Bosch: Framing Season One

Here are my original notes on the rain that opens and closes season one of Bosch:

Season 1 Episode 1 of Bosch opens with Harry Bosch and Jerry Edgar on a stake-out. It's gonna rain, Bosch says, and the game will be rained out.

The last episode of Season 1 ends with Jerry Edgar telling Bosch that the rain will come and wash away all the crap.

The second or third time I came back to those notes I said No, there's more to it than that. I watched those episodes again and wrote down the relevant conversations.

The opening words of S1E1:

(we hear a baseball game on the radio, in the background.)
Harry: Gonna rain like a bastard tonight.
Jerry: You're crazy.
Harry: Need it. Wash all the shit away.

The closing words of S1E10:

Jerry: The rain will come along, wash all this shit away.
Harry: Right, all into the big gutter and out to sea.
Jerry: Go easy, brother.
(Harry nods.)

For the record, the "big gutter" that Harry mentions in episode 10 is introduced midway thru the season, 20 minutes into S1E4, and again about 18 minutes later.

Bosch

I know, I know: The blog is about Hinterland.

My wife watched the first two seasons of Bosch (an Amazon original) a year or so back. I only half watched it, half at my computer in the adjacent room. So when the third season of Bosch came out I had no particular interest in watching it. After some time, though, I gave it a try.

It fascinated me. There was no drifting back to the next room to play with my computer.

Couple days after I finished season three, it came into my head again. Why does everybody think he's a bad cop? I wondered. It's because he doesn't care what people think. The character caught my interest. So I sat down and watched all three seasons. Now I love the show.

I also love the way it's written, the way it's put together. Like this: Season One starts and ends with rain. I thought that was interesting. What it means, the symbolism, I don't know.

And this: Something happens late in the last episode of season one. Not Harry, but the other guy gets what he deserves. That same something comes up in the last episode of season two. And this time not the other guy, but Harry gets what he's looking for.

And this: In season one Harry's daughter visits him in L.A. He buys her a braided string bracelet like the one he wears. It never comes up again in the first three seasons, but Harry's bracelet appears many times in brief camera shots. If not for that one scene where the daughter gets her bracelet, I would have completely missed all of those camera shots. I can't guess the significance of Harry's bracelet, but maybe we find out in season four.

S1E1: The first 80 seconds

A jogger. The camera pans slowly, showing a desolate landscape. No narration. We notice the jogger is approaching a house trailer.

Now our view is from inside the trailer. Breathing hard, the jogger sits down hard on his front step. The whole trailer shakes. I still laugh at that, every time I see it.

After a moment's rest, the jogger gets himself a drink of water. The phone rings. Looking for the phone, he turns a complete 360. Not the most organized guy. I laugh, every time I see it.

He answers the phone: "Mathias". It is the only word spoken before the opening credits.

//

An introduction to the desolation of Wales, two good laughs, and the main character is identified. Not a lot of idle chatter.