BULL 2x01 "School for Scandal"

"That's a very high bar. I'd say an impossible bar."

But for Jason Bull, the impossible is what he eats for breakfast - and lunch and dinner, but that's only if he hasn't gorged himself earlier in the day.

   What was possible on Bull's season 2 premiere was a great return following an impressive but flawed first season, and if we can base our expectations of season 2 on this premiere then we have a lot to look forward to.

   "School for Scandal" managed not only to iron out a few of the kinks season 1 made evident, but handpicked the very best qualities from the very best episodes of the first season and bunched them together. Michael Weatherly voiceovers don't win my heart in this show (the original intro speech was about as awful as they come), but his opening voiceover describing the way we consume scandals in the media (vociferously engaging before instantly forgetting them the moment they become irrelevant) was an effective set-up for the shocking cold open, while his closing voiceover as the characters - and we as an audience - wound down and prepared to return to our daily lives was a slightly chilling reminder of typical human behaviour.

   One of the best episodes of season 1 involved a murder mystery, and I would argue "School for Scandal" was a slightly different type of murder mystery. In the cold open, Kara Clayton, trophy wife to egregious billionaire owner of a communications empire, Marcus Clayton, inflicts a number of savage stab wounds to her own body to establish an alibi that would allow her to murder Marcus in "self-defence", exit the unfulfilling marriage and seize control of his empire.

Bull and Diana speak with Kara Clayton
Image: CBS

   Under a different writer, on a different show, we the audience might have been shown only enough to gauge that a crime would be committed, and would therefore have to follow the rest of the episode to the conclusion. Understanding the truth of Kara's clever deception, one we knew Bull had to unravel, cleverly allowed us to engage a little more with the episode than perhaps we usually do, waiting for that one satisfying moment the jury would finally realise that Kara hadn't after all been the submissive victim of a domineering, bullying and potentially sexually abusive husband (although perhaps she had been at one time), but was instead the cold-blooded executor of an almost perfect murder.

   Naturally, Kara's deceit was exposed thanks to a single mistake: though she wore gloves to prevent her fingerprints ending up on the knife she used to stab herself, she forgot to take them off to shoot Marcus, meaning her story fell apart simply because of what wasn't present rather than what was. It's a detail Bull missed - which is another clever way of drawing in the audience: I and I suspect many others can relate to Bull because we overlooked that crucial detail too.

   But the intrigue of the case wasn't the only drama the episode offered: Diana Lindsay (Jill Flint), Bull's on-again, off-again love tryst from Callisto, Texas, was back and facing Bull across the courtroom. Diana Lindsay is of course the most interesting recurring character in the Bull universe so far, for her use is twofold: not only does she give us insight into a fun, romantic side of Bull, but she provides an antagonistic element that surpasses the usual scepticism and resistance from the lawyers of any given episode's plaintiff/defendant. (OK, threefold, because I love the way she switches in and out of her Texas accent at will.) And seeing these two fighting on opposite sides of a professional case played out wonderfully in continuing to alter the dynamic of their relationship. I have to admit, though, I would think that Diana would have learnt by now that when Bull says she is wrong about a case, she is wrong about a case.

   The final thing I greatly appreciated about this episode was character depth. Season 1 often lacked any significant insight into the show's characters, but in the season 2 premiere we hit a few high notes. Of course, Diana's return gave us more of Bull's personal life, but we can expect Chunk's law school venture to throughline the season at least a little. And while we didn't get enough of Cable or Marissa, Benny and Danny had a minimal but fair influence on the episode's progression. And that's what we need to see. We don't always need everyone to get an equal share of airtime, just to be used correctly.

   And that's what Bull did today.

   Everything correctly.

CHECKLIST:

✔ Not awful voiceover(s)

✔ Engaging plotline

✔ A good twist

✔ Diana Lindsay

✔ Interesting character engagement

So.

   Bull.

   You don't have to have Diana Lindsay in every episode, but tick the other four boxes regularly as you did in this premiere, and this show can finally grow into the show it has promised to be since the premiere.

RATING: 9.5/10

POINTS OF NOTE

• Shoutout once more to Jill Flint as Diana Lindsay. Love you, love the character, love the accent.
• Bull was bought by the Clayton Communications Group a little too easily for my liking. I thought he had more morals than ... what's that? Money to not finish that sentence? Sure.
• "Damn, I'm smart. Damn, I'm smart. Damn, I'm smart."