Bosch starts to unravel the Lexi Parks murder, with potentially dangerous consequences. Chandler tries to outmaneuver the Feds as the case against her hangs in the balance. Ellis and Long get a little too close for comfort.
Bosch is closer to the truth than Ellis and Long realized. The dirty cops are willing to kill to maintain their operation. It doesn't matter what repercussions that will produce for their various schemes. It's just about protecting their security. They have been partners for several years now. They trust each other. They carefully monitor the situation. They don't want to enact the extreme measures out of an abundance of caution. They are trained officers who know how law enforcement works. They believe they are capable of staging a crime scene. Lexi Parks was a threat to their operation. As such, she was killed and David Foster was framed for her murder. The only mistake they made was selecting a fall guy who happened to have Honey Chandler as his attorney. She hired Bosch only because they needed to be actively working on a case together to maintain privilege in their communications. Those coincidences disrupt what Ellis and Long created. That means they are constantly trying to remain one step ahead.
The audience is keenly aware of all of this. That means the viewer is ahead of Bosch in a lot of the investigation. It's not meant to be storytelling that delves into the depths of the city and what people are truly capable of. It's a presentation immediately of who these criminals are on the surface. The story has dealt with corrupt cops before. Maddie has formed a sisterhood of officers who will look out for each other on the job. She understands when she is being coached to remain on the job. She doesn't want her recent testimony to disrupt her ability to do the job. No one in the system wants that either. Procedures must be followed. Maddie's sleeping and another nervous ticks haven't been commented on since she made her statement against Dockweiler. It's unlikely they dramatically shifted overnight. It's an ongoing process. One where she doesn't want to confide in people. Lives are at stake through her job. She has to be diligent. She can't get distracted. Her actions must be accountable later on. And now, she sees what's expected of her.
Maddie battles a system that protects its own members. She was the beneficiary of that at the start of the season. Bosch and Chandler ultimately found her. However, they relied on the hard work of many people throughout the system. They broke rules. They found her in time because they didn't have to abide by procedures. The system deserves to be analyzed and questioned. It's set up as is because people decided this is how to effectively do the job. None of it can be questioned. Maddie nearly lost it during her second shift with CRU. She's more level-headed now. She becomes the witness to someone taking their aggression out on a criminal. Ellis and Long are seen actually doing the job for once. They have the respect to basically do whatever they want. They invite Hollywood CRU in because they want to get close to Maddie. That's how they realize how much Bosch has already uncovered. He is close to the truth. Action must be taken before he stops them. Maddie shares details of her conversations with her father. It's completely innocent on her behalf. It still leads to Bosch and Mo being driven off the road.
Overall, the storytelling is fascinated by the innocent nature of how various aspects of society intersect with one another. Chandler targets the federal investigation into her by leaking the subpoena to the press. The public attention of the case forces several members of the grand jury to have doubts about continuing to serve. It's a very process based attack. One where Chandler knows how to exploit the intricacies of the system. The case against her doesn't escalate. She doesn't need that motivation to acknowledge the threat remains real. She already confronted Matthew about his cooperation with the federal agents. She gave him false evidence that the investigators will now hope to use against her. She's carefully plotted all of these movements. They require others to respond accordingly. She's been a power player in Los Angeles long enough to know how people will react. It's all a performance. It's similar to Bosch tricking Ellis and Long into believing he's home after he discovers their tracking device. He experiences guilt over the murders of the Nguyen brothers. And yet, they still provide him with the evidence he needs to potentially expose the true criminals.
The walls are closing in. The story is being fleshed out with every imaginable detail. The narrative is still largely painting in broad strokes. It's no longer a bunch of separate cases being handled at the same time where Bosch eventually realizes one informs the other. He doesn't have to make any difficult choices about who is more deserving of his attention. Yes, Bosch and Chandler have to balance the Foster case and the FBI investigation. Those remains separate matters. Maddie's police work serves as the third pillar of storytelling for the season. Mo has gained his own perspective now as well. He succeeds in giving Jade back the information that was stolen from her. That story is incredibly broad and vague. It offers a little complexity by showing he is more than what Bosch demands of him. And yet, he's alongside Bosch as they are attacked by the dirty cops. Those consequences may be more real for him instead of the main character of the franchise. Bosch's world has changed after his departure from the police. The basic storytelling still functions the same. That's comforting. However, it's resulted in a season that hasn't truly surprised the viewer with a shocking twist. The details are put out there. It's simply a matter of exploring how people escalate to protect what they care about in the face of such adversity whether it's justified or not. Bosch notes the coincidences. He doesn't buy into that narrative. He isn't really given the opportunity to expand on that further. The next action already occurs that demands his immediate attention to survive and close out this case.
