S02.E09: Thanksgiving

[MyAimIsTrue]

As Thanksgiving approaches, Bull releases his team to enjoy the holiday with their families, only to find himself working a case solo when he agrees to help a boxer who is being tried for murder. Also, Chunk makes a major personal decision at his family’s Thanksgiving dinner, while Marissa’s dinner with Kyle is abruptly cancelled when he is mugged.

[marina to]

I was having way more fun following the team then caring about the case. Poor Marissa. You think Kyle would be smarter than trying to mess with someone who used to work in Homeland Security.

[dttruman]

Does anybody else think they should have just left out the case (or trial) that Bull was involved with and just create another story line for him that consists more of his private life, like some of the other characters in this episode? It seem like the trial had somethings going on that needed explanation, but was left out. IMO, the consistent problem with Bull is that it expects the viewers to accept everything that happens even though some of it defies logic or even common sense.

[marina to]

8 minutes ago, dttruman said:

Does anybody else think they should have just left out the case (or trial) that Bull was involved with and just create another story line for him that consists more of his private life, like some of the other characters in this episode? 

*raises hand*

[Dowel Jones]

Well, that was certainly an interesting ending to the case.  Usually they have Bull creating a happy ending in a Hallmark Movie kind of way.  Nope, this time the boxer is sold to the devil, as he said.  It didn't seem to register on his face that he was now living on borrowed time and there's nothing he can do about it.  I hope part of the deal was for the DA to go after the neighbor for perjury.

Please shave, Bull. 

Kyle, in addition to picking the wrong woman to wrong, you went to the wrong country.  China is not going to look kindly upon your presence, particularly if you are suspected of something more heinous than shoplifting.

[LuvMyShows]

Help, I'm super confused about Chunk and the kid and the woman/mother.  I would have though that  the 'big news' that would encourage the girl to confide more in Chunk if she goes to NYC, is that he is her father...but because I was unable to figure out any relationship between Chunk and the woman/mother, I figured she was his sister.  But there's no way that the show would go there!  So is the woman/mother an ex, who he has stayed remarkably close with, and for whatever reason, the woman/mother has lied to her daughter about who her father is?

[Sarah 103]

12 hours ago, dttruman said:

Does anybody else think they should have just left out the case (or trial) that Bull was involved with and just create another story line for him that consists more of his private life, like some of the other characters in this episode? 

Yes. I liked the idea of showing Bull working alone without the team, but my problem was we really didn't see him working alone. Your idea of everyone off on their own having a little mini storyline is great. I could picture Bull getting lonely without the team and trying to get a group together but everyone has plans or is already married with a family and can't get away. 

18 minutes ago, LuvMyShows said:

Help, I'm super confused about Chunk and the kid and the woman/mother.  I would have though that  the 'big news' that would encourage the girl to confide more in Chunk if she goes to NYC, is that he is her father...but because I was unable to figure out any relationship between Chunk and the woman/mother, I figured she was his sister.  But there's no way that the show would go there!  So is the woman/mother an ex, who he has stayed remarkably close with, and for whatever reason, the woman/mother has lied to her daughter about who her father is?

I'm not sure either. I thought he was going to visit family, so at first I thought she was niece. Maybe the woman is a good family friend so she and her daughter are included as part of Chunk's family's Thanksgiving dinner. The plot line needed some more explanation.  

[HurricaneVal]

Chunk's plotline definitely needed more explanation.  I totally thought that woman was his sister.  Perhaps there were fertility issues, and he provided sperm for donor eggs to provide familial DNA?  Or maybe she's a sister-in-law and Chunk's brother was the one with fertility issues, so Chunk provided donor sperm, then the brother subsequently died?  Maybe his sister is a lesbian, and he provided sperm for her wife's pregnancy?  Or maybe it is a true Flowers in the Attic situation and things are about to get pretty outre and Bull is going to earn that 9PM timeslot?

I was also completely confused by Marissa's storyline.  The writers didn't wait long for her boyfriend to screw her over like we knew he was going to do.  But...if they were going to spend the holiday together, why is it after he got "mugged" he had to immediately hie off to China?  In my defense, I'm on drugs, so I wasn't tracking as well as I usually do.  Geneva Carr really sold that scene in the phone with the car service as she put 2+2 together and realized what happened.  That was well done.  I quite like that actress.

I'm not going to talk about Bull's storyline since my Z-pack and codeine cough syrup addled brain proved unable to cope or care about the case, except to say he ordered a full Thanksgiving dinner delivery for one man?  That was a whole turkey sitting in front of his pathetic self when Danny dropped her pie off.  His tradition is to eat himself into a tryptophan stupor in a fit of self pity?

I loved Bennie's story.  I loved how he rolled his eyes at the skimpy outfit of his seatmate, then allowed himself to be attracted to her physical beauty, then was disgusted with himself by leering at her apparent youth, then went back to his book.  I loved how he allowed himself to hope, then resigned himself to disappointment, then the joy in his face when she texted him back.  I hope this isn't some sort of manipulative scam being run on him to get an "in" at the agency.  It all seems very convenient.

I also loved how Cable's smugly "superior" hipster-cool Friendsgiving turned out to be pathetic and awful.

Edited November 22, 2017 by HurricaneVal
I had another idea

[Netfoot]

53 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

The writers didn't wait long for her boyfriend to screw her over like we knew he was going to do.  But...if they were going to spend the holiday together, why is it after he got "mugged" he had to immediately hie off to China?

He was going to China from before he was mugged.  Then he lost his cash/cards and passport in the mugging, and she helped him out.  But, was he really mugged?  Or was that just a play to get her to break loose her banking info so as to lend him some cash, so he could rip off the rest?  Did he even go to china?  And, do you actually want to piss off the one person who can call in a favour and have you placed on the No-Fly list, while you are in China?  You might end up eating chow-mein for the rest of your life!  

You know, she is pretty dumb.  I have felt so from the beginning.  I get the impression that Bull employs her for the same reason that Mr. Roarke employed Tattoo -- He feels sorry for her so he keeps her as a pet. This latest development does little to change my initial impression.

[marina to]

5 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

I was also completely confused by Marissa's storyline.  The writers didn't wait long for her boyfriend to screw her over like we knew he was going to do.  But...if they were going to spend the holiday together, why is it after he got "mugged" he had to immediately hie off to China?  In my defense, I'm on drugs, so I wasn't tracking as well as I usually do.  Geneva Carr really sold that scene in the phone with the car service as she put 2+2 together and realized what happened.  That was well done.  I quite like that actress.

She was always going to go away alone. I also quite like the actress. And UO, I like her chemistry with Weatherly.

Edited November 23, 2017 by marina to

[JessDVD]

Marissa's boyfriend bad? NO WAY! I TOTALLY NEVER SAW THAT COMING! /sarcasm Sometimes I wonder if the writers on these shows have ever even watched shows like these because him being bad was telegraphed from about the minute he showed up.

I was really hoping that someone on here would have been able to figure out what was going on with Chunk's family or whoever they are, because I was totally lost too. And how old is Chunk anyway, if he's the girl's dad, considering she's 18-19ish? Not that I really expect a plausible answer there, I'm aware that people on these shows are "sorta youngish" "sorta middle-agedish" "sorta oldish" and that's about it. 

Any time there's a plotline involving boxing, it inevitably involves someone being bought off or framed, and someone supposed to throw a fight because it's all rigged anyway so thanks for keeping it consistent, show.

[Rae Spellman]

21 hours ago, JessDVD said:

I was really hoping that someone on here would have been able to figure out what was going on with Chunk's family or whoever they are, because I was totally lost too. And how old is Chunk anyway, if he's the girl's dad, considering she's 18-19ish? Not that I really expect a plausible answer there, I'm aware that people on these shows are "sorta youngish" "sorta middle-agedish" "sorta oldish" and that's about it. 

Wikipedia and IMDB report that Chris Jackson was born in '75. I would have guessed that law school student Chunk was born in the early '80s.

Chunk said that he was going to spend Thanksgiving at his high school best friend's house. He also said that Anna is 18.  My best guess, is that Georgia football playing Chunk and his best friend slept together at least once when they were both pretty young. Maybe when they were around the age Anna is now. And for whatever reason, they never told the daughter that Chunk was her father. 

Edited November 24, 2017 by RaeSpellman

[JessDVD]

2 hours ago, RaeSpellman said:

Wikipedia and IMDB report that Chris Jackson was born in '75. I would have guessed that law school student Chunk was born in the early '80s.

Chunk said that he was going to spend Thanksgiving at his high school best friend's house. He also said that Anna is 18.  My best guess, is that Georgia football playing Chunk and his best friend slept together at least once when they were both pretty young. Maybe when they were around the age Anna is now. And for whatever reason, they never told the daughter that Chunk was her father. 

Thanks, that was helpful. I obviously missed the high school best friend part. With that being the case, I'd say it's pretty obvious that Chunk is the father and he's probably around 35-36 if the girl is 18. I'm also a little surprised that they wouldn't see fit to bring her up sooner, but whatever, they probably hadn't decided to have this be the case at that point.

[Tdoc72]

Any guess about who sang the song at the end when Marissa is using TAC?  I know the song is called Hard Card Christmas written by Dolly Parton but it definitely wasn't her singing. 

[Blade]

On 11/23/2017 at 11:30 PM, Tdoc72 said:

Any guess about who sang the song at the end when Marissa is using TAC?  I know the song is called Hard Card Christmas written by Dolly Parton but it definitely wasn't her singing. 

"Hard Candy Christmas" was sung by Kelly Clarkson.  Hearing that song left me with the hope that somewhere down the line the team inadvertently gets involved and brings Kyle down in an epic and tragic fashion. 

[sinkwriter]

Quote

Marissa's boyfriend bad? NO WAY! I TOTALLY NEVER SAW THAT COMING! /sarcasm

LOL! I KNOW! I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT!!  

*sigh*

Yeah, we all saw that coming. Still, I felt bad for Marissa, and I hope she flattens him in the end. Side note: I wish she had told Bull, or that he'd noticed something was up.

I liked seeing the glimpses of everyone's personal lives and holiday traditions. Even Bull's, which was a little sad.

Quote

Does anybody else think they should have just left out the case (or trial) that Bull was involved with and just create another story line for him that consists more of his private life, like some of the other characters in this episode?

I know we didn't get a full private life story for Bull like we did with the other team members, but in a way, we still did get a glimpse of Bull's private life: he's alone a lot. He doesn't seem to have anyone to go home to. No parents, no extended family, no dear friends to spend the holidays with. So that in itself is pretty revealing, and I'd like to see more about his life. 

While I can understand him relishing the quiet (especially if his day-to-day life is so busy and noisy with all the screens and the mock juries and data), I think we saw a little of him feeling lonely, too. I think he was internally happy to see Danny walk through that door.

Side note: I chuckled a little when Danny said she brought him pie, because Michael Weatherly did this funny quick glance down at his belly, as if Bull was thinking, "Well... I just ate a ton of turkey so there's not a lot of room in there, but... thanks!" LOL.

Quote

I loved how he allowed himself to hope, then resigned himself to disappointment, then the joy in his face when she texted him back.  I hope this isn't some sort of manipulative scam being run on him to get an "in" at the agency.  It all seems very convenient.

After all the crap going on with Marissa, I was afraid that woman in the airport might turn out to be a prostitute. I'm relieved that she seems to be simply a nice girl. I hope that's all she is.

Quote

I also loved how Cable's smugly "superior" hipster-cool Friendsgiving turned out to be pathetic and awful.

I was disappointed in how the show presented Cable's experience. I know plenty of friends who don't have family to go "home" to at the holidays, or can't afford it every year, or have toxic relationships with their family so they don't want to go "home," and instead they create their own holiday experiences, with a local group of friends who also have nowhere else to go. They come together as a chosen family, rather than as a blood relative family. That can be really lovely and just as rich and wonderful. So I was a little annoyed that they went with a stereotypical approach, treating Cable like she was some disaffected, spoiled brat who couldn't be bothered with her own family until she sees that her friends aren't very cool to hang with during the holidays. Why couldn't she have been one of those who (like Bull) has nowhere else to go, but unlike Bull, she has a solid core group of friends to spend time with, who love her for who she is and welcome her if she needs a place to land during the holidays? The way they chose for Cable just felt really lame and like they wanted to make some sort of judgmental commentary about the kind of people she likely hangs out with.

Edited December 2, 2017 by sinkwriter

[sinkwriter]

Side note about Chunk: that last part was completely out of left field for me. I was all, "Say whaaaaaat?" LOL. When he said, "Maybe it's time we tell her about me / who I am," I thought he meant, "Let's tell her that I'm gay." (Though I'm not sure why that would matter one way or another when it comes to whether or not she'd choose to turn to him if living nearby in NYC.) I was not expecting him to drop that bombshell that he's her father. In fact, I'd quickly forgotten how he'd already mentioned at the top of the episode that he was going to visit a high school friend, so I had assumed that the mom was his sister or sister-in-law, not a former high school girlfriend or whatever she is to him. It's intriguing, and a little unusual, but I guess I'll just wait and see where they go with this first.

[Dowel Jones]

2 hours ago, sinkwriter said:

but in a way, we still did get a glimpse of Bull's private life: he's alone a lot.

He gets together with Dr. Phil to talk about cases.

[sinkwriter]

19 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

He gets together with Dr. Phil to talk about cases.

HAHAHA

And... yikes. Those two in a room together? 

[aguabella]

On 12/2/2017 at 3:19 PM, sinkwriter said:

I was disappointed in how the show presented Cable's experience. I know plenty of friends who don't have family to go "home" to at the holidays, or can't afford it every year, or have toxic relationships with their family so they don't want to go "home," and instead they create their own holiday experiences, with a local group of friends who also have nowhere else to go. They come together as a chosen family, rather than as a blood relative family. That can be really lovely and just as rich and wonderful. So I was a little annoyed that they went with a stereotypical approach, treating Cable like she was some disaffected, spoiled brat who couldn't be bothered with her own family until she sees that her friends aren't very cool to hang with during the holidays. Why couldn't she have been one of those who (like Bull) has nowhere else to go, but unlike Bull, she has a solid core group of friends to spend time with, who love her for who she is and welcome her if she needs a place to land during the holidays? The way they chose for Cable just felt really lame and like they wanted to make some sort of judgmental commentary about the kind of people she likely hangs out with.

Same here - was disappointed with Cable's storyline.

Anyone else thinking, during the episode, that at least 1 or 2 of them would return to the office to help out, noticing Bull on the news?  At least Bennie bumped from his flight?  Glad they didn't b/c might have felt typical.

[sinkwriter]

Agree, augabella. I kept waiting for one of them to come back and help. Especially Chunk, who noticed Bull on TV and seemed curious and maybe even concerned to see him working that case. And Bennie, as you noted, who didn't seem to be going to see his family, since he gave away his plane ticket, so... why didn't we see him come back and see what Bull was up to?

[Misslindsey]

I finally got around to watching this episode and am so glad you guys cleared up the Chunk storyline for me. I completely missed the high school best friend line. I am surprised with what we have seen of Chunk that he would not want it known that he was Anna's father. It seemed like he had a good relationship with his best friend and Anna, so I wonder what the reasoning behind not telling Anna in the first place.