Titus Welliver, Jamie Hector and Amy Aquino in Season Two of ‘Bosch’

The Michael Connelly character Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch first premiered in a series of books in 1992. As this is written, the character has led to 24 distinct books and two distinct television shows. We focus here on the second season of the series Bosch (2014-2021), starring Titus Welliver in the title role for the series.

(From left, Brad Carter as Chilton Hardy and Titus Welliver as Harry Bosch in the second season of Bosch).

The storyline for this season picks up six months after Harry Bosch‘s police unit in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California sought a serial killer in the show’s first season. The ten episodes of the second season were adapted from the Michael Connelly books The Last Coyote, Trunk Music and The Drop. The story sees Harry Bosch following a new case of a Hollywood film producer with potential connections to the mob. Information about the years-ago death of Bosch‘s mother introduces the possibility of driving the detective to distraction.

(From left and near lectern, Erika Alexander as Connie Irving, Lance Reddick as Irvin Irving, Steven Culp as Richard O’Shea and Leslie Stevens as Patricia O’Shea in season two of Bosch).

Deputy Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, Irvin Irving as portrayed by Lance Reddick, at first aims to stay above the details of the investigation that Harry is pursuing. Irving‘s son, portrayed by Robbie Jones with the character name George Irving, goes undercover on the force. Harry’s investigation heads to Las Vegas, Nevada as George’s experiences in plainclothes begin to introduce a set of considerations for the full Irving family.

(From left, Jamie Hector as Jerry Edgar, Jeri Ryan as Veronica Allen and Titus Welliver as Harry Bosch in the second season of Bosch).

Harry’s time in Nevada reveals that not all is well for Harry‘s ex-wife, Eleanor Wish as portrayed by Sarah Clarke, and her situation with her current husband. The child between Eleanor and Harry, Maddie Bosch as portrayed by Madison Lintz, in certain ways is caught in the middle of multiple situations. Deputy Chief Irving, meanwhile, chimes in with his support of the mayoral race by supporting Richard O’Shea. Steven Culp portrayed by mayoral candidate O’Shea.

(From left, Jamie Hector as Jerry Edgar and Titus Welliver as Harry Bosch in season two of Bosch).

While Deputy Chief Irving’s support for mayor begins to introduce some political fallout for the deputy chief, things too get messy between Bosch‘s murder investigation, the mob and his familial past. Bosch‘s encounter with mob boss Joey Marks, with roots in Armenia and as portrayed by Tom Mardirosian, lead to serious questions for what course to pursue. Bosch and his partner, Jerry Edgar as portrayed by Jamie Hector, pursue Marks while Bosch takes specific measures to protect his daughter and ex-wife.

(From left, John Marshall Jones as Jay Griffin and Sarah Clarke as Eleanor Wish in season two of Bosch).

Circumstances escalate severely in the familial lives of the Irving family and the Bosch / Wish family take unexpected and dark turns as the tensions elevate each family. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) brings in a surprise approach, through Jay Griffin as portrayed by John Marshall Jones, that prompts the LAPD officers to reconsider their original theories of the murder that opened this season. There are the threads of the murder investigation along with the FBI‘s interest in a potentially related set of crimes. There’s familial fallout for the Irvings, the Bosches and the Wishes sharply placed in focus against the trajectory for the mayoral campaign and violence that comes to call with the mob story that includes the tales of Veronica Allen, as portrayed by Jeri Ryan, and Carl Nash as portrayed by Brent Sexton.

(From left, Amy Aquino as Grace Billets and Madison Lintz as Maddie Bosch in Bosch).

The stakes in play for season two make for entertaining television. The tension is real, the characters have depth and character growth. Addressing the puzzle with Harry Bosch‘s mother was an appreciated twist. The investment in feelings among the characters makes for an engaging experience binging this season. I grant season two of Bosch as presented as an Amazon original series, 4.5-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Brad Pitt and the film ‘Ad Astra’

The science fiction movie Ad Astra (2019) hit theaters in the United States three weekends ago with minimal fanfare. The cinematic look in paying homage to space movies past does it credit for visually resembling some of the better cinema in the space film genre. While I appreciate the touch of space tourism of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and the multi-dimensional imagery that accompanied Interstellar (2014), this film lands somewhere closer to First Man (2018) as far as storytelling success.

(Ruth Negga as Helen Lantos, left, and Brad Pitt as Roy McBride in the film Ad Astra).

Brad Pitt stars as astronaut Roy McBride, who takes a space quest across the solar system in search of his father. H. Clifford McBride, played by Tommy Lee Jones, is the father who seeks intelligent life towards the limits of the navigable solar system in a hypothetical near term reality. Ruth Negga plays Helen Lantos, a character whose life story in inextricably intertwined with both McBrides.

(Tommy Lee Jones as H. Clifford McBride in the film Ad Astra).

Donald Sutherland plays Thomas Pruitt, a former astronaut. H. Clifford McBride reportedly had some harsh history with H. Clifford, and it was in part his task to escort Roy from the Earth to the moon to Mars for a crucial mission to save the fate of the world. Pruitt’s character is important for informing the emotional relevance of the back story of the McBrides.

(Donald Sutherland as Thomas Pruitt in the film Ad Astra).

James Gray co-wrote and directed the film Ad Astra. The physical takes of offering insight into the colonization of the moon and Mars as a means for getting to the outer solar system makes for some solar system engineering. The resource combat and the science experiments that were parts of the film, combined with the notion of space tourism, really interested my inner nerd.

(James Gray directed and co-wrote the film Ad Astra).

Parts of the larger story, and the means of getting sense out of this story, were not the best I’ve seen in the genre of spaceflight related science fiction. The panache of a father son story did not bear the intrigue of a book by Ray Bradbury or a movie by Christopher Nolan. Most movies with spaceflight in the concept are possible points of interest for me. Unless you simply need a Brad Pitt fix, my recommendation is to wait for the DVD or streaming service to see this film. My grade for the film Ad Astra is 3.25-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Saturday, October 12, 2019