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Posted in: Amazon Studios, Review, TV | Tagged: ballard, Bosch
Bosch: Legacy Finale Served as Standalone "Ballard" Spinoff Prequel
The Bosch: Legacy finale also served as a standalone story that introduced a Renée Ballard who's slightly different from the novels.
Viewers finally met Renée Ballard for the first time in the final episode of Bosch: Legacy, which stood as a standalone episode mostly independent of the rest of the season and was a backdoor prequel to her own series Ballard. Yes, the character is different from the books in many ways, even if she's still the same core character, but if you read the books, there's a bit of whiplash.
When Harry Met Renée
The episode begins when an understandably suspicious Bosch (Titus Welliver) confronts a mysterious woman following him in an unmarked car and pulls a gun on her. The two have an armed standoff before she identifies herself as Renée Ballard (Maggie Q), an investigator from the elite Robbery Homicide Division of the LAPD, and accuses him of stealing the files of a series of unsolved thirteen-year-old serial killings. This is not the best way to introduce oneself to Harry Bosch. He tells her that he made copies of the file at Hollywood Station before he left the force, and guesses correctly that she must be investigating the cases because the killer has struck again for the first time in thirteen years. What she fears is that the killer might have stolen the originals, and that means the killer might be a cop. Bosch wants in on her investigation because this is one of the unsolved cases that got under his skin and he's determined to see it out. Ballard refuses, so he offers her a deal: he'll show her the file if she shares her current investigation notes.
Differences from The Book "Dark Sacred Night"
The plot of this episode is a heavily-altered version of the plot of Dark Sacred Night, the second Ballard novel where she meets Bosch for the first time. Ballard catches Bosch looking over the files and teams up with him on the cold case. She's less openly hostile and suspicious of Harry, and they quickly form a bond that both are reluctant to admit to so soon. In the book, they're equals as they work their own investigation before sharing their findings, and Ballard has to pull Bosch back from the brink of deliberately causing the killer's death.
In Bosch: Legacy, Ballard is instructed by her boss, who spent the season trying to get dirt on Bosch and destroy him, to keep Harry out of the loop. Ballard already goes off the books at least twice, first following him outside of hours and procedure, then illegally planting a tracker on his car. Bosch is several steps ahead of her and pulls in his team to help him track the killer, including Mo (Chang) for the hacking and surveillance, fan favourites Crate & Barrell, and even Maddie (Madison Lintz) who is the one who spots the connection in the files that helps them identify the killer (in the book it's Ballard who identifies the killer).
That's a necessity of writing for a TV show where the regular cast should be a major part of the story. Ballard shows off some of her own skills, but she's mostly on the back foot since this is Harry's show after all. They catch the killer together and she witnesses Bosch seriously considering executing the killer before pulling him back from the edge. The episode ends with Bosch complimenting Ballard on her work and dedication in a somewhat on-the-nose exchange that could have come out of any CBS cop show, but that's the kind of writing the cop shows seem to demand.
An Earlier Version of Renée Ballard
The Ballard introduced in this episode feels like what she might have been like before her debut novel, The Late Show. By then, Ballard has already been betrayed and disillusioned by the sexism of the department and gone lone wolf, exiled from RHD to the midnight shift at Hollywood Station, Bosch's old haunt, where she gets to investigate cases on her own terms. By the time she and Bosch have teamed up several books later, Ballard has become a cop as capable of going rogue and operating in grey areas as Bosch did throughout his career.
The spinoff series will feature Ballard possibly exiled to head the underfunded and under-appreciated Cold Cases Division that depends on the work of retired cops volunteering their time, including Bosch, who will appear in the series. The teaser trailer suggests she might have been exiled there from RHD, though in the books, she picked the post so she can be left alone to close forgotten cases.
As for Harry Bosch, this finale isn't an ending. Life goes on for Harry and the crew. They'll be back in one way or another.
Bosch: Legacy is streaming on Prime. Ballard will premiere at a later date.
Bosch: Legacy
8.5/10
A standalone introduction to Detective Renée Ballard, the final episode of Bosch: Legacy is a backdoor prequel to the Ballard spinoff series that features a character who's slightly different from the one in the books. This Ballard is more hesitant and reluctant but slowly reveals her willingness to bend the rules that became more prominent in the books. Her upcoming series is probably going to show her journey to become a less anxious and more ruthless character.
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