Bull Season 3 Episode 4
She wasn’t easy to move on from.
This week, we opened the episode with something different: a wake for Cable, in her favorite hang out, her friends and family gathered to “talk about all those nutty t-shirts she wore.” Instead of a cold opening to our next client, we—the audience and characters—were given a chance to say farewell. We returned to pick up the threads frayed after the first episode of the season.
After the wake, Ellen (Jill Hennessy) revealed the police recovered personal items from Cable’s car and body. Bull (Michael Weatherly) automatically offered to take care of it and bring them (or not) to her. Despite this, we get the sense things were left unfinished.
It’s a horrible world.
Three weeks later, Danny (Jaime Lee Kirchner) asked Marissa (Geneva Carr) to put the TV on a breaking news report about plastic explosives found on the supports of the section of the I-99 where Cable perished. It appeared what happened was sabotage or terrorism.
So it turns out, the opening scene was not as different as we thought after all: Cable would be their client (hence the title in case there was any doubt).
I’m not going to stop dead from a sip of whiskey.
I appreciate the show for not sweeping Cable’s death to the wayside for the sake of new storylines. And Marissa’s reaction when she saw the glass of whiskey was a nice touch. We have three previous episodes stressing how Bull was determined to change his habits, one of which was his drinking. Bull assured Marissa he’s fine with a sip. She replied, “You don’t know that. I might kill you.”
Benny (Freddy Rodríguez) entered the office as well and together they broke the news they got Gronsky and his cell of terrorists who killed Cable. The involved cell was killed in Prague during a raid.
No one ever took credit for the collapse on purpose. The terrorists tried to make the bridge collapse look like it was an accident, to make everyone afraid of the everyday things people take for granted.
What do we do now?
Marissa asked a question many of us still ask to this day. The show didn’t pull any punches with Benny’s defeated sounding speech that there was nothing they can do. The terrorists won. They took the certainty away, the security away. And they took Cable.
Is the 3 am thing normal?
My favorite part was the return of the sleuthing Dr. Jason Bull of season one. He couldn’t ignore a case, especially when it involved someone from his team. He has the tenacity of Columbo, the belief he needed to be Atlas and shoulder more than he should handle; it’s always a thrill to see him chase down the conclusion of a case. Yet also worrying Bull was returning to his old ways.
Unfortunately for Marissa, Bull also returned with his late hours. At three in the morning, her doorman called up to say Bull was downstairs.
While Bull sat in her kitchen, he tells her he thought about what Benny said there was nothing to do but embrace fear.
Marissa’s husband, in a robe and not amused, showed up in what I call husbandry posturing. He introduced himself and pointedly asked if the late-night visits were a regular thing. You can’t help feeling sorry for Marissa here and a dash of irritation at Greg especially after Greg offered Bull a drink. Although Marissa was quick to say no, apparently her negative was vetoed when they later all sat around the table with a drink. The question here was, did Greg know about Bull’s drinking? And for that matter, did he care? I have a feeling he’ll feature in a later episode.
The folks that killed Cable.
The three discussed how the terrorists funded the attack. Marissa said it sounded like they needed a bank. Bull asked Marissa to reach out to any contacts she has in the US Attorney office. Marissa reminded Bull all the terrorists are dead. Who was Bull going after? Bull told Marissa he wanted to go after the ones who paid for the bridge to come down.
He is Thoreau.
Next day, Bull met with Marissa’s contact, AUSA Reynolds. The culprit, in this case, was a powerful financial giant called Thoreau Financial. The bank was investigated a few times and cleared every time.
There was no way to touch Thoreau. And the repercussions of bringing down his American bank could mean the loss of thousands of jobs.
Bull was unsatisfied. He asked what if they just bring the CEO down?
It’s a minor technicality.
Marissa announced to the TAC team John Honaker was their target instead of Thoreau. Bull’s convinced Honaker was involved.
Benny pointed out they weren’t prosecutors, though. And they can’t file a civil lawsuit because they weren’t family. Bull, however, found a way around that.
Why would I say no?
Bull went to see Ellen. He wanted to file a lawsuit for her against John Honaker. Bull would pay for everything. The idea of borrowing Ellen to file a civil lawsuit against Honaker bordered on the implausible. It was the classic brazen Jason Bull move. For this to work, he needed was Ellen’s consent.
But, Bull warned, the case would be painful, reporters could be knocking at her door.
It’s an interesting way to bring in Cable’s mother without the usual tropes we endure whenever a celebrity guest is brought in to play parent. There is often a tendency to ret-con a character’s canon to suit the guest star. Jill Hennessy, however, was a beautiful fit, playing the grieving mother of one of our beloved characters. She asked Bull if he ever lost a child and agreed to the lawsuit by way of asking him to “make it hurt.” This will become the mantra throughout the rest of the episode.
No one wants to replace Cable.
The episode understood how much of a loss Cable was for both the team and the audience. Everyone on the team had a chance to put in how they felt. When Danny barged into Bull’s office, it was a great moment. She pointed out she was not Cable. She was an investigator and Bull couldn’t expect her to be able to learn Cable’s skills this quickly. It was reassuring to hear the show in a way acknowledging it although I did wish they explored the team’s feelings of loss more rather than the case. But it at least paved the way for our new character when Marissa jumped in, promising she’ll handle it
Bull had weeks of candidates to interview, but he never even looked at the stack of resumes. He admitted he couldn’t sit there interviewing people like he was happy he or she was here.
Temporary Taylor Rentzel.
Bull planned to stay a few hours to read up on the case. (Uh oh) Marissa warned Bull not to fall asleep on his desk again. And don’t drink.
To be fair, Bull fell asleep on his couch, not his desk. He woke up to loud music and discovered Marissa’s friend Taylor Rentzel (MacKenzie Meehan) playing the loud music in TAC, dancing while she worked. Comically, she first thought Bull was the custodian.
Leave a Reply