It is not an easy task to write good crime fiction or then translate it to TV. You need to have a basis in character but not over do it. We are familiar enough with the characters to short hand it and this series seems to be a direct call back to all of the prior seasons. That's why so many old characters are called back and make brief appearances.
I have to say this is the second best portrayal of a fictional detective in history. The first of course being Raylan Givens in Justified. They got the tone right. A little too stoic. Relying on the sad jazz music a little too much. But Connolly does the same thing in his books so we have nothing to complain about.
In fact there is little to complain about in the Bosch season. If only episodic TV could be half as good. I mean they could do it. They would just have to adapt the works of some of the great crime novelists that are working today. The wealth of detail that is available to adapt will negate the fact that most TV writers are worthless hacks.
I know that the series is going to continue on IMBD at a lower level of production. I think that means that they will get rid of some of the more expensive actors like J Edgar and the Lieutenant. The word is that they will focus on the books where Bosch is off the cops and working private with an emphasis on Bosch, his daughter and Honey the lawyer. It will be very interesting to see what they come up with.
I did enjoy the season.
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I found it repetitive. What was this, Chief Irving's fourth or fifth major scandal? And now he has to step down? I thought the story lines were weak and much less well written than the first, say, four seasons. The writing in those episodes was much tighter, the characters were more interesting and thinking back, I can't even remember a single standout moment or character in the latest season. I will rewatch it, someday, and maybe my opinion will change, but for now, I hope they spin off a smaller cast in a different setting.
And hire better writers, okay?
Well you see these stories are from some of Connolly's later books. Where he starts to repeat himself.
Most writers do. They develop a formula and they stick to it. So many of the plot points and characters and responses repeat themselves again and again. Very few writers remain original. If you a writing a series you are bound to repeat yourself. It is just the nature of the beast.
In fact they did not take the plot from one of the books. They took some of the incidents and extrapolated from there. It was much the same problem that happened in Game of Thrones. When the show runners veered away from the source material they just came up with an inferior product.
As with many shows, there is a core of good material that gets thinner as time passes and the the redundant repetition shows up over and over, repeatedly...
For a 7th season I think it held its own pretty well. When it goes to IMBD they should keep Crate and Barrel, they should not cost much.
I bailed out of Season 7 very fast - I saw hours of bad acting and soap opera looming ahead. The first 6 seasons were okay.
Line of Duty, Endeavour, Inspector Morse, Foyle's War, The Bridge (Malmo edition), The Tunnel all good. Always a man and woman who don't like each other at first managing to work together, so there's always something to be interested in, whether they'll get together.
A guy agonizing about shooting somebody for 6 episodes or whatever it is is not something I'm up to though.
There was a series in the 50s I think with Lloyd Bridges where an entire half hour was the guy, wounded, crawling up many flights of stairs (always the same flight of stairs as far as I could tell), that is the prototype for 6 episodes of agonizing.
You killed the guy, fine, move on.
Guys with drinking problems have the same plot problem. Hours of bad acting.
In fact I think the guy who shot somebody was already drinking too much to forget it, a twofer torture. Viewer tied to his chair and beaten by the writers, unable to turn away. Often a plot point in action movies, sort of self-represtative.
The Bureau (French) good too, and Spiral, Braquo.
Check out “River” and “Mare of Easttown” RH.
Both are pretty good with a twist at the end.
One movie that I've played several times (separated in tme) is Closed Circuit (Rebecca Hall). Sort of a version of withstanding the test of time, worth seeing.
Get Smart (2008), if you ignore the slapstick, has a serious point about guys fitting into a guy's job where women can do it but are uptight and anxious. Seen too many times to watch again since I know every line.
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