Summary
The final season ofBosch: Legacyis heading toPrime Videochannel, Freevee, in March 2025, but it feels like an abrupt end to one of the best television shows around. Despite being on television screens for over a decade, the Bosch-verse was just getting started with the Renee Ballard spin-off on the horizon, as well as a planned Jerry Edgar spin-off. However, in the space of a month,Bosch: Legacyand Jerry Edgar’s solo show were both canceled by Amazon, raising a lot of questions about the prospects for the Ballard show.
The end ofBosch: Legacywasn’t a creative decisionas Titus Welliver had stated his intent to play Harry Bosch for as long as possible, and Michael Connelly clearly had more solo stories to tell. Bosch will now have to settle for recurring appearances inBallard, and a disjointed end to his own show. Having said that,it doesn’t have to be the end for Harry Bosch, as the fans have launched a petition to ‘SaveBosch: Legacy’which is gaining traction. Renee Ballard and Harry Bosch are the joint lead characters in Michael Connelly’s book,Desert Star, whichBosch: Legacyand season 1 ofBallardare both based on, so why is Bosch being relegated to the sidelines?It’s debatable whether the Ballard show stands a chance withoutBosch: Legacyand Jerry Edgar to prop it up.
Bosch: Legacy And The Jerry Edgar Spin-Off Have Been Axed, Which Raises A Lot Of Questions About The Future Of The Bosch Television Universe
Fans were only just coming to terms with the announcement thatBosch: Legacywas coming to an end after season 3, when they were hit with the news that a planned spin-off featuring Harry Bosch’s old partner,Jerry Edgar, had also been axed.Fans were supposed to see the LAPD detective going undercover for the FBI on a mission in Haiti in theJerry Edgar spin-off, but there had been no updates on its progress for months. This raised concerns among the fan base that something wasn’t right, and Amazon MGM confirmed this week that they weren’t moving ahead with it.
The Original Plans For The Jerry Edgar Spin-Off
A lot of the problems with the Jerry Edgar show stem from the fact that the showrunner, Larry Andries, was charged with six felony counts of sexual assault in March 2024.Having said that, there are plenty of writers who could’ve taken over the project, and developed it. It feels like Amazon are making yet another excuse to scale back the expansion of the Bosch-verse.Fans are now questioning what exactly is happening with the planned expansion of the universe, with theBallard spin-offthe only show actually moving forward.
Renee Ballard Season 1
Starring
Maggie Q, Courtney Taylor, John Carroll Lynch, Michael Mosley, Rebecca Field, Victoria Moroles, Amy Hill, Ricardo Chavira, Noah Bean, Alain Uy, Hector Hugo and Titus Welliver
Based on the books by
Directed by
Jet Wilkinson
Maggie Q will play Renee Ballardin theBosch: Legacyspin-off, and it’ll air in the Fall of 2025 on Prime Video. However,instead ofBallardbeing part of the expanded Bosch universe, it’ll now exist on its own afterBosch: Legacyends with season 3, and the Jerry Edgar spin-off is dead.What happened to the universe building and the potential for crossovers withBosch: Legacy?Ballardwill still be a good show, as it has many of the same excellent writers that have madeMichael Connelly’s Los Angeles-based crime universesuch a joy to watch over the years. And, of course, Connelly himself is overseeing the project, which is a major plus for it. But,surely this wasn’t the original plan to have Ballard as the main show, with recurring appearances by Harry Bosch.
Bosch: Legacyseason 3will undoubtedly be great, but there are questions over whether it’ll be viewed as such, as it’s been forced to act as a handover to the Ballard series. And let’s be honest, Ballard isn’t a character the audience knows at all unless they’ve read the books.It’s debatable whetherBallardcan carry the Bosch-verse on its own withoutBosch: Legacycontinuing as its companion.Titus Welliver will play Harry Bosch in a bit part role in Ballard’s show, but there’s so much more to explore with the ex LAPD detective turned PI along with the rest of the characters inBosch: Legacy.Honey Chandler’s potential role as DAneeds exploring beyond season 3. What aboutMaddie BoschandReina Vasquezin their careers in the LAPD? It might be the last time fans get to seeCrate and Barrel. No more tech-savvy escapades fromMo Bassi?
It’s debatable whether Ballard can carry the Bosch-verse on her own without Bosch: Legacy continuing as its companion.
Ballardarguably only works if it runs alongsideBosch: Legacy, and their narratives overlap to bring to fruition the rich and textured universe Michael Connelly has always envisioned for the television iteration of his books.Maybe Amazon will realize this, asBosch: LegacyandBallardwill essentially act as a one-two punch for the first year at least. However, it will ONLY be for the first year, and that is such a shame and a huge missed opportunity. The PR spin from Amazon is thatBosch: Legacyis going out on top after 10 years. Let’s clarify:Bosch: LegacyIS still at the top of its game, but it feels like its being asked to leave, rather than going out on its own terms, and Ballard will suffer because of this.TheBosch: Legacyteam almost certainly had exciting creative plans for another season, but fans won’t get to see it all unfold on screen. As for the Jerry Edgar spin-off, this would’ve been the next exciting phase in the BTU: The Bosch Television Universe.
