Bull
Amazingly up-to-date and with a special thank you
Approaching his 100th case: Dr. Jason Bull (Michael Weatherly).
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The fifth "Bull" season starts on March 17th. The makers have also included the corona situation in the new episodes.
With today's plethora of series on an ever-increasing number of streaming services, longevity has become an expensive commodity. Many a promising series project was drowned in the oversupply and thus bathed after a few seasons or even episodes. In the golden age of series, it is all the more remarkable to be able to constantly stand out from the competition. A series that is one of these exceptions and has been able to pick up its fans for five years and a total of almost 100 episodes is "Bull".
The fifth season of the court series celebrates its premiere in Germany on March 17th (every Wednesday at 8:13 p.m.) on the pay-TV broadcaster 13th Street and could hardly be more relevant and topical in view of the issues addressed therein. If you are not yet a fan of the series, you can make up for it now and binge seasons one to four, which are currently available on call. You can find out why this is worthwhile in a (spoiler-free) summary of how title hero Dr. Jason Bull (Michael Weatherly, 52) ticks which real figure was the model for the series character and who the stars of the series are.
Not a "Bull" fan yet? That's what the series is about
"Bull" follows the eponymous Dr. Jason Bull, who founded a successful process consulting firm called Trail Analysis Corporation, or TAC for short. Together with a team of specialists, Bull advises on legal proceedings by analyzing jury members and processes and thus ensuring the best possible outcome for clients.
One member of his team is lawyer Benjamin "Benny" Colón (Freddy Rodriguez, 46), Bull's ex-brother-in-law. What doesn't make their complicated relationship any easier is the fact that Bull has despised attorneys since he passed his exams twice himself.
Many Bull actor Michael Weatherly will still be familiar with his breakthrough role in the ambitious series "Dark Angel" by James Cameron (66), with which a certain Jessica Alba (39) also made it big. Far longer than for the short-lived sci-fi series, he played as special agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo in the hit series "Navy CIS". Freddy Rodriguez, on the other hand, should be well known to fans of the series "Six Feet Under" or the weird splatter junk "Planet Terror" by Robert Rodriguez (52).
A framework, a role model, many cases
"Bull" knows how to surprise its viewers again and again with unexpected tricks, but in many ways also builds on the virtues of traditional series that we have cherished. The seasons are linked by an emotional framework around the characters' private lives, but the individual episodes and thus the cases can mostly stand on their own. As is common practice with crime classics from the brands "Navy CIS" or "Criminal Minds".
By the way, the role model for the title hero is now a TV superstar himself. The series is loosely based on the career of Dr. Phil McGraw (70), US TV viewers only well known as "Dr. Phil". The trained psychologist founded a trail consultant company himself and helped, albeit with significantly less head hair than "Bull" star Michael Weatherly, among others, stars like Oprah Winfrey (67) out of the legal jam. As a result, she was generous and helped McGraw to his current TV fame. With "Bull" he works from episode one on, among other things as an idea generator and executive producer.
The pitfalls with Corona: This is where season five starts
In the 16 new episodes, which will be shown on 13th Street from March 17th, Bull and his colleagues also have to deal with the perils of the corona pandemic. How, for example, is his team supposed to do its job conscientiously and successfully when there are virtual hearings or the jury is sitting in the hall wearing a face mask?
"Bull" has truly made the best of the predicament the TV and cinema industry is currently in. Instead of not addressing Corona like most other productions, the scriptwriters wrote a plot around the "new normal" that has been occupying people for almost exactly a year. In the new season, new arcs of tension arise almost by themselves for Jason Bull and his team, who, like so many companies in reality, now have to fear for their very existence.
A special thank you for all fans who have remained loyal to the series even through the difficult Corona months, there is by the way at the end of episode one of the new season. Just this much: it will be musical …