Bull Review: Justice for Cable (Season 3 Episode 4)

On Bull Season 3 Episode 4, “Justice for Cable,” TAC supports their lost teammate’s mother in turning heartbreak into justice.

When taking on a deeply personal issue, people can use passion to be at their best. They may also let their emotions overcome them and take dubious risks. With Jason Bull, we see a little of both.

When he defended an abused woman accused of killing her husband, having lost his own sister to abuse, he forced a charge of murder, sure he could disprove it. It was a move that even he once feared regretting.

The loss of Cable, though, seems even more personal than that, at least coming in the immediate aftermath. It affects the entire team and everyone who loves Cable. Bull takes all of that on his shoulders.

There’s no way to keep our own emotional involvement out of grieving with these characters. It helps add depth and tension to climactic moments; even those we’ve seen before.

It also helps that we channel so much of our motivation around Cable’s mother. Having met her for only a few moments before, we now see someone who is strong and even funny while facing unbearable pain.

It’s no surprise, then, that Bull vows to do whatever he can to help. He is the one to encourage her to file suit against a bank that facilitated a terrorist attack, even as she immediately agrees to the pursuit for justice.

We soon push the edges of what should make us comfortable. TAC steps to the point of setting up a suit they aren’t allowed to make themselves, which I’m surprised goes so unchallenged.

Bull’s own behavior is the most concerning. He drinks for the first time since his heart attack and shows up to Marissa’s door in the middle of the night. Both indicate an unhealthy healing process.

Interestingly, and, to me, disappointingly, these troubling signs are only briefly discussed in terms of actual emotions. Even four episodes in, we’ve seen only a glimmer of the pain of some on the team.

At least the opening scene, with Bull making a speech in Cable’s honor at a memorial, brings us back to the fact this is a long-lasting and far-reaching event. So does the need to hire a replacement.

Here, we get the hints of more to be anxious about. While we understand Bull’s reluctance to fill the role Cable left at her work, it means he’s putting an unfair burden on the rest of the team.

Marissa’s friend, Taylor, seems like a great fit for the role. She even reminds me a bit of Cable, albeit a little older and with a young child of her own. She’s willing to do whatever it takes for a cause—and so more trouble arises.

It’s true that we don’t see any serious consequences of Bull taking information she obtained by illicit means to the stand. Yet that seems only a matter of luck. What of Bull taking that photo, knowing it could put Taylor in prison?

There are certainly explanations for his behavior. Like Taylor, we understand his desperation to do whatever it takes for Cable. We understand why she forgives and admires the action, though it is still quite the swing.

Perhaps Bull doesn’t want her to know of his actions for her own protection, but why not give her a heads up? Even a hint of what he could pull off would diminish the feeling of what could have been a major hurdle in their relationship.

The miracle win is very familiar by now, but so is the witness death that initially interferes with it. The show did something very similar in another episode, with very similar consequences.

This time, we see see the corrupt banker not only lose $100 million, but also get arrested. We cheer the result with the team, but it once again highlights rage and pain that even this win can’t eliminate.

Cable’s mom will make more appearances this season, and I’m very curious to see them. Once thing we’ve definitely learned is that Bull is often the least careful when he should be the most. That could well continue to play out in future episodes.

Lest it sound like I’m talking “at” this episode more than about it, I do really like it for the most part. While I’d like more emotion, what we do get is wonderful. The concerns we have are raised intentionally, and I look forward to seeing them addressed.

Preview — Bull Season Season 3 Episode 1: The Ground Beneath Their Feet

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Bull airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on CBS.

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