Posted in: Amazon Studios, TV | Tagged: ballard, Bosch

Ballard: How Bosch: Legacy Spinoff Heroine Already Differs from Novels

The Bosch: Legacy finale and Ballard teaser offer some interesting looks at how the character differs from Michael Connelly's novels.

Prime Video finally released a teaser trailer for Ballard that gave us a fuller look at LAPD Detective Renée Ballard (Maggie Q.) in her upcoming spinoff series that's the spiritual sequel to Bosch: Legacy. It gives us a greater look at Ballard than expected, or at least the TV version of the character, since there are differences, both subtle and overt. That's the nature of adapting books to television. It's interesting to see what was changed from the Ballard of the books. This is not to say either version is better, just how television adapts a character for TV.

The TV version of Renée Ballard is introduced in the final episode of Bosch: Legacy where she's a Robbery Homicide Division detective who approaches Harry Bosch about a case she's investigating that his own investigation could compromise. This differs from their first meeting in the second of Michael Connelly's books featuring the characters where Ballard stumbles upon Bosch, retired from the force, sneaking into the station to go over the cold case files during her hours in the graveyard shift in the middle of the night, and she becomes his wary protege when he recognises they're kindred spirits in their obsessive drive to solve cases.

Ballard Looks More Anxious in the TV Series

In the teaser trailer, Ballard looks anxious throughout. She even looks anxious when she's out surfing, which is her morning routine before she heads into work. In the books, her morning surfs are the only time she's ever completely at peace. She looks awkward and wary when she's dealing with other mostly male cops, which hints at her history of getting ostracised by other (mostly male) cops after she filed a sexual harassment complaint against her commanding officer in RHD, which is part of her backstory in the books. When you read the books, you never get the sense that Ballard ever shows any anxiety, no matter how freaked out she might be inside.

When you read the books, you get the sense that Ballard may have to watch how she behaves and appears in front of her colleagues and superiors, but deep down she really doesn't give a shit. She's as wily and sneaky as Bosch is at skirting the lines and operating just under the radar of the rules while manipulating the rules and politics to close her cases, sometimes more subtly and deftly than Bosch did. She unconsciously regards Bosch as a surrogate father figure since she never got over the death of her father when she was fifteen years old. In the books, Ballard is equally wary and protective of Harry – but everyone is wary of Bosch because they worry he'll go rogue and it'll blow up in their faces.) In the season finale of Bosch: Legacy and the teaser of Ballard, she appears more openly hostile to him.

How the Supporting Cast is Different from the Books

The supporting cast of Ballard's is based on the last two books, which sets the format for the TV series and has some changes designed for television. Amy Hill plays Tutu, Ballard's spunky grandma (who appears in some of the books). Ballard's cold case squad, formed two books ago from "Desert Star" onwards, includes Michael Mosley as Ted, a reserve officer who has been assigned to cold cases to keep an eye on Ballard (altered from a different character from the books);  Rebecca Field as Colleen, an enthusiastic and eccentric volunteer (the most faithfully translated character from the books); Victoria Moroles as Martina, a savvy legal intern (not in the books and created for the TV series); John Carroll Lynch as Thomas Laffont, Renee's former partner who un-retires to help her run the Cold Case Department (heavily altered from the book and combined with another character from the books), and Courtney Taylor as Samira Parker, a wary ex-cop who returns to the force at her former mentor Ballard's behest (completely new to the TV series).

Michael Connelly has said that Maggie Q. is now the Ballard in his head when he writes the books. We'll get to see her version of Ballard with the slightly different backstory and nuances.

Bosch: Legacy is now on Prime. Ballard will premiere at a later date.

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