The season 3 premiere of Bosch: Legacy sets the stage for an epic season.
Bosch: Legacy Debrief for Season 3, Episode 1 “Goes Where It Goes”
Written By: Eric Overmyer
Directed By: Sharat Raju
Refresh your memory:
- Maddie was kidnapped and buried alive by Kurt Dockweiler, later to be saved by Harry and Chandler.
- Honey Chandler announced she would run for District Attorney to replace Emmitt Archer.
- Detective Santiago ‘Jimmy’ Robertson had moved from Shootin’ Newton to RHD in the original series.
- Kurt Dockweiler was found dead in his prison cell of an apparent overdose.
- Frank Sheehan told Bosch that he did Black Guardian but did not kill Elias in S4 of the original series.
- Maddie took a call meant for Harry, where Preston Borders says he did what her dad asked for. He took out Kurt Dockweiler.
Honey’s Run For DA:
We jump into the future:
The season starts eight months after the end of the events of season 2. Honey is making a speech on the steps of City Hall as Emmitt Archer looks on from a window in the LAPD Headquarters Building. In her remarks, Honey mentions that her main goal is for people to feel safe again in Los Angeles. Honey’s team, which includes her daughter, Michelle, Amanda Scones, and Jen Kowski, stands nearby.
Attack ads and a violation of property:
Honey and her team watch an attack ad against her from Archer’s team. However, they have a counterattack ad in response. Michelle comes in to let Honey know that her car alarm is going off. Outside, they discover someone has thrown a brick through one of the windows of her car with a note attached to it. The note states it’s just the beginning. Honey referred to it as “Fan mail.”
Honey asks Bosch to offer his advice, which was to let the police handle it. If there is anything there, it’s better to report it; if it is a hoax, it’s better than being dead. I liked the line where Michelle tells her mom to listen to her fancy-ass security consultant. Bosch tells Honey that if she wants to be DA, she has to start working with law enforcement, so report it and let them do their jobs. And when asked if they blow them off, Bosch says they would deal with it.
Chandler meets with a support group:
Honey meets with a support group of victims’ family members. Afterward, she tells Jen and Amanda that the support group isn’t yet buying what she is saying because the victims’ families have been abandoned and betrayed by the system. Chandler says that it is a disgrace.
Mank addresses the threat:
In a supervisor meeting with other brass, Mank informs Lieutenant Thorne and Captain Rivera that Chandler’s team has contacted them about a potential threat and requests additional officers to help with security at a fundraiser event. Captain Rivera tells Sergeant Thorne that Plaza De La Raza was in Hollenbeck’s division, and they would be the department that could spare officers.
Food for Thought: Seeing that there’s a new captain in Hollywood Station, do you think like I do that Bosch outing Irving’s dealings in season 7 cost her the promotion to captain?
Follow-Home robbery:
Maddie and Vasquez catch the case:
Maddie and Vasquez respond to a call that a couple was robbed outside their house when returning home after dinner. They take down the statements from the victims. A light-colored SUV pulled up behind them in their driveway, and two men pointed guns at them and robbed them of their jewelry, watches, wallets, and phones.
Later at the station, Detective Steve Morrison (last seen in Bosch: Legacy season 1) provides a description of the vehicle: a light blue, late-model Honda CRV or similar model. As it turns out, those vehicles are the most stolen in America.
Vehicle Spotted:
While watching camera footage, Maddie spotted a vehicle with a full plate, possibly used in the most recent follow-home robbery. After running the plates, Vasquez determined they had been stolen from a Rav 4 a month before. It’s called “cold plating”. This phrase is law enforcement slang, where the car has been stolen, with plates from the stolen vehicle removed and replaced with plates taken off another car.
Robertson tasked with the Bosch investigation:
Santiago ‘Jimmy’ Robertson sits with LAPD Chief Hughes, Emmitt Archer, and RHD Captain Rick Seals. They listen to the audio file from Preston Borders call to Harry Bosch’s phone. Chief Hughes and Emmitt Archer want to know if Harry committed a conspiracy to murder fellow prisoner Kurt Dockweiler. Hughes asks Robertson to tread lightly, which means it is a “chief’s special.”
In a one-on-one conversation with Captain Rick Seals, Rick informs Robertson that the reason he is getting this assignment is because he knows Bosch, but they aren’t friends. They are not enemies either, which makes Jimmy the right person for the investigation. Captain Seals calls him Goldilocks because he is just right.
The El Compadre Meeting:
Robertson takes his partner, Perry Lopez, to El Compadre to say hi to Bosch and Maddie. Robertson approaching Harry was Robertson’s first step in getting a feel for Bosch, plus making an introduction of his partner to Harry. Jimmy tells Maddie that being back on the job and busy is suitable for overcoming her ordeal. She excuses herself, and Jimmy asks Bosch to let her know he didn’t mean to upset her.
Harry and Maddie talk on the way to their vehicles after lunch and discuss Dockweiler’s murder. Bosch swears that he had nothing to do with it, even though if he could have, he would have. Bosch even made a poetic speech about how Dockweiler had a target on his back the second he went to prison.
Burner Phone Found:
After the prison came across the audio from Borders’ call to Bosch, they tossed his cell and found a burner phone. Robertson and Lopez got the phone from the prison to determine what calls were being made and received. Robertson got a subpoena for the phone records; Preston Borders used the burner phone in his cell to call one telephone but had taken calls from another burner phone. After that, the investigation found that Preston called one phone: his wife’s. A technician pinged the other burner phone to a location in the Hollywood Hills. And the only person they know who’s connected with the case who lives in that neighborhood is none other than Harry Bosch.
A long fall from grace:
Frank Approaches Honey:
Frank Sheehan shows up at Honey Chandler’s campaign headquarters to talk to Honey. He says he wants to volunteer to help with the campaign but wants his old job back by possibly suing the department. Honey informs him that she isn’t taking on any new clients. Honey calls Bosch to ask for his help with the situation, and Bosch tells her to bring the dollar just in case. Frank’s actions seem to be a strange play by Frank. What do you think?
While Honey and Bosch are talking about Sheehan in the meeting room of her headquarters, Mo calls, saying he had tracked that Sheehan has been at many of Honey’s speaking engagements over the past few months. After hearing that, Bosch goes to investigate what Frank is possibly up to.
Sheehan scouts a location:
We see Frank scoping out a beautiful location east of downtown Los Angeles called Plaza De La Raza, inside Lincoln Park. The Plaza De La Raza website is here. He looks around the area and walks into a portion labeled a theater.
Is Bosch slipping?
Bosch follows Frank to a hardware store, but Frank figures out he has a tail and busts Bosch’s surveillance. They talk for a moment or two; they haven’t seen each other in 6 years. After Bosch says he looks good, Sheehan gets in Bosch’s face and tells him how his life is not going well at the moment due to Honey dragging his name in the mud back when she sued the department on behalf of Michael Harris. Harry tells Frank that he did a pretty good job of that himself.
Food for Thought: When do you think Frank caught on to Bosch’s tailing him? Is Bosch slipping, or is it challenging to track a former RHD detective?
Our favorite dynamic duo:
That’s right, Crate and Barrel assist Bosch with surveilling Frank Sheehan’s apartment. Crate informs Bosch when Frank leaves the apartment so he and Mo can break in to look around. Upon searching the apartment, Bosch spots a manual from Frank’s LAPD days. The manual is for MACTAC, an acronym for Multi-Assault Counter Terrorism Action Capabilities. It covers tactical responses, critical incidents, terrorist attacks, violent assaults, and rescue operations.
Bosch starts putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. He talked to Frank’s ex-wife earlier in the episode and found out he was getting rid of his personal belongings and could be saying his goodbyes. Harry feels Frank plans to leave this world and take some people with him.
What is Frank building?
Sheehan goes to a storage locker and unloads a bag of pipes onto a table inside. He also has some wire that he uncurls as the scene closes out. Is he making pipe bomb(s)? Bosch saw him getting nails earlier at the hardware store. Was Frank’s stop at the hardware store used to buy items for a potential bomb?
Plaza De La Raza:
Bosch discusses area security with Mayor Lopez’s head of security, metro officer Robert Cole, about all the nuances of Plaza De La Raza. Harry shows the head of security a ‘Hard Room,’ a non-breaking space or a safe room. They go inside the complex, through a theater stage area, and into a room with only one access point, no windows, and nothing that can get through the walls.
On the day of the fundraising event, Bosch keeps a close eye on everything going on around Honey Chandler. He has Maddie, Vasquez, and Mo helping with the surveillance since Hollenbeck is a no-show. To keep an eye on Frank Sheehan, Bosch had Crate and Barrel outside Frank’s apartment, but Frank had slipped out the back on a fire escape. Bosch has Vasquez and Mo pull back so they can get eyes on the whole courtyard.
Shots fired:
Frank makes his way to a rooftop overlooking the courtyard. A moment later, there are shots fired, and people start scattering all over the place. Harry takes Chandler to make their way to the hard room, but Bosch spots Sheehan heading in the same direction. Bosch hands Honey off to Maddie to take her to a secondary location so that Bosch can box in Sheehan. Frank had set up a contraption to have blanks being shot in the air, so no one accidentally gets shot.
Harry boxes Sheehan in the theater and tries to talk him down and out of the theater together. Bosch even tries telling Frank should try to make amends with his son Liam, but Sheehan says that ship has sailed. Frank looks like he will give up and starts to lower his gun. However, he turns it on himself and shoots himself, dying instantly. Bosch yells out, “FRANK, NO!” just before the shot. Maddie and Vasquez make their way to Bosch and Sheehan, and Harry looks devastated.
Bosch’s ominous late-night meeting:
Bosch talks with a guy on the sidewalk of a not very well-lit street. They discuss what is going on in Wasco and chatter about Dockweiler. The man thanks Bosch for what he’s done for him.
Food for Thought: Did Harry get someone else in the prison to kill Dockweiler instead of Borders? Also, when did Harry take up smoking again?
Familiar faces make an appearance:
This opening episode features some familiar faces: Michelle, Honey’s daughter; Jen Kowski; Ida, Irving’s assistant; Sergeant Washington, Irving’s driver; Jimmy Robertson; Crate & Barrel; and, of course, Frank Sheehan. Who were you happiest to see?
Thoughts on Frank’s Downfall:
Did Frank put himself on Chandler’s radar so that Bosch could stop him? Sheehan kept blaming Honey for what happened to him after Michael Harris’s civil trial. Fair or not? He was heading down a dark path back in season 4 of the original Bosch series.
The episode ends with Harry being devastated by his former colleague lying near him. My heart sank for both of the characters.
What were your thoughts, questions, or concerns about this opening episode of Bosch: Legacy season 3? Let us know at bosch@somanyshows.com
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