Summary
The final season ofBosch: Legacykicks off onPrime Videooffshoot, Freevee in March 2025, and it’s a real gut punch for the many fans who were expecting the crime show to keep going, as the universe was trying to expand with the Renee Ballard spin-off.BoschandBosch: Legacyhave both been huge successes for Amazon, so the decision to end it is a questionable one that has fans all over the world scratching their heads in disbelief.
In a world where reality shows, and poorly written procedurals are going on way past their sell by dates, it is baffling why Amazon are canceling so many shows that are both creative and business successes. The Bosch-verse was in the process of expanding with not one, but two spin-offs, buttheJerry Edgar spin-offhas now been axed mere weeks afterBosch: Legacy’s confirmed end after season 3. So what on earth is going on?A petition has been launched to put the power in the hands of the fans to ‘SaveBosch: Legacy’.The revolution is coming and it WILL be televised!
Bosch: Legacy Season 3
Starring
Titus Welliver, Mimi Rogers, Madison Lintz, Chang, Denise G. Sanchez, Scott Klace, Gregory Scott Cummins, Troy Evans, Orla Brady, Michael Reilly Burke, Andrea Cortes, Dale Dickey, Mark Rolston, Anthony Gonzales, Tommy Martinez and Maggie Q
Based on the books by
Created by
Tom Bernardo, Michael Connelly, and Eric Ellis Overmyer
Money talks is the expression that gets bandied around when a supposed Hollywood ‘business’ decision is made. But what happens when a ‘business’ decision has been made that makes absolutely no sense? That is very much the case with the cancelation ofBosch: Legacy.Season 1 of the spin-off seriesdelivered more total viewers in 28 days than any previous season of the parent show in their respective 28 days in the US alone.Also, the quality of the show has never dwindled, so, if it was a creative and commercial success, surelyBosch: Legacyis ‘the ‘manna from heaven’ that Amazon were hoping for.Bosch: Legacyseason 2was even more successful, and Amazon renewed it for season 3 before it even aired, so they clearly saw the potential in a show about Bosch’s post LAPD career.
Amazon appears to be moving towards catering to a younger demographic, but they are forgetting the importance of the older audience, who want grown-up multi-layered stories.In fact,Bosch: Legacytopped Disney’s Loki in viewership for a week, so this demographic should not be ignored. It’s interesting to look at thecasting announcements forBallardin the context ofBosch: Legacy’s demise. Amazon is clearly trying to move towards casting younger actors forBallard’s cold case unit, when the whole point was to have ‘retired detectives’ volunteering for the unit.
In anarticle in Rolling Stone, they referred toBosch: Legacyas:
A reassuring example of Dad TV executed at a very high level.
This reiterates the question:Is Amazon actively trying to move away from television shows aimed at the older demographic?So, it’s less of a business decision, and more of a new sensibility that has been adopted, meaning that shows catering to 40+ adults are being pushed down the pecking order.
Bosch: Legacy Key Facts
The fact thatBallardeven exists in the first place, is becauseBosch: Legacywas such a proven commodity.Not every television show gets to go down the ‘universe building’ route, but clearly Amazon thoughtBosch: Legacywas worthy of this expansion. Clearly, something drastically changed, and it’s not totally clear exactly what it was. Sure, the aim to appeal to a younger demographic has played a part in the end ofBosch: Legacy, but what else is going on?
Vernon Sanders, Head of Television at Amazon MGM Studios, said the following about the end ofBosch: Legacyin a statement:
For 10 years, Bosch and Bosch: Legacy have been two of our most defining series for Prime Video, Freevee and Amazon MGM Studios. They are a testament to the enduring power of the storytelling universe that Michael Connelly built for the fans. We are proud of the impact these series have made, and we are excited that Michael, Titus, Henrik and the creative team have more engaging stories to tell in the Bosch world with the final season of Bosch: Legacy, our new Ballard series and more to come.
So, maybe the real question is this:IfBosch: Legacyis such a proven commodity that the execs praised it so much for its 10-year run, why is it ending so abruptly?It was supposedly so well respected, but they didn’t feel the need to give it a proper conclusion.The end ofBosch: Legacywasn’t a creative decision, asTitus Welliverconfirmed in an appearance on the YouTube channel, ‘The Sackhoff Show’ that he was expecting to go back for season 4. The creative team behindBosch: Legacyclearly wrote season 3 with a follow-up in mind. So,all that ‘respect’ Amazon supposedly has for the Bosch-verse has resulted in a disjointed ‘ending’, and a complete cancelation of the planned extended Bosch television universe.All shows come to an end at some point, and sure,Bosch: Legacyisn’t immune to this, but why is it ending THIS way?
