Bull Review: Kill Shot (Season 2 Episode 13)

On Bull Season 2 Episode 13, “Kill Shot”, the team has to defend a client with a serious image problem.

Hello and welcome to reviews for Bull! Each week, the show brings together science and the courtroom — or at least TV psychology and legal drama.

Some episodes seem to be pretty well-researched, especially from a layman’s perspective. Some (such as those that indicate complete bewilderment at the concept of Stockholm syndrome) do not. “Kill Shot”, though, is Psych 101 — how do we make people listen to someone they hate?

It’s a little more complicated than that, what with cognitive bias and all, but we sympathize with Bull and his partners from the moment their defendant literally uses the phrase “do you know who I am?” when faced with homicide charges.

The team does a good job overcoming their own feelings and putting together a solid case in light of the usual “everyone is lying to us” difficulties. I know people technically pay Jason Bull for his brilliance and devotion to every element of a good legal argument, but I still think they really pay him to put a courtroom under his spell.

If I have one issue with the show in general, it’s that everything seems to wrap up too neatly in basically every episode. The team never really loses, even in that single incident so far when the jury initially votes against them. Here, that comes partially in the form of the supposed privileged brat becoming a selfless hero.

To be clear, I’m glad we didn’t just get a rude rich woman with no depth. Rebecca becomes sympathetic early on, trapped by the mistakes of a loving but selfish husband. Then we learn about him arranging his own death to give his family insurance money, and Rebecca asks to throw away her own freedom so her daughter can keep it.

Yes, it’s noble, but it takes something from the point that we can’t make assumptions about people’s guilt based off our own biases. Rebecca can be flawed and still innocent of murder. If we’re to learn a lesson about ourselves, we shouldn’t only have to do it by ratcheting up our own sympathies.

In the subplot, Chunk deals with a professor who is all too willing to give into his own biases. “TV psychology” perspectives aside, maybe the guy has reason to feel the way he does about trial science. That shouldn’t matter — his behavior is completely out of line.

The thing is, I can’t decide whether we’re supposed to feel that way. When he describes his views, he’s not at all likeable. But when he pushes Chunk, he comes across as the professor who wants to get a student to work beyond his perceived limits. Are we meant to forget that basing grading off personal bias is probably an offense that could get him fired? I hope not.

Regardless, I do hope we see more of Chunk in school, hopefully struggling and succeeding based on his own merits. I like the way the show weaves in character backstory, giving everyone things to do and new levels of complexity.

 

What did you think of this episode of Bull? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Reviewer Rating:

User Rating:

 

Bull airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on CBS.

Follow us on Twitter @telltaleTV_

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!