Robertson and Bennett follow the hitman's trail to Las Vegas, hoping to find a connection to Fowkkes' other clients. When Billets performs a security evaluation at a local jewelry shop, she gets more than she bargained for. Irving gives Bosch an order, causing Bosch to lose faith in the system he has defended his entire career.
In 2020, the television industry aired 493 scripted shows across numerous outlets. The way people consume content now is different than it used to be. It happens according to one's own schedule. As such, it's less necessary to provide ample coverage of each episode in any given season from a show. Moreover, it is simply impossible to watch everything. As such, this site provides shorter episodic reviews in order to cover as many shows as possible. With all of that being said, here are my thoughts on the next episode of Amazon's Bosch.
"Workaround" was written by Elle Johnson & Mitzi Roberts and directed by Alex Zakrzewski
Bosch and Billets can no longer trust the chain of command. The system is set up with rules and regulations to ensure proper oversight of the entire enterprise. It's a system that has worked for the various individual players in this world. It can breed so much corruption and distrust though. Addressing one issue doesn't then eliminate the problem from the entire department. The conversation is still centered around blaming issues on a few bad apples. That metaphor has always been such a poorly articulated concept. The system wants to say only a few individuals are bad. The issues run much deeper than that because the same blatant abuses of power happen over and over again. Leonard and Norris aren't special in any way. However, their behavior is tolerated and encouraged by the top ranks. They have no business serving the community. Their views towards women endangers more lives. The system wants to pass them around without trying to hold itself accountable for being an appealing option for such radical thoughts. Billets is defending herself when she is targeted with harassment. Her entire life has been invaded. She is outraged. Captain Cooper sees it as her making a big deal out of nothing. He orchestrates an insane plan to teach her a lesson. He has the power and influence to make that happen as well. Of course, it only takes a day of police work to expose all the holes and prove the criminal conspiracy. These bad actors aren't smart in how they conduct this business. It's still insane that they are given the freedom to operate for so long in this system. Cooper rose through the ranks. He did so despite his refusal to actually support and encourage diversity of thought and action. He shapes young minds in his image. It's the only way he believes this job can be done. Billets represents a threat to his way of life. As such, she is the problem. She has so many allies willing to come forward and support her. She emerges victoriously. It all happens rather quickly. But again, it's easy to address the specific individuals in this conspiracy. So many will just stop the conversation there. A larger dialogue needs to occur though about the systemic issues that plague the LAPD. Irving is more concerned about securing his second term as chief of police. This is a job he didn't want at one point in time. So many people had to persuade him into taking it. And now, he views himself as a success story. Life on the ground in this city hasn't changed all that much. Irving argues it takes time for all this reform and progress to implement itself. His own personal ambitions have gotten in the way of doing what's right for the city. He made a deal with the FBI solely so he could force Mayor Lopez into keeping him. That's been his chief concern. Bosch is furious that the top individual in an organization he has devoted himself to is preventing him from getting justice for the victims of the fire. Irving should care regardless of the personal connection to losing a child. Bosch throws that in his face. It isn't pleasant. It's big and disruptive. Bosch is trying to craft various schemes to work around the FBI protecting the man who gave the order. Peña needs to be held accountable for this loss of life. It's not good enough for one person to be blamed for the entire scheme. The story extends far beyond that. That's evident in every mystery Bosch and the other detectives have investigated over the series. Jimmy and Bennett travel to Las Vegas because more than one person gave orders to the hitman who targeted Chandler and Maddie. It's not good enough to only solve one aspect of a crime. That only allows more to fester. It fails to address the nuances of the situation. Life is much more complicated than that. The detectives are asked to drop things because of someone's insistence it's for the greater good. They still make their influence known. Billets gets other officers in her department arrested. That's a necessary action to create a more equitable workforce. Bosch is largely removed from that though. He is hoping to get through to someone willing to help him arrest Peña for the heinous crime he ordered. Sonia's life mattered as well. She isn't disposable. Bosch always reminds himself of that. His priorities aren't shared with the rest of the law enforcement culture though. That's tragic and sets up a wild collision for the series finale. Maddie is once again embarking on some soul searching as a result of everything that has happened to her. She is at least stable in her relationship with Antonio. That's a blessing. Of course, that leaves Bosch all alone in his gorgeous house once more. He too faces a reckoning. One where he may risk it all in the name of justice that is deserving in a better system than the one that currently exists.
Bosch and Billets can no longer trust the chain of command. The system is set up with rules and regulations to ensure proper oversight of the entire enterprise. It's a system that has worked for the various individual players in this world. It can breed so much corruption and distrust though. Addressing one issue doesn't then eliminate the problem from the entire department. The conversation is still centered around blaming issues on a few bad apples. That metaphor has always been such a poorly articulated concept. The system wants to say only a few individuals are bad. The issues run much deeper than that because the same blatant abuses of power happen over and over again. Leonard and Norris aren't special in any way. However, their behavior is tolerated and encouraged by the top ranks. They have no business serving the community. Their views towards women endangers more lives. The system wants to pass them around without trying to hold itself accountable for being an appealing option for such radical thoughts. Billets is defending herself when she is targeted with harassment. Her entire life has been invaded. She is outraged. Captain Cooper sees it as her making a big deal out of nothing. He orchestrates an insane plan to teach her a lesson. He has the power and influence to make that happen as well. Of course, it only takes a day of police work to expose all the holes and prove the criminal conspiracy. These bad actors aren't smart in how they conduct this business. It's still insane that they are given the freedom to operate for so long in this system. Cooper rose through the ranks. He did so despite his refusal to actually support and encourage diversity of thought and action. He shapes young minds in his image. It's the only way he believes this job can be done. Billets represents a threat to his way of life. As such, she is the problem. She has so many allies willing to come forward and support her. She emerges victoriously. It all happens rather quickly. But again, it's easy to address the specific individuals in this conspiracy. So many will just stop the conversation there. A larger dialogue needs to occur though about the systemic issues that plague the LAPD. Irving is more concerned about securing his second term as chief of police. This is a job he didn't want at one point in time. So many people had to persuade him into taking it. And now, he views himself as a success story. Life on the ground in this city hasn't changed all that much. Irving argues it takes time for all this reform and progress to implement itself. His own personal ambitions have gotten in the way of doing what's right for the city. He made a deal with the FBI solely so he could force Mayor Lopez into keeping him. That's been his chief concern. Bosch is furious that the top individual in an organization he has devoted himself to is preventing him from getting justice for the victims of the fire. Irving should care regardless of the personal connection to losing a child. Bosch throws that in his face. It isn't pleasant. It's big and disruptive. Bosch is trying to craft various schemes to work around the FBI protecting the man who gave the order. Peña needs to be held accountable for this loss of life. It's not good enough for one person to be blamed for the entire scheme. The story extends far beyond that. That's evident in every mystery Bosch and the other detectives have investigated over the series. Jimmy and Bennett travel to Las Vegas because more than one person gave orders to the hitman who targeted Chandler and Maddie. It's not good enough to only solve one aspect of a crime. That only allows more to fester. It fails to address the nuances of the situation. Life is much more complicated than that. The detectives are asked to drop things because of someone's insistence it's for the greater good. They still make their influence known. Billets gets other officers in her department arrested. That's a necessary action to create a more equitable workforce. Bosch is largely removed from that though. He is hoping to get through to someone willing to help him arrest Peña for the heinous crime he ordered. Sonia's life mattered as well. She isn't disposable. Bosch always reminds himself of that. His priorities aren't shared with the rest of the law enforcement culture though. That's tragic and sets up a wild collision for the series finale. Maddie is once again embarking on some soul searching as a result of everything that has happened to her. She is at least stable in her relationship with Antonio. That's a blessing. Of course, that leaves Bosch all alone in his gorgeous house once more. He too faces a reckoning. One where he may risk it all in the name of justice that is deserving in a better system than the one that currently exists.
