S02.E01: School for Scandal

[MyAimIsTrue]

When Bull joins the district attorney in a case against Kara Clayton, who claims she killed her billionaire husband in self-defense, tensions run high when he learns that his on-again, off-again romantic interest, Diana Lindsay, is defending the widow. Also, Chunk makes a decision about his future

[dttruman]

I have to admit, I am still having trouble trying to accept this "Jury Influencing" and I also wonder how others will too. But for this episode, they ask you to believe that the District Attorney would appoint Bull's group to prosecute this case even though he has a personal history with the defense attorney and this situation would be totally out of the question to begin with. They also expect you to believe that the police overlook obvious evidence that would never happen in any murder trial. Even the police from Perry Mason and Matlock  TV shows were never dumbed down that much to make their characters look smarter or made more important. But what ticks me off the most is Bull accusing Diana Lindsay of jury tampering or manipulation. Is that the "Pot calling the Kettle  Black". this whole trial was so unbelievable, I think even the most dedicated fan would question the effort the writers and producers put here to try and make it look authentic.

[marina to]

I like how they've reset the opening of the show. It has a warmer feel with the voiceover off the top, the views of our team starting the morning, the musical underlay. I like we don't even get to the court stuff until halfway through the episode. 

And Danny reading Bull the riot act? Someone heard our bitching about Bull being annoyingly right all the time.

I enjoyed this one a lot. Hope this is a good sign for this season.

[brgjoe]

I generally liked it.  Also like the voiceover at the beginning.  And it was nice they actually addressed some of their concerns about $$ to keep their little operation going.

Though a couple of things I did wonder about.  They found out the weapon didn't have any fingerprints on it.  Wouldn't the police have discovered that themselves and had about a dozen red flags suddenly pop up?  And I still don't get that juror from Calisto, TX.  Did she actually turn out to be a plant?  Or was it some super coincidence after all?  And with her talking on the phone outside the courthouse, couldn't they have gotten her dismissed anyway for talking about the case? 

But all in all, I kinda liked the episode.  Good to see Chunk going to law school.  I was worried that maybe that would be a way to write him off the show.  But glad he is sticking around (apparently).

[JessDVD]

I'm still generally liking this show, even if it has its moments. I too couldn't figure out the point of the juror from Calisto, they never resolved where she came from. Nice to see them addressing the money.

I've pretty much had it with the CBS procedural type shows having a more minor character who specializes in one area, deciding they want to become an (agent, lawyer, whatever). See all of Sebastian from NCIS: New Orleans, Nell and Eric from NCIS: LA, Jerry Ortega from H50. That said, this one at least is plausible, I could see Chunk's character wanting to go to law school and succeeding, as opposed to the others which all require major suspension of disbelief. 

[shrewd.buddha]

It appears they are still tweaking the dynamics of the show : 

• Chunk is being given more to do than dress clients and forcing plaids, stripes and polka-dots to co-exist in the same outfit. 
• Bull makes mistakes and apologizes - - but also is now a motor-mouth who chases the $$ and is not just helping the falsely accused with pro bono cases. 
• Bull's mock jury members actually attend the trial (??!!) and are given transponder watches in full view of the judge (??!!). 
• This episode didn't end with Bull's staff celebrating the win with an elaborate theme party. A black widow spider motif could have been fun. 
• Bull's hacker-in-residence didn't break a bunch of laws or cyber stalk jury members to give his team an advantage (or they didn't show it happening).
• There was an attempt to address the cost of all the expensive trappings. Still, the amount they were paid probably doesn't go very far in NY, NY real estate. 

The trial arguments seemed to be even more dumbed down than last season. And the surprise evidence discovery was the reason the jury flipped to Bull's side, not some artful persuasion on Bull's part.
I get the impression that CBS procedurals are not allowed to have gray moral issues. 

This show is fairly entertaining, tho. It has made me consider that our justice system could stand a re-examination since it appears almost every element of it is primed for being rigged.

Edited September 27, 2017 by shrewd.buddha

[JackONeill]

My takeaway: Bull needs to shave, especially when in court!!!

[dttruman]

I have to admit, I am still having trouble trying to accept this "Jury Influencing" and I also wonder how others will too. But for this episode, they ask you to believe that the District Attorney would appoint Bull's group to prosecute this case even though he has a personal history with the defense attorney and this situation would be totally out of the question to begin with. They also expect you to believe that the police overlook obvious evidence that would never happen in any murder trial. Even the police from Perry Mason and Matlock  TV shows were never dumbed down that much to make their characters look smarter or made more important. But what ticks me off the most is Bull accusing Diana Lindsay of jury tampering or manipulation. Is that the "Pot calling the Kettle  Black". this whole trial was so unbelievable, I think even the most dedicated fan would question the effort the writers and producers put here to try and make it look authentic.

[marina to]

13 hours ago, shrewd.buddha said:

Bull's mock jury members actually attend the trial (??!!) and are given transponder watches in full view of the judge (??!!). 

Didn't they do it last year? I seem to remember one episode where a plot point was that the courtroom was cleared so they couldn't get the mock jurists in.

[katalizt]

13 hours ago, shrewd.buddha said:

 

• There was an attempt to address the cost of all the expensive trappings. Still, the amount they were paid probably doesn't go very far in NY, NY real estate. 

When Marissa was pointing out all the expensive things to Bull, it sounded like she was reading straight off some of the comments on here last season!

 

13 hours ago, shrewd.buddha said:

• Bull's mock jury members actually attend the trial (??!!) and are given transponder watches in full view of the judge (??!!). 

The mirror jury is the one that sits in the court room wearing Marissa's magic biometric watches. These are the people that are matched to each real juror in every way possible. The mock juries are the people that listen to the practice trials in the fake court room. 

Seriously, none of these judges have noticed a group of people that look suspiciously similar to the jurors, always sit together, and all wear the same smart watch? There was the one small town judge that noticed Marissa shepherding the mirror jury in and kicked them out. I think it was in the episode about the arsonist.

13 hours ago, shrewd.buddha said:

• This episode didn't end with Bull's staff celebrating the win with an elaborate theme party. A black widow spider motif could have been fun. 

You're right, I had forgotten about the parties! Part of me thinks we're better off without them, part of me now wants to see your black widow spider party, lol.

I kept waiting for Danny to pull up the evidence file showing the lack of fingerprints. The way they showed it, everyone just took his word for it. I think expecting a detective to give expert testimony and regarding the evidence is too much to ask of this show!

[Misslindsey]

I would have killed for a duet with Brian Stokes Mitchell and Christopher Jackson. I am all for Chunk getting more to do with going to law school, but I just want him to sing. Who do I have to do to make that happen?

[Sarah 103]

On September 27, 2017 at 9:59 AM, shrewd.buddha said:

 

• This episode didn't end with Bull's staff celebrating the win with an elaborate theme party. A black widow spider motif could have been fun. 

I didn't notice the episode didn't end with a party until you mentioned it. I do like the big parties at the end of the episode. I suppose the in-universe explanation would be that Bull took what Marissa said to heart and is cutting a back a teeny-tiny bit on expenses. 

On September 30, 2017 at 0:22 AM, Misslindsey said:

I would have killed for a duet with Brian Stokes Mitchell and Christopher Jackson. I am all for Chunk getting more to do with going to law school, but I just want him to sing. Who do I have to do to make that happen?

Reasons why you might see Chunk sing:

1. Practicing for/appearing in the Law School Talent Show and everyone goes to support him. (I doubt these are actually a real life thing but they totally sound like something that could exist in TV Land).

2. Dream Sequence

3. Musical episode (could be combined with number 2). 

[beadgirl]

Quote

1. Practicing for/appearing in the Law School Talent Show and everyone goes to support him. (I doubt these are actually a real life thing but they totally sound like something that could exist in TV Land).

In fact, Georgetown University Law Center has a theatre group that puts on three productions a year, two of them musicals.  So that's how you get Chuck to sing.

[Dowel Jones]

I guess the rules of trial have changed in New York.  I was under the impression that each side gave an opening statement, then the prosecution proceeded with its case, presenting ALL its evidence.  The defense has the opportunity to cross examine.  Then the defense presents its case, and the prosecution cross examines.  It sure looked like Lindsay put Melania Kara Clayton up on the stand during the prosecution's side in the trial, and no evidence was submitted, until the cross examination, and only then in verbal form only.

I can only imagine the outcry from the public and the legislature were it revealed that the DA had dropped a 1st degree murder prosecution when the defendant signed off on a megamillion dollar payout.  Right.

When Kara pointed to her left shoulder and said the stab wound missed her heart by centimeters, I said, "Whaaat?"

[ljp]

I will keep watching the show because it's light and frothy, but it really is unrealistic. I actually thought the amount they were paid seemed low for what they do. Trials take a lot of time. Lawyers generally bill by the hour. I know not everyone on bulls team is a lawyer, but some are. The types of lawyers they generally talk about having on this show, from big NYC law firms bill close to or in excess of 1000 an hour. 250k or even 500k is not that much money given those rates. 3 senior people, 165 hours basically. Most NY lawyers bill like at least 180 hours a month

[kassygreene]

She did miss her heart by centimeters.  Also by inches, each of which contains 2.54 centimeters.  I suppose to an American (Imperial Units) jury, centimeters sounds closer.

[Dowel Jones]

I won't argue too much, but, on rewatch, she said "a centimeter", and pointed to the midpoint of her shoulder, several inches away.  If she had said something like "the brachial artery", it might have been more convincing, at least to me.

[sinkwriter]

This just in: I still hate the character Diana.

And unfortunately her other show (Night Shift) was recently cancelled, so she'll probably be more free to visit on this show. Damn it.

Edited October 26, 2017 by sinkwriter

[sinkwriter]

Danny telling Bull that if he ever throws something at her again, he'll live to regret it? Was AWESOME.