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‘BOSCH’: Your unofficial character guide for season 5

Bosch keeps viewers on their toes with a vast array of characters and story lines.

Here is your unofficial reference guide for the people you will encounter or hear about in season 5 on Amazon Prime’s original series Bosch.

It can be tough keeping up with such a comprehensive cast of characters on Bosch. Sometimes, references are made to characters no longer on the series. Occasionally, it’s just a newspaper article referring to something from the past. Hopefully, this guide will help you navigate the many names and faces of Bosch.

Titus Welliver as Harry Bosch in Bosch season 5 promo poster photo credit: Prime Video
Titus Welliver as Harry Bosch in Bosch season 5 promo poster
photo credit: Prime Video

Please note that any opinion characterizations are simply from my own personal take on the characters and not an endorsement from Michael Connelly or Amazon Prime. Also, keep in mind that this guide is not spoiler-free.


 

1. Detective Harry Bosch

  • our protagonist who is a Detective 3 (D3) at Hollywood Division
  • long on justice, occasionally short on temper
  • makes a few of his own rules but respects procedure
  • personal code is “Everybody counts, or nobody counts”
  • mother murdered by former Police Commissioner Bradley Walker when Harry was a boy
  • grew up in foster care system after being taken from his mother, a prostitute, as a boy
  • served as Special Forces in Afghanistan
  • goes undercover as “Dominic Reilly” in season 5

2. Maddie Bosch

  • Harry’s daughter and only child with ex-wife Eleanor Wish
  • college student interning at the District Attorney’s office for the summer

3. Eleanor Wish

  • Deceased
  • Harry’s ex-wife and Maddie’s mother
  • former FBI profiler turned professional poker player, most recently back assisting the FBI
  • died while under the supervision of FBI Special Agent Jay Griffin
  • murdered presumably by order of Shiwei Chen
  • Harry blames Griffin for her death

4. Detective Jerry Edgar

  • Harry’s partner at Hollywood Division
  • divorced from but still close to Latonya Edgar
  • two sons, Jack and Joe
  • sharp dresser
  • loyal partner despite prior concerns about Harry in season 4
  • currently sniffing out dirty cops behind his CI’s murder
Bosch season 5 episode 1, Jerry Edgar (Jamie Hector) Photo credit: Aaron Epstein/Amazon Prime Video
Bosch season 5 episode 1, Jerry Edgar (Jamie Hector)
Photo credit: Aaron Epstein/Amazon Prime Video

5. Latonya Edgar

  • ex-wife of Jerry Edgar
  • explored the idea of getting back with “J” but unable to reconcile risks of his job
  • very supportive of Jerry

6. Lt. Grace Billets

  • Detective Commander at Hollywood Division
  • Harry’s direct supervisor and his friend
  • has been informed of doctored crime statistics
  • tasked with getting Barrel to agree to retirement
  • in a relationship with Cheryl Prescott
  • formerly interested in promoting to Captain
  • served as interim Captain in season 4
  • one daughter Lisa, ex-husband John

7. Chief Irv Irving

  • Chief of Police
  • exploring a run for Mayor of Los Angeles
  • in a relationship with Jun Park
  • divorced from Connie Edgar after the murder of their son George
  • son George murdered in the line of duty while working undercover with dirty cops
  • known for his no-nonsense attitude and searing glare
  • respects Bosch, but sometimes has to rein him in
  • Harry and Irving know secrets about one another

8. Ida

  • Chief Irving’s longtime assistant

9. Wash

  • Chief Irving’s trusted driver

10. Jen Kowski

  • works in the Los Angeles Mayor’s office
  • has been Chief of Staff to Mayor Hector Ramos
  • now encouraging Chief Irving to run for mayor

Bosch season 5 episode 1 Crate (Gregory Scott Cummins) and Barrel (Troy Evans) Photo credit: Aaron Epstein/Amazon Prime Video

Bosch season 5 episode 1
Crate (Gregory Scott Cummins) and Barrel (Troy Evans)
Photo credit: Aaron Epstein/Amazon Prime Video

11. Detective Johnson aka “Barrel”

  • half of the infamous “Crate and Barrel” partnership
  • of retirement age
  • has selected to participate in DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Plan)
  • still paying alimony to three ex-wives
  • solid detective but also provides comic relief

12. Detective Moore aka “Crate”

  • half of the infamous “Crate and Barrel” partnership
  • solid detective but also provides comic relief
  • always has a story to share
  • identified the Koreatown Killer with partner Barrel
  • recently uncovered some shady crime statistics at Hollywood

13. Detective Rondell Pierce

  • D1 in Homicide at Hollywood Division
  • promoted from patrol in season 3
  • first partner Jimmy Robertson
  • current partner Christina Vega
  • known for his work ethic and integrity
  • carries/carried a fashionable but utilitarian “murse” (man purse) until Billets tells him not in season 5
"Bosch: Season 4" - Amy Aquino and Paul Calderón in Season 4 of Bosch.
“Bosch: Season 4” – Amy Aquino and Paul Calderón in Season 4 of Bosch.

14. Detective Jimmy Robertson

  • former partner and mentor to Detective Rondell Pierce
  • recently transferred to Newton Division as D3
  • carries a milk crate to sit on at crime scenes while studying the victim
  • close with bartender Shaz
  • investigates a murder in Newton that is tied to a murder in Hollywood
  • known for his signature swagger

15. Detective Christina Vega

  • recently transferred to Hollywood Homicide from Wilshire Robbery
  • D2
  • current partner of Detective Rondell Pierce
  • confident and capable
  • admires Harry Bosch
  • resists handing her case over to RHD

16. John Mankiewiecz

  • Watch Commander at Hollywood Division
  • monitors the pulse of the precinct
  • good-natured with a clever sense of humor
  • often serves as a confidante and sounding board for his colleagues
  • does not tolerate disrespect or subordination
photo courtesy of the Bosch season 5 campaign on epk.tv
Gregory Scott Cummins, Scott Klace and Amy Aquino in Bosch season 5
photo credit: Aaron Epstein/Amazon Prime Video

17. Officer Ray Powers

  • patrol officer frequently needled by Harry
  • t-bones Barrel’s vehicle on the way to a crime scene in season 5
  • calls in the body of Tony Allen found in trunk in season 2
  • calls in the Billy Meadows murder in season 3
  • reprimanded for using badge off duty after drinking in season 4
  • has a reputation for being a bit of cowboy and not always respecting the detectives

18. Officer Julius Edgewood

  • currently partners with Officer Robson
  • entangled in a suspect officer involved shooting in season 5
  • partner to rookie Officer Julia Brasher in season 1
  • reprimanded along with Powers in season 4 for using their badges while off duty and under the influence

19. Lt. Don Thorne

  • Grace’s fellow Lieutenant at Hollywood Division
  • works with patrol
  • Captain Cooper’s sycophant
  • insubordinate to Grace when she was interim Captain in season 4
"Bosch: Season 4" - Amy Aquino in Season 4 of Bosch
“Bosch: Season 4” – Amy Aquino in Season 4 of Bosch

20. Captain Dennis Cooper

  • Currently captain at Hollywood Division
  • reputation for shirking responsibility and passing the tough calls to his lieutenants, especially Billets

21. District Attorney Roselyn Hines

  • new District Attorney
  • deciding whether to file charges in the officer involved shooting

22. Honey Chandler

  • high power and high earning attorney (thus the moniker “Money”)
  • prosecuted a case against the LAPD that involved Harry in season 1
  • defended Veronica Allen on murder charges in seasons 2 and 3
  • worked on the same side as Harry in season 4 as Special Master when attorney Elias Howard was murdered
  • defends Harry in season 5 when his reputation is called into question over the Borders conviction
  • utilizes the loyal services of investigator Hector Bonner

23. Hector Bonner

  • loyal investigator for Honey Chandler
  • defended by Honey Chandler when wrongfully accused of manslaughter
  • presumably responsible for uncovering the history of Bosch’s mother during Harry’s trial in season 1
  • assumes Bosch does not like him
  • surveillance expert
  • pretends to be a prison mate of Preston Borders to get the attention of Rita Tedesco
  • very tall with long hair

24. Preston Borders

  • currently serving life without parole at San Quentin for the rape and murder of Danielle Skyler
  • convicted over twenty years ago
  • requesting a habeas hearing to evaluate “new” evidence related to his conviction
  • working with attorneys Lance and Kathy Cronyn to have his conviction vacated
  • accuses Harry of planting evidence in his apartment that resulted in his conviction
  • former rock singer, arrogant

25. Rita Tedesco

  • secretly married to inmate Preston Borders for 16 years
  • court reporter for Judge Sobel who sentenced Borders
  • reveals different sides of herself depending upon where she is and who she is with
  • accosted by investigator Hector Bonner pretending to be a former inmate that knows Preston
  • gets rattled by Hector and inadvertently reveals information to Hector
  • inexplicably devoted to husband Preston Borders

26. Lance Cronyn

  • Borders’ attorney
  • schemes to overturn Borders’ conviction by falsifying evidence

27. Kathy Cronyn

  • real estate attorney
  • former mistress, current wife to Lance Cronyn
  • entangles Terry Spencer in the scheme to overturn Borders conviction by exploiting his financial problems

28. Terry Spencer

  • property clerk
  • exploited by the Cronyns
  • planted false DNA when consolidating the Borders evidence into one new box

29. Lucas John Olmer

  • prisoner on his deathbed with MRSA
  • signed a false confession to the Skyler murder for attorney Lance Cronyn
  • DNA wiped from the pen he used to sign the written confession by handkerchief, which was planted in the Borders evidence box by Terry Spencer

30. Danielle Skyler

  • brutally raped and murdered by Preston Borders

31. Dinah Skyle Rousseau

  • Danielle’s younger sister
  • very troubled by her sister’s case being re-investigated

32. Ryan Rodgers

  • Harry Bosch’s partner in the Skyler murder case
  • pulls records for Bosch and agrees that they sent the right guy to prison
  • now retired

33. Anthony Servidone

  • patrol officer who picked up Borders originally despite fliers warning officers not to arrest him yet
  • tells Bosch it was okay because Irving (Lt. at that time) called it a detainment, not an arrest

34. Alberto Sanchez

  • Corrections Officer at California State Prison – Corcaran
  • witnessed Olmer signing the “confession” to the Skyler murder
  • responds to Harry’s inquiries about the confession
  • confirmins that Cronyn wiped the pen with a handkerchief and placed it in a paper bag

35. Judge Sobel

  • judge overseeing Borders’ petition for a habeas hearing
  • completely shocked to learn that her longtime court reporter has been married to a convicted killer for 16 years

36. Christina Henry

  • formerly with the LAPD, now an investigator in the Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU)
  • dated Bosch while at LAPD
  • insists that Bosch planted evidence to frame Preston Borders
  • believes Bosch played a role in her failing to get a promotion at LAPD

37. Ed Sung

  • Christina Henry’s partner at CIU
  • has a penchant for Hawaiian shirts and other casual attire
  • supports his partner but does not have her personal attachment to the case
photo courtesy of Bosch season 5 campaign on epk.tv
Mason Dye and Madison Lintz in Bosch season 5
photo credit: Aaron Epstein/Amazon Prime Video

38. Tom Galligan

  • clerk in CIU assisting with the Borders’ conviction investigation
  • interested romantically in Maddie Bosch who is also clerking at the District Attorney’s office
  • asks Maddie out on a date via subpoena
  • originally from the Midwest
  • frequently gives Maddie his advice on how to do things more efficiently at the office

39. DDA Alex Kennedy

  • petitioning for a habeas hearing to overturn the Borders conviction
  • working with Christina Henry and Ed Sung

40. Lt. Bob Torres

  • friend of Christina Henry
  • works at Newton Division
  • assists Christina by pulling the search warrant package for Borders’ apartment

41. DDA Laura Tribe

  • prosecuting the case of sexual assualt victim Zazie Little
  • utilizing Maddie’s assistance in the case

42. Zazie Little

  • victim of sexual assault
  • tells DDA Tribe not to expect her to cry on the stand saying she’s “all cried out.

43. Scott Anderson

  • reporter at the Los Angeles Time
  • debates whether crime is actually down or not with Billets
  • asks Billets to comment on the rumors about Hollywood Division being absorbed by West Bureau
  • writes article about new DNA evidence in the Skyler murder case
  • article also raises speculation about Harry planting evidence in the case
  • also talks to J. Edgar about the guns recovered from a 2013 drug bust

44. Greg McCarty

  • Scott Anderson’s editor at the newspaper
  • chooses to use Bosch’s photo in the article, which outs Harry to the drug runners while undercover

45. Jose Esquivel Sr.

  • pharmacist at family pharmacy
  • murdered by Hart and Stones per Walsh’s command
  • suspect of the volume of prescriptions coming from the Garcia Pain Clinic
  • filed inquiry with Medical Board

46. Jose Esquivel Jr.

  • fellow pharmacist at the Esquivel Pharmacy and son to Jose Sr.
  • angry with his father for interfering with the pill shill scheme
  • leaves for coffee and returns to find his father murdered
  • on the run from Walsh’s minions
  • ultimately found by Pierce and Vega and brought in for questioning

47. Charles Fagan

  • carjack and murder victim
  • Hart and Stones steal his car in the parking garage near the Esquivel Pharmacy when their getaway driver is nowhere to be found
  • murdered in Newton where Hart and Stones abandon the stolen vehicle
  • murder is assigned to Detective Jimmy Robertson who ultimately connects his victim to the pharmacy murders being investigated by Hollywood

44. Dalton Walsh

  • runs a pill mill out of Los Angeles and the Imperial Valley
  • uses pill shills to obtain fake prescriptions
  • flies shills between Los Angeles and Imperial Valley to reduce his exposure to the DEA and competing drug operations
  • formerly a pilot for CIA black ops in Central America
  • planning to stop dealing opioids and deal Fentanyl instead
  • employs Hart, Stones, Cleek, Vardy, Carter, and a man who goes by “the Sheriff”

45. Hart

  • works for Dalton Walsh
  • kills Jose Esquivel Sr., Charles Fagan, Oscar Pineto, and getaway driver Cleek
  • is captured by Vega and Pierce on his way to murder Jose Jr. at his cousin Rosie’s house in Bakersfield

46. Stones

  • works for Dalton Walsh
  • murders Jose Esquivel Sr. and getaway driver Cleek
  • tries to kill Harry (posing undercover as Dominic Reilly)
  • thrown out of the plane by Harry in self-defense

47. Cleek

  • car thief who works for Dalton Walsh
  • getaway driver for Stones and Hart
  • flees the scene when police arrive at the Esquivel Pharmacy
  • killed by Stones and Hart

48. Vardy

  • works for Dalton Walsh
  • processes Harry (Dominic) at the Garcia Clinic
  • threatens Harry (Dominic) for not immediately cooperating, punches Harry (Dominic) in the stomach
  • almost kills the stray dog at the camp before Harry (Dominic) intervenes

49. Carter

  • works for Dalton Walsh
  • often drives the van carrying the pill shills
  • stabbed and killed in self-defense by Harry on the plane

50. Sheriff

  • works for Dalton Walsh
  • seems to manage operations at the camp in Imperial Valley
photo courtesy of Bosch season 5 campaign on epk.tv
Titus Welliver and Jamie Anne Allman in Bosch season 5
photo credit: Aaron Epstein/Amazon Prime Video

51. Liz Clayton

  • one of the pill shills
  • befriended by Harry
  • gives Harry (Dominic) a heads up about impending attack from pill shill Trey
  • grieving the murder of her 14 year old daughter
  • taken by Harry to Charlie Company to initiate rehab but refuses to stay

52. Trey

  • one of the pill shills
  • jerk who tries to attack Harry in the middle of his first night at the camp

53. Dr. Garcia

  • the front for the pain clinic Walsh uses to get phony prescriptions
  • physician who is complicit in Walsh’s pill mill
  • writes fake prescriptions for the pill shills

54. Dr. Victor Hansen

  • doctor who works at the VA and tries to get Harry (Dominic) to attend group therapy to recover from opioid addiction
  • also the doctor behind operations at the Garcia Pain Clinic
  • establishes the quid pro quo relationship with addicts that turns them into pill shills for Walsh

55. Louis Degner

  • opioid addict, sometimes dealer and former medic in Iraq
  • befriends Harry (Dominic) and vouches for Dominic at the Garcia Pain Clinic
  • gives Harry (Dominic) some back story on Liz Clayton and the murder of her daughter

56. Charlie Hovan

  • DEA Agent who initially downplays Harry and J. Edgar’s investigation into the pill mill
  • more interested in the operation after learning Fentanyl was involved
  • brings Harry the stray dog from the camp

57. Ray Scales

  • runs Charlie Company to help veterans
  • takes in Liz Clayton after Harry and J. Edgar rescue her from a revolting doctor exchanging drugs for her sexual favors

58. Oscar Pineto

  • Jose Jr.’s cousin who tries to help Junior evade Walsh’s minions
  • tortured and murdered by Hart at the garage where he worked to get information about Junior’s whereabouts

59. Rosie

  • sister to Oscar and cousin to Jose Jr.
  • Jose Jr. flees to her vacant home to hide from Walsh

60. Professor Eduardo Armando

  • friend of the Esquivel family who assists Jose Jr. with making arrangements for Jose Sr.’s funeral

61. Nellie

  • works at the Medical Board, occasionally undercover
  • assists Harry with preparations for going undercover as Dominic Reilly

62. Detective Marvin Webster

  • Detective who assists Jimmy Robertson with getting prints in and on the car abandoned by Hart and Stones after the carjacking

63. Morgan Dotson

  • Peanut’s parole officer

64. Peanut (Nate Webster)

  • parolee who steals parts from the Charles Fagan’s vehicle stolen and then abandoned by Hart and Stones
  • tries to sell a story about him and his friend Beansie just leaning against the vehicle
  • gives description of Hart and Stones for composite drawings that ultimately lead to the suspects

65. Beansie

  • Peanut’s friend dragged into Peanut’s lie about just leaning against the abandoned vehicle

66. Rene Davila

  • assists J. Edgar with surveillance as Harry (Dominic) begins his undercover gig
  • is spotted by Stones, which results in the decision to fly Dominic and the shills to Imperial Valley instead of returning to the clinic

67. Daniel Arias

  • partners with Detective Marcos
  • asks J. Edgar for a meet with his C.I. Gary Wise
  • supposedly investigating a drive by shooting at church, but suspicions run high when Gary is murdered

68. Ray Marcos

  • partners with Detective Arias
  • asks J. Edgar for a meet with his C.I. Gary Wise
  • supposedly investigating a drive by shooting at church, but suspicions run high when Gary is murdered

69. Gary Wise

  • J. Edgar’s childhood friend and Confidential Informant (C.I.)
  • was the lookout on a home invasion years ago with Crosley, Natrell and Jonas
  • his testimony landed Crosley, Natrell and Jonas in prison, all have since been released
  • father is a veteran of RHD

70. Bo Jonas

  • recently released from prison
  • asked to meet with Arias and Marcos
  • refuses to identify men who killed Gary

71. Darius Natrell

  • one of the three men Gary turned in for the home invasion years ago
  • lives with mother and pumps some serious iron

72. Rob Crosley

  • one of the three men Gary turned in for the home invasion years ago
  • now pastor of a storefront church
  • hiding Bo Jonas

73. Dwight Wise

  • Gary’s dad
  • veteran of RHD
Detective Espinosa (Jacqueline Pinol) and Detective Jerry Edgar (Jamie Hector) in Bosch season 5 episode 3 photo credit: Aaron Epstein/Amazon Prime Video
Detective Espinosa (Jacqueline Pinol) and Detective Jerry Edgar (Jamie Hector) in Bosch season 5 episode 3
photo credit: Aaron Epstein/Amazon Prime Video

74. Julie Espinosa

  • RHD detective working on case that may be tied to Pierce and Vega’s suitcase discovery
  • also investigating Gary Wise’s murder

75. Brad Conniff

  • RHD detective working on case that may be tied to Pierce and Vega’s suitcase discovery

76. Jacques Avril

  • worked with a para-military group in Haiti sanctioned by U.S. Government
  • admits to father being “The Butcher of Petion-Ville” who killed Jerry’s uncle, Antoine Hector
  • now the owner of mulitple 7-11 franchises
  • entangled with Marcos and Arias

77. Ella Johnson

  • lives in the neighborhood where Gary was murdered
  • gardener
  • remembers J. Edgar from his youth
  • cooperates with Jerry but would not speak with Detective Espinosa

78. Mama Roux

  • runs a pawn shop
  • remembers J. Edgar “Jerome” from his youth
  • answers Jerry’s questions about Jacques Avril

79. Robson

  • questionable behavior in the officer involved shooting of Vasquez

80. Vasquez

  • shot repeatedly and killed by police when pulling something from his waistband after being told

81. Capt. Sarah McCurdy

  • captain in Major Crimes
  • provides video evidence of Robson having at least one previous encounter with Vasquez
  • also provided social media intelligence about Desiree Zealy to Chief Irving in season 4

82. Jun Park

  • in a relationship with Chief Irving since season 3
  • encourages Irving to run for Mayor

83. Cheryl Prescott

  • Grace’s significant other
  • encourages Grace to make some noise about the doctored crime statistics

84. Reggie Woo

  • Maddie’s step-father in Hong Kong

85. Shiwei Chen

  • part of a family of Chinese Nationals believed to be behind the murder o Maddie’ mom, Eleanor
  • photo of him seen when Maddie is looking at files about her mother’s murder

86. Koreatown Killer

  • committed a series of crimes while bicycling around Koreatown
  • identified by Crate and Barrel

87. Coltrane

  • Harry’s new dog, the stray from the camp

88. Shaz

  • bartender and acquaintance of Jimmy Robertson

89. Veronica Allen

  • makes a cameo at Honey Chandler’s office
  • also appeared in seasons 2 and 3
  • had her husband Tony Allen murdered in season 2
  • represented by Honey Chandler when accused of murdering a priest who refused to give her money from her husband’s mistress

90. Benny Kane

  • currently dating Latonya Edgar

91. Matthew Lott

  • Representative from the PPL (Police Protective League), the union for LAPD
  • pays a visit to Chief Irving after Irving speaks to Robson privately about the officer involved shooting

 

 

3 thoughts on “‘BOSCH’: Your unofficial character guide for season 5

  1. Question-when Bosch’s wife was killed; what’s the significance of her cell phone passcode of 0613 (Bosch says June 13).
    Anyone know what that date meant to him?

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