Sun 8 Aug 2021
A TV Episode Review: BOSCH “Chapter One: Tis the Season†(2014).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[8] Comments
BOSCH. “Chapter One: Tis the Season†Amazon Prime Video, 06 February 2014 (Series One, Episode One). Titus Welliver (Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch), Titus Welliver, Jamie Hector, Amy Aquino, Annie Wersching, Mimi Rogers. Based on the novels City of Bones, Echo Park, and The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly (also co-screenwriter). Director: Jim McKay.
As this first episode opens, Harry Bosch, working for the LAPD Homicide division, fatally shoots a fleeing suspect as he reaches for and takes something from his pocket. Although cleared by the department, he still must face civil proceedings in court. Wishing to stay busy at the same time, he finds himself working on a case involving the death of small boy whose battered bones are found by a dog in a heavily wooded area.
I’m way behind. This is the only episode I’ve watched so far. I don’t know if a serial killer is at work, but it definitely clear that during his short life the boy was badly abused. It is also already clear that Bosch is taking it personally.
As the actor playing Bosch, Titus Welliver has taken the role and made it his own. I wouldn’t have cast him in the part, but he does it very well. To me he’s a little too craggy and time-worn and subtly too arrogant for my liking. It will be interesting to see when I next read the next book in the series, whether I picture Welliver in the role. (I’ve read only four or five of them.) Either way, I will continue both reading and watching.
August 8th, 2021 at 8:28 pm
The final series is on now, I may try to catch up when I have the time. Lately I haven’t been terribly interested in cop drama however good.
August 8th, 2021 at 9:54 pm
Don’t know that I have an interest in Harry Bosch, but I have been in Titus Welliver ever since The Rough Riders mini-series, not my wife who always referred to it as 1898 — which is a brilliant non-fiction work by David Traxel. Pro-American, so no one ever speaks or thinks of it any longer. Well, not many.
August 8th, 2021 at 10:07 pm
To me, Welliver came out of nowhere only to show up as Harry Bosch. But that only shows where I’ve been. Nowhere myself. He had loads of credits in both TV and the movies before BOSCH. The major ones, though, I’ve never seen.
August 9th, 2021 at 5:28 am
We’ve seen Welliver in many series where he’s played good or bad – BROOKLYN SOUTH and DEADWOOD, for two examples – but he definitely made Bosch his own in this. By the end it would be difficult to think of anyone else in the role, which, of course, he will be continuing in a spinoff. The final series was one of the best, but you should definitely watch it all, start to finish.
August 9th, 2021 at 10:54 am
Just curious about the title of the show. Historically, word this is a slur-term for Germans, no?
August 9th, 2021 at 11:11 am
I believe that “bosch” means “wood” in German, or maybe “bush.” Perhaps someone could help me with that. There may be a connection with the word “boche” in French, though, which was an uncomplimentary word for German soldiers in WW II.
August 9th, 2021 at 11:38 am
Harry Bosch = Hieronimous Bosch. I forgot if the character is actually named after the painter and goes by “Harry”.
August 9th, 2021 at 2:01 pm
Yes, I believe it is well established that he was named after the painter.