03x01 - The Ground Beneath Their Feet

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "Bull". Aired: September 20, 2016 - May 26, 2022.*
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"Bull" follows a trial consultant, who uses his insight into human nature, three Ph.D.'s and a top-notch staff to tip the scales of justice in favor of his client. Inspired by the early career of Dr. Phil McGraw.
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03x01 - The Ground Beneath Their Feet

Post by bunniefuu »

♪ Sugar, yes, please

♪ Won't you come and
put it down on me? ♪

♪ I'm right here,
'cause I need ♪

♪ Little love, a
little sympathy ♪

♪ Yeah, you show me good
loving, make it all right... ♪

[screaming, tires screeching]

[knob squeaks]

[shower running]

[knocks]

Good morning, Mrs. Valerian.

Good morning, Mr. Valerian.

Happy... tenth day anniversary.

[laughs]

I'll call in sick if you will.

I can't.

He's coming back in today.

It's his first day back
since the heart attack.

[elevator bell chimes]

Hey.

When's he due?

Couple of hours.
It's gonna be weird.

You know he's not going
to be the same guy.

Something like that,

confronting your own mortality?

That's got to change you.

A kinder, gentler Bull?

How could he not be?

DANNY: Does he know we lost

those two cases yet?

Not unless Marissa told him.

Marissa didn't
tell him anything.

Anything?

He didn't want to be disturbed.

Until I got that text
from him on Friday

saying he was ready to
get back to work today,

I had no contact with him.

Wait, so he doesn't know
about you and your ex?

And by the way, do
you still call him

your ex, even though he
is no longer your ex?

Well, no. Now he's her ex-ex.

Her ex-ex? Better
than her ex-lax.

[laughter] Ah.

Okay. Guys? Guys, I'm-I'm
standing right here.

[phone ringing, vibrating]

[ringing, vibrating continue]

Hello?

MAN [over phone]: Hi, this
is EquiSafe Insurance.

Is Julia Summerfield there?

Uh, speaking.

I'm sorry. Did I wake you?

What time is it where you are?

Well, I'm in Elko, Nevada.

It's a little after 6:00
in the morning here.

[chuckles]: I'm sorry.
I-I'm in New York.

Sometimes I forget that anyone
lives in a different time zone.

I-I'm calling about your case.
Your review?

No. I-I know.

I, um, I know why
you're calling.

Um, I'm afraid I don't
have good news.

Uh, after carefully
reviewing the case

with almost half a
dozen specialists,

we just can't approve
your liver transplant.

I'm sorry.

["Happy Days Are Here Again"
by Barbra Streisand playing]

[sighs]

♪ Happy days

[sighs]

♪ Are here again

♪ The skies above

[sighs]

♪ Are clear again

♪ So let's sing a song

[elevator bell chimes]♪
Of cheer again

[cheering, applause]

♪ Happy days are here again...

There he is.

Here I am.

BENNY: Ah, you look great, boss.

Haven't I always? Oh, my God.

I'm so glad you're back.

Your name again?[chuckles]

Believe it or not, I am
so happy to see you.

And believe it or not, I
am so happy to be seen.

[applause]

[sighs]

Oh, excellent.

[knock on door]

He's not back yet.

You look fantastic.

I'll bet you say that
to all the acute

myocardial infarction survivors.

And how are you feeling?

It's hard to explain.

Everything feels new, and
a little brighter, but...

familiar and old and maybe a
little worn at the same time.

It's good to be back.

It's good to have you here.

There's something I
think you should know.

Ooh. Surprises.

Love 'em. And I have
one for you, too.

I know while you were
in Arizona recovering,

you asked everyone to stay away.

Not reach out to you.

No e-mail, no visits...

Benny lost two cases. I know.
They had Internet.

It was part of our
recovery process.

They teach you how to
react to current events

and personal disappointments.

I got married.

Well, actually,

remarried.

Greg. Greg Valerian.

My first husband.

My only husband.

I was married to him while
I was working in Homeland.

12 years ago.

B.B., before you, Before Bull.

And, well, it was Homeland.

I was always away...
Iceland, Caracas,

Budapest.

He works in the
restaurant business.

So he's never away.

And you can fill in the rest.

And it suddenly occurred to
me: I have a different job.

I'm in one place.

So I called him up,
we went for coffee,

and it was so... easy.

Got married in one
of his restaurants.

The g*ng was all there.

Except you.

And I want you to
know I regret that.

What's it like?

Everything looks new.

A little brighter,
but familiar and old

and maybe a little
worn at the same time.

What's your
surprise?[knock on door]

Hey.

There's a Marshall
Hitchcock here to see you,

from EquiSafe Insurance.

That's my surprise.

Is Cable gonna join?
DANNY: You know,

I actually haven't seen her today.
Maybe she called in sick.

Somebody give her a call
after we're through here.

Find out what's going on.

So, who do we have here?

This is Julia Summerfield.

Lives in Nevada.

Married mother of
two preschoolers.

Works from her home
doing data entry.

During the birth
of her youngest,

doctors discovered she
had endometrial cancer.

Soon as the baby was born,
they put Julia on chemo.

Then they operated, surgically
removed the cancer.

Or so they thought.

It was only later
that they realized

the cancer spread to her liver.

She went back into the
hospital last year

for microwave treatments,

and there was a
horrible accident.

The treatment left a hole in her
liver the size of an apple.

My God.

Given how badly her immune
system had been taxed

by her earlier cancers, her
prognosis was pretty dire.

Without a liver transplant,

she was given only a year to
a year and a half to live.

She filed a claim with
her insurance company,

EquiSafe Insurance,

to pay for the surgery,
which costs somewhere

in the neighborhood of $400,000.

That was four months ago.

This isn't gonna
end well, is it?

And they denied her claim.

In the meantime, she has filed
suits against the hospital,

the doctors,

the manufacturers of the
equipment that malfunctioned.

But as you might imagine, all of
those are going to take years

to make their way
through the courts.

And since, at this point,
she has little more than

three or four months to live,

she decided to file suit
against her insurance company,

EquiSafe, to pay
for the operation.

Okay. So when do we get
to meet our client?

He's already here.
He's in Bull's office.

He? I-I thought, uh...

We're not representing Mrs.
Summerfield.

We'll be working on behalf
of the insurance company.



[whispering]: Hey. I left
three messages for Cable,

bunch of texts, and I
just fired off an e-mail.

If she doesn't make contact
by the end of the day,

I'll go by her place.

[shushing, chatter quiets]

BULL: Anybody here know how much

two million dollars a month is?

Two million dollars a month.

[chuckles]

Exactly right.

Two mil a month.

Roughly half a million a week,
that's a hundred grand a day.

Sounds like a lot, right? But...

when you got 30-some employees,

and you're renting
6,000 square feet

of prime Manhattan real estate,
when you pay taxes, insurance,

you have green
drinks to pay for,

your team loses a couple of cases
while you're convalescing,

a guaranteed two mil a month
makes a huge difference.

I only mention it because,
when I was in Arizona,

learning how to eat, not drink,
exercise and control my temper,

I met a man named
Marshall Hitchcock.

And for those of
you not familiar,

he is the CEO of
EquiSafe Insurance.

And watching him struggle
with his recovery

made a huge impact on me.

And apparently, I made some
kind of impact on him,

because he asked if my firm...

Our firm... would be interested

in a two million dollar
a month retainer.

[quiet murmuring]

And with that in mind,

I'd love you to meet our new client, Mr.
Marshall Hitchcock.

Thank you for that. [Chuckles]

Crazy about your
boss, by the way.

[chuckles softly]

Listen, uh, I know people
hear "insurance company,"

and they, uh, roll their eyes.

But I have a secret.

We actually provide an
extraordinary service.

We actually do something great.

And I personally know that now

because I just went through
a horrible experience,

and like your boss, I
needed extraordinary care,

and I got it.

And my insurance helped
make that happen.

Yeah. So, uh...

Anyway, I-I'm gonna get out
of here and let you folks

do what it is you do, but I
just wanted to say hello

and, uh, tell you how
much I'm looking forward

to working together.

Thank you. Thank you. All right.
[clears throat]

BULL: So, just to be clear,

moving forward,
EquiSafe Insurance

has first call on our services.

And while we're free to
take on other cases,

they are the only
insurance company

that we will be representing.

BENNY: Boss?

We hear you. I hear you.

And, uh, this sounds like a
great thing for the company,

but this-this first
case is, um...

I sense some of you
are upset about it.

I suspect you think we should be
on the other side of this one,

that you'd rather be
representing the woman, who,

through no fault of her own,
lost the use of her liver

and almost certainly is
going to lose her life.

You want to go home at night,

feel good about yourself.

Plus, it's kind of a slam dunk.

I mean, it's not hard to find a
jury, let alone mount a case,

against a big, bad
insurance company.

Of course one problem with
that: She didn't hire us.

The big, bad insurance
company did,

and this is a business,

not a charity, so...

[quiet murmuring]

Yeah, that heart attack really
smoothed off the rough edges.

Turned him into a pussycat.

[siren wailing in distance]

Maybe she just went out
to get some coffee.

Maybe.

If you want, you could
give me your number,

and then if she comes back,
I can let you know, or,

you know, if I hear anything,
I give you a call.

No?

And, you know, and then
I-I'll give you my number

if you need to get
back in here again.

It's simple. It's not a problem.

Wait, so my friend is missing,
and you're hitting on me?

I... No, I'm not hitting on you.
I just...

I mean, I know
nothing about you.

I mean, you know, you could
be married for all I know.

I got to go.

[phone vibrating]

Hello?

Marissa, sorry to wake you,
but I was laying in bed

reviewing everything
that happened today,

and I realized I never
said hi to Cable.

Was she even there?

No. She wasn't there.

I-I didn't want to
bother you with it,

but nobody seems to be
able to locate her.

Danny's on it. The
whole place is on it.

The second we hear from her
or get some explanation...

I will let you know.

Well, I'll give her a call the
second you and I hang up.

Bull, everybody's been giving
her a call every ten minutes.

I-I'm sure there's some
kind of explanation.

And-and the second I have it,
I will share it with you.

[horns honking over phone]

Bull, it's 1:30 in the morning.
Where are you?

I'm in a cab. MARISSA:
Heading where?

Nowhere, just driving around.

That sounds a little strange.
Should I be concerned?

Well, like I said,

I couldn't sleep, so I
started to take a walk,

and did you know there's a bar

on almost every
block of this city?

Why, on some, there are
even two or three.

So, anyway... [sighs]

I realized walking
wasn't my safest option,

so I hailed a cab, and what
do you know, it works.

By the time I see a bar, the
car's already moved past it,

and, uh, I'm safe.

Too late. Can't go in.
Damn, I'm smart.

[clears throat]Don't you think

maybe you could use some rest?
You're still on the mend.

[sighs] Just say,

"I need to get back in
bed with my husband."

[whispering]: I need to get
back in bed with my husband.

Tell the team we need
to meet at 9:00.

Will do.

[sighs]

Found out late last night
that the plaintiff,

Mrs. Summerfield,

moved for an emergency hearing

based on her declining
physical condition,

and the judge
granted the motion,

and we start voir dire tomorrow.

Okay. Talk us through it.

Well, to begin with,
it's a civil trial,

which means we're only looking
at a six-person jury.

And for the plaintiff to win,

they require at least five of
those jurors to agree with them,

which means all we need to do

is convince two people
to side with us.

BENNY: Oh.

Is that all? Yeah.

Ah. So here we are,
sitting in the courtroom,

Mrs. Summerfield behind
the plaintiff's table,

a dying mother with a hole in her liver.
Say hi to Mommy.

Who are these magical
jurors we're looking for,

who are gonna see past

a dying human being
pleading for her life

and sympathize with our client,
the insurance company?

That sounds like a tall
order for voir dire.

BULL: Maybe.

Maybe not.

So what would you have me ask?

I would have you say...

BULL: Good morning.

Good morning.

You a mother? I am.

So I gather, like the rest
of us, you feel terrible

for Mrs. Summerfield?

I do.

You okay if we play
a game of pretend?

Okay.

BENNY: So...

you're standing at
the edge of a dock.

You can't swim.

Two people in front of
you are in the water,

and they're drowning.

You only have one
life preserver.

Who do you throw it to?

Who do you throw it to?

Well, you haven't given
me any information

about the people
that are drowning.

I mean, how can you ask
me to make that decision?

You have to make that decision.

Two people in front
of you are drowning.

In three minutes, they're
going to be dead.

You can ask me a question,
I'll tell you what I know,

but time's a-wastin'.

Um, is one older than the other?

From where you're standing,

one appears to be in their 70s
and the other one in their 20s.

Well, I kind of have to save
the 20-year-old, don't I?

I mean, he or she might
have 50 or 60 more years.

The swimmer in their
70s, maybe ten.

Then do it, do it. Throw
that life preserver.

Okay. I did it.

All right. [Chuckles]

Good for you. You just
saved someone's life.

One more question.

Sure.

Would it be fair
if I prosecute you

for the m*rder of
the 70-year-old?

[chuckles]: No, no, that's okay.

You don't have to answer that.

This juror is acceptable to
the defense, Your Honor.

You just got to do that
two or three more times,

and we got a jury
we can win with.

So having successfully treated Mrs.
Summerfield

for her endometrial cancer,

you realized the cancer
had spread to her liver?

Yes, we discovered it
in its earliest stages,

and really felt confident that
we'd be able to treat it.

And you used a technique
called microwave ablation.

Can you explain how that works?

MARISSA [over earbud]:
I know how hard it was

to put together a
jury that would

even consider the
possibility that our client

might be in the right,
but at the moment,

I am seeing nothing but red.

BENDRY: With pinpoint
amounts of microwaves.

The microwave creates

intense heat, just like
it does in an oven,

and that heat kills the cancer.

But that didn't happen with Mrs.
Summerfield.

No.

Our instruments malfunctioned,
and we delivered

about 40 times the level
of heat that was required,

and ended up destroying a
vast portion of her liver.

And is there a way
to rectify that?

Not really.

Not short of getting
her a new liver.

Which you'd like to see happen?

I would. In fact, even though Mrs.
Summerfield

is suing us for
malpractice, I...

my whole team has offered
to waive their fees.

Anything to make her
surgery possible.

And the hospital where we
performed the procedure

has indicated they, too,
would like to help out,

waive certain costs.

WRIGHT: So if everyone
is pitching in,

if everyone wants
to see this happen,

what is standing in the way of Mrs.
Summerfield

getting the new
liver she requires?

Well, you can't just order
them up on Amazon Prime.

They're harvested
from healthy people

who meet an untimely end

and whose families are
willing to donate them,

which makes their availability

unpredictable.

Also, not just any
liver will do.

The liver has to be carefully
matched to the patient,

or the patient's
body rejects it.

All of which makes the
process of finding a liver

and all the necessary
testing and follow-up

very, very time-consuming

and very expensive.
How expensive?

Anywhere from
$400,000 to $500,000.
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