Bull season 3: How should the story pick up after cliffhanger?

Entering Bull season 3, it should be clear to almost everyone that there is a pretty-hefty cliffhanger that the producers have to now unravel. After the completion of a very difficult case, Bull suffered a heart attack and the closing scene was of him calling 911 while lying down outside of the courthouse.

Is this a devastating thing to think about? Absolutely, and it does also raise a number of questions moving forward into season 3.

Let’s start with this: Obviously, Bull is not going to die. If he did, would there even be a show? Michael Weatherly’s character is at the center of everything and we definitely don’t see that changing anytime soon. While Bull not pay the price of this heart attack with his life, it does feel like there should be other consequences. People don’t go through something like this and go back to the way in which things were.

With that, the big question that the Bull writers should ask themselves is this: How would someone like Jason Bull react to feeling like he was on death’s door? We do think he’s smart enough to realize that he can no longer do some of what he did this past season. That means he’ll probably make some sort of effort to slow down the drinking and try to get a little bit of sleep. Who knows? Maybe he’ll also get into a little bit of exercise. We respect Bull enough as a character to think that he is going to respect himself on some level.

Yet, we do think that the show is going to develop an interesting conflict between the Bull that he needs to be and the Bull that he’s been in the past. Old habits die hard, and while we think that he will do just fine at the start of the season recovering, that could change the moment a big case falls on his lap. Will he let everything that he’s strived to change go the way of the dodo? Will he abandon all that he has worked to do in order to get another not guilty verdict? He is going to probably struggle with falling back on some of his vices during times of crisis, and that is where some drama can start to brew. We know at this point what will happen to Bull if he starts to fall back into some of his old ways.

This then brings us to our next question: Who is going to be there for Bull if this happens? Will the TAC offer a shoulder to lean on? It’s a fascinating back-and-forth given that Jason is their boss; yet, he’s also a friend. They may, at times, have to think through that lens first to help him and suffer whatever the consequences are in terms of the job or their success in various cases.

Ultimately, in order to make himself better, Bull may have to accept the occasional imperfection. That’s what makes the central struggle entering season 3 so fascinating.

Where do you want to see the story go moving into Bull season 3? Be sure to share some of your thoughts in the attached comments!

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