Bull Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Unambiguous
Stacy Glanzman
at
.
It's hard to imagine being a rape victim falsely accused of murder.
A lot of rape victims stay silent because they don't want to go through the added trauma of a trial, but Reese didn't really have that option on Bull Season 1 Episode 3.
Instead of facing her rapist and seeing him put to justice, she had to fight for her own freedom while her rapist was at peace.
I have not seen the previous episodes, so I don't know what Bull's track record is so far, but I'm assuming his success rate is pretty high. I never once doubted Reese's innocence. She always felt genuine, and it was easy to sympathize with her. Bull helping her through the panic attacks definitely helped with that.
He took something that most would consider a weakness, Reese included, and turned it into a strength. Watching her overcome the attack on the stand and state her case would have been enough to make just about any juror unsure of her guilt.
Benny's closing statement drove it all home, putting enough reasonable doubt into their heads that a not guilty verdict was all but guaranteed.
Marissa: How much time you think we've bought?
Bull: As long as Ellen's integrity will hold up against the county jail food...two days max.
Ellen obviously cared more about her story than she did about finding the truth, which is not a great trait for a reporter. A tabloid journalist maybe, but not someone who wants to be taken seriously for her work. She conveniently left out important facts that could cast suspicion on other players.
Granted, those important facts coming out led to her death, so it's hard to completely chastise her for her lack of journalistic integrity. She did go to jail for protecting her sources, but that was more for her own press than anything else.
Still, she obviously didn't deserve to die, but at least by the end it looked like the right person would be going to jail for both murders.
Marissa: You're the Jerry Maguire of the American judicial system.
Benny: Yeah, I guess I thought Amanda was going to be my Renee Zellweger.
The dynamic between Benny and Amanda felt a little off. I get the whole opposites attract thing, but it was hard to see where there was ever any attraction. Anger and hate are supposed to be just as strong as love, but I personally was not feeling any heat.
If anything, Amanda just came off as cold with the attraction mostly one-sided. You could definitely feel that they had a history, but chemistry, not so much.
Benny stood out to me as a character with a lot of potential for growth. He could very easily become one of the most interesting parts of the series if given the right material.
To be honest, not much else really grabbed me about Bull as a whole. It looks like it will rely heavily on the strength of each case, which can get old pretty quickly. I'm not sure how sustainable it is, but it's still early.
I can see tuning into it periodically, but not feeling the need to watch it every week. Maybe it will get better, but I doubt I will stick around to find out.
The case itself was strong, and Reese was a compelling defendant, but I obviously don't know how it stacked up against the previous two installments.
It could be interesting to see Bull take on a case where he loses, or where the defendant actually turns out to be guilty. Maybe that's happened already.
You guys will have to hit the comments and let me know!
If you missed anything, you can watch Bull online any time.
Stacy Glanzman was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in March, 2019.
