Bull Review: A Redemption (Season 2 Episode 19)
Bull Season 2 Episode 19, “A Redemption,” gives us a complicated story that ends a great deal more smoothly than I would ever expect it to in real life.
If you found out that the husband and father of your children had been lying to you for years about his very identity—and thus yours, too—how quickly would you be able to let that all go? I feel like it would take more than a line right out of a romantic comedy.
This isn’t to criticize Kristen, who handles the upheaval of her life with about as much grace as anyone could be expected to. I just wonder about how much we’re expected to accept being swept under the rug in the name of, once again, tying the case up with a bow.
For me, feeling sympathetic for George (not Jim, as his family has always believed) is a bit of an emotional roller coaster. Where we may be able to understand why he had to lie, his accountability seems very quickly absolved.
It probably says a lot that I eventually find it easier to feel bad for his brother—the man who actually, albeit accidentally, killed someone—given that the other man seems dedicated to being genuine and only ever telling one story.
The upside of all this is that we see how good this show is at making us care for guest characters despite their flaws. I just remain curious about where all those flawed characters will go from here.
Speaking of that, it seems there should be more to Rick’s story as well. By all accounts, the evidence the team shows proves he is guilty of involuntary manslaughter, not intentional murder. His other crimes may negate changing his fate, but that should at least be acknowledged.
Overall, this episode has great characters, tells an interesting story, and once again gets us deeply emotionally involved. It’s just sometimes hard to believe we’d really get the completely happy ending we do, much as we all need one.
Regardless, there are a few things I can get behind 100%. My feelings about all that happened between them aside, I think it’s clear Bull should be happy he was lucky enough to hire Cable back just in time for her to pull a rabbit out of her hacker hat.
While this, like many episodes, dedicated the vast majority of its screen time to the case of the week, the few small bits of character development we got were important, too. Kyle is still a much-despised jerk. Chunk is still struggling with his professor.
I’m curious to see which elements of character backstory will continue to receive focus as we move toward the end of the season. There have been a lot of little threads left hanging through the season, and I expect some of them to be tugged.
As we do move into the final installments of season two, we’ll probably see more cases with more personal impact on the team. Is there really no crying in trial science? I suppose we’ll find out.
What did you think of this episode of Bull? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Bull airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on CBS.
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Caitlin Wyneken
Caitlin is an elder millennial with an only slightly unhealthy dedication to a random selection of TV shows, from PBS Masterpiece dramas to some of the less popular series on popular networks. Outside of screen time, she's dedicated to the public sector and worthy nonprofits, working to make a difference in the world outside of media.
2 comments
I loved the episode but was surprised at the incorrect Tom Hanks reference at the end of the show. When Bull said “Wasn’t it Tom Hanks who said there are no tears in trial science” – that was cute (although it was actually ‘crying’ not ‘tears’ ) but I gave that a pass. BUT when Benny replied something like “no, it was there are no tears in chocolate” – you don’t get a pass there – it’s not even the right Tom Hanks movie! The reference ‘there’s no crying in baseball’ (not chocolate) is from ‘A League of Their Own,’ not ‘Forest Gump’!!!! How could no one have caught that?
Don’t be daft! Bull was deliberately mis-quoting the League of their own quote so Benny deliberately made a JOKE in return, deliberately mis-linking it to the Forrest Gump quote. FoRRest Gump. Two R’s
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