As a spin-off of Bosch, Amazon Studio’s fan favorite and most popular procedural drama, Bosch: Legacy, added a new dimension to the narrative by exploring Madeline Bosch’s storyline with equal importance to the primary continuation of Harry Bosch’s adventures. As we have previously mentioned, Maddie’s arc quite often turned out to be more interesting than that of her famous detective father, and the second season is no exception in that regard.
In the previous season, the focus was on Maddie learning the ropes about police work from her father and her colleagues, and she was struggling to cope with the grim reality of the world of crime. By the end of the first season, Maddie herself became a victim of such a heinous crime when she was abducted by the serial rapist Kurt Dockweiler. After being rescued at the beginning of the second season, her arc takes on an interesting dimension as she finds it increasingly difficult to calibrate herself with her past life by moving on from the memories of the sordid experience. Bosch and Chandler, on the other hand, deal with some unfinished business, which brings the feds to their doorstep. As the second season ends, the continuation of both story arcs is hinted at, along with some minor plot points that will be explored in the third season.
Spoilers Ahead
Chandler’s Political Ambition: New Da Of La La Land?
Much of the second season of Bosch: Legacy revolved around Chandler’s dual cases, where both her and Harry’s professional careers, respectively as lawyers and investigators, came under serious threat. Chandler’s effort to clear her client David Foster’s name in Lexi Parks’ murder case attracted the attention of the real perp duo, the corrupt cops Ellis and Long. In order to cover up their heinous crime racket, they started tracking Chandler and Bosch, which eventually put both their lives in jeopardy. On the other hand, the FBI spied on Chandler with a vendetta in their efforts to pin her down in the Carl Rogers case. Even though Chandler’s guile helped her and Bosch remain scot-free, at least for now, an experienced attorney like her knows the skirmish with the feds is far from over. This is why her decision to run for the position of District Attorney is, although sudden, still very plausible, as it will not only allow her a safer distance from the mortal dangers posed by the likes of crooked cops and murderous criminals that her usual law firm cases entail but also political protection of sorts from the ever-nagging feds.
Chandler’s aspirations are bolstered by the current LA District Attorney Emmett Archer’s wilful attempt to cover up corruption in force, which she will use as perfect leverage in front of the media to strengthen her chances of assuming control of the DA’s office. To smooth the route of her political ambition, Chandler meets with Irvin Irving, former deputy chief of the LAPD and currently working as a city councilman, and asks for his support in her upcoming DA campaign. Hopefully, in the third season, fans will see their favorite ace attorney in a new role, and with her added responsibility, perhaps retirement from the life of crime is out of the question for both her and Harry.
Mo’s Conundrum: Will He Give Up On His Friends?
The major side plot of the second season was Mo Bassi’s budding friendship and romance with a fellow hacker community associate, Jade Quinn, whom he helped by hacking into the database of a pharma company that was allegedly extorting her family. However, as the season draws to a close, it is revealed that Jade’s real identity is FBI agent Janice Moreau, who used the pharma case to let the feds incriminate Mo and pressurize him into snitching on Harry and Chandler. However, Mo discovers Janice’s betrayal and confronts her, stating that he will expose her truth amidst the hacker community if she doesn’t quit the force in time. A seemingly regretful, apologetic Janice parts ways with Mo, and viewers can only speculate about how their relationship will take shape in the next season. More importantly, it remains to be seen whether the feds manage to get some dirt on Chandler and Harry through Mo. Despite stating proof that his hacking handiwork has been deleted thanks to pre-set auto-delete programming, Mo isn’t clear from the scrutinizing gaze of the feds, who are looking to ruin his life unless he complies with their demand. But at the same time, he has proven his loyalty to Harry time and time again, going to such an extent that he risked his own life on a number of occasions as well for Harry’s operations. Mo’s moral conflict will be a vital point to be explored in the third season, and his importance in Harry’s life will be more than evident.
Estranged Relationship Between Maddie And Harry
The most important story arc for the third season is definitely going to be the continuation of Maddie’s storyline, which reached a significant point by the end of the second season. For a major part of this season, she was trying to cope with the mental afflictions resulting from the Dockweiler incident. Maddie gradually became jumpy, erratic, restless, and distracted as the mental toll seemed to overcome her—until she confronted her fears during Dockweiler’s court hearing and courageously opened up about her mental afflictions. After that troublesome period, just when Maddie began to move on, she learned about Dockweiler’s death in custody, which somewhat alarmed her given the reputation of correctional facilities in the country. During the end moments of the second season, Maddie learned that it was none other than her father, Harry, who orchestrated Dockweiler’s murder in prison in the first place. This will prove to be a major crisis point in the Bosch family, as this incident has deep-rooted significance in the context of a father-daughter duo.
Harry is no stranger to using extrajudicial means and bending the laws according to his preference to get things done, but his moral compass has always remained rigid, no matter the situation. But this time the case was extremely personal, and he took a step too far by putting the hit on Dockweiler. Not to mention that it also clashes with his self-actualized code of respecting the sanctity of life, although it is understandable as, when it comes to close ones, even the best among us tend to slip from their ideals. Harry’s decision will inevitably cause a rift between him and his daughter. As a keeper of law enforcement, Maddie looks up to her father’s ideal and has always tried to live up to that, but this revelation will surely shatter the image she had reserved for her old man. In a way, Harry’s vengeful decision to exterminate Dockweiler was an escape for the scum, who, as Maddie lamented, should have suffered enough behind bars to eventually realize the implications of his actions. Needless to say, the third season will put its prime focus on the strained father-daughter relationship and eventual estrangement between the two.
