Bull Review: Forfeiture (Season 3 Episode 16)
Chunk takes his first case on Bull Season 3 Episode 16 “Forfeiture,” and it’s no time before everybody else is involved, too.
Since that whole thing with his judgmental professor last season, we’ve heard only the briefest mentions of Chunk’s continued pursuits in law school and beyond. Now, at last, we get the pay off.
His case gets off to a better start than many in TAC, his client Darius avoiding lockup or even having to pay bail. We should expect by now that that’s only a starting point, and one that won’t last.
The main issue for our defense is finding a defense at all. Turns out knockoffs are, legally speaking, kind of a big deal. My cheapskate side is very disappointed.
I also can’t help feeling Chunk has a very good point in his entrapment angle. Everything he says about Raymond, the secret FBI agent, is accurate. Persuading someone to commit a crime just to arrest them is super shady.
This isn’t to say it’s wrong to have both Bull and Benny object to how well the plan will stand up in court. It’s just another one of those things that seems left to legal technicalities that are never fully explained.
It may be too that the objections are drawn up solely to create some disagreements within TAC, but those tensions really don’t last. Much as I dislike inter-team tension, it’s a bit of a waste of potential drama.
Most notably, I have to wonder why are led to believe even briefly that the head of this team would be upset about a new lawyer pushing through with his own ways. Isn’t that exactly what Jason Bull wants on his team?
In the end, the answer is yes. Chunk wins his first case and helps everyone else win theirs. Sure enough, the once-criticized attitude is a benefit, and his boss winds up appreciating him for it.
Meanwhile, just as I start to worry that Bull forgot about that little ex-wife-shaped development between Jason and Diana Lindsay, we get reassurance (of a sort) that that won’t be the case.
The scenes are all too brief, and they consist only of Bull leaving unanswered calls, but that tells us a lot of what we need to know for now. Things are not looking good.
If we see Diana in the next few episodes, there may still be a chance that we get the conversations that will save this relationship. Otherwise, I doubt we’ll ever get them—especially if the show is cancelled after this season.
There are a lot of questions before we leave our characters, temporarily or permanently, in the coming finale. I hope at least some of them are answered.
Additional Notes
- This is at least the second time Bull has stepped up to defend a man so quickly he’s had to stop and ask their name. Props, I guess?
- As Marissa notes, even when Chunk is off his game, his persona is loved in court. Given that Christopher Jackson is a theater actor, is anyone surprised?
- I really want some of Darius’s homemade shaving butter. It’s an original product, not a knockoff, so the FBI should have no objections, right?
What did you think of this episode of Bull? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Bull airs Mondays at 10/9c 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.