What's Bosch: Legacy About?

Prime Video’s popular cop show Bosch crosses over to Freevee, Amazon’s other streaming platform (formerly known as IMDb TV), in a series that puts Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver) in a challenging new setting.

Who's involved?

Like Yellowstone, Bosch is one of those franchises lots of people watch but critics until recently tended to overlook. At least Yellowstone has Kevin Costner going for it; what’s impressive about Bosch is it was the first star turn for Welliver, a go-to character actor who dramatically improves every show he's on.

In this spinoff/sequel, Bosch has quit the LAPD and is now picking up gigs as a private detective. He’s closely tied to Honey Chandler (Mimi Rogers), whom fans will remember being put into a medically induced coma after an assassination attempt in the Bosch finale. She’s alive and determined to get justice against the tycoon who put a hit out on her. Meanwhile, Bosch’s kid Maddie (Madison Lintz) is all grown up and a rookie cop on L.A.’s force.

Michael Connelly, who created the Bosch book franchise and was involved in the original series, is elbows-deep in this one, too. Another key producer is Eric Overmyer, whose years working on cop shows for both premium cable (The Wire) and network (Law & Order) have helped give Bosch the distinctive tone — not too edgy, not too pandering — that’s been embraced by viewers.

Why (and to whom) do we recommend it?

Spinoffs usually feature side characters from a popular show after the original has run its course. But Bosch: Legacy feels like a continuation of the Prime Video series. Amazon is trying to prove to viewers that Freevee is not just a rerun channel, and this refresh of a well-liked but hardly overexposed brand is a sure way to go. Like the original, Legacy pairs the architecturally glamorous side of L.A. with its seedy underside, and Harry Bosch is still compelling as the guy both savvy and scrappy enough to take on the rich and powerful in the never-ending pursuit of justice.

Pairs well with

• Rizzoli & Isles (HBO Max), still cozy after all these years.
• The Stranger (Netflix), a satisfying mystery miniseries based on a Harlan Coben novel