Does Ballard Stand A Chance With Bosch: Legacy And Jerry…

Summary

Bosch: Legacy and the Jerry Edgar spin-off have been canceled, leaving the potential success of the Ballard show in question.
Fans' petition to 'Save Bosch: Legacy,' has raised concerns about Amazon's plans for the future expansion of the Bosch universe, and it needs signatures to save the show.
The Ballard series is set to air in 2025, but it'll likely be impacted by the absence of Bosch: Legacy & Jerry Edgar.

The final season of Bosch: Legacy is heading to Prime Video channel, Freevee, in March 2025, but it feels like an abrupt end to one of the best television shows around. Despite being on television screens for over a decade, the Bosch-verse was just getting started with the Renee Ballard spin-off on the horizon, as well as a planned Jerry Edgar spin-off. However, in the space of a month, Bosch: Legacy and Jerry Edgar's solo show were both canceled by Amazon, raising a lot of questions about the prospects for the Ballard show.

The end of Bosch: Legacy wasn't a creative decision as Titus Welliver had stated his intent to play Harry Bosch for as long as possible, and Michael Connelly clearly had more solo stories to tell. Bosch will now have to settle for recurring appearances in Ballard, and a disjointed end to his own show. Having said that, it doesn't have to be the end for Harry Bosch, as the fans have launched a petition to 'Save Bosch: Legacy' which is gaining traction. Renee Ballard and Harry Bosch are the joint lead characters in Michael Connelly's book, Desert Star, which Bosch: Legacy and season 1 of Ballard are both based on, so why is Bosch being relegated to the sidelines? It's debatable whether the Ballard show stands a chance without Bosch: Legacy and Jerry Edgar to prop it up.

Bosch: Legacy Actually Needs The Fans To Save It And Here's Why

Bosch: Legacy is ending after season 3, but a petition has been launched to save it, and persuade Amazon to give the show a proper swansong..

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By Callum Murray

Bosch: Legacy And The Jerry Edgar Spin-Off Have Been Axed, Which Raises A Lot Of Questions About The Future Of The Bosch Television Universe

Fans were only just coming to terms with the announcement that Bosch: Legacy was coming to an end after season 3, when they were hit with the news that a planned spin-off featuring Harry Bosch's old partner, Jerry Edgar, had also been axed. Fans were supposed to see the LAPD detective going undercover for the FBI on a mission in Haiti in the Jerry Edgar spin-off, but there had been no updates on its progress for months. This raised concerns among the fan base that something wasn't right, and Amazon MGM confirmed this week that they weren't moving ahead with it.

The Original Plans For The Jerry Edgar Spin-Off

Jamie Hector was set to lead his own show as Detective Jerry Edgar.
It was going to be set in Haiti, with Edgar on an undercover FBI mission.
Larry Andries was set to be the showrunner before he was charged with sexual assault.

A lot of the problems with the Jerry Edgar show stem from the fact that the showrunner, Larry Andries, was charged with six felony counts of sexual assault in March 2024. Having said that, there are plenty of writers who could've taken over the project, and developed it. It feels like Amazon are making yet another excuse to scale back the expansion of the Bosch-verse. Fans are now questioning what exactly is happening with the planned expansion of the universe, with the Ballard spin-off the only show actually moving forward.

The Renee Ballard Series Is Going To Be Good But It Would've Been Better With Bosch: Legacy And The Jerry Edgar Spin-Off Alongside It

Renee Ballard Season 1
Starring	Maggie Q, Courtney Taylor, John Carroll Lynch, Michael Mosley, Rebecca Field, Victoria Moroles, Amy Hill, Ricardo Chavira, Noah Bean, Alain Uy, Hector Hugo and Titus Welliver
Based on the books by	Michael Connelly
Directed by	Jet Wilkinson

Maggie Q will play Renee Ballard in the Bosch: Legacy spin-off, and it'll air in the Fall of 2025 on Prime Video. However, instead of Ballard being part of the expanded Bosch universe, it'll now exist on its own after Bosch: Legacy ends with season 3, and the Jerry Edgar spin-off is dead. What happened to the universe building and the potential for crossovers with Bosch: Legacy? Ballard will still be a good show, as it has many of the same excellent writers that have made Michael Connelly's Los Angeles-based crime universe such a joy to watch over the years. And, of course, Connelly himself is overseeing the project, which is a major plus for it. But, surely this wasn't the original plan to have Ballard as the main show, with recurring appearances by Harry Bosch.

Bosch: Legacy season 3 will undoubtedly be great, but there are questions over whether it'll be viewed as such, as it's been forced to act as a handover to the Ballard series. And let's be honest, Ballard isn't a character the audience knows at all unless they've read the books. It's debatable whether Ballard can carry the Bosch-verse on its own without Bosch: Legacy continuing as its companion. Titus Welliver will play Harry Bosch in a bit part role in Ballard's show, but there's so much more to explore with the ex LAPD detective turned PI along with the rest of the characters in Bosch: Legacy. Honey Chandler's potential role as DA needs exploring beyond season 3. What about Maddie Bosch and Reina Vasquez in their careers in the LAPD? It might be the last time fans get to see Crate and Barrel. No more tech-savvy escapades from Mo Bassi?

It's debatable whether Ballard can carry the Bosch-verse on her own without Bosch: Legacy continuing as its companion.

Ballard arguably only works if it runs alongside Bosch: Legacy, and their narratives overlap to bring to fruition the rich and textured universe Michael Connelly has always envisioned for the television iteration of his books. Maybe Amazon will realize this, as Bosch: Legacy and Ballard will essentially act as a one-two punch for the first year at least. However, it will ONLY be for the first year, and that is such a shame and a huge missed opportunity. The PR spin from Amazon is that Bosch: Legacy is going out on top after 10 years. Let's clarify: Bosch: Legacy IS still at the top of its game, but it feels like its being asked to leave, rather than going out on its own terms, and Ballard will suffer because of this. The Bosch: Legacy team almost certainly had exciting creative plans for another season, but fans won't get to see it all unfold on screen. As for the Jerry Edgar spin-off, this would've been the next exciting phase in the BTU: The Bosch Television Universe.