Titus Welliver Says Goodbye to ‘Bosch’ & Gives Us a Sneak Peek at the Spinoff

[WARNING: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Bosch Season 7.]

Everybody counts, or nobody counts.

That’s the unwavering mantra of Harry Bosch as he relentlessly solves crimes, providing a voice for the voiceless, and often, face for the faceless. The titular homicide detective from the best-selling Michael Connelly novels is played in the Amazon Studios adaptation to perfection by Titus Welliver.

Although the seventh and final season Bosch just dropped, fear not. It’s not completely case closed. The veteran actor will continue in the role in the yet-to-be-titled spinoff coming to IMDB TV.

Until then, Welliver spoke with TV Insider as he looks back on the beloved police procedural’s run and how the finale sets up for the next chapter.

We see Harry hand his badge over to Chief Irvin Irving (Lance Reddick). How did you feel about filming that scene in that final episode?

Titus Welliver: It was very emotional. There have been times over the years with the show where Harry has considered doing that. This is a guy who is not a political animal at all. The obstacles that have come in front of him and prevented him from doing his job have been political moves. I think he reaches a place this season as it relates to the death of this 10-year-old child and an unborn child and these victims. It’s too much for Harry. It becomes abundantly clear that he is pushing as hard as he can, but the pushback at every turn is significant. He resigns himself to the fact that in order to obtain the justice he is trying to get for these victims, it may be he is going to ultimately cross certain lines that are going to force him to give up his job and badge.

He loves what he does. He is a dedicated police officer. He is dedicated to obtaining justice, but he thinks there is a tarnish on the badge from the political corruption that is around him. When you take a character like Harry Bosch and push him that far into a corner, it makes him extremely dangerous. He cares about the victims. I think that for me was a way to move this chapter towards where we want it to be at the end of the season.  The whole placement of the characters within the shots in that scene is wonderful symbolism there.

Jerry Edgar’s (Jamie Hector) is spiraling this season. Do you think Harry should have read the signs and done more to help him before he did any damage to the investigations?

I think Harry does everything he possibly can to help J. Edgar. He keeps covering for him. He is lying and covering for him. Then with J. Edgar’s emotional impairment, I think that is why Harry works so hard to cover for him. He completely identifies and understands that, and in an odd way, Harry holds himself responsible for it…He never would have gotten to this place if it hadn’t been for him. J. Edgar tells Harry, “Don’t take responsibility for me. My actions are my actions.” But when J. Edgar’s lack of presence or focus compromises the case in a way where people’s lives are at stake, it becomes too much for Harry. I don’t think he abandons Jerry.

I think he wants Jerry to arrive at that conclusion and heal himself, but it’s Harry’s thing that you have to continue no matter what you’re dealing with. That’s not here at work. We’re here to do this thing. Heal on your own time, and I’ll cover for you. But when you’re here, I need you to be here.

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Even before Harry quit, they were headed to their new assignments away from Hollywood Homicide. How do you feel things were left between these two partners?

I think the resolution is very real. One of the many beautiful aspects of the writing is rather than having to put dialogue in, it was an exchange of looks and an exchange of attitude between Harry and J. Edgar. This was its own form of mea culpa. I think when we come to the end of that we see these guys are restored. They are both damaged internally, but those two have separate issues. They are two guys who have gotten too close to the darkness and have somewhat been consumed by it. They understand each other, but I think their relationship is, maybe in some way, stronger than it was before. I think it leaves on a very good note.

This season Lt. Billets (Amy Aquino) endures bigotry and sexism and instead of taking her ball and going home, she perseveres and shows this empowering character rising up the ranks of adversity. As an executive producer and actor, how does it feel to be able to tell these timely stories?

That has been the beauty of the writing and the show is we really represent the world as it is. What Grace Billets has to endure within the department is not something that is specific to just the police department. I thought the storyline was really powerful. If you go back to the very first season, someone has been passing a little remark or attitude towards Grace.

It all culminates into what I think is an explosion and exposure of things. You see this character Grace first and foremost. Being in a command position and suddenly the people above her, who should be her support, behind the scenes are trying to undermine her and derail her career. I think that the whole storyline is really well realized. I’m really proud of that. I’m proud that we always have been really real to the world. We always put the characters in a place to navigate that world and have the audience take that journey with them.

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We see Honey “Money” Chandler (Mimi Rogers) coming out of the coma after being shot. Maddie (Madison Lintz) decides to follow in dad’s footsteps. Harry decides to go it alone as a private. How did the last season set up what we’ll see in the spinoff?

It’s the next chapter. A continuation. For people who have read Michael’s books and the chronology of things, Harry reaches a certain age. The book we’ve chosen is The Burning Room. I think what we see him do is he makes a choice where he says, “I may not be able to affect anymore change here, so let me go over here and try to do it in a different place.” He is no longer part of this large organization he has given 25 years of his life as a homicide detective.

There is pride and also terror at the same time with Maddie deciding she wants to become a police officer. I think what’s an interesting dynamic is whenever she teased that idea over the years he has always been, “Great.” Then when confronted with reality, he is terrified because he knows what is out there. By the same token, he recognizes a lot of himself in Maddie.

He also knows what is out there in front of her, and he wants to get in front of all that stuff. It will be wonderful stuff for Madison Lintz and me to play with that dynamic with Harry trying without being a helicopter parent and allow her to discover everything on her own. Also, though, be this well of knowledge for her as she does that.

Seasons 1-7 of Bosch are streaming on Amazon