The New Bosch Could Finally Answer a Question the Original Show Left Open

Harry Bosch is coming back to television screens in the upcoming prequel series, Bosch: Start of Watch, which will be released in early 2027 on MGM+. Titus Welliver is passing the baton to Cameron Monaghan, who will play a younger Harry Bosch as he begins his career in the LAPD. The prequel series will be exploring brand-new stories in the Bosch-verse, stepping away from Michael Connelly's best-selling crime books for the first time in the franchise.

Tom Bernardo will take on head showrunner duties on Bosch: Start of Watch, after working under the late Eric Overmyer's lead in the original Bosch series and its spin-off, Bosch: Legacy. Fans loved the Titus Welliver era, but much of Harry Bosch's backstory wasn't covered. Start of Watch therefore has the perfect opportunity to explore these unknown areas of the titular character's early life before he became the legendary LAPD detective, and one area in particular has intrigued fans for a long time.

Harry Bosch's Army History Might Receive More Detail in the Prequel Series

Start of Watch Could Finally Tell Us What Bosch Got Up to During His Military Career

Bosch: Start of Watch

Starring

Cameron Monaghan, Omari Hardwick, William Fichtner, Ariana Guerra, JD Pardo, Kathleen Wilhoite, Rafi Gavron, Raphael Sbarge, Azita Ghanizada, Kenneth Miller, Seamus Dever, Ryan McPartlin, Marco Rodriguez and Shelli Boone

Episodes

8

Created by

Tom Bernardo and Brian Anthony

In Michael Connelly's book series, Harry Bosch served in the Vietnam War as a tunnel rat before joining the LAPD. The TV adaptation updated his backstory for modern audiences, with Bosch now serving in the Persian Gulf War conducting high-risk tunnel clearing operations. Connelly's books explored certain aspects of Bosch's military life, but both TV series have largely avoided delving too deeply.

Bosch: Start of Watch Season 1 kicks off with Harry Bosch joining the LAPD as a rookie cop who dreams of becoming a detective, taking place in early '90s Los Angeles while Bosch's Gulf War experiences are still fresh in his mind. Given this set-up, it's very possible fans will see flashbacks of his recent history, especially if he still endures any ongoing side effects as he tries to adjust to life fighting crime on the turbulent streets of Los Angeles.

Bosch: Legacy's final season briefly explores Bosch's former military life, when a former comrade enlists his help to carry out a high-risk special ops mission. At a military funeral, Bosch's old friend Gurbizs tells his daughter, Maddie, that her father was involved in some rather nefarious activities when he was a special forces master sergeant in Afghanistan. Fans soon learn that Bosch tortured and killed a Taliban bomb maker. Up until this point, Bosch's backstory mostly focused on his struggles as an orphaned child and dealing with his mother's death.

Several questions still remain a mystery: How fresh are Harry Bosch's military scars, and how do they influence his early policing style? Will we find out more about his obsessive investigative style? Start of Watch is the perfect opportunity for the writers to address some unanswered questions about his military past, but fans are mostly hoping the biggest question might finally get an answer: What, specifically, did Harry Bosch get up to during his Gulf War deployment?

Bosch: Legacy Was Canceled Too Soon to Explore Bosch's Background

The fact that Bosch: Legacy Season 3 decided to begin exploring Harry Bosch's military past seemingly hinted at an ongoing storyline. If Legacy ever did plan to further flesh out his background, those storylines could be transferred to the upcoming prequel series. The main focus will be on Harry Bosch's early LAPD days, as he forms his famous mantra "everybody counts, or nobody counts," but his recent history is still uncharted territory for the television iteration of the character.

The original plan for Bosch: Legacy Season 4 was to focus on Bosch's return to law enforcement in the San Bernardino Police Department after his time working as a private investigator. However, Amazon canceled the spin-off series six months before the third season aired. Fans launched a petition to save Bosch: Legacy, and it received over 37,000 signatures, proving that there was still an appetite for more Harry Bosch solo stories. Start of Watch's announcement was met with excitement from the same dedicated fanbase, but audiences are still hungry to see Titus Welliver return as the titular character in a brand-new story set in the present day. Perhaps Start of Watch will give fans flash-forwards to Welliver's older Bosch.

​​​​​​​Welliver had cameos in three episodes of the spin-off Ballard, and he'll return in the upcoming sophomore season. Talks are allegedly taking place to develop a feature-length movie version of Bosch, with Titus Welliver's ongoing first-look deal at Amazon keeping that possibility alive.

One of the most likely reasons for Bosch: Legacy's cancelation was the increasing cost of shooting in Los Angeles, with a lack of tax credits available at the time. However, a recent boost in tax credits has eased these issues, benefiting the productions of Bosch: Start of Watch and Ballard. Television and movie productions are returning to Los Angeles at a rapid pace, and all signs point to a strong possibility of at least one more solo story for Titus Welliver's iteration of Harry Bosch. For now, though, fans can look forward to Bosch: Start of Watch, which premieres on MGM+ on January 10, 2027. Hopefully, the prequel series will explain how fresh his military scars are, how those experiences shaped his early policing style, and finally answer what happened during his military service.

Bosch: Start of Watch

Crime Drama Thriller Showrunner Tom Bernardo

Cast

See All

• Cameron Monaghan Harry Bosch
• Omari Hardwick Eli Bridges
• William Fichtner Calhern
• Keyon Bowman Tyrone

Creator(s) Tom Bernardo, Brian Anthony