways, while Bosch and Edgar are also continuing their own investigations from season 5 - into the cold case murder of young street kid Daisy Clayton (daughter of opiate addict Elizabeth Clayton), and the murder of a CI tied to corrupt LAPD cops and a former Haitian secret policeman, respectively. There are lots of interesting character threads and arcs going on during Season 6 for a wide variety of characters - from Maddie Bosch trying to work out what she wants to do with her life while interning at Honey Chandler's law firm, to Hollywood cops like Lt Billets, Barrel, and Officer Powers all having to reflect on their place in the police when events conspire.

I don't want to give away any spoilers, but suffice to say Season 6 of Bosch is another rich fabric made up of numerous strands. The things we've come to love in previous seasons are all there again: the terrific writing and acting, great use of silences to allow the cast to breathe and convey emotion (rather than relying on quick cuts and pumping soundtracks to adrenalise the audience), the seemingly slow-burn tone that masks the fact a whole lot happens, the wonderfully gritty sense of 'real' Los Angeles, and a few 'holy shit' moments where everything changes on a dime. There's plenty of freshness to the new season of Bosch too, and no hint of staleness.

I was going to try to pace out my watching of the season, but got so sucked into the various stories going on that I'd devoured it all partway through the first day it became available. It's compelling television. In so many ways a fantastic example of just how good screen storytelling can be when you have superb cast(ing) and crew.

Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned features writer from New Zealand, now living in London. In recent years he’s interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts, and onstage at books festivals on three continents. He has been a judge of the Ned Kelly Awards and the McIlvanney Prize, and is founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards and co-founder of Rotorua Noir. You can heckle him on Twitter.