Bosch

The main subplots of Bosch gather power as they proceed.

The plotting and pacing are what draw you in. The series works like a good page-turner.

Both Harry's life and his work are messy and complicated. The series lets both aspects breathe, without pushing for neat resolutions.

Bosch is by no means a revolutionary show like Amazon's "Transparent," but it offers smarter than usual cop drama fare, and it's certainly better than any cop show currently on a broadcast network.

Bosch’s dialogue is clunky at times, especially in scenes involving Bosch and his superiors. They look like somebody scolding a puppy and are hard to take very seriously. But the story is compelling.

"The Wire," this is not--but it's head over heels more calculated and even progressive than its broadcast brethren (when bringing those "distractions" back into the mix).

Bosch has grit; it just needs more grip. [13 Feb 2015, p.66]

It feels like a detective movie or TV show from another era.

A well-done cop show that doesn't reach for too much and mostly accomplishes what it sets out to do is the sort of thing just about anyone can have on in the background.

Mr. Connelly is one of the writers and executive producers, along with co-executive producer Eric Overmyer of “The Wire” and much other fame. They know good writing, with not a word wasted. They know cop lore and lingo and what turns viewers on about the genre. There’s a solid cast. The rest... who knows? It just happens.

If Bosch doesn't soar, it's solid enough, and if you like the series, you're just a click away from all the books.

A slow but steady 10-episode drama from Amazon that begins streaming Friday.

Bosch, based on the best-selling Michael Connelly series of books, may not set the TV world on fire in terms of storytelling or innovation. It’s another cop show, after all, but it is a quality cop show.

The unsettled, rule-breaking personality of the central character, his affair with an underdeveloped female character, a murderer who's too clever by half--these things aren't hard to find on TV. And though Bosch is credible, the episodes I saw weren't at such a fantastic level of execution that I have to see more of it and feel the need to shout from the rooftops about it.

Bosch--at least in its first four episodes—eschews action, downplays the mystery, and uses conflict primarily to paint its hero as a troubled-but-noble champion, beset by small-minded jerks. Not until the end of the fourth episode does anything shocking happen that would compel casual viewers to click to see more.