THE ABSTRACT ART OF HARRY BOSCH

There are always things you notice for the first time when you re-watch; things your eye is drawn to around and outside the main drives of character and plot. This week I binge-watched the first season of Michael Connelly’s superb Bosch, in anticipation of its return tonight for Season 6. On my second time through, I found myself just as engrossed as I was when it was first shown, impressed by the way the plot strands interact in the overall structure, impressed as always by the acting. I was reminded that a couple of key characters had changed — I had forgotten Michelle Hurd played Connie Irving in the first series, and much as I like her and admire her work, Erika Alexander really made the part hers. There was also a character change, as in series one the crime reporter for the LA Times is Adam O’Byrne, playing Nate Tyler: he’s aggressive and somewhat old-school and winds up a major part of the story, as you’d expect in a series based on Connelly’s work — but in series 3 he’s replaced by Eric Ladin as Scott Anderson, who’s a bit more like what you might expect a modern reporter to be, interested in deal making, a more modern news man, more interested in ambition than news, perhaps. He’s perfect for the kind of play and get played business of Season 5.

But what I was taken with more in my second spin through Season 1 was the way the scenes are constructed, and specifically the transition…