S02.E16: Absolution

[MyAimIsTrue]

Quote

Bull seizes upon the opportunity to get a new trial for an old client when doubt is cast upon evidence that helped convict him of murder 14 years earlier. Also, Danny is reluctant to work with Cable’s replacement.

[Netfoot]

2018.02.06 can't be right.

[dttruman]

1. When did bite marks become unreliable? Oh no has this episode become a musical?

[JessDVD]

Not that I'll turn up any chance to hear Chris Jackson sing but what the heck was that all about?!

I cannot believe that investigators actually can go as far as to literally lie and forge accusation notes. I'm accustomed to the tv trope of, every agency other than the one featured on the show is completely incompetent but this took it to a new level. I'm sure real life investigators are tempted to and likely succumb to stretching evidence to fit the conclusion they want it to, but not even looking at other possibilities, really?

There was a distinct lack of Cable's replacement and Danny being underwhelmed, unless that was supposed to be a misdirect on the 3 seconds where Danny said "This is Cable's territory" and Bull said "We're working on a replacement".

Of course I called that it was the guy's friend from the moment the other friend was mentioned to be indicted. Smarmy corner office guy profiting off of his friend taking the fall. Gee, couldn't possibly have occurred to anyone 9 years prior, that perhaps that guy had motive to set up the other guy?

[JackONeill]

At least it was an episode that showed Bull squirming.

But again, it’s Bull and his team that solves the case. With last night’s episode, there are three ways this show can go: 1) detective show, 2) jury selection science show, or 3) musical.

[Netfoot]

10 hours ago, dttruman said:

Oh no has this episode become a musical?

I fast forwarded through that part, while retching into a waste basket.

9 hours ago, JessDVD said:

There was a distinct lack of Cable's replacement

I'm tired of the entire Cable-is-so-wonderful-she-can't-be-replaced nonsense.  The show is obviously going to a place where she comes back to tumultuous applause and the strains of the All Is Forgotten anthem, but the fact is, she did something stupid, illegal, and dangerous to Bull's reputation and to his company.  Far from bringing her back, it's time for Bull to start firing people who continually harp on about Cable, Cable, Cable!

9 hours ago, JessDVD said:

Of course I called that it was the guy's friend from the moment the other friend was mentioned to be indicted...

 Ditto.  The format of this show -- wherein Bull not only gets his client off, but also catches the real criminal -- means that the real criminal must appear in the pre-trial section of the show.  The only possibilities were i) The Cop himself, which... unlikely seeing as he had no prior connection to the victim, or ii) the friend who had succeeded him to "high office" in the firm and had been right there that evening..

[shrewd.buddha]

The musical interlude was so, so weird. Why the animation? Why the dream sequence? Is that the only way TPTB could think of to allow one of the actors to sing a song? 

As to the case - Bull has been sitting on this for nine years? What about the stuff that Benny brought up during the trial - checking for video evidence of when the guy got back to his apartment, the lack of blood evidence on the clothes he was wearing, etc. ? Why did no one bring those things up nine years ago?

It always aggravates me when some long-term murder conviction gets overturned in a matter of days because some clever person finds some obvious, yet overlooked piece of evidence. 
...Although the prize for this would have to go to Kalinda from The Good Wife : She could look through a box of evidence for fifteen minutes and find some clue in some photo that would completely reverse the course of any trial that was happening.

[JessDVD]

I don't want this show for its tightly crafted and well-edited storylines, but they sure have been off the rails for the last few episodes.

[Dowel Jones]

5 hours ago, Netfoot said:

 The only possibilities were

There was a third possibility, albeit very slim.  I wondered why the barkeep held the door open long after the couple left, and he stared at them as they walked down the street.  But, yeah, FakeBuddy pretty much dropped the anvil right off the bat.

So the victim was raped, but there was absolutely no rape-related DNA evidence collected from her body?  The show said this occurred in 2010; don't tell me they didn't have the ability.

Personally, I have close to zero sympathy for Bull's client.  He deserved to spend time in prison for being stupid.  The minute he was escorted into an interrogation room, he should have said, "I want to speak to an attorney.  I don't care how it looks."  Yes, it's a plot device, but this is an obviously well educated guy who should be aware of the interrogation process.  I'm glad they didn't bring out his original attorney.  That guy should be disbarred for incompetence.

Benny, you're the attorney here.  You, not the trial consultant, speak to the client and advise him of his choices

[JessDVD]

You know Abby from NCIS would have been able to ID the perp from DNA, 9 years ago. Come on, rape-related, skin cells under her fingernails, saliva since there were bite marks.

Would it really have looked that bad for Bull's client to ask for a lawyer when he was being questioned? I feel like don't care how innocent or not I am, if I'm being questioned about anything, I want a lawyer there so that I have an expert there for support, knowledge, and defense if necessary. And I could be unnecessarily cynical, but as soon as the investigator guy (who honestly I was suspecting was the perp until they were getting in touch with the friends) started goading him about how it would look, to me would have made me even more certain I needed a lawyer.

[JackONeill]

1 hour ago, Dowel Jones said:

So the victim was raped, but there was absolutely no rape-related DNA evidence collected from her body?  The show said this occurred in 2010; don't tell me they didn't have the ability.

 

Where's Olivia Benson when you need her? Oh, that's right—she's in a different neighborhood of New York. The one called NBC.

[notcreative enough]

I feel like I missed an episode. In the Thanksgiving episode I thought they implied the girl was Chunk's daughter but they never told us for sure. Now he, she and the entire team knows he has a daughter. 

Did someone lose a bet or maybe win? I don't get the musical number at all. 

So basically the cops in the Bull universe can't solve a damn thing. You don't need to do jury science if you are going to solve the crime and find the real bad guy.  I believe this show used to be called Matlock.

[rhys]

4 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

There was a third possibility, albeit very slim.  I wondered why the barkeep held the door open long after the couple left, and he stared at them as they walked down the street.  

Yup, that's who I thought the perp would turn out to be. Chekhov's door, much?

[LuvMyShows]

That whole DNA thing was weird.  They repeatedly said that his DNA was found on her, but they never said where.  Given how little of her body was exposed when he was kissing her on the street, and yet there was his DNA, there would have been waayyyy more of her body exposed during the rape/murder, so there absolutely would have been more DNA found of the actual killer.

The part I had a laugh about was the supposed high-inducing or even halucoginec effect of taking one hydrocodone.  I can't take most pain killers because they are far too strong, but hydrocodone is weak enough that even I can take it, and more than one when needed.  Also, given how high he supposedly was, we sure didn't see anything like that when he was walking her out and they were on the street. 

[shrewd.buddha]

3 hours ago, notcreative enough said:

You don't need to do jury science if you are going to solve the crime and find the real bad guy. 

99 percent  of Bull's cases involve defending innocent clients who would have never been in court if there had been better evidence gathering or competent police work.

[Netfoot]

3 hours ago, notcreative enough said:

You don't need to do jury science if you are going to solve the crime and find the real bad guy.

"Jury Science" in this show has devolved into a minute or two of voir dire, wherein jurors are approved or rejected on the basis of their answers to stupid questions.

[Sarah 103]

23 hours ago, JessDVD said:

Not that I'll turn up any chance to hear Chris Jackson sing but what the heck was that all about?!

11 hours ago, shrewd.buddha said:

The musical interlude was so, so weird. Why the animation? Why the dream sequence? Is that the only way TPTB could think of to allow one of the actors to sing a song? 

If they wanted him to sing during the show, the easiest thing to do would be Law School talent show. It can't be they were running short on time, because in my version of this it's still a subplot that doesn't impact the main storyline and is just a bit of fun. 

[Dowel Jones]

1 hour ago, Netfoot said:

"Jury Science" in this show has devolved into a minute or two of voir dire, wherein jurors are approved or rejected on the basis of their answers to stupid questions.

I had to laugh out loud when Benny asks a question that gets a juror rejected, and he goes on to ask the same question in an open group.  Gee, do you think maybe everyone who wants to get off the jury panel will answer that same question the same way?

2 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

but hydrocodone is weak enough that even I can take it, and more than one when needed.

Exactly.  Vicodin?  Who gets high on Vicodin?  I had to take it @ 325mg for post op pain, and never even noticed.

I wonder, given the continual Cable references, if the show title wasn't a double entendre.  Will she be forgiven?  Tune in.

[marina to]

On 3/7/2018 at 5:48 PM, notcreative enough said:

So basically the cops in the Bull universe can't solve a damn thing. You don't need to do jury science if you are going to solve the crime and find the real bad guy.  I believe this show used to be called Matlock.

Funny you should mention Matlock. We recently got a new channel on our cable and it played a Matlock marathon over the weekend. Take out the technologies and swap out New Yawker for Southern gentleman and it is the same show.

[mythoughtis]

Benny was an attorney for the prosecutors office and now works for Bull. He doesn’t need Danny to explain to him why there are holes in the underwear. He knows how DNA gets found. 

Whomever tbe defense lawyer was 9 years ago, he sure dropped the ball. All that should have been discovered at the first trial, including the other DNA source. 

Yea, we all know Cable is returning. We are just mad because the writers ruined the characters reputation So they could let the actress have time off.   Stupid- they should have just given her a dream of a life time short term internship somewhere. 

Edited March 11, 2018 by mythoughtis