Title: "The Last Scrip"
Directed by: Daisy von Scherler Mayer
Written by: Elle Johnson
Air Date: April 19, 2019
Previous: Pill Shills
Next: Raise the Dead
Guest Starring: Paul Calderón, Yani Gellman, Mimi Rogers, MC Gainey, Linda Park
"The Last Scrip" is the 3rd episode of the fifth season of Bosch.
Bosch is stressing out about the Preston Borders case. He and Honey Chandler meet with Christina Henry and prosecutor Alex Kennedy and is shocked to hear that the DA's office will support the Borders habeas notion. That means that Bosch has only until the court hearing to figure out how the frame was arranged. Later, Chandler's investigator Hector Bonner reveals that Borders, who has been in jail for 20 years, has been married for 16 of those years to a woman named Rita Tedesco. The suspicion is that Tedesco is Borders' help on the outside and part of the scam.
Gary Wise, Edgar's old CI, goes to meet with homicide cops Marcos and Arias about the drive-by shooting.
Billets takes Barrel out to lunch, where they reminisce about the old times (apparently Barrel was part of the Night Stalker investigation). Billets gently suggests that it might be time for Barrel to retire, only for Barrel to completely misunderstand and think she's talking about Crate retiring. Later, Captain Cooper tells Billets that they can't force Crate and Barrel to retire but they can give them unpleasant assignments, like auto theft or crimes against persons. Barrel is incensed when Billets tells him that he and Crate are being put on CAPs.
Edgar asks around at Whiteman Airport. A local cop knows all about the mystery propeller plane: the people who get on it never have any luggage, and prop planes like that which are flying visually don't need to submit a flight plan.
With Robertson now working in Newton, Pierce gets a new partner, Christina Vega, transferred in from Wilshire Division at Billets' request. She outranks him as a D2, but she has never worked homicide before.
Marcos and Arias call Edgar back and tell him that Wise never showed for their second meeting. Soon after Edgar gets terrible news: Wise was murdered, shot in an alley between some apartments.
Bosch goes to meet his old partner, Ryan Rodgers (M.C. Gainey), to talk about the Skyler murder. Rodgers insists they got the right man.
Chief Irving's girlfriend, Jun Park, worries about the case of the recent police shooting. She is concerned that there is a risk of damage to Irvin's career.
Jose Esquivela Jr. is still on the run. He stops at the funeral home to see his father's body, but on the way out narrowly escapes being murdered by the same drug gang that killed his dad.
Tropes:
- Bad News in a Good Way: Billets is very conflicted on how to break the bad news to Crate and Barrel about their reassignment to CAPS duty, to the point of having to ask Bosch for advice on whether to varnish the truth or just be upfront. Bosch notes that Barrel, who volunteered to participate in the Battle of Fire Support Base Ripcord
despite only being a few weeks away from being shipped back to the US, will do the work even if he resents Billets for the reassignment because he's a committed worker. - Comically Missing the Point: Billets tries to suggest that Barrel should retire but Barrel assumes that she's talking about Crate. Whether or not Barrel made an honest mistake or just didn't want to admit Billets was talking about him is unclear.
- Continuity Nod:
- Once again, Irvin Irving is shown to noodle on the piano when he unwinds at home.
- Christina Vega admits to being eager to work with Bosch after he threw Harvey Pounds through a window. That happened at at the end of Season 1.
- Creepy Stalker Van: The gunmen from the pill mill operation drive in one when they make an attempt on Jose Jr at the funeral home.
- Creepy Souvenir: Preston Borders kept Danielle Skylar's seahorse pendant as "a trophy".
- Deal with the Devil: Jose Jr. admits to his uncle that the reason he and his father got involved with the pill mill was because they were financially desperate and on the verge of bankruptcy.
- Flyaway Shot: The camera flies away as Edgar contemplates the body of Gary Wise, lying dead in an alley.
- New Meat: Vega outranks Pierce, but Pierce has more experience with homicide investigation.
- Reassigned to Antarctica: Cooper forces Billets to have Crate and Barrel reassigned to Crimes Against Persons work in the hope that the less pleasant assignment will force them to retire.
- Shout-Out: Rodgers warns Bosch against "the Laura syndrome"—"never fall in love with the victim."
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Bosch has just about made peace with working with Chandler but is pretty pissed to meet Hector Bonner, the investigator who dug up the info on his mom for Chandler's strategy in the Flores lawsuit.
