Bull 306 – Fool Me Twice
What happens when this time the client is one of their own?
At the end of the day, we’re in it for Marissa.
This time, one of TAC was directly involved with the case of the week. We got the chance to see the situation from both sides.
Marissa’s marriage (remarriage?) to her first husband was a shock in the third season opener. It was implied after Bull’s heart attack, Marissa (Geneva Carr) re-evaluated her personal life and went back to Greg.
The few times Greg was on screen, he set boundaries on their personal and work life: no more three am visits from Jason Bull (Michael Weatherly), no more late hours at work for Marissa.
Greg came across aloof and unapproachable. Marissa was head over heels over Greg, but the show at this point didn’t give the viewers a lot to enamored us to Greg.
And that could be deliberate because in this episode, our client was Greg.
Post hoc, ergo, propter hoc.
After a sweet opening that captured Marissa and her husband Greg in marital bliss (which meant it’ll all go horribly wrong soon), we’re introduced to the crime.
Greg’s restaurant burned down; a body was found. The fire marshal determined it was grease build up in the vents and poorly stored cleaning products. Greg was now charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Even though the case was about Greg, the episode felt like it was still about the team. Benny (Freddy Rodriguez) came at Marissa’s request to represent Greg after he was arrested. Bull offered the full services of TAC. Benny later on stepped in to be Greg’s criminal defense.
What surprised me was how much doubt brewed around Greg—not by the TAC team, but by Marissa. As the team one by one uncovered suspicious items such as a fire policy and a two-million-dollar debt, the team did their best not to jump to any conclusions. However, Marissa started to suspect the worse.
He’s not Kyle.
Any other show might have jumped at the chance to have the team judge Greg as guilty. Greg was the outsider, the new guy (well, new to them). Greg’s introduction to the show was abrupt, a shock and intentionally so. There wasn’t time to get to know him as we did with Taylor.
It was the perfect setup for drama: create a tensed downfall of one of their own without sacrificing someone in the established cast.
Except Bull didn’t go that route: Greg wasn’t guilty and the twist on the murderer was a fun one. What made this one of my favorite Bull episodes was the fact the show refused to go down the cliché storylines even though it set up as where it was going.
I actually have two dogs in this fight.
Marissa was placed in an awkward position between TAC and Greg. A situation, sadly, she put herself in. Marissa convinced herself Greg was guilty while the team struggled to keep her from spiraling into worse assumptions.
The way the clues presented themselves, the audience was led to suspect maybe Greg was a bad egg after all.
Want to share a cab?
Marissa’s emotions were always on the brink of breaking; Geneva Carr deserves so many kudos for her performance. Her experiences with Kyle still hurt.
This situation was primed to create conflict to split up the team or Marissa with Greg. It was established early in the show Bull never approved of Marissa’s choices. This would have been an opportunity to prove he was right.
Jason Bull was the psychiatrist, the best friend and the intuitive investigator all rolled into one in this episode.
Instead of seeing the union as a threat to his partnership with Marissa, he worked hard to steer Marissa away from doubting Greg. Bull was supportive even as he grilled Greg during witness prep. Bull used the situation to cast a light on Marissa’s insecurities instead.
A nice change of pace from the tired trope. Plus, this was a great use of continuity.
You can only be who you can be.
When Marissa lamented that she was a terrible wife, Bull pointed out he wasn’t the one she should ask; it would be like asking “the Helen Keller of marriage whether or not he likes the color of your dress,” acknowledging his own flaws regarding relationships.
As for Greg, he didn’t go into a fit of jealousy when he learned Marissa shared with Bull one of their private rituals. Greg wasn’t made into the stereotypical possessive husband; he was reasonably hurt by Marissa’s distance during the case.
Excellent answer.
In the end, the episode set up as if Marissa and Greg would break up because of this.
The episode could have made Greg the enemy, divide the team, split dynamics for the sake of fabricated internal conflict. Instead, the show once again detoured from the cliché and brought Marissa and Greg closer together.
The episode served for Greg how ‘Justice for Cable’ (Episode 4) did for Taylor. We got to know Marissa’s husband past his curt demeanor. The team accepted the case for Marissa, but towards the end, they fought the case for Greg and won it for both.
Fool me twice.
This is the Bull I thought the show could be. While the case itself wasn’t complicated; the team’s responses to the case were. The storyline was engaging with the team pulled deeper into the inner workings.
Understandably, not all cases in Bull will involve someone directly connected with the cast. However, I hope the show will continue with its MO to ignore the tired tropes just like it did with this episode.
With each development, I expected the episode to go one way and it didn’t. So even though I guessed who the real culprit was early on, the show still managed to fool me in the end. Bravo, show.
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