No matter how badly the Bosch family tries to put the dour experiences behind them, the ghosts of the past continue to haunt them, and the most they can do is hope and endure. After the tense, turbulent beginning with the first two episodes of the second season, Bosch: Legacy finds itself delving into new situations, while the impact of the events during immediate past is still lingering strongly in the lives of Harry, Maddie, and Chandler.
In the first two episodes, the serial rapist Screen Cutter, aka Kurt Dockweiler, who had abducted Maddie during the first season finale, was shown to surrender himself in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Harry, Edgar, and Chandler worked together to rescue Maddie, who was buried alive by her captor in the deserted territory of Zzyzx. In the previous season, with Harry’s assistance, Honey Chandler tried to build a civil suit against the millionaire Carl Rogers, who had set a hitman against her and Maddie during the seventh season of the original Bosch series. During their investigation of the corrupt tycoon, Chandler and Harry learned about his connection with Russians, which ultimately resulted in his demise. The third and fourth episodes of the season serve as a call-back to that case as Harry and co. find themselves being suspected by the feds, and their latest case has put them in the crosshairs of another even more notorious party as well.
Spoilers Ahead
The Murder Of Lexi Parks: Was David Foster Really The Culprit?
As the episode begins, viewers are taken inside the household of West Hollywood’s assistant city manager, Lexi Parks, who plans a morning date with her husband Vince before he leaves for his night patrol duty as deputy sheriff. The next day, Vince returns and is horrified out of his wits to find Lexi brutally bludgeoned to death in their bedroom. Four months later, the authorities detain David Foster from his house, who is suspected to be the culprit as his DNA has been found inside Lexi Parks’ body, who was raped post-mortem. A dumbfounded David asks his terrified wife to call Honey Chandler, who is informed by her law firm associate Martin Rose about the troublesome situation with her former client.
Chandler visits her client and learns that he didn’t even know Lexi Parks to begin with and that he was with his wife at the time of the murder. At the court hearing, Chandler asks the judge for additional time as she needs to review the case thoroughly, and they are given a month to bring up substantial evidence to prove David’s innocence.
Additional Problem: Why Did The FBI Start Suspecting Bosch And Chandler?
With the deaths of Carl Rogers and his lawyer, Gwen Keating, at the hands of the Russian mob, it was assumed that the case had gone cold—but not quite. The FBI has received the schematics of the Vietnam-bound shipping container where their bodies were discovered, and clues found through the cell tower and other sources point towards the presence of Honey Chandler at the location, who was a long-time rival of the corrupt tycoon. FBI agents Jones and James go to Chandler to question her and Harry Bosch’s involvement with the case and serve her a subpoena and a writ to preserve all associated documentation. Chandler gives Harry a heads up about the situation, as the FBI will be making a visit to his doorstep as well. If it is discovered that Chandler was present when Rogers was killed, and in her efforts to build a civil suit, she let Harry get involved in digging up dirt against Rogers, not only their careers but those of associated with the case like Mo, Crate, and Barrel will be in jeopardy as well.
Harry suspects that the schematic was leaked to the FBI, which is probably an inside job connected to Chandler’s law firm, and he and MO decide to follow both of her firm associates, Martin Rose and Matthew Ramirez. While old Marty seems to be on the right side, Ramirez, is seen to be in cahoots with the feds. Harry informs Chandler about this discovery, who seems upset by the supposed betrayal, but gathers herself quickly, and they decide to use the Ramirez connection to feed FBI misinformation and put the case to a dead end. Chandler also assigns Harry to handle the case of David Foster to mitigate any suspicion of the feds over their meetings as well.
How Is Maddie Holding Up?
It’s been four months since Maddie was rescued from Dockweiler’s clutches, and she is rapidly progressing on the road to recovery. With her physical and mental efficiency restored, Maddie has returned to her job as a rookie cop in the LAPD and has managed to crack a theft case successfully. This, along with a vote of confidence from her training officer, Vasquez, has allowed her a spot in the CRU unit. Maddie’s relationship with her colleague, Perez, has also returned to its course, and her friendship with Paulina is stronger than ever. Still, she is plagued by PTSD stemming from the Dockweiler situation. Although, as of now, she is living with her father in their posh LA hilltop house, Maddie spends sleepless nights with a firearm by her bedside.
As Harry mulls over the Lexi Parks murder/Foster case, Maddie insists he share the details of the case with her. Harry hesitantly does so, and seeing the brutalized condition of the victim and learning that she was raped, Maddie is shaken by considering the possibility that she might have faced the same fate at the hands of Dockweiler. Harry asks her not to minimize the trauma she had to face anyway, but Maddie is aware of the reality that she was fortunate enough to not go through an even more severe ordeal. Maddie tries to forget the past, but Harry’s current case will be a constant reminder of it; therefore, she decides to move to her own place.
After selling her previous house, which is another reminder of the fateful incident of the home invasion, she packs up her things and moves from the Bosch household, much to Harry’s and Coltrane’s disappointment.
Can Chandler And Harry Tackle The Double Crisis?
As Harry begins his investigation, he learns that Foster’s alibi was false and that he was with his drug dealer, James Allen, on the day of Parks’ murder. He also learns that the killer might have a thorough knowledge of Parks’ house, as they knew the dog sign at their home was only for show and the alarm didn’t work as well. As Harry looks for James, he learns that he used to work as both a prostitute and a dealer and that he was murdered days prior.
Meanwhile, two over-the-edge hooligans, who may have their stake in the James Allen and Foster case, get the hint of Harry and Chandler’s involvement with the case. They have followed the duo to their usual meeting place, Musso and Frank’s grill, and the young one of them successfully locates Harry’s residence and deduces his identity. Later on, they follow Chandler on her way home and incriminate her by initially calling 911 on her, issuing a DUI, and then revealing their identity as beat cops. As another police car apprehends and takes Chandler into custody, the police duo nabs the David Foster dossier from Chandler’s car.
The next day, Harry pays a visit to Foster, who admits that he was in a relationship with James Allen, a fact he has been hiding so far to save his marriage. Later, Harry picks Chandler up from the police station, and they find out that the Foster file had been handled by a third party, whom they now know to be the cops who apprehended Chandler the previous night.
Meanwhile, FBI agents James and Jones try to spill the confession of Raul Arraya, one of Chandler’s former clients at prison, who knows about her involvement with the Rogers case and also the fact that Chandler tried to coerce Rogers’ right-hand man, Willie Datz. Raul is unwilling to snitch on his benefactor, but states this much that Chandler was bluffing. However, things take a positive turn for the feds as they discover video proof of Chandler’s presence during the murder of Simon Wakefield. To make matters worse, her fingerprints were found at the location, with Wakefield’s mobile missing from the spot. Feds also notice the presence of Lev Ivanovich at the spot rightly after the murder took place, and it goes beyond saying that they have connected the dots with Chandler being in cahoots with the Russians in orchestrating Rogers and Keatings’ murders, although in reality Chandler was in no way involved in the murders. As the episode ends, the feds seem to close in on Chandler and Harry, while the threat of two rogue cops looms larger on them as well. It will be really intriguing to see how the upcoming episodes handle the dual case, along with Maddie’s journey to move on from the traumatic past.
