S01.E16: Free Fall

[MyAimIsTrue]

When a state governor and the co-owner of a skydiving company die during a jump, Bull helps the co-owner’s brother, Max Hyland, and daughter fight a lawsuit filed by the governor’s widow by trying to find who sabotaged the parachute. Also, Bull and his frequent trial collaborator, Liberty Davis, find themselves on opposing sides in court for the first time.

[marina to]

Count me sad that we'll have to watch Liberty lose, since there's no way Bull is going to.

[JackONeill]

Bull is still arrogant, and even after being wrong he hasn't learned a damn thing. 

And he ruined the legacy of the Governor, and ruined his memory for his wife. What a jerk! And he still asked her for a favor. 

[Dowel Jones]

I was hoping the widow would come around with a haymaker and put her purse into the side of Bull's head.  And, on top of that, Bull's assistant double crosses her contact.  This episode could have been more about betrayal than fault finding. 

The new governor would have been a fool to rescind the order expanding the airport.  The loss of potential jobs would have everyone breathing down his neck.  Sorry, but the skydiving center could always go somewhere else, and very likely would have, given the increase in traffic.  Seems like more and more of the plots leave me saying "Whaaaaat?"

Finally, speaking as a skydiver, if anyone is considering trying out this activity, please don't the this show color your perceptions of the sport.  Neither the training nor the operations happen that way.  That being said, I am well aware of the need for dramatic license in pursuit of the plot.

[sinkwriter]

ARGH. Bull is such an arrogant fucker. (LOL. Sorry.) The nerve of him asking the widow for anything. On the one hand, he's right -- that poor daughter shouldn't have to suffer anymore, given that she's lost her father and her uncle. I'm glad the widow had some mercy in that regard. On the other hand, I wish we'd seen her stay a little angry with him. She conceded fairly easily, and her tone switched to a softer mode, but I don't think Bull deserved that. Even if she agreed to drop the suit, he still deserved a punch in the face.

And I don't think he deserved forgiveness from Liberty so easily. He was such an ass to her. I know he's competitive but there is a line where you don't treat your friends and colleagues that way. 

One thing I liked: how his team kept taunting Bull with "Mirror Bull" -- it was clearly getting under his skin. He didn't like being analyzed. And they were right, he likes being in complete control and knowing the outcome before it happens. Seeing him even the slightest bit rattled or out of control was good. We need to see that about him; otherwise, he's got no interesting edges.

Side question: why didn't Danny give her contact a head's up? She seemed upset that Bull's choices were going to burn her contact, so why didn't she let him know? Even if she needed to wait until the last minute, so that he couldn't put in any measures to stop them from using the information, she still could have let him know that day, as the testimony was being presented. That way, he and his team wouldn't be so blindsided and maybe be able to at the very least have a prepared statement ready for when the press came knocking on their door.

Edited March 9, 2017 by sinkwriter

[hoopznyo]

Liberty, why be so nice? He's just going to do the very same thing to you next time you take a "good" case and don't call TAC. 

Danny -- you're my favorite female character on the show. You're smart, tough, and can hold your own..but your boss is an ass. First he ripped you to shreds in the mock trial with the bombing lady and now compromises your contact. Find a new job. 

[hoopznyo]

Quote

Finally, speaking as a skydiver, if anyone is considering trying out this activity, please don't the this show color your perceptions of the sport.  Neither the training nor the operations happen that way.  That being said, I am well aware of the need for dramatic license in pursuit of the plot

Do first time skydivers jump solo or tandem jump? It seemed odd that everyone was jumping out of the plane without an experienced person with them.

[marina to]

Vastly enjoyed the "mirror Bull" ribbing the team was giving him. Any time they give him the gears it's vastly enjoyable. And Liberty playing hardball? Loved it.

Noticed that it was all the women who took the risk to jump. We know who's the real risk-takers are. 

Glad that the wife didn't punish the daughter but agree with everyone that she should have found a way to get back at Bull.

And Benny? You're breaking my heart.

Edited March 14, 2017 by marina to

[Dowel Jones]

On 3/10/2017 at 5:24 AM, hoopznyo said:

Do first time skydivers jump solo or tandem jump?

Some drop zones require a tandem jump before actual training.  Others go right into freefall, but with two instructors for the first four jumps, and one instructor for the final four.  And only after about a 5 hour ground school.  But hey, it would have cost mucho money to hire two extras for each of the characters, so I'll give them a pass.  What was really funny to me was the interior plane shots were from a large turbine aircraft with the door on the pilot's left.  When they got out, it was from a Cessna with the door on the right.

[Netfoot]

7 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

What was really funny to me was the interior plane shots were from a large turbine aircraft with the door on the pilot's left.  When they got out, it was from a Cessna with the door on the right.

Movie-makers are habitually blasé when it comes to aeroplane continuity.  External shots of warbirds in particular.

"Uh-oh!  MiGs!"  (stock footage of a pair of Swedish Viggens...)

"Here they come!"  (stock footage of a pair of American Phantom F4s...)

WW-I & WW-II vintage is the worst!

Edited March 14, 2017 by Netfoot

[hoopznyo]

7 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

 What was really funny to me was the interior plane shots were from a large turbine aircraft with the door on the pilot's left.  When they got out, it was from a Cessna with the door on the right.

The continuity department was also having a hard time with background shots. Some have trees - no leaves; and then there was one shot that looked like spring, green leaves, etc. smacked right in the middle. If it wasn't in the middle of stick tree shots I would've convinced myself time had passed between accident and trial.  :)