Legacy Episodes To Watch Before Season 3

Spoilers are ahead for Bosch and Bosch: Legacy.

A sequel to Amazon Prime Video’s successful police procedural Bosch (2014–2021), Bosch: Legacy will return to Amazon Freevee for a third season in 2024. Given the renewal, audiences will soon see more of Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver). But for series newcomers and long-time Bosch viewers who are looking to jog their memories, several of both shows’ episodes are required viewing ahead of the grumpy detective’s latest outing. Bosch: Legacy season 2 ends on a cliffhanger: the newly incarcerated Kurt Dockweiler (Will Chase), a city inspector who abducted and drugged Bosch’s rookie cop daughter Maddie (Madison Lintz), winds up dead.

However, matters become even more unnerving when Maddie answers her father’s phone in the episode’s final moments. The unmistakable voice of Preston Borders (Chris Browning), a fellow inmate of Dockweiler’s, says he has, “taken care of it.” The implication, of course, is that Bosch arranged for Borders to kill his daughter’s kidnapper. A retired LAPD detective, Bosch has proven to be committed to justice, but Bosch: Legacy season 3 is primed to explore whether he’s capable of orchestrating a murder. That pressing question makes several key episodes of the franchise essential viewing ahead of the third outing.

Related

The Lincoln Lawyer Season 2’s Jeff Trammell Actor Is A Deep-Cut Bosch Reference

Despite rights issues with Prime Video, Lincoln Lawyer season 2 features multiple Bosch references with the biggest involving the Jeff Trammell actor.

10 Bosch, Season 2, Episode 5

“Gone”

Although Bosch’s daughter, Maddie, is actually introduced in Bosch season 1, the fifth episode in the original series’ sophomore outing provides an excellent foundation for understanding the father-daughter duo’s relationship. In season 1’s sixth episode, “Donkey’s Years,” Bosch visits Maddie and her mother, his ex-wife Eleanor Wish (Sarah Clarke), on Christmas. By season 2, Bosch is taking down Eleanor and Maddie’s kidnappers. Even though Eleanor is a risk-taker with FBI ties, “Gone” illustrates just how much Bosch’s job impacts his family’s safety — a thread that continues in Bosch: Legacy.

9 Bosch, Season 4, Episode 5

“The Coping”

Almost all 9 seasons of Bosch and Bosch: Legacy are rife with character-driven, relationship-forming moments between Maddie and Harry Bosch. After Eleanor is killed as a result of an FBI operation, a grief-stricken Maddie moves in with her father. In “Coping,” the father-daughter pair grapple with the loss of both their loved ones. Bosch is plagued by flashbacks of the day his own mother was murdered, prompting him to investigate Eleanor’s death. Upset that her last conversation with Eleanor was an argument, Maddie turns to her father for reassurance in what’s a surprisingly emotional episode.

8 Bosch, Season 5, Episode 1

“Two Kinds of Truth”

The action-packed Bosch season 5 opener is essential pre-Bosch: Legacy season 3 viewing because it introduces viewers to the character of Preston Borders. At the tail-end of the episode, Maddie tells her father that one of his old cases is being reopened. In the past, Bosch’s detective efforts led to the arrest of Borders, who was convicted of raping and murdering a woman in the mid-90s. Evidently, Border is aiming to overturn the conviction. Given Legacy‘s season 2 cliffhanger, the whole case is definitely one of those things to remember before watching Bosch: Legacy season 3.

7 Bosch, Season 5, Episode 5

“Tunnel Vision”

At the fifth season’s mid-way point, Bosch and attorney Honey “Money” Chandler (Mimi Rogers) learn more about Rita Tadesco’s interesting connection to Preston Borders’ trial from 1996. Meanwhile, viewers learn that Borders does, in fact, plan to upend Bosch’s life. Once he’s free, Borders wants to overturn all of Bosch’s cases, thus ruining the LAPD detective’s reputation. Since it’s difficult to believe that Bosch orchestrated Dockweiler’s in-prison murder, reviewing Borders’ past life-ruining schemes is a must, especially since he’s primed to be one of the key characters in Bosch: Legacy season 3.

6 Bosch, Season 5, Episode 10

“Creep Signed His Kill”

To wrap up the Borders-centered season, it’s worth revisiting the fifth outing’s final episode. Bosch deals with the fallout from his recklessness — and, this time, it’s not Maddie who’s on Harry’s case. After confronting then-Chief of Police Irvin Irving (the late Lance Reddick) about evidence tampering in relation to the Borders file, Harry is nearly murdered in his own home. Elsewhere, Irving announces his run for mayor. While the events aren’t related, and while Reddick’s passing means Irving won’t return again in Bosch: Legacy, it’s a good reminder of the messy way the Borders case was resolved.

5 Bosch, Season 7, Episode 8

“Por Sonia”

Before returning to the world of Bosch: Legacy, it’s worth seeing how the original series ended. For starters, the Hollywood homicide division is nearing closure, while Honey Chandler wakes up from her shooting-induced coma. In fact, it’s Chandler’s experience — and likely her own mother’s death — that pushes Maddie to apply to the LAPD in the Bosch series finale. After witnessing a harrowing police shooting in the episode’s final moments, Bosch turns in his badge and imagines a future without his role in the LAPD.

4 Bosch: Legacy, Season 1, Episode 1

“The Wrong Side of Goodbye”

In many ways, Bosch: Legacy season 1 is really the eighth season of the original show. In addition to returning cast and characters, the Bosch sequel picks up shortly after Bosch retires at the end of the first series. A private investigator, Bosch can’t seem to put the world of detective work behind him. Unlike in the original iteration, however, Harry is able to work a little more outside the law, allowing him to pursue his own sense of justice. To fill in the gaps between Bosch and Bosch: Legacy, “The Wrong Side of Goodbye” is a must-watch episode.

3 Bosch: Legacy, Season 1, Episode 6

“Chain of Authenticity”

The sixth episode in Bosch: Legacy’s first season is a must-watch entry for viewers hoping to gain a better understanding of Maddie’s headspace. A rookie officer for the LAPD, Maddie witnesses her friend get shot during a traffic stop. While the whole situation unnerves her, Maddie’s resolve to be a cop isn’t undone by the tragic moment. Instead, it serves to bring her and Harry closer together. Bosch recounts a time when he was shot and Eleanor, Maddie’s late mother, saved his life. A callback to Bosch, the episode also sets up Maddie’s Legacy season 2 story.

2 Bosch: Legacy, Season 2, Episode 2

“Zzyzx”

Not only is “Zzyzx” one of Bosch: Legacy season 2’s most thrilling episodes, it also sets up a lot of groundwork for Bosch: Legacy season 3 theories. Maddie wakes up in a coffin after having been buried by Dockweiler, who is open to the LAPD about his crimes and hoping to trade information on Maddie’s whereabouts for immunity. The episode ends with Bosch finding his buried daughter. Not only does it set the tone for the rest of the season, but the episode gives more insight into Bosch’s potential motives for orchestrating Dockweiler’s murder. Plus, it’s a huge turning point for Maddie.

1 Bosch: Legacy, Season 2, Episode 10

“Step Ahead”

There’s no denying that the cliffhanger ending sets up a much darker Bosch: Legacy season 3. After hanging up the phone with Preston Borders, Maddie calls her father out, asking him what he’s done. Given that Maddie was the one who initially informed Bosch about the Preston Borders case in the original series, it’s a satisfying full-circle moment. A direct lead-in to season 3, the Bosch: Legacy season 2 finale sets up the sure-to-be-complicated dynamic between Harry and Maddie Bosch.