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‘BOSCH’: Investigating episode 505 ‘Tunnel Vision’

Harry Bosch transforms into alter ego Dominic Reilly.

Bosch episode 505: ‘Tunnel Vision’

Written by: Jeffrey Fiskin

Director: Patrick Cady

Stuff just got real on Bosch! Harry finalizes the props and cover story for his undercover gig as Dominic Reilly. He makes plans to infiltrate the pill mill with the help of a fellow vet named Louis Degner. J. Edgar digs deeper into the murder of Gary Wise while still keeping a close eye on his partner. Hector approaches Rita again while Harry visits Borders in prison. The Chief gets advice on a possible mayoral run.

Dominic Reilly

Harry digs out his old backpack after replacing that pesky lightbulb in the storage area under his house. He is armed with a drivers license and other credentials prepared by Major Crimes. Nellie at the Med Board helps Harry with a few other important items for his stint undercover.

She gives him a cane that has been weaponized with a hidden knife in the handle. When asked about his clean urine for testing, Nellie gives him a tiny bag of “freeze-dried addict urine” (never envisioned myself typing those words!), She tells him to keep laxatives with him because any opioid addicts would carry them for the inevitable constipation. Finally, she gives him peppermint oil to use sparingly in his eyes to make his eyes reddened, plus some Visine in case he uses to much.

Nellie reminds Bosch to wear his knee brace on the outside of his jeans to emphasize the look of pain. She reminds him that a compliant demeanor is key to staying under the radar as an undercover drug addict. He says he’s “famous for it”. Any sign of assertion will blow his cover.

A gut-wrenching appointment (literally!)

Harry aka Dominic waits on the side of the road for a ride to the Garcia Pain Clinic. J. Edgar watches his partner’s back from a distance. Louis Degner picks him up and vouches for him to get him an appointment from the clinic.

A no-nonsense guy named Vardy hands Harry a clipboard and takes him to the restroom for a urine sample. Harry uses the freeze-dried addict urine. Vardy escorts Harry to an exam room and tells him to hand over his backpack. When Harry refuses, Vardy punches him in the gut and Harry doubles over.

Vardy threatens Harry who then hands over the backpack. When it’s time to see the doctor, Vardy walks Harry past an office where Dr. Garcia is sitting at a desk filling out prescriptions. Harry is being taken to a different doctor – Dr. Victor Hansen from the VA! What??

Hansen tells Harry he told him how to get off the oxy at the VA, but concludes that he’s really just a junkie. Hansen scoffs at Harry’s “cover” story (truth be told, sadly, he did recently lose his ex-wife Eleanor) and says Harry can enter a quid pro quo relationship with the clinic. He offers Harry a couple of pills and tells him they will reach out to him with further instructions.

Meanwhile, J. Edgar watches from afar is worried when a bunch of patients get in the van and he does not see Harry. He is relieved when Harry does finally exit the clinic and he gets an update from his partner.

A not so welcome visitor

Hector Bonner does his best ex-con impression as he walks up to Rita Tedesco Bonner’s table as she eats and reads a book. Of course, she tells him to go away. Hector stares at her eerily and says Pres (Borders) is “a lucky man”. He swipes a cookie from her plate in a creepy power play and wants her to tell Pres he needs the money asap.

Rita tells him to leave and returns to her book. Hector says he will “be in touch”.

Sidebar: This is a brief scene, but it really packs a punch. High marks to both Ryan Hurst and Juliet Landau for their impeccable display of emotions.  Hector’s intimidation and Rita’s nervousness are conveyed heavily with very few actual words.

Edgar on a solo mission

When Edgar is not watching Harry’s back in the undercover mission, he takes time to review the history on the 1999 home invasion involving Gary Wise. Gary was “the lookout” in the incident. He turned on the other three young men involved. His testimony landed the other three guys 10 years each in prison. The other men are Natrell, Crosley, and Jonas.

Jerry meets with Gary’s dad Dwight again as they wonder if one of the three men convicted could have taken vengeance on Gary. J. Edgar asks Dwight where everyone is now. Natrell is living with his mother and Crosley is pastoring a storefront church. Jonas is MIA. Dwight has no recollection or sense that Gary was worried about any of the three men retaliating, though.

Jerry pays a visit to both Natrell and Crosley who both deny any involvement in Gary’s murder or knowledge of Bo Jonas’ whereabouts.

Chats with the Chief

Several different people want to bend the ear of the Chief in this episode.

Jen Kowski makes a pitch about him running for Mayor. She shows him a map of significant police support throughout the region. Irving reminds her that police do not have a great track record with running for mayor. Jen reminds him of Tom Bradley.

Jun also has a conversation with Irv about a possible run for mayor on their way to work. She encourages him to consider the possibility. Irving mentions his brief tenure so far as Chief of Police. Jun counters with the idea of him being able to make even more change in the role of mayor.

District Attorney Hines meets with Chief Irving about the idea of filing in the officer involved shooting of Vasquez. The Chief reminds her that she does have the option to “decline” filing and let the Police Commission review for a civil suit instead. She shares that if she takes that option, and the police are found culpable, she will expect appropriate disciplinary action.

Finally, Harry chats with the Chief about the Borders investigation. Harry reports that attorney Cronyn made a lot of visits to inmate Olmer in his final months at the prison hospital. The Chief suggests there must be a record of phone calls between Borders and Cronyn if they manufactured Olmer’s false confession. Harry tells the Chief that Rita ran interference between prisoner and attorney. When asked about the DNA, Bosch insists it was somehow planted via the property room. Irving tells Harry he will get the video of the evidence transfer.

Robertson cannot get away from Hollywood Division

Jimmy has a call with Hollywood confirming that a gun used in Hollywood’s pharmacy murder was also used to kill the carjacking victim found in Newton Division.

Robertson also leads a team to investigate a location  where a local welder thought he spotted one of the men from the composite drawings bringing a car. While they do not have a warrant, they do need to confirm that Junior is not stashed in the trunk of the car.

The trunk is empty and the officers must wait for a warrant for further investigation. Although, one officer grabs sees some mail addressed to “Western Sandblast” – the same company associated with the Twin Otter plane flying shills in and out of Whiteman airport.

Consolidated evidence

Harry takes a peek through the property room glass at the box of evidence from the Skyler murder. The seal is unbroken and the courier’s name is Terry Spencer. What’s unusual is how new the box looks for an investigation that is 22 years old. It turns out that is not so strange after all because the property room is running short on storage space. Sometimes multiple boxes of evidence from old cases are consolidated into one new box to save space.

Harry and Honey Chandler review the property transfer video together and Harry points out the new box and how Olmer’s DNA must have been planted during the consolidation of evidence. It sounds like they need to find Terry Spencer.

Harry pays a visit to San Quentin

Preston Borders is not happy to see Harry Bosch there to visit him in prison. Borders is quick to say that he is not required to speak with Harry. He also throws shade at Bosch’s older appearance to which Harry points out is still better than life in prison.

Borders smacks his gum and arrogantly threatens that all of Bosch’s cases will be in jeopardy wants his own conviction is overturned. Harry drops the bomb that they know about Rita and says they have her on tape. He also points out that Olmer’s confession did not include the knife. Borders continues to insist that the seahorse pendant was never in his apartment and that the DNA will prove him innocent.

Harry leaves with a reminder that Rita will be held accountable along with Borders.

My “chief” concern

The episode closes with Chief Irving going through the files from the Borders case that Wash delivered. He pulls out the “Before and After” photos from the crime scene. The “after” photo shows the seahorse pendant hanging in Borders’ apartment. The “before” does NOT show it! The Chief runs the “before” photo through the shredder, secures the shreds in a bag to dispose of (or hide?) them.

Oh my gosh! Was the seahorse pendant planted??

In other news:

  • Maddie struggles with the emotions stemming from her empathy for the rape victim at the witness prep meeting. She wants to talk to the woman when she sees her in the park but senses the other woman is not interested. Maddie and Harry explore the idea of never really knowing what will make an impression on a jury. Do tears make a difference or something else?
  • Christina Henry reviews a map of Olmer’s crimes in the vicinity of the Skyler murder. She tries to make a case for Olmer being the culprit and accuses the original officers of having “tunnel vision” and ignoring any other possibilities than Borders. Might this be the pot calling the kettle black? Christina also makes a call to someone named Bob at the Newton Division because she wants to access something in Archives.
  • Bakersfield PD have not seen any movement at Junior’s cousin’s house. They wonder if they are out of town. Pierce suggests they check the utility services at the house. He points out that if anyone was staying there, they would have to be running the air conditioning.
  • Captain Cooper calls Lt. Thorne and Lt. Billets to his office and tells them the FBI is auditing their UCR (Uniform Crime Reporting) statistics. Billets is curious why Cooper says he “will have their backs” in regard to “judgement calls”. Billets appears to be skeptical about the conversation.
  • Mankiewicz and Rodriguez look at the body cam footage from the officer involved shooting of Vasquez. Rodriguez notes something metal in Vasquez’s waistband and Mank says it could be a pipe for fireworks. Mank calls attention to the fact that Officer Edgewood “taps twice” and Officer Sloan “doesn’t even draw”, but Officer Robson “drained his piece”. That’s some odd math.
  • Junior’s cousin Oscar gets ready for the workday and pulls open the garage door. There waiting for him menacingly is Hart, one of the men who killed Jose Esquivel Sr. at the pharamacy. This does not look good for Oscar.
  • Billets and Barrel go to lunch at Musso and Frank. Barrel requests that they just enjoy their lunch instead of discussing retirement. Barrel points out that Crate will have a really hard time because there is “nothing else” in his life.

Stay tuned for futher investigation of Bosch season 5.

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