The 22-episode third season of Bull aired during the 2018/2019 TV season. It picks up months after the end of season two, which ended with Bull having a heart attack on the courthouse steps. Of course, he survives, but it is revealed he has been down in Arizona, getting in shape and stopping drinking. If you watch the bonus material, you will know it was planned out because Michael Weatherly expressed his plan to the showrunners to get back in shape, so they wrote the heart attack storyline. When he returns to NY, he finds some changes, some big, some small, have occurred in his absence at TAC. From there, the show mainly follows the "case of the week" format that it used in seasons one and two, but with less focus on jury selection and the mirror jurors as in the first two seasons and just get into the cases.
As most are aware, there is a major plotline at the beginning of the season, which was necessitated by one of the main cast members leaving to take a directing job. I will not give away who the person is and how the person is written off, but the storyline is wrapped up pretty early on. As the season goes on, all the characters get a chance to shine in their own stories, even if for just an episode. The show continues to do a good job juggling a large ensemble cast. There are some soap opera-like moments, mainly involving Bull's personal life, that get mixed into the weekly storylines, but the show's focus is still on the cases. The season does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, but different than last year's.
The DVD set is a five-disc set. The episodes can be played either in a "play all" mode or individually. The extras include deleted and extended scenes for select episodes, but the only way to see them is to play the episodes one at a time. They are not listed as separate special features, and if you do the play-all mode, it just kicks you to the main menu at the end of the last episode on the disc, and you will never see which episodes have deleted scenes. The remaining bonus content includes about 30 minutes of making-of, and behind-the-scenes material is included on the last disc. Not surprisingly, there was no mention of the allegations of Eliza Dushku against Michael Weatherly stemming from her short arc at the end of season one, despite it causing at least some controversy during season three.
Overall, if you have enjoyed the prior seasons, chances are you will enjoy this one unless you really liked the jury selection process that was a huge focus of the first two seasons. As I said above, that gets cuts way back this season. The show still does take some of the shortcuts that all legal dramas take, and while it does get some of the legal stuff correct, it is not perfect. That will probably only bug the lawyers out there, however. The acting and writing remain good, and I think the writers keep the show interesting. So, ultimately, if you liked the first couple of seasons this one is worth watching.
As most are aware, there is a major plotline at the beginning of the season, which was necessitated by one of the main cast members leaving to take a directing job. I will not give away who the person is and how the person is written off, but the storyline is wrapped up pretty early on. As the season goes on, all the characters get a chance to shine in their own stories, even if for just an episode. The show continues to do a good job juggling a large ensemble cast. There are some soap opera-like moments, mainly involving Bull's personal life, that get mixed into the weekly storylines, but the show's focus is still on the cases. The season does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, but different than last year's.
The DVD set is a five-disc set. The episodes can be played either in a "play all" mode or individually. The extras include deleted and extended scenes for select episodes, but the only way to see them is to play the episodes one at a time. They are not listed as separate special features, and if you do the play-all mode, it just kicks you to the main menu at the end of the last episode on the disc, and you will never see which episodes have deleted scenes. The remaining bonus content includes about 30 minutes of making-of, and behind-the-scenes material is included on the last disc. Not surprisingly, there was no mention of the allegations of Eliza Dushku against Michael Weatherly stemming from her short arc at the end of season one, despite it causing at least some controversy during season three.
Overall, if you have enjoyed the prior seasons, chances are you will enjoy this one unless you really liked the jury selection process that was a huge focus of the first two seasons. As I said above, that gets cuts way back this season. The show still does take some of the shortcuts that all legal dramas take, and while it does get some of the legal stuff correct, it is not perfect. That will probably only bug the lawyers out there, however. The acting and writing remain good, and I think the writers keep the show interesting. So, ultimately, if you liked the first couple of seasons this one is worth watching.
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