This is going to be a quick review, because I'm not entirely certain what to make of this yet.
Dr. Jason Bull (played by NCIS' Michael Weatherly) is a jury consultant. He breaks down how juries think, profiling each juror and how they react to things, and even creates a mirror jury, people with similar life experiences to the actual jury. He also comes with his own fashion consultant (a gay former football running back who you can't TELL is gay, unless he mentions it, so no cliche. Whew), a former prosecutor who runs the mock juries (and occasionally defends clients), as well as the obligatory hacker and a few other people.
It's thankfully apolitical, for the most part. The solution to the pilot episode was "This kid being prosecuted for killing this girl is really gay, so he probably didn't do it." The second episode centered around a plane crash, where the jury was being affected by gender bias, but it didn't make me pissed off enough to punch the screen. The third episode was a matter of a rape victim being accused of killing the rapist, but the jury pool is being tainted by a podcaster who edits her news story to support the narrative.
The pilot was a cliche, the second episode took a psychological concept and ran with it in a way that didn't make me want to hurt someone, and the third episode was a straight-up defense in a murder case. I'm surprisingly happy with the way the show is going. It's definitely trending upward, and they're DROPPING the politics as they go along.
I will give props to Michael Weatherly for playing someone who isn't Tony DiNozzo. We don't really have a backstory on Dr. Bull, but there are interesting hints here and there. Not to mention that they've decided that, like Sherlock Holmes, Bull needs to work to keep himself together.
I must point out for special note the actor Freddy Rodriguez (of The Night Shift) for playing the lawyer Benny. Thus far, he's got the most backstory, character and emotional range. He will probably steal this show, if he wanted to.
All in all, if you're a fan of The Runaway Jury, you might want to try this. Let's give it 3, maybe 3.5 stars.
Declan
ReplyDeleteYeah I was really disappointed with the Tony Dinozzo character. The writer were ambivalent about him veering from mini Gibbs to annoying frat boy. I wish they'do let the actor develop his character in the middle. I really liked the episode of not frat boy. He was professional intense and as driven as Gibbs just different. I'd've given him a James Bond vibe with the women and added a poignant edge to it.
I haven'the seen bull so I won'the comment
Tsk, Michael Weatherly has a straight bio (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Weatherly#Personal_life) so he shouldna play a gay character. I guess he's ACTING!
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