Legacy’s Handling of Characters Like Crate and Barrel Did Them a Disservice
Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for the Bosch: Legacy series finale.
After three seasons, the curtains have fallen on Bosch: Legacy, bringing another chapter in the long-celebrated franchise to an end. However, as confirmed already, this is not the last we will see of Titus Welliver in the shoes of Harry Bosch. While Bosch: Legacy has wrapped up its final outing with a strong season, there have been reasons for dissatisfaction among the cast members and the fans, especially after the cancellation of the show.
While Maggie Q‘s Renee Ballard spin-off will provide some respite for angry fans, Bosch: Legacy‘s handling of legacy characters, like Detectives Robert ‘Crate’ Moore (Gregory Scott Cummins) and Barrel Johnson (Troy Evans), will prove to be another concern as the franchise continues to grow.
Crate and Barrel Were Underutilized in ‘Bosch: Legacy’
At the end of the seventh season of Bosch, Crate and Barrel’s fate was left unanswered after the Hollywood division of the LAPD was disbanded and Harry Bosch set out to become a private investigator. Known for their frequent interactions with Bosch on difficult cases and the comic relief they brought to the otherwise intensive procedural, Crate and Barrel were fan favorites before Bosch: Legacy came out. The inclusion of the characters in the spin-off series was always news for excitement for legacy fans when the characters were brought back for guest appearances in Season 1, Episode 4, “Horseshoes and Hand Grenades.” In Season 2, they are tasked by Bosch to tail Kurt Dockweiler’s lawyer, James Rafferty (Bruce Davison), when Maddie (Madison Lintz) goes missing. In the next episode, they are visited by Bosch, who tells them that they may be implicated by the FBI for their involvement with Bosch in Season 1.
However, the journey of the characters has been underwhelming throughout Bosch: Legacy, something voiced even by actor Troy Evans. The fan-favorite characters have had very little screen time, even after they returned in Season 2 at a point when they had retired. While Bosch: Legacy continued to introduce new characters and situations, the show underutilized familiar characters from the world of Bosch. In the original series, Cate and Barrel appeared in more than 50 episodes, whereas in the spin-off series, the number falls short by a large margin. According to Evans, the less screen time results from the studio’s preference for young actors.
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Denise G. Sanchez starred in the now-cancelled series.
Cate and Barrel’s Fate Remains Unanswered at the End of ‘Bosch: Legacy’
Although the characters do appear to help Bosch here and there, they end up having little impact as compared to the original series. Even in the Bosch: Legacy Season 3 finale, Crate and Barrel make a return to help Bosch with the investigation into the Flower Girls killer, Jeremy McKee’s past. However, the characters remain very passive participants in the action spearheaded by Bosch and Ballard (Maggie Q). When it comes to an evaluation of the impact and role played by Crate and Barrel in Bosch: Legacy, it feels like a complete disservice to the longstanding characters due to the show’s lack of focus on the characters, whereas it would not have been an issue if the characters were not re-introduced into the story at all after bringing their story to somewhat open-ended closure in Bosch Season 7.
With Titus Welliver already voicing concerns around the lack of closure in the way Bosch: Legacy ended, it’s natural that characters such as Crate and Barrel would not receive a treatment any better than the character headlining the show. With Ballard being the next entrant in the Bosch franchise, it’s likely that Crate and Barrel may return and hopefully, in a much more important capacity, as Renee Ballard works in the LAPD’s Cold Cases division. It’s likely that Ballard may need to frequently get in touch with veterans such as Crate and Barrel, including the one and only Harry Bosch himself. Going by Troy Evans’ interview, it’s equally likely that this is the last we see of the two loved legacy characters, as the potentially strained relationship with Amazon may result in the characters not returning again in the spin-off series when it hits the screens.
All seasons of Bosch: Legacy are available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.
- Release Date
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2022 – 2025
- Network
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Prime Video, Amazon Freevee
- Showrunner
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Eric Overmyer
- Directors
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Patrick Cady, Alex Zakrzewski, Sharat Raju, Ernest R. Dickerson, Adam Davidson, Kate Woods, Leslie Libman, Tawnia McKiernan, Hagar Ben-Asher, Haifaa al-Mansour
- Writers
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Chris Wu, Osokwe Vasquez, Benjamin Pitts, Chris Downey, Barbara Curry
