'Bull' Season 4 Episode 17 Review: TAC tackles unique outbreak as citywide panic spreads but it's not COVID-19
Spoilers for 'Bull' Season 4 Episode 17 'The Invisible Woman'
Call it great timing. With the whole world in a state of panic due to coronavirus, 'Bull' somehow manages to sneak in an episode that walks on the same path of an outbreak in New York City, except it's a bacteria, Anthrax. The case they tackle is also the one that sees TAC pull off some impressive moves to win a case, especially when it goes down to the wire. The case is a classic example of a frame.
A doctor who is an expert on Anthrax is arrested while being accused of terrorizing the city.
CBS though did provide an advisory. Just before the start of the episode, Michael Weatherly, who plays Dr Jason Bull, appears in the clip saying, "Tonight’s episode deals with a citywide panic, not unlike the fears and concerns people are experiencing all over the world at this moment." He seems to be referring to the worldwide coronavirus outbreak. “Before we start, we wanted to remind you this is a work of fiction. It was written and filmed months ago. And its only purpose is to entertain you.”
'The Invisible Woman' starts off with a news anchor being infected by Anthrax after she's exposed to a dry powdered version when opening a mail card addressed to her. Similar cases pop across the city that also results in two deaths. The scene switches to 10 days later. A news outlet reports the anchor's in a stable condition and a doctor from Hudson University gives a press conference on combating Anthrax
Meanwhile, the FBI arrests one of the doctors from the university in connection to the attacks and name Team Bull as the defense team for the accused professor, Natalie Reznik (Brooke Bloom). What follows is a detailed trial sequence that sees Bull and Co. fight for Natalie and hopes to convince the jury and the judge that she was framed and there was a different person orchestrating the attacks.
The episode also pulls off a major scare when it sees two of the show's main characters, Taylor Rentzel (Mackenzie Meehan) and Marissa (Geneva Carr) get a pranked with the same exploding mail. This is the first time in the season the show comes close to pulling off an attack of sorts on TAC, but then the ill-timed prank is revealed to be part of an elaborate scheme.
While we did say spoilers, we've tried to keep the review from giving out a lot of details. 'The Invisible Woman' sees the team employ some pretty high-end tech stuff and means to prove Natalie is innocent and while we can tell you they're successful, the method behind it deserves a watch.
The episode also sheds light on 'Detective Myopia', a rather interesting concept that sees the people look at just one angle and use that to rule out other possible suspects. With the season nearing to an end, 'Bull' pulls off another great episode. Bringing in the angle of an outbreak was something unique and for a season that's seen Bull tackle out-of-the-box cases, this one's definitely worth the watch.
'Bull' airs Mondays 10 pm ET on CBS.