A Place of Brightness: bosch

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Review of Episode 1, Season 2 - Bosch on Amazon

My wife and I binge watched Season 1 of Bosch over a weekend and just fell in love with the show. I summarize exactly what made the show so great in this post.

And so, last night, we settled in to watch, with great anticipation after the months of longing for more Bosch, Episode 1 of Season 2.

The first episode of anything needs to draw you in, hook you, win you.

My Verdict? Everything I love about the show is even better.

Where to start? Well, of course, with actor Titus Welliver. He is simply electric. He plays the character of Harry Bosch with this combination of reticence and intensity.

I'm not going to go into detail on the emerging plot of Season 2, because I don't want to spoil anything for those of you readers who NEED IMMEDIATELY to go watch Season 1 so you can join the rest of us in the excellent programming available.

But suffice it to say that the episode was a crisply written and edited presentation of action, humor, intrigue, and emotion.

And Jeri Ryan! That's right, Star Trek Voyager's Seven of Nine, Jeri Ryan is in Season 2.

Amazon is producing the best television available right now. And Bosch, Seasons 1 and 2, are an example. Other great shows to go check out are Transparent, Man in the High Tower, Hand of God, and Red Oaks.

We're school teachers and, exhausted from a long week, we watched just Episode 1 last night. And we've resolved ourselves to try and watch Bosch just a few episodes at a time. Because last season, we were out of episodes fast and then missing the show!

We'll see how that goes... :)

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

BOSCH - Must See TV That's Not On TV

As Amazon Prime Subscribers, this weekend we binge watched the new Amazon series Bosch (pronounced with the same vowel as in "gosh").

It's based on the best selling police action-drama novels by Michael Connelly. And since Mr. Connelly is a producing and writing credit for the Amazon series, we may assume he approves of this version of his character.

We had already watched the Golden Globe awarded Amazon series Transparent, and we were expecting to see the same level of award winning quality programming.

It wasn't the same.

It was a quantum leap better.

Don't get me wrong, I adored Transparent. I can't wait for new episodes.

But Bosch was something apart. It was transcendent.

Why is Bosch so good?

1) Titus Welliver

Titus Welliver is downright brilliant in the titular role. Expressive and yet reserved, he brings Harry Bosch to full life. He needs to win best actor next year at the Golden Globes for this role or there is no justice in the Universe.

2) The Writing

The dialogue throughout is just so real. The story advances as much through meaningful conversations as through the intense action scenes so well portrayed. Following some heart-stopping action sequence (and there are many!), never was I disappointed that the scene cut back to Police Headquarters, because I always knew that wickedly clever conversation would ensue.

3) Jason Gedrick

If Jason Gedrick does not win Best Supporting Actor in the Golden Globes, I will be stunned in disbelief. No spoilers coming, but he portrays the principal "bad guy" in the series. And he's just incredible in the role.

4) Production Quality

If you have not yet watched an original series produced by Amazon or Netflix, dismiss any assumption that you are going to see something less than the quality of what the so-called major networks are churning out. Transparent proved that Amazon is in the production business to compete. Bosch proves they're in it to win.

Again, I am waiting for the second seasons of these amazing Amazon shows.

The only problem with binge watching Amazon shows like Transparent and Bosch is that I have no episodes of Transparent and Bosch to watch right now...

In Saecula Saeculorum, the 4th Novel in the Valquist Series

In this fourth novel of the Valquist Series, Andrew Valquist is retired (?) from the National Security Agency and teaching Latin at a Classical Academy in the Washington DC area. But in the world of espionage, looks can be deceiving. He's not necessarily happy with the role he has played in all this, but the school was actually a joint NSA/MI-6 Project in which four young people have been unwittingly prepared for a mission to travel back in time to ancient Rome to retrieve information from a library that may save the modern world from certain destruction. They know they have to at least try to save humanity, but can they also save each other?

Next Stop: Spanish, the 3rd Novel in the Valquist Series

This third novel in the Valquist Series can be read as an espionage action-adventure in its own right, but also you can use it as a way to either brush up on your Spanish or learn functional Spanish for the first time! John Valquist needs to learn Spanish. But he's in luck, since his uncle Andrew is a language expert and a former (?) spy who is taking him on a vacation to Spain so he can study the language. In Next Stop: Spanish, you have the chance to see and study the words John studies, and then watch him add more and more Spanish into his dialogue as the story progresses. During this vacation, they get pulled into espionage intrigue (why do these things always happen to the Valquist family?). In the dramatic conclusion, John will need to put together everything he has learned to save his uncle!

Amor Vincit Omnia: the 2nd Novel in the Valquist Series

In this second novel of the Valquist Series, Keith Massey takes you into the halls of the National Security Agency, where he himself worked for four years after 9/11 and an Arabic linguist. You follow our hero Andrew Valquist, as he starts work as a new recruit at the NSA. Little does he know that on his first on the job, he's about to fly off on an unexpected overseas assignment. He'll be even more surprised when he learns that his background in ancient Latin will be crucial to the mission!