Titus Welliver’s Bosch Season 1 Has the Greatest Villain in Crime TV History

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Prime Video offers a lot of highly-rated shows, but Bosch was one of the first to demonstrate the platform could create a compelling and realistic crime drama. While Titus Welliver’s portrayal of Harry Bosch was a key factor in the show’s success, another element made Bosch particularly noteworthy: the character of Raynard Waits.

Based on Michael Connelly’s novels, the TV show Bosch premiered in 2014 and quickly became one of the most popular police dramas in recent years. Over seven seasons and nearly seventy episodes, Bosch consistently featured strong, memorable villains, notably introducing what many consider to be one of the best villains in crime television history during its first season.

Bosch Season 1 Follows Two Main Cases That Eventually Blend Together

The story centers on LAPD Detective Harry Bosch and his investigation into the murder of a young boy. After a dog walker discovered the body, Bosch and his partner, J. Edgar, began to focus on the Delacroix family, eventually learning the victim was Arthur Delacroix, a child who came from a difficult background.

Detectives interviewed Arthur’s sister, Sheila, who thought Arthur had just left on his own. They also spoke with Arthur’s father, Sam, who was battling an alcohol problem. The case, which initially appeared to be a family matter, took an unexpected turn when Raynard Waits, a stranger to the family, confessed to the murder.

Raynard Waits is introduced in Season 1 of Bosch after a routine traffic stop takes a shocking turn. When officers search his van, they discover a body inside, leading to his immediate arrest. While in jail, Waits confesses to another murder – that of Arthur.

Harry is convinced Raynard Waits isn’t guilty and insists on hearing his side of the story. Waits then attempts to bargain with the District Attorney, offering to lead them to where he killed all his victims, including Arthur. Despite Harry’s objections, the DA overrules him and accepts the deal.

Things really hit the fan during that field trip – that’s when Raynard Waits takes control, manages to swipe a gun, and shoots the Deputy DA, among others. It’s total chaos, and somehow, he gets away. That’s when the rest of Bosch Season 1 becomes this incredibly tense, dangerous manhunt – you’re constantly on the edge of your seat wondering if they’ll catch him.

Bosch Sees Harry and Raynard Waits Play a Game of Cat and Mouse

Raynard Waits manages to get away, but instead of disappearing, he actively contacts Harry, leading to a tense game of pursuit between them. Waits doesn’t just escape; he deliberately escalates the situation, using videos and phone calls to both announce his crimes and mock Harry’s inability to stop him.

I’m really fascinated by Raynard Waits, so Harry heads out to Las Vegas to try and get inside his head. Turns out, Waits is living with his daughter and Eleanor, who’s now married to a guy named Reggie. What’s even more interesting is Eleanor used to be an FBI profiler, and now she’s a professional poker player! It’s like she has this amazing ability to read people, which could be exactly what Harry needs to understand Waits and figure out what he’ll do next. It’s a really clever setup, and I’m eager to see how Eleanor’s skills play into everything.

Eleanor informed Harry that Raynard Waits is connected to him, explaining they shared similar childhoods – both had experiences in foster care. Harry suspects this shared past might be why Raynard Waits specifically chose to target him.

Bosch quickly discovers that the victims both grew up in the foster care system and even attended the same youth center, McClaren Youth Hall. At the center, children were isolated in a room known as “the trunk.” However, reviewing the youth center’s records is a slow process, and Raynard Waits continues to search for more people to harm while the investigation proceeds.

Waits takes things to a terrifying extreme by murdering a woman and positioning her body to mirror the scene where Harry’s mother was discovered. This crime, like the first, remained unsolved, and it served as another chilling message from Waits to Bosch, deepening their perilous link.

The pursuit eventually culminates in a final showdown. As Eleanor points out, this is Waits’ ultimate plan. Harry tracks down Waits, who has taken another person hostage, and their encounter leads to Waits’ death, finally stopping his criminal activity. While Waits wasn’t the one who killed Arthur, this all comes to a head in Season 1 of Bosch.

Bosch and Waits Are like Two Sides of the Same Coin

The first season of Bosch delved into Harry Bosch’s past, creating a richly developed character who is flawed and haunted. This season also presented the villain, Waits, in a way that emphasized the surprising similarities between him and Bosch – they are, in many ways, mirror images of each other.

Harry and Waits both had difficult childhoods marked by the absence of their fathers and the early loss of their mothers. They shared a past at a youth center where they experienced mistreatment and abuse from both other kids and the adults in charge. Despite these hardships, their individual decisions ultimately shaped the people they became.

After experiencing anger and trauma, Raynard Waits and Harry made very different choices. Waits decided to inflict pain on others, mirroring the hurt he’d endured. Harry, however, dedicated his life to preventing harm and seeking justice for those who couldn’t speak for themselves by becoming a police officer.

The first season of Bosch effectively creates sympathy for its characters, even when they’ve done wrong. Viewers might feel bad for Raynard Waits, even knowing he committed crimes, because the show suggests he was shaped by his difficult upbringing. Eleanor even suggests he may have been a victim of childhood sexual abuse.

Experiences from the past don’t justify causing harm to others today. Seeing the characters of Bosch and Waits highlights this – it shows us that while hurt individuals often inflict pain on others, they also have the potential to offer help and support. The show also explores the relationship between Waits and his loving adoptive mother, revealing a caring side to his character.

Watching Waits with his mother reveals his deep conflict. Despite the immense pressure of being hunted by the LAPD, he cares for her, even though it’s a struggle. When he makes the heartbreaking decision to end her life, the audience understands his pain, even though it’s a shocking act given what we know about him.

Raynard Waits Is the Blueprint for Crime TV Villains

It’s often difficult to admit, but everyone has both good and bad qualities. A common mistake when creating stories with villains is portraying them as simply evil, rather than fully developed characters. The truth is, most people who commit terrible crimes – even serial killers – have relationships with family and friends, and may even show affection towards loved ones.

Raynard Waits demonstrates how to create a compelling and complex villain. While he is a serial killer, the story also reveals him as a son and a young person who endured significant trauma. These experiences don’t justify his actions, but they offer insight into the factors that influenced him.

Throughout its seven seasons, the show Bosch featured a number of memorable villains. While opinions vary, many viewers consider the first season to have introduced the most compelling villain ever seen on television. That villain, Raynard Waits, is based on a character from Michael Connelly’s 2006 Bosch novel, Echo Park.

The original Bosch series was so popular that the world it created has grown! Harry Bosch’s story continued with Bosch: Legacy for three more seasons, and a new spin-off series premiered in 2025, with a second season already confirmed. Many of Michael Connelly’s novels feature both Ballard and Bosch working as partners.

A prequel series focusing on a young Harry Bosch is also being developed. Details are scarce, but the show is expected to explore his upbringing in the foster care system and how his life experiences shaped him into someone very different from criminals like Raynard Waits.

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2026-01-20 03:08