Ellis and Long feel compelled to tie up loose ends after Bosch and Mo survive their attack. The hospital doesn't even want to keep Bosch under observation for the night. He's released and chooses to spend that time with Mo. He's the only one in the hospital room with him. Bosch doesn't want Maddie to worry. The injuries look much worse than they are. Plus, he still has a case to investigate. He must continue to pull every string to see what comes out. Once more, he happens to be at the right place at the right time. Ellis and Long force yet another confrontation with Bosch. It's an opportunity they can't ignore. It's personal. They have a grudge against the former detective disrupting their operation. They aren't even clever or original with what they built. They abused their authority to take advantage of desperate people. They kept them under their influence through sheer force and intimidation. Killing is their immediate solution to any problem. That's what they must do to escape.
Ellis imagines Belize as the perfect destination to go. That's the eventuality. Bosch can't be stopped. The two cops can still eliminate anyone who can possibly testify against them. And yet, the case against them is already damning enough. Bosch presents them as legitimate alternatives to the sheriff's office. He trusts his fellow officers will do the honorable thing. Of course, that comes shortly after the guards tasked with protecting Foster in jail organize an assault and join in the beating. Bosch wants to trust the system. It still holds too many corrupt individuals. They stand in the way of every case he's now tasked with handling. Bosch has always gone up to the line of what's legal and ethical. Maddie deals with those consequences because she's a part of the system now. The federal agents hope they can intimidate her by accusing Bosch of domestic terrorism. He refuses to share the truth because it would only hurt Maddie further. He can't allow anything bad to happen to her. He constantly worries. He's angry upon learning she worked with Ellis and Long. As one case closes, the other escalates significantly.
Bosch basically knows everything Dr. Schubert can possibly tell him. He just needs the evidence on tape. Even then, he can't present the full story of Ellis and Long's crimes. They disrupt the meeting because they have their own business with the doctor. They pressed him for more money. But now, he no longer serves a purpose. He's a liability. The doctor believes he'll be protected if he simply presents himself and pleads ignorance. Ellis and Long don't have the luxury of keeping him alive. The doctor coming out of hiding provides Bosch with a chance to fire at Long. That results in critical injuries. He doesn't expect him to make it. Long refuses to cooperate and share where Ellis would head to next. Ellis escapes. The shootout doesn't injure him in any way. The first responders are confused by the scene they respond to. Bosch's word is quickly taken as fact. Despite being fellow law enforcement, Ellis is now on the run. A tip line has been established to locate him. Maddie volunteers her time. Any potential lead could bring him into custody before he harms anyone else. He's still a rogue element who could theoretically hurt Bosch because of what he has uncovered.
Ellis is the physical threat against Bosch. Meanwhile, the FBI are the legal consequences potentially awaiting him. It takes a lot of evidence to convince a judge to sign off on a search warrant against a lawyer. It doesn't seem like the FBI has that. Their word is taken that this move is necessary. They don't discover a smoking gun until they begin combing through everything they've gathered. That produces the damning final image of Chandler being arrested at her home while the media responds just outside. The agents seek payback for the disruptions Bosch and Chandler have caused their investigation. As such, they are actually similar to how Ellis and Long respond under stress. The FBI faced resistance and the agents didn't like that. They expect their authority to be respected no matter what. Bosch and Chandler know how the system operates. They allowed crimes to happen. They were perfectly fine with the outcome Carl Rogers received. They helped put it in motion. In the end, Bosch served as a vigilante who destroyed an illegal business. Chandler knew what was happening before it was publicly known. That's the extent of the case. The agents move with urgency because this is the extent of their authority. They don't have jurisdiction over the Russians. And so, this is how they react.
The storytelling conveys the increasing personal stakes of this plot against Bosch and Chandler. The agents target the people they love the most. For Bosch, that has always been Maddie. That is never going to change. She genuinely doesn't know anything. She doesn't track his whereabouts. She doesn't know everything he has done in his pursuit of justice. He's always working several cases. She has shown more of an interest in the Lexi Parks investigation. She regrets the details she shared with Ellis. He was the latest individual who manipulated her. She feels she must atone for that now. She knows her father would never lie to her. He can't be honest about everything he's doing either. That's the burden of this job. He has to keep her separated. Letting her in is only more dangerous. Keeping her in the dark can be as well. That makes his honesty vary on a case by case basis. She has to recognize that. Meanwhile, Martin's firm deserves protection from the liability Chandler has exposed them to. Her arrest casts doubt on the entire legal entity. Everything Martin spent building throughout his career is now in danger because of how Chandler applied the law. He trusted her as a partner. That opened him up to every case he has worked on being seized by the FBI. That doesn't entirely feel truthful to the nature of this kind of investigative work given the protections that should be applied. It certainly provides enough storytelling drama to entice the viewer to power through to whatever comes next.
