Michael Weatherly’s decision to leave CBS’ #1 drama NCIS after 13 years left fans more than a little sad. Yet that decision ended up being good for the actor and the character. NCIS Agent Anthony DiNozzo left the life of catching bad guys in favor of fatherhood, and Weatherly shifted his focus to a whole new project. Don’t get confused tonight when Weatherly appears in close proximity to his former job. Instead of seeing wise-cracking Tony, we will meet Dr. Bull. Loosely based on the early days of Dr. Phil’s career as a jury consultant, Bull multiplies the drama, technology, and stakes. Even given all of that, Weatherly himself is the one to watch.
It’s safe to say Dr. Phil didn’t have all of the high tech gadgetry Dr. Bull’s team surrounds themselves with in order to assess the jury pool. That technology keeps the speed of the pilot going as a good visual aid, but Dr. Bull’s mind works just as sharply as whatever fancy assessment tools they use. Not to mention, he has the added components of intuition and experience. Though the technology and the “screw-ups of the rich and famous” case are over the top, Bull himself is all about people. He learns who they are, what makes them tick, what they need to hear to be swayed towards a certain verdict. Dr. Bull is also not naive enough to think that old-school tactics of cold, hard facts work in a modern day courtroom. Every person, every gesture, everything unspoken, every minute detail about the case and defendant make a statement. Dr. Bull knows this so well that among his team is a fashion consultant who tailors for a “sartorially innocent” look.
The case does not make the show on this procedural; Weatherly’s performance as a sharp and compassionate consultant does. He’s the one you go to for help, he’s the one who tells it like it is, and he’s the one who cares about what people are actually feeling. All of his work is in service to his clients of course, but by the end of the first episode you’ll see that Dr. Bull may be the only person who cares about why people have flaws. If those flaws are exploited it’s in the service of his client, who, at least in the pilot, has been given absolutely no emotional counsel in his life until meeting Bull. Dr. Bull handles everyone with honesty and compassion, a rare combination for a show with this much blunt attitude towards the flaws in the law and in people. Then again, it’s much easier to do when you cast a much more likable character than Dr. Phil ever was.
See Michael Weatherly return to CBS in the series premiere of Bull at 9pm.
