Amy Aquino Talks Bosch Season 3 

WARNING: Mild Bosch Spoilers

Bosch is back on the beat and it’s looking like the third season of this Amazon Original Series is going to be more complicated and intense than ever.

LAPD Homicide Detective Harry Bosch is used to the world coming after him as he works doggedly to find justice for victims and punishment for the guilty. His methods don’t make him popular in law enforcement circles but they do make him an effective cop.

At the same time, he’s dealing with his own demons. Finding out who killed his mother should have given him a sense of closure, but knowing there was some sort of cover-up only allows those wounds to fester.

Now he finds himself a full-time father as his ex-wife and her husband are out of the country on business. His daughter Maddie — his frequent voice of reason — lives with him in his fancy house in the Hollywood Hills.

In Season 3, Bosch continues to investigate cases, but he’s also the target of an investigation.

One of the detective’s strongest and fiercest allies is his boss, Lt. Grace Billets, played by Amy Aquino, whose previous TV credits include Felicity, Crossing Jordan, ER and Being Human. Billets knows it’s close to impossible to rein Bosch in, but if anyone can do it she can.

“I’ve played the tough boss, I’ve played literally this character in other station houses and in boardrooms and hospitals, etcetera,” said Aquino in a recent phone interview. “But in this case, it’s just damn it, Bosch, if you don’t blah, blah, blah. You straighten up.”

With Harry becoming embroiled in a world of trouble, having his back might be more difficult than usual. And that’s saying a lot.

“There’s so much at stake personally and professionally, having to walk that line of this is the person I love, this person’s like a brother to me. He’s also my employee,” she explained. “He also has a responsibility to the public and he’s also a troubled person and all of those elements that I have to balance, that (his LAPD partner) J. Edgar has to balance, our own personal responsibilities toward the public, our responsibilities toward our superiors, and our love and respect for this guy. So it’s very, very complicated.”

This situation will require open communication lines between Billets and J. Edgar. That means Aquino and Jamie Hector will share some quality scenes together in season three. “Jerry and I work closely in this season, which is so much fun. I just love, love, love Jamie and it’s a very interesting back and forth between us.”

Don’t know if viewers can count on Billets being Team Jerry, however. “It’s a very delicate situation,” said Aquino. “Bosch is his partner, unless he is convinced that the guy’s gone completely off the reservation then he needs to show him respect and bring him into the conversation. It’s a very, very complicated situation. I’m trying to advise.”

Last season, Billets’ love life took a bit of a nose dive, but professionally, the lieutenant did initiate steps towards becoming a captain. In the premiere, her career aspirations quickly come up in conversation. “The issue gets very directly addressed in season three,” she teased. “I think they did a very sensitive and very realistic job of it.”

Becoming captain could be a matter of  her past actions having consequences. “All kinds of things come back to, they raise their ugly heads,” the actress stated. “What I’ve loved about the show from the beginning is they’re very honest about the flaws in the individuals, in everybody involved. You see their strong points and you see their flaws, and that’s very much on display this season, which is fantastic.”

According to Aquino, viewers who binge Bosch after the show drops on April 21 will learn even more about Billets. “You get much deeper into who she is and what her emotional, personal journey has been, which is kind of great, and then how that relates to the work and what the work means to her personally, so it’s a really nice deepening of that.”

It’s a deepening that’s only helped by the fact that Aquino has played this character for three seasons. “It’s very interesting looking at my work. We have a lovely kind of callback in season three to my first scene in season one — in the pilot — up on the roof of the Hollywood Station,” she said. “[Bosch technical consultant] Mitzi Roberts was up there. She’s my idol. She’s my go-to. Everything revolves around Mitzi when it comes to Bosch as far as I’m concerned.”

“I asked her how was it when we did a take of it and she said it’s great. You are so this person and you were so much more relaxed” Aquino continued. “And then I go back and look at that scene in the pilot where I’m walking out on the roof to meet [Bosch] compared to how I felt this time. It’s really kind of…it’s lovely.”

So lovely the experience had the actress contemplating a redo. “I wish I could go back and reshoot that pilot, not that it was bad, but at least I know how I’m feeling inside her skin. I’m definitely feeling so much more comfortable inside her skin.”

She’ll get the chance to further explore her character. Several months ago, Bosch received an early renewal. The crime drama based on Michael Connelly’s books will be back for a fourth season. Aquino is grateful for Amazon’s support.

“It felt just wonderful. It didn’t surprise me in that they have been very supportive all along. And on top of that, let’s face it, they love Michael Connelly,” she said. “It was just a lovely, lovely thing. I like to have this sort of stability at this point in my career. I got to tell you.”

The third season of Bosch premieres this Friday on Amazon Prime Video.

Season 1 and 2 Recap