BULL: THE NECKLACE {SERIES PREMIERE} {UNAIRED VERSION} (TV)
Summary
The unaired pilot in this dramatic legal series about Dr. Jason Bull, a suave New York psychiatrist who specializes in "trial science." In this episode, several New Yorkers weigh in on the veracity of "innocent until proven guilty, while elsewhere the body of Alyssa Yang washes up onshore in the Bahamas and her one-time lover, wealthy Brandon Peters, is charged with her murder. Brandon's father, Pete Peters, brings his army of lawyers to meet Dr. Bull, who has been conducting mock trials using the facts of the case. Explaining that "no trial starts at zero," Bull employs former Homeland Security agent and neurolinguistics expert Marissa Morgan to help meticulously profile the jurors, using their experiences and personal views to predict how they will vote. One of the lawyers, Clyde Rutledge, dismisses Bull as a con man, though Bull warns Pete that his son will surely be found guilty if only the facts are presented. Bull later orders Rutledge's watch bugged and investigates Alyssa's relationship with Brandon, finding that she owned two cell phones. Rutledge reluctantly employs some of Bull's tactics to make his jury selections, and once the twelve have been picked, Bull's team creates a "mirror jury" of highly similar individuals who will attend the trial and provide insight into the forthcoming verdict.
Bull determines that the jurors must sympathize with Brandon as the victim of an unloving father and zeroes in on one Bess Johnson, guessing that she will provide the necessary not-guilty vote. Bull's investigator, Danny, finds a familiar contact in Alyssa's phone and tracks down drug dealer Peyton Shong, who admits that Alyssa too was selling drugs, including fake MDMA. On the first day of the trial, Bull speculates about the jurors' thoughts as Alyssa's mother testifies, concluding that they dislike Rutledge for his pompous manner. Bull talks to Gail, Brandon's mother, who confirms that he and Pete are not close, and Brandon is surprised when Bull hires a stylist from Vogue, Chunk Palmer, to give him a maximally sympathetic appearance. Brandon states that he did not kill Alyssa, but Bull deduces that he is lying about something. As Bull's team researches Bess' "dominant" personality, tech expert Cable finds bizarre bondages photos of a girl other than Alyssa on Brandon's computer. Bull and Danny meet with the Peters' close friends, the Bensimons, and mother Adele reveals that they were all on the yacht when Alyssa was killed, admitting that her daughter Taylor, Brandon's girlfriend, convinced her to put Alyssa on the guest list. Bull, having realized that Taylor is the girl in the pictures, attempts to question her, but is quickly ousted from the home.
The risqué photos soon leak to the press, though Chunk asserts that they are not sexual in nature, and Taylor admits on the stand that Alyssa was her drug dealer and that she loaned her a necklace of her mother's for the party. Rutledge suggests that Taylor killed Alyssa out of jealousy upon learning that she had slept with Brandon, and Taylor explodes with rage and attacks him. Matters grow worse when Alyssa's father shoots Pete on the courthouse steps, though not fatally, and Bull suggests that a mistrial could be to their benefit. Pete, however, begins to suspect that his son is truly guilty, and the mirror jury agrees. Bull maintains that Bess will see Brandon as her second chance to "save" her own troubled son A.J., but then learns from the watch bug that Pete has told Brandon to accept a plea deal of second-degree manslaughter. Bull tells Brandon that he must defy his uncaring father and testify after all, gently revealing that he knows that Brandon has been hiding his homosexuality all along. Brandon agrees to take the stand, and Bull tells quiet co-lawyer Liberty Davis to question him, as the jury dislikes Rutledge. Brandon testifies that he slept with Alyssa as a cover but was actually with a male lover at the time of her death, though he refuses to name the person. The prosecutor scoffs at his "convenient" coming-out, but Liberty delivers an effective closing argument and Brandon is found not guilty. Bull talks to Bess, who guesses that he "grew up with a lot of pain," but tells him to stop overanalyzing people and refuses to explain her reasons for voting in Brandon's favor. Elsewhere, Adele scolds her husband Freddy for his reckless behavior and then examines the telltale necklace, strongly implying that Freddy was Brandon's lover and that Adele herself murdered Alyssa to "please" her daughter. Commercials deleted.
(In the aired version of the episode, the final scene continues to show Bull arriving with the police at the Bensimon home, suggesting that he deduced the truth of the crime.)
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: November 30, 1999
- RUNNING TIME: 0:43:32
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 127895
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, legal; Psychiatry; Legal system and the courts
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 2016-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Jay McGraw … Executive Producer
- Justin Falvey … Executive Producer
- Darryl Frank … Executive Producer
- Steven Spielberg … Executive Producer
- Rodrigo Garcia … Executive Producer, Director
- Paul Attanasio … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Phil McGraw … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Michael Weatherly … Producer
- Kathy Ciric … Producer
- Antonia Ellis … Co-Producer
- Jeff Russo … Music by
- Michael Weatherly … Cast, Dr. Jason Bull
- Freddy Rodriguez … Cast, Benny Colón
- Geneva Carr … Cast, Marissa Morgan
- Jaime Lee Kirchner … Cast, Danny James
- Annabelle Attansio … Cast, Cable McCrory
- Christopher Jackson … Cast, Chunk Palmer
- Luke Slattery … Cast, Brandon Peters
- Katherine Reis … Cast, Taylor Bensimon
- Frederick Weller … Cast, Pete Peters
- Peter Francis James … Cast, Clyde Rutledge
- Tammy Blanchard … Cast, Adele Bensimon
- Reg Rogers … Cast, Freddy Bensimon
- Dena Tyler … Cast, Liberty Davis
- Tamara Hickey … Cast, Gail Peters
- Samantha Jones … Cast, Bess Johnson
- Jimmi Saito … Cast, Peyton Shong
- Alex Hurt … Cast, A.D.A. Bill Knebel
- Jane Dashow … Cast, Judge Greenfield
- Kristen Hung … Cast, Grace Yang
- Ellie Knaus … Cast, TV Reporter
- Jesse Lee … Cast, Josh Takahashi
- Teresa Ting … Cast, Alyssa Yang
- Marcus Choi … Cast, David Yang
- Kelly Karloff … Cast, Verinka
- Jenna DiMartini … Cast, Sexy NYPD Officer
- Saragrace Tramont … Cast, Filipino Nurse
- Robert C. Kirk … Cast, Frank Pulver
- Dylan Prince … Cast, Antwan Davis
- Morgan Lynch … Cast, Blaze Miller
- Brian McCormack … Cast, Fred Baker
- Nedra McClyde … Cast, Rosalind Hammer
- Nancy Nagrant … Cast, Sarah Barton
- Ryan Speakman … Cast, Ted Shears
- Ana Diaz … Cast, Tiara Williams
- Meredith Handerhan … Cast, Bess Mirror
- Warren Bub … Cast, Frank Mirror
- Curtiss Cook Jr. … Cast, Antwan Mirror
- Jane Stiles O'Hara … Cast, Blaze Mirror
- Geoffrey Dawe … Cast, Fred Mirror
- Christina Redd … Cast, Rosalind Mirror
- Emily Donahoe … Cast, Sarah Mirror
- Tom Deckman … Cast, Ted Mirror
- Alejandra Reyes … Cast, Tiara Mirror
- Jeff Rubino … Cast, Witness #1
- Ralph Adriel Johnson … Cast, Witness #2
- Kimberly Stern … Cast, Witness #3
- David Harrell … Cast, Witness #4
- Freddy Ordenana … Cast, Witness #5
- James P. Rees … Cast, Witness #6
- Erin Anderson … Cast, Witness #7
- Hazel Anne Raymundo … Cast, Witness #8
- Karen Bergreen … Cast, Witness #9
- Anthony Perullo … Cast, Witness #10
- Nasreen Rahman … Cast, Witness #11
- Meng Ai … Cast, Witness #12
- Tim Aumiller … Cast, Witness #13
- Maxine Prescott … Cast, Witness #14
- Anna Finkelshteyn … Cast, Witness #15
- Kinga Piersiak … Cast, Witness #16