History Series / Bull

** The episode "Uneasy Lies the Crown" has Bull being detained on a judge's orders because a witness reportedly spotting him encountering one of the juror in a case against Smokestack.

The show has aired five seasons with the sixth due to be out by October 2021.

The fifth season is currently airing.

* AmoralAttorney: In the second episode Bull discovers that the pilot's attorney has a serious conflict of interest. His firm represents both the pilot and the airline. If the pilot is found negligent then it shifts some of the liability away from the airline which means that the airline will pay less money in damages to the victims and the lawyer's firm will be paid more. It was highly unethical for the lawyer not to disclose this since he stands to gain a lot of money if he throws the case. Naturally, once the pilot is made aware of this, [[RealityEnsues she fires him on the spot]].

* BigStore: In "Name Game." Averted slightly, as it is a "boiler room" stock scam, but being done by a well-established, reputable bank. When Bull and Chunk investigate the stock brokers' office where all the brokers were using the same name, it is empty. We get a quick ItWasHereISwear, but Bull plugs a landline phone into the wall and calls Chunk's cell phone, with the bank's name on the caller ID. Also, Bull stole the phone from the notary next door.

** "Snatchback" is one for child abduction cases that concern Japanese nationals who kidnap their own child from their foreign spouse and fly to Japan since it didn't sign the Hague Convention until 2014. Russia is a HC member country, so the episode is incorrect on that detail.

* RealityEnsues: When Bull wants to give Chunk a raise, Marissa says they can't afford it. When Bull asks how that's possible, Marissa points out the massively expensive center they use and how much it costs to pay people for their mock juries and such, all of which adds up majorly. She adds that Bull living it up like he's fabulously rich doesn't help either so the firm is actually barely breaking even.
** In "Flesh and Blood", TAC talks about how their case can be made a mistrial after Benny had to go to the hospital after his appendix bursted while in a court session.
** Season 5 has Bull thrown by the Covid pandemic is affecting his work. With courtrooms now doing away with as many people inside as possible, Bull has to watch via monitors which don't allow him the same "read the room" feeling and jurors are selected via a monitor from a nearby station, which makes it harder for Bull to fully test them. Also, because everyone is wearing masks, Bull and the team can no longer judge by the micro-expressions and thus be unable to adapt to how jurors are reacting as they normally would.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In "Callisto", we briefly see a notebook labelled [[TheProblemWithPenIsland "BULLS HIT LIST"]]. Remove the space between the first two words. This also counts as a MultipleReferencePun, since the list is fake, intended as a decoy to mislead the rival attorney.

** Season 5 has Bull thrown by the Covid pandemic is affecting his work. With courtrooms now doing away with as many people inside as possible, Bull has to watch via monitors which don't allow him the same "read the room" feeling. Also, because everyone is wearing masks, Bull and the team can no longer judge by the micro-expressions and thus be unable to adapt to how jurors are reacting as they normally would.

** The episodes "Justified" and "Imminent Danger" both involve a woman who is facing manslaughter charges after killing an abusive significant other. In both episodes, the defense pleads self-defense even though, in both cases, the threat towards the defendant was not imminent and ongoing when they committed their alleged crimes ([[spoiler:one victim was fast asleep when he was shot, the other was wounded and fleeing from the defendant when he was shot]]). In both episodes, the prosecution sets out to prove that not only was the defendant lying about the victim abusing them, but that the victim was the actual abuser. In both episodes, Bull's team gets a not-guilty verdict after finding conclusive evidence that the victim was in fact abusive towards the defendant. In reality, this would be beside the point because in order for it to qualify as self-defense, the threat must be imminent and ongoing and the amount of force used must not exceed that which is necessary to neutralize said threat. While a judge would likely go easy on both defendants after it was proven that the victim was systematically abusing them, they would likely still be found guilty.

** The episodes "Justified" and "Imminent Danger" both involve a woman who is facing manslaughter charges after killing an abusive significant other. In both episodes, the defense pleads self-defense even though, in both cases, the threat towards the defendant was not imminent and ongoing when they committed their alleged crimes ([[spoiler:one was fast asleep when he was shot, the other was wounded and fleeing from the defendant when he was shot]]). In both episodes, the prosecution sets out to prove that not only was the defendant lying about the victim abusing them, but that the victim was the actual abuser. In both episodes, Bull's team gets a not-guilty verdict after finding conclusive evidence that the victim was in fact abusive towards the defendant. In reality, this would be beside the point because in order for it to qualify as self-defense, the threat must be imminent and ongoing and the amount of force used must not exceed that which is necessary to neutralize said threat. While a judge would likely go easy on both defendants after it was proven that the victim was systematically abusing them, they would likely still be found guilty.

** The episodes "Justified" and "Imminent Danger" both involve a woman who is facing manslaughter charges after killing an abusive significant other. In both episodes, the defense pleads self-defense even though, in both cases, the threat towards the defendant was not imminent and ongoing when they committed their alleged crimes (one was fast asleep when he was shot, the other was wounded and fleeing from the defendant when he was shot). In both episodes, the prosecution sets out to prove that not only was the defendant lying about the victim abusing them, but that the victim was the actual abuser. In both episodes, Bull's team gets a guilty verdict after finding conclusive evidence that the victim was in fact abusive towards the defendant. In reality, this would be beside the point because in order for it to qualify as self-defense, the threat must be imminent and ongoing and the amount of force used must not exceed that which is necessary to neutralize said threat. While a judge would likely go easy on both defendants after it was proven that the victim was systematically abusing them, they would likely still be found guilty.

* ArtisticLicenceLaw: Bull has to fire Cable after she breaks federal law in ''Keep Your Friends Close''. Except she almost constantly breaks federal law with her hacking in order to win cases for him, and it's never been a problem before.

* ConvictedByPublicOpinion: The defendant in episode three suffered from this, with many people convinced of her guilt because the maker of a popular podcast accused her of murdering her rapist three years ago, with incomplete facts to back up her accusations.

** Inverted in "School for Scandal", where the public has already decided Kara Clayton killed her husband in self defense and therefore is ''not'' guilty of murder. (Even Bull thinks so until he speaks to her in person.) Bull stresses they will need a jury with "intellectual curiosity", people who will come to their own conclusions.
** Happens again in "Play the Hand You're Dealt" when a gambler, who's one of Bull's college friends is accused of killing a security guard in a First Nation tribal casino. He's seen by many in the small community as a nuisance and his attitude doesn't help him.

* EcoTerrorist: At the start of the episode "Dirty Little Secret", a bombing takes place that was said to be done by eco terrorists. [[spoiler: At the end, it's revealed that an international consortium is trying to frame them.]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In "Callisto", we briefly see a notebook labelled [[TheProblemWithPenIsland "BULLS HIT LIST"]]. Remove the space between the first two words.
** Also counts as a MultipleReferencePun, since the list is fake, intended as a decoy to mislead the rival attorney.

** In "Kill Shot", [[spoiler:the millionaire hires a hitman to kill him, because his life insurance won't pay out if he commits suicide.]] This isn't the case for most insurance, nearing ImpossibleInsurance.

* RealityEnsues
** When Bull wants to give Chunk a raise, Marissa says they can't afford it. When Bull asks how that's possible, Marissa points out the massively expensive center they use and how much it costs to pay people for their mock juries and such, all of which adds up majorly. She adds that Bull living it up like he's fabulously rich doesn't help either so the firm is actually barely breaking even.

* StrawFeminist: Wendy Anderson proclaims herself a women’s rights advocate by taking Susan Bryant’s even though this means blatantly ignoring DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale only to immediately abandon her once it's discovered that Susan’s baby wasn’t Jorden’s.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Tagline}} He'll get you off.]] [[SincerityMode I'm being honest. This is the tagline used.]]]]

* AccidentalTruth: Bull needs to show a small town jury that their negative opinion of the defendant is largely based on false rumors and gossip. His team spreads a rumor that a major developer is buying up land in the area to build a resort. When the jurors start wearing buttons opposing the development, Benny is able to reveal the truth and convinces them to follow the evidence rather than their biases. At the end of the episode Bull discovers that there really are plans for a major real estate development in the area.

The show is renewed for season 3.

** This is played with throughout "The Good One" when TAC goes in to assist the wife of a mob boss who wants to get murder charges off her younger son since he was forced to drive the car and he's studying to be a doctor, the first in the family to do so.