Bosch Begins: Cameron Monaghan Leads as Young Bosch, Omari Hardwick Joins the Case
MGM+ rewinds the clock on Bosch with Bosch: Start of Watch, casting Cameron Monaghan as the young detective and pairing him with Omari Hardwick.
MGM+ is rolling out a Harry Bosch prequel, which honestly makes perfect sense for a franchise built on a guy who never lets anything go. The show is called 'Bosch: Start of Watch,' and it rewinds to a young, green Harry navigating Los Angeles in 1991. Yes, we are going all the way back to the beginning.
The setup
Cameron Monaghan (Shameless, Gotham) is stepping into the boots of a 26-year-old Harry Bosch just as he starts his LAPD career. Omari Hardwick (Army of the Dead) co-stars as Eli Bridges, the veteran officer showing him the ropes. The city around them is a pressure cooker: racial tension, gang violence, a department under strain. During what should be routine calls, Bosch gets pulled into a big-ticket heist and a knot of corruption that challenges his loyalty to the badge and hardwires the ethos he becomes famous for: 'Everybody counts or nobody counts.'
The essentials
- Title: 'Bosch: Start of Watch'
- Premise: The origin of Harry Bosch as a rookie cop in 1991 Los Angeles
- Cast: Cameron Monaghan as Harry Bosch; Omari Hardwick as Eli Bridges
- Where to watch: MGM+ in the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Spain, Latin America, Belgium, and the Netherlands
- Franchise roots: Based on Michael Connelly's best-selling novels that spawned Prime Video's hit Bosch series
- Producers: Fabel Entertainment
- Creative team: Co-created and executive produced by Tom Bernardo and Brian Anthony, with Bernardo as showrunner; executive producers include Michael Connelly, Henrik Bastin, Jamie Boscardin Martin, and Jasmine Russ; Theresa Snider is co-executive producer for Hieronymus Pictures
Why this angle works
Setting Bosch at the start of his career is a smart play: 1991 LA is a volatile backdrop, and the show can trace how a messy first case and systemic rot forged his moral code. It also lets Monaghan do something fans have not seen yet with this character: the moment before Bosch turns into the Bosch.
The people behind it are not exactly shy about their ambitions
MGM+ is calling this the next chapter of a very reliable brand, and they are promising the same gritty, grounded vibe that made the original series a hit, just reframed as an origin story. Connelly sounds all-in on exploring this early chapter with Monaghan and the writers.
'Being able to see how Harry Bosch became the man we have loved for 10 seasons is a gift to me and his many fans.'
Bottom line: if you are already invested in Bosch-world, this is a pretty intriguing way to expand it. If you are new, starting with a young cop at the flashpoint of 90s LA is not a bad on-ramp.