The Magic Castle

"The Magic Castle"
Season 1, Episode 9
Release date	February 13, 2015
Written by	Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider
Directed by	Alex Zakrzewski
Episode chronology
← previous "High Low"	next → "Us and Them"

"The Magic Castle" is the ninth episode of the first season of Bosch. It premiered on Amazon Instant Video and LOVEFiLM on 13 February 2015.

Summary

Teaser

At the police station, Detective Bosch arrives to find a gaggle of reporters at the gate and suggests that they speak with Nate Tyler for the details on the murder of Monica Reynolds. Inside, Detectives Rider and Johnson update Bosch on the Reynolds investigation, explaining that they're pulling security footage from a warehouse across the street from the crime scene. Rider also questions why Waits would stage the murder.

In a classroom, the watch commander announces that the patrol officers will be reviewing penal code sections relating to the laws of arrest. Detective Edgar arrives moments later and informs the officers that Johnny Stokes is the lead suspect in the Delacroix case; Officer Pimentel blames Bosch for releasing Stokes. Officer Edgewood questions whether Stokes can be charged for a crime he committed while a juvenile, but Edgar instructs the officers to bring in the suspect while passing out photographs of Stokes.

Act One

In the squad room, Bosch reads through his mother's case file as Edgar informs him that he spoke with the patrol officers. Moments later, Brasher delivers a pack of files and informs the detectives that Lt. Billets wants them to update their personnel packages. Bosch visits with Billets to express his annoyance at Brasher's assignment, but Billets advises the detective that he could face repercussions if Brasher decides to file a complaint against him.

That night, officers canvass the streets of Los Angeles, but Stokes manages to avoid them.

Elsewhere, Bosch arrives at a bar to meet with Billets, Bosch orders a Fat Tire , and Billets orders a rye drink. Billets questions why Lt. Pounds dislikes the detective so much.Bosch explains that Pounds had been his supervisor before being promoted. Billets then admits to engaging in a relationship with a colleague and confesses that she was hard on Bosch for his indiscretions, because she was mad at herself for her own.

Outside, Bosch receives a phone call from Waits, who claims that although he will miss his conversations with Bosch, it is time for him to "go away." Bosch asks if Waits will retreat to his "magic castle," revealing that he knows about Waits's pseudonym and his time at McClaren. He also reveals that he knows how Waits found out about Arthur's San Diego Aquarium badge and claims that the police are closer than Waits thinks.

The next morning at the police station, Rider shows Edgar and Bosch a photograph of Waits's stolen van from the warehouse security camera that reveals a license plate was taken from a car parked in long-term storage at Los Angeles International Airport, and Johnson explains that he and Rider still have hundreds of McClaren files to look through.

On a city street near Echo Park, Waits encounters a young mother with her infant and claims to have an eight-year-old of his own.

At his house in the Hollywood Hills, Bosch struggles to set up Skype on his laptop as his daughter talks him through the process until he connects a video call to her. They discuss Maddie's car accident, and Bosch assures his daughter that she can visit him in Los Angeles as soon as he closes the Waits case.

Later that night, a jogger finds an infant abandoned in a stroller next to a minivan with its trunk still open and discovers a note with the child that reads Raynard Waits wishes you a "Happy New Year!"

Act Two

At a New Year's Eve party at the Billets residence, Officer Irving encounters Officer Pierce and explains that he's transferring to the Planning and Research Division.

At the Saxon residence, Waits returns home and locks the garage doors before dragging the bound and gagged mother from the van and into his workshop.

At the News Year's Eve party, Edgar encounters Johnson and his wife and introduces his girlfriend before asking about Detective Moore, who will be released from the hospital the next day. Billets offers to get them drinks before venturing into the house and going into the bathroom, where she finds Rider. They kiss.

At the Saxon residence, Waits drags the mother through his underground tunnel and into a chamber, where he locks her to a chair. He assures her that her infant will be fine and then gives her water.

At the New Year's Eve party, Bosch encounters Edgar, Johnson, Billets, and Rider, before every detective in the room receives a phone call at the same moment. They turn on the television to see a news broadcast regarding the kidnapped mother. When BIllets asks where Bosch is, she's informed by Edgar that he left when the news story came on.

At the police station, Bosch calls Eleanor, who theorizes that Reynolds represented how society viewed Bosch's mother--as nothing more than a prostitute--while Lydon represents how Bosch viewed his mother-–"as loving and pure." She further theorizes that Lydon is still alive, and that Waits is using the woman as bait to lure Bosch into his endgame. Bosch hangs up and remembers the moment from his childhood when he saw his mother in a gown. She says he'll be asleep by the time she gets home and tells him she loves him.

Act Three

The next morning , at the Police Administration Building, Deputy Chief Irving watches a news broadcast concerning the Lydon kidnapping, in which Chief Tenzer announces that active officers will be placed on mandatory twelve-hour shifts, while off-duty officers will be recalled to duty.

In the underground chamber beneath the Saxon residence, Lydon wakes, and Waits offers to help her go to the bathroom in a bucket, but she begs him to let her go. Waits refuses, claiming he needs the woman, and then leaves to make a phone call.

At the Los Angeles Times Building, Nate Tyler receives a call from Waits, who claims that he was inspired by Tyler's writings about Bosch and requests that Tyler write a story for him. Tyler agrees, but Waits gets angry when he doesn't thank him and say he'd be honored. Nate does thank him and asks if he can record the conversation.

At a diner, Tyler meets with Bosch and explains that he doesn't want anyone else to die. He turns his phone over to Bosch, who intends to have the conversation with Waits transcribed within an hour, before returning the phone. Nate asks if Bosch now owes him, but Bosch says he owes him nothing.

That night at the police station, Bosch reads the transcript for Rider, Johnson, and Edgar: "My true name will come out in due course, and it is a name that no one will ever forget. I am the only one who knows the truth. I will expose and punish the oppressors and abusers. I have built a monument to serve as a reminder of my justice. ... My mother would take me to see the Lady of the Lake. My mother would say, 'You won't always have me, but you will always have the Lady of the Lake'." Bosch explains that the Lady of the Lake is a statue in Echo Park, and the detectives surmise that Waits lives near the Park. They then split up twenty-two McClaren files that fit the profile, have the "A-C 102" notation, and connect to Echo Park. Bosch eventually finds the file of David Harris, whose adoptive mother was a French teacher, and he and Edgar head to 4518 Lemoyne Street.

On the road, Edgar informs Bosch that Harris' adoptive father died of mesothelioma, and that there are no records of Harris after 1993, shortly before the first appearance of "Raynard Waits" in 1994.

At the Saxon residence, Bosch and Edgar arrive and draw their weapons, and even from outside the house, Bosch can smell the dead body. Bosch eventually breaks out a window in the kitchen door and enters the house, where they find Irene Saxon's body still in her bed, swarming with insects. They head back outside and approach the garage door, which they find unlocked. They enter and find Waits's stolen van. They move on to the workshop, but when Edgar tries to call for backup, he has no reception and runs back to the car. In the workshop, Bosch spots a hose snaking across the floor and follows it back to a wall, where he discovers the entrance to a tunnel hidden behind an American flag. Bosch heads into the tunnel without waiting for Edgar to return.

Bosch follows the tunnel under the Saxon residence, where he steps on bones and discovers human skulls. He calls out for Waits but refers to him as David. Harris warns Bosch to enter alone, and the detective does. He finds Harris holding Lydon at gunpoint. Harris insists that people need to know who he is, because he "mean[s] something" and asks about Bosch's foster parents. Bosch admits that he had several, and Harris claims that the Saxons were a beautiful family until Harlan died, at which point he was sent back to McClaren.

From the workshop, Edgar returns and enters the tunnel.

Harris confesses to envying Bosch when they were children, because Bosch defended himself. He then hears police sirens and claims that "they" made him into a killer, insisting that he is himself "the monument." Harris then pushes Lydon aside to shoot at Bosch, but the detective fires first, killing Harris as Edgar reaches the chamber.

Later, the ambulance and police have arrived on the scene, and Billets informs Bosch that FID investigator Rosa will need to interview him. Tenzer arrives as the body of David Harris is removed from the garage, and Irving greets him before the two head into the residence. Nearby, Pounds orders his media liaison to convey the story that the lead that led to Harris came from the Fugitive Task Force. Billets attempts to congratulate Pounds on the apprehension of Harris, but Pounds counters that Bosch isn't out of the woods yet.

Rosa requests to examine the scene with Bosch once the detective's league representative arrives, and Bosch agrees before calling Eleanor to inform her that Waits is dead and Lydon is safe. He asks his ex-wife to give his daughter a kiss and then hangs up as he's approached by Irving, who congratulates Bosch on his good work before explaining the Harris's gun was empty. He committed suicide by cop.

Production

Credits

Cast

Starring

• Titus Welliver as Harry Bosch
• Jamie Hector as Jerry Edgar
• Amy Aquino as Grace Billets
• Lance Reddick as Irvin Irving
• Annie Wersching as Julia Brasher
• with Sarah Clarke as Eleanor Wish
• and Jason Gedrick as Raynard Waits

Guest-Starring

• Veronica Cartwright as Irene Saxon
• Adam O'Byrne as Nate Tyler
• Scott Klace as John Mankiewicz
• Mark Derwin as Captain Harvey Pounds
• Troy Evans as Detective Barrel Johnson
• Madison Lintz as Maddie Bosch
• Rose Rollins as Detective Kizmin Rider
• Robbie Jones as Officer George Irving
• Shannon Lucio as Heather Lydon
• Jeff Griggs as Chief of Police John Tenzer
• Hemky Madera as FID Detective Luis Rosa
• and Shawn Hatosy as Johnny Stokes

Co-Starring

• Deji LaRay as Officer Julius Edgewood
• DaJuan Johnson as Officer Rondell Pierce
• John Eddins as Wash
• Chastity Ballesteros as Marissa
• Heather McPhaul as Renee
• Eva La Dare as Officer Pimentel
• Kent Shocknek as Kent Shocknek
• Katharine Leonard as Marjorie Lowe
• Quinn Welliver as Twelve Year Old Harry
• Bianca Lopez as a Reporter
• Monique Barajas as Officer Scott
• Vivan Dugre as Nina Bardales
• Burl Moseley as Paramedic
• Porter Kelly as Server
• Juan Garcia as Detective Lochner
• Joel Steingold as Jogger
• Joni Bovill as Ida
• Kirk Bovill as Harry's Foster Father

Crew

Opening Credits

• Laura Schiff, CSA - Casting
• and Carrie Audino, CSA - Casting
• Jesse Voccia - Music
• Rachel Rusch - Producer
• Patrick McKee - Producer
• Tom Smuts - Supervising Producer
• William N. Fordes - Consulting Producer
• Diane Frolov - Consulting Producer
• & Andrew Schneider - Consulting Producer
• Pieter Jan Brugge - Co-Executive Producer
• Mikkel Bondesen - Executive Producer
• Jan David Frouman - Executive Producer
• Henrik Bastin - Executive Producer
• Michael Connelly - Executive Producer
• Eric Overmyer - Executive Producer
• Michael Connelly - Based on the Novels by
• Eric Overmyer - Developed for television by
• Diane Frolov - Teleplay
• & Andrew Schneider - Teleplay
• Alex Zakrzewski - Director

Closing Credits

• Patrick McKee - Unit Production Manager
• Brian Faul - First Assistant Director
• Francesco Tignini - Second Assistant Director
• Paul Sommers - Director of Photography
• Chester Kaczenski - Production Designer
• Elba Sanchez-Short - Editor
• Catherine Adair - Costume Designer
• Erin Scotto - Associate Producer
• Terrill Lee Lankford - Co-Producer
• Blake Leyh - Music Supervisor
• Tim Marcia - Technical Consultant
• Mitzi Roberts - Technical Consultant
• Rick Jackson - Technical Consultant

Notes

• Bosch meets Billet at the bar on the evening of December 30th, as Waits mentions in his phone call immediately after that the next day is New Year's Eve, indicating that Waits was shot and killed on the night of 1 January 2015.

Reception

The episode has received 68 ten-out-of-ten ratings and 28 nine-out-of-ten ratings (out of 123 total ratings) on IMDb for an average rating of 9.0 out of 10.

Episode

• "The Magic Castle"