A commercial plane crash due to wind shear causes the deaths of 62 people, with the plane's female pilot, Captain Taylor Mathison ( Trieste Kelly Dunn ), being the lone survivor. To avoid negative publicity, the airline is complicit in getting a negligence lawsuit brought against Mathison. When Bull and his team learn juries would more likely acquit a male pilot, they must help Mathison get her life back and not be judged by her gender. In so doing, Bull convinces Mathison to fire her lawyer, who wants to settle, and has Benny try the case.
Bull: I'm Dr. Jason Bull. I'm not a lawyer. I'm an expert in what's called trial science. I study the jury's behavioral patterns. I know what they're thinking before they do. Everything my team learns gets plugged into a matrix, which allows us to assemble a shadow jury that is scary in its predictive efficiency. The verdict you get depends on me. And that's no bull. Don't tell me plane crashes are bad luck. You think that Malaysia flight just disappeared? Statistically, flying is still the safest way to travel. It's a business, isn't it? They need to be held accountable. You have to trust the pilot, but... it's a leap of faith. You get on a plane without a second thought. But you have no idea who's flying it. (thunder rumbling) (plane rattling) Flight attendant: Ladies and gentlemen, we'll be starting our descent into Albany in just a few moments. (crying) Flight attendants will be coming through the cabin to pick up any last-minute trash items. As a reminder, we're entering some rough air, so please remain in your seats with seatbelts fastened. (plane continues rattling) Ma'am. (sniffles) You really need to take your seat. I'm so sorry. This needs to be up, sweetie. (rumbling grows louder, passengers gasping) (passengers screaming) Benny: It's a simple question, Mr. Stowman. Vince: In the world history of stupid questions, that is the stupidest question. Marissa: Our client just torpedoed jurors two and eight. 12 thinks he's a rebel. Lifelong fan, but I... Vince: w*nk*r. Marissa: There goes 12. Vince: No further questions. This is after three days of witness prep. We've seen worse. Maybe once. This is getting very tiresome, Dr. Bull. Hey, hey. I totally get it. You had a monster hit, and some one-hit wonder comes out of the woodwork and says you stole the hook to his song? It's your song. That's right. And it hurts, Dr. Bull. It hurts. I know it hurts. And that's why we're gonna prove that it took you ten years to write this song. And that it comes... (hits chest) from your soul. (quietly): I know it's about the collapse of your first marriage. And I'm sorry. But you see these people? They're the jury. They're normal, everyday folks who come home one day, open their mail, and they have a jury summons. They're like my fans? That's exactly what they are. They're the same people who throw panties on stage and cheer for you. And you got to see them like that. You got to talk to them like that. Marissa: Bull? Rock on. Go get 'em. Marissa: Bull. All right. Sir Vincent needs a fresh jury. Thank you guys very much. Bull. News anchor: In the storm, Essence Airlines Flight 1372 went down approximately three miles from Albany Airport. As you can see from the wreckage behind me, all 62 passengers are presumed dead. The president of Essence Airlines is on the line. Call back. (newscast continues) Hamilton-Sena and the usual airline litigation firms are calling to sign us up. Crash is less than an hour old, and the vultures are already circling, huh? Bull: Missing the runway does seem to inspire lawsuits. Sorry, I'm still the new guy, but... you handled aviation suits before? Every crash in the last ten years. And, uh, Bull's a pilot. Maybe it's because I'm a pilot. Just spoke with a former colleague from the FBI. Was it...? Wasn't terrorism. Tried to land in a storm with wind shear. News anchor: A shocking new development, a miracle perhaps. The nose cone of the plane was severed from the fuselage upon impact. Sources tell us that one of the pilots was pulled from the cockpit alive. Never heard of a pilot surviving a crash. On a crash like this. Before we sign any client... Victim or airline... We're gonna talk to this pilot. (sighs) Man: Essence Airlines and supporting industries have all been named in a separate wrongful death filing. The pilot is also being sued. (reporters clamoring) There are security concerns, because of death threats. What's the pilot's status? Thank you. That's all for today. If you needed any convincing lawyers are overpaid, the firm owns 18 floors of prime New York real estate. Best behavior, Dr. Bull. It's a pleasure to meet you, Capt... Captain Mathison. I'm glad you fully recovered. Dr. Bull, thank you. I can't say the last four months have been easy, but I'm here. Oscar Weber. I'm her attorney. (chuckles): Oh! Gosh, yeah. I've heard so much about you, Oscar. Thanks for taking an interest in this case, Dr. Bull. Not sure there's a need here for what you do. Getting the truth? Winning? We may not even take this case to trial. Captain Mathison here has been charged with gross negligence. If she were to lose in court, she may be facing criminal charges. Taylor: Dr. Bull, how did you know I was Captain Mathison and not him? Well, you don't bounce when you walk. So clearly you're former military, and you're wearing aviator sunglasses, so I figured... pilot. Plus, one look at Oscar, and... there's no way he's a pilot. All right, let's go hear this flight recording. Taylor (over computer): Passing outer marker, ILS Approach 1-6, good to land. Man: Radar contact, cleared to land runway 1-6. Ceiling 2-0-0. Visibility one-quarter mile, wind one-niner-zero, variable 25 gust... Tower Albany to Flight 213... Electronic voice: Wind shear. Wind shear. Copilot: Wind shear, loss 20 knots. Taylor: Cross-control 0500. (urgent chatter) Can't... What are you doing? Taylor: Throttle's up! On the go... got to take it around! Full power, full power... That's not protocol. Taylor: Clean it up, full power! Electronic voice: Terrain... Pull up. Terrain... pull up. Taylor: Five more seconds! Brace! Brace! (sustained beep) Man: Tower Albany, I've lost them off-screen. You need a minute? I'm okay. Sounds like you did the best you could in a hell of a storm. I considered flying on to Boston early on, but the storm was worse there, so... We started our descent, and... (sighs) we hit a massive wind shear. Weber: The challenge is gonna be the NTSB report. It says... Captain Mathison failed to follow emergency protocol and lost control of the plane. Marissa: The NTSB says 80% of crashes are caused by pilot error. Bull: It's not exactly a fair fight when the pilots usually aren't around to defend themselves. Weber: The flight recorder backs up the report. A jury is going to be inclined to believe it. Unless someone bothers to give them a credible alternative explanation. Her own copilot questioned her decision. And you can read the mind of a dead man? Good for you, Oscar. Do you think you lost control? I don't remember. I wish I could tell you why I did what I did that day, but it just... Weber: To my point, the plaintiffs are gonna find that very convenient. She had six broken ribs. And a severe concussion. Memory loss does happen with head trauma. You were in the military? I flew 139 sorties over Iraq. Got over 12,000 flight hours. So what's the last thing you do remember? The wind shear alarm. Then I woke up in the hospital. They told me everyone on the flight... And there were no survivors. And you feel responsible. My plane went down and I lost 62 souls. Of course I feel responsible. I am responsible. Weber: Taylor, no one wants to see you endure a long, difficult trial. Let me work with the airlines. We can hash out a settlement for these families. Lord knows what a jury is going to come back with. We'll know. Excuse me? We'll know what a jury's gonna come back with. We'll know because that's what we do. That's what trial science is. And something to remember, Mr. Weber. Just because Taylor feels responsible doesn't mean she's to blame. Captain Mathison, I'd like to take your case. Huh. Okay, s-so what do we do next? My team and I go to work. I didn't sleep for a week after that plane went down. I was lead mechanic on the gate that day. Couldn't help but wonder if I'd missed something. How you sleeping now? Eight hours a night. Look, I did all my preflight checks. The NTSB was all up in here and they still cleared my crew. The plane wasn't ten years old. There was barely a grease spot on the repair log. So it was okay to fly. Waxed and ready to go. Well, that report said that the pilots did their own inspection before takeoff. Why is that? They're required to do a walk-around. But it wasn't both of them that day, it was just the copilot. Is that standard procedure? It's always the copilot. She did her walk-around like she was supposed to. What do you... what do you mean "she"? There are lady copilots. Well, the lady wasn't the copilot on that flight. She was the captain. I mean... Damn. Judge: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict? Guilty of gross negligence. Verdict. Guilty. Guilty. Marissa: We've questioned all of our mock jurors, and they've all found Captain Mathison guilty. Let me work on her image. Maybe we're sending the wrong message. I have some ideas that could balance her military edge. Worth a shot. We varied our emphasis on her military record, her stellar pilot rating, nothing's changed the outcome. Judge: Mr. Foreman, have you reached a verdict? Foreman: We have, Your Honor. In the case of Berman et al. v. Mathison, we find the defendant not guilty. Not guilty? That's amazing. How'd he do that? It is amazing. All we had to do was adjust one basic assumption about the case. Which one? Meet our client, Captain Taylor Mathison. Uh, ladies and gentlemen, all this case needed was a man's touch. (clicks tongue) Sorry. I'm just the messenger. Not the misogynist. Benny: So, juries are finding her guilty because she's a woman. Marissa: But the data shows that when it comes to female pilots, there is a clear gender bias. Yeah, but it's not 1977. There are women in power everywhere. Well, it's subconscious. Things people aren't even aware of, like getting the door for a woman. Bull: Benny's always been chivalrous. Cable: I don't get it. Is it really difficult to open a door? It's back to where women wore farthingales. (chuckles): Farthingales. What's a farthingale? It's basically like wearing an upside-down umbrella. All right, my point is we have to dial gender bias into Taylor's defense. Which is? Which is... ...an unavoidable wall of wind tragically brought down Flight 1372, and not even the skills of a great pilot could save them. Okay. All right, I'm gonna play devil's advocate. How do we prove she didn't lose control of the plane if she can't even remember what happened? Start with the flight recorder. Yeah, about that. You're aware that it only covers the last 30 minutes before the crash? Chunk: My phone holds 1,000 hours of music, but a black box taps out halfway through a Wayne Newton album? I tap out halfway through a Wayne Newton album. Black box is only a piece of the puzzle. Okay, Danny, I want a play-by-play in the 24 hours of Taylor's life before the crash. And, Cable, focus on the flight itself. Fill in the blanks. Danke schoen. That's a Wayne Newton reference for your benefit, Chunk. (sighs) Bull: Cute kids. I take it you and your copilot were close. Yeah. Ken and I were best friends. Mary and the kids are like family to me. They miss their father. It's hard for them to understand why I came home and he didn't. And Mary's mad at me. Been sitting here over an hour, and she's barely said a word. I don't know, sometimes I think she... blames me for Ken's death. Or maybe I'm just a reminder of what happened. You know, those families, they act like I don't care about the victims, but... I think about those people every day. The void they left. The futures they don't get to have. I just keep asking myself: did I panic? You know, did I, did I, did I take a maneuver that was too risky? Taylor, something tells me you didn't. Women drivers. We've all heard the expression. Maybe even said it in the heat of the moment, even though female drivers have a higher safety record than men. Care to watch the mock trial? No, thanks. I'm, uh, looking for my client. You know, he really should be talking about her record as an Air Force pilot. He will, but first we need to call out the bias. Once people are made aware, they tend to compensate. You did one mock trial and determined that the whole world has it in for female pilots? We did five. And it's not a conspiracy. Implicit bias literally means you don't know it's there. So, you strike all the male jurors? No, because women display as much gender bias as men do. Hmm. Can you scare me up a cup of coffee? No, it's fine. I was just about to grab myself a cup. Okay, great. Look, I know Dr. Bull has three PhDs in psychology, but he's not an attorney. And there are so many unknowns to overcome at trial. We're just getting started. By the end of this process, we will know which types of jurors we want and which to exclude. All I know is, if Taylor is smart, she will settle with the plaintiffs and make this whole thing go away. Benny: Is a decorated Air Force fighter pilot, who flew 139 sorties over Iraq. Where's the douche? Looking for Taylor. Did you spit in this? No. But don't drink it. Chunk: You're in the spotlight the minute you walk into the courtroom. Dr. Bull says I need to look strong, but not aggressive, confident, but not arrogant. Well, blue conveys confidence. And navy adds a sense of remorse. I like your style. Thanks. How did you end up here? I arrived via Vogue magazine. Really? Mm-hmm. Weren't you a defensive back for Georgia? Well, I was that, too, before I was this. I knew it. You almost won the Heisman. Weren't you gonna go pro? Draft didn't work out too well for me. Why isn't she in her uniform? Oh, we can do that, if you want to make this look like a military tribunal. In court, we want her to look like a human being, not a pilot. Mr. Weber, I heard you were in the office. Taylor, I know Dr. Bull has convinced you that he has some sort of magic formula that will make a jury see past the facts and exonerate you. Chunk, would you give us a second? And, uh, tell Benny I need to see him. Mm-hmm. Weber: While Dr. Bull has been searching for biases, I've been in touch with the airline, who are negotiating a settlement with the plaintiffs. A settlement? Yes. It's a very generous offer to the victims' family, as it should be, and it protects you from any financial liability. What do you need from me? I need you to agree to the findings of the NTSB report. Bull: The report that finds her at fault. A-And if I do that, I'll be reinstated? Well... Bull: No. Fired. And unemployable and never able to fly again. She killed 62 people. No, Oscar. An airplane crash killed 62 people, not your client. Marissa mentioned you were pushing for a settlement. That struck her, because even though she's a woman, she's quite good with numbers. So, she had Cable, also a woman, also good with computers, do some digging. It seems that your contract with Taylor stipulates the less the airline pays the families, the more your firm makes. That seems like a conflict of interest, but then again, you have all that office space to pay for. That's why I hate lawyers. That's my... bias. So you have a financial incentive for me to settle? It's called a reverse contingency fee. It's how the airline controls damages. That, and by blaming you. Taylor. This is in your best interest. Do not let him twist this. Can I fire my attorney? Of course you can. Especially since he was supplied to you by the airline. You're relieved, Mr. Weber. See how easy that was? Dr. Bull, you're a piece of work. I like those glasses. Dr. Bull, I can't afford my own attorney. It's all right. We have someone. The best, really. Hey. What's up with Weber? Looked pissed. Captain Mathison, meet your new lawyer. Is this normal? For you to sub in for a real trial? It's been about a year since I've been inside a real courtroom. What kind of law did you practice? I was a prosecutor in the D.A.'s office. Yale Law, Supreme Court clerkship. He was a pit bull. If I were on trial, Benny's the only lawyer I'd want. Why did you leave? I got fired. Wait till you hear why. (gavel bangs) All right, prospective jurors have been sworn in. Mr. Dworkin, you may begin your voir dire. Thank you, Your Honor. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I'm going to ask all of you some questions to see if you can honestly and fairly assess this case. This trial is a suit over... Taylor (quietly): How do you know who has this bias against female pilots? We ask them. Marissa (over earpiece): Okay, we have six strikes left. Who's up first? The lovely Martha Plemmons. Martha Plemmons, 58. High school librarian. Crossword enthusiast. (quietly): The key is not to let anyone know what we're screening for, so our questions have to be a little off. Benny: Ms. Plemmons... what would someone say they didn't like about you? Your Honor, this isn't a job interview. What's the defense going for here? It's his nickel, Mr. Dworkin. (whispers): Please. I-I guess I can be a little pushy sometimes. (laughs) I accessed the district's HR department. Martha's filed two complaints for equal pay against a male counterpart. I think she nailed "a little pushy." Marissa: Yeah, and self-aware. That means she'd be open to assess her own hidden bias on gender. Bull: Two complaints for equal pay sounds pretty aware of gender bias. She only has 47 friends. I don't think she's gonna win Miss Congeniality on this jury. Bull: We don't need her to. She'll have an opinion and stick with it. The question is: will her opinion help or hurt us? Cable: I'd say help. Her last book purchase was Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In. She gave it five stars. That is key. If we can establish a gender bias against Taylor, Martha is gonna resent the airline big-time. Bull: Yeah, I've been watching her. Every time she looks at Taylor, she has admiration. She'll be on our side. Good for the defense, Your Honor. Okay, let's do an online search together. "Three black teenagers." But if I change "black" to "white..." Your Honor, what is this? Race-baiting? Anybody surprised by this? That's just some PC nonsense. [SCENE_BREAK] Cable: This guy would win troll of the year for the things he posts online. Marissa: Mr. Varni is not what I would call enlightened. He's not gonna recognize gender bias if it was full frontal in front of him. I say bounce. Strike, Your Honor. All right, let's talk about Dave Lemanski. Marissa: Professional storm chaser. Should be respectful of the power of Mother Nature, but... also a self-described expert. Well, at least he'll understand the effects of wind shear. Yeah, uh, he may not be afraid of a Tennessee twister, but he seems to run from the opposite s*x. Surprise, storm chasing's a total sausage fest. Bull: I'm looking at his body language. He's not a happy camper. He's antsy just sitting through voir dire. Okay, the data on Lemanski is mixed. On the plus side, he will pay attention to weather conditions during the crash, but it's unclear that he'll recognize his gender bias. Who do we have if we bounce him? Cable: We get... "Rod the Bod," trainer-slash-model-slash-vitamin salesman. Marissa: Uh, Rod's social media is loaded with narcissistic self-congratulatory dude speak. I saw him checking out a young lady in the gallery. The guy's here to find a date. Total lack of awareness. He's gonna be a huge problem for us. Okay. Into the storm we go. We've got ourselves a jury. Marissa: Seven women, five men. Benny: Good for the defense, Your Honor. I'm a high school librarian. I'm a high school librarian. I'm a single mom and teach fifth grade. I'm a single mom and I teach fifth grade. My favorite hobbies are Sudoku and model trains. My favorite hobbies are Sudoku and model trains. For every juror, we hire what we call a "mirror juror." How can they be exactly the same? Well, Marissa's created an algorithm that can track a person across 404 different variants. We put them in the courtroom for the entire trial. Marissa: They wear biometric watches that allow us to track their emotional responses to events in the courtroom. And with an astonishing degree of accuracy, they respond just like the actual jury. Here we have a dermatologist, a Spanish teacher, and a Web designer. We've identified them as open-minded. Lemanski is impulsive, a self-described expert... Could go either way. But these four are followers. They'll go with the wind. And what about those two? That's Frederick West, infantry soldier. All about personal responsibility. But if he senses you're making excuses, we'll lose him. Orville Maynard, on the other hand... retired English professor. Didactic. Despite a history of celebrated liberal causes, his personal syllabus reads like a tribute to dead white men. And he's spent his career lecturing, not listening. (sighs) So what do we do? We learn their habits, lexicon, everything about them. And then we connect with them, with the help of our mirror jurors. One juror at a time. Dworkin: It is tragic that the lone survivor of this crash is the only one here to speak of it. It's even more tragic that she has no memory of what she did. Of losing control of a plane, before smashing it to the ground killing all 62 passengers. Marissa: We're getting good feedback from the biometric watches. So far, our mirror juror for number 11 is responding most favorably to opposing counsel, particularly when they mention the number of victims. Benny: Captain Taylor Mathison is a decorated Air Force fighter pilot who flew 139 sorties over Iraq. Bull: Juliette Lee scratched her neck after she looked at Taylor. Something's making her uncomfortable. How's her mirror looking? She is clearly liking Taylor's military service. Looks like our best in with Juliette is to keep focusing on Taylor's experience as a fighter pilot. So when Flight 1372 was hit by wind shear that slammed the plane toward the ground at 200 feet per second, not even a pilot of her caliber could save them. When a pilot encounters wind shear, one advances the power, retracts the speedbrakes and retracts the gear to reduce drag, build speed and maintain altitude. And, uh, speaking as an NTSB investigator with 20 years experience, did the defendant follow protocol? Reynolds: No. In fact, even her copilot seemed baffled... Objection. Conjecture. Mr. Reynolds can testify in his opinion as an expert. Reynolds: We feel that had she followed protocol... Control? There is no control in wind that strong. Dworkin: ...18. Please, sir, if you would, walk us through. The plane was erratic, off course, not holding it's heading, weaving back and forth. It's clear she panicked, lost control. Dworkin: Thank you. Nothing further, Your Honor. I don't think this guy's a real pilot. He's a paper pusher. I could be getting be high with one of my grad students. Benny: Mr. Reynolds, prior to the crash, what was Captain Mathison's flight record? She had a flawless record. Benny: And yet, your report found pilot error to be the cause of the crash. Correct. Hmm. What about... other crashes involving female pilots? This is the first to my knowledge. Wow. Really? Women must be really good pilots. Actually, there aren't very many. Well, what percentage of pilots are female? About four percent. Four out of 100. Now, that is surprising. It's a challenging lifestyle. Don't flight attendants work similar shifts? Dworkin: Objection. Relevance. Withdrawn. Nothing further, Your Honor. Taylor may be a great pilot, but she's also woman. And beautiful. She's trouble. Tell me more about juror number four, Ms. Juliette Lee. Uh, three kids. Works from home designing Web pages. Creative, tech savvy. And all the data shows that she should be on Taylor's side. Divorced? Three years ago. Her husband left her for his secretary. Find out what color hair the secretary had. Let's bring the copilot's wife into mock court. I need to get her on the stand and play lawyer. Bull: Your husband Ken was the copilot. Were you with him before the flight took off? We had been together just a few hours before he left. Where? We had an appointment together. An appointment? Marriage therapy? I loved my husband, but he wasn't perfect. He'd, uh... slipped before. "Slipped"? As in, had an affair? Pilots are away a lot. It's hard. We were trying to move past it. Hmm. You ever think about who the other woman was? Of course I think about it. Ken was sleeping with Taylor. Taylor: What? Mary! Mary: You were my friend. How could you? Ken? I would never! My God, stop lying! What's wrong with you?! He's dead! She's lost her mind. Why didn't you die, too?! Whoa. Okay, okay. You should've died instead of him! Shh, shh, it's okay. Okay, let's take a little break, all right? It's okay. Marissa's gonna take you. (door opens) Bull: Taylor, stop. You think I was sleeping with Ken? That's what that stunt was about? Not me. Juror number four, Juliette Lee. Her husband left her for a woman who looks a lot like you. (sighs) I can't believe this. Of course I wasn't sleeping with him. Well, he was sleeping with someone. Look, if you're not gonna leave, can you at least turn around? You said Ken was upset. He missed his inspection, you covered for him, and you're still protecting him, and I want to know why. Dr. Bull, I... I can come back. No, I was just leaving. Listen to me. Marissa is talking to Mary right now. I had her testify in mock court so that she would blow here and not in the real trial, because if Mary accused you of sleeping with Ken in the actual court, true or not, the plaintiffs would argue that you were distracted by a lovers' quarrel in the cockpit and that is why the plane crashed. Now, I will get this jury on your side... but not unless you're honest with me. You want honesty? We're done. (sighs): Oh. (quietly): Women. [SCENE_BREAK] ♪ Who's that woman? ♪ ♪ That wonderful woman... ♪ Hey. That your virtual black box? Virtually. Every bit of information from the roughly two dozen passengers using the in-flight Wi-Fi. Selfies from 22D, drink orders from 12A, oh, an epic Twitter fight between the sisters in 18B and C. How did you get all of... You know what? Forget that I asked. Um, anything that's gonna help us? Yeah, I'm getting to that. This tweet from 8C. "Woman in 8D just stomped her foot so hard she broke her heel. #FlightRage." Okay, what else? "Woman in 8D apologized. Said she just got dumped." Juicy. And sad. Dumped by who? (typing) "Woman in 8D pretty much threw herself at the pilot when he went to the bathroom." Who is this woman? (typing) Tanya Bryant. Twenty-nine. An accountant for a department store in Manhattan. I think we just found our copilot's mistress. Nice. Well done, well done. So, Tanya flew three round-trip flights on Essence Airlines in the last month leading up to the crash. Cable: And all the flights have one thing in common. Bad food? Crying babies? Ken Fowler as copilot. So Ken and Tanya were having an airborne romance, not Ken and Taylor. So why didn't Taylor say any of this? Hmm. Hey. So Ken was having an affair with Tanya. Not you. You think maybe Ken was distracted, too distracted to help you with the wind shear? We ran Ken's affair past a mock jury. Instead of seeing Ken as questioning your decisions, they found him preoccupied, not focused on flying. And they found you not guilty. No. You know, so what if Ken might've been distracted? I was the pilot, I made all the decisions. I flew the plane, not Ken. It-it wouldn't have made a difference. Taylor, I get it. You don't want to throw your dead friend under the bus. But you know in your heart that Ken's affair had nothing to do with this crash. Right? Look, I'm taking the settlement. You can't do that. Trust me, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. Maybe they're right. Maybe I panicked. Did you? I don't remember. So you just want to give up? Settle? I guess it's what a woman would do. Take the blame. Excuse me? Well, martyrdom is a classic female response to tragedy. Do you have any idea what I have been through my entire life as a pilot? Are you telling me you want to give that up? Come with me. Okay, you got me here. Now what? Well, the simulator is gonna recreate the exact conditions... Yeah, I know what a simulator does. I haven't flown since the accident. I'll be right here with you. I know this isn't easy. I promise it'll get easier if you fly again. Man: All right, Dr. Bull, we're ready to begin the simulation. (simulator powering up) Bull: Okay, we're gonna pick up right after Ken got back to the cockpit. (electronic bell chimes) Passing outer marker. (thunder rumbling) ILS approach 1-6, cleared to land. Man: Radar contact, cleared to land, runway 1-6. Ceiling 2-0-0, visibility one-quarter mile, wind one-niner-zero, variable 2-5 gust, gust to 0-4-1 wind shear all four quadrants. (rumbling) Bull: Wonder how many people get airsick in one of these things. (loud rumbling) Electronic voice: Wind shear, wind shear, wind shear. (alarm beeping) Bull: Wind shear. Lost 20 knots. Cross control, 0500. Bull: Can't... Throttle's up. What are you doing? On the go. Got to take it around. Bull: That's against protocol. Repeat, against protocol. Clean it up. Full power. Electronic voice: Terrain... pull up. No. Terrain... pull up. Five more seconds. Terrain... pull up. Terrain... pull up. Terrain... pull up. Terrain... pull up. Terrain... pull up. Terrain... pull up. Terrain... (rumbling stops) (panting) You know what you did? I got five seconds more flight out of that plane. Five seconds is the difference between putting that plane down on an empty road or in a neighborhood filled with people. Taylor, you didn't want to relive it because you were afraid they were right... That you lost control, but you didn't. How did you know? Because you're a fighter. And a fighter pilot. And another thing I do know is that you saved more lives than your own. And the jury's never heard that. Now... (sighs) you still want to take that settlement? Benny: Captain Mathison, what were you thinking when the plane lost power in the wind shear? Objection. That is not the NTSB's video. Your Honor, the video has been modified in one specific way, and that is to show the jury what was on the ground. Judge: I'll allow it, but only for that reason. Watch your step, Mr. Colón. I don't remember, actually, due to head trauma from the crash. Benny: You flew a simulation earlier that replicated the conditions. And you performed the same maneuver. Why? It was the only way to get a few more seconds flight out of the plane. But it wasn't protocol. Even your copilot asked what you were doing. It would have taken too long to explain. He was never a military pilot. Anyway, there was nothing for him to do. I was in full command of the aircraft. Why was it important for the plane to stay in the air a few extra seconds? To veer the plane to an unpopulated area. If I couldn't save the lives of the people on board, at least I could save lives on the ground. (whispers): Yeah. Captain Mathison solidified these ten jurors today. But? But what does a twister aficionado have in common with a former infantryman? Besides flexibility? Oh... Benny's closing argument brings them both to tears. Benny: I'm working on it. You've already tried five different versions in mock court. I know, but none of them are right. None of them got us the win. They just haven't figured out that gender plays into Taylor's case. Incredibly, their mirror jurors still think she panicked. All right, I got it. (sighs) You think he has it? Not quite. But he will. Where's Chunk? I'll find him. Chunk: Bull says you may need a new tie. Really? Yeah. I'd stay away from stripes if you're trying to project a progressive image. I can't crack my closing argument. I thought closings were your thing. Yeah, when I was a prosecutor. But since then, I've been in mock court. You can lose 100 times and it doesn't matter, but today... only get one shot. I don't know if this helps, but when I played for Georgia, there was a rumor going around that someone on the team was gay. I remember that next practice, I tackled that quarterback so hard... he was out for a week. We lost our next game, but no one suspected that I was gay. It never occurred to them that a gay man could hit that hard. At least not until our ten-year reunion. (chuckles softly) Chunk. Thank you. Tell Bull I said thanks for the tie. Now, bear with me. I'm gonna show you three pictures that tell a story. Okay? Here we go. Now, as you can see, these kids are getting bullied. Then one of them fights back. Here they are in the principal's office. And here's the bully, nursing his black eye. Okay, now, as a show of hands, what was the color shirt of the kid who confronted the bully? Was it a blue shirt? Okay, well, let's take a look, see if we're right. If you all guessed blue, you were wrong. The kid who confronted the bully was wearing the red shirt. See, I never specified which kid confronted the bully. You all just assumed it was the boy. Now, come on, I admit I failed the test, too. See, it's hard to imagine a girl being the hero of the story. Just like it's hard to imagine Captain Mathison being the hero of the one in this court. But she is. She doesn't deserve to be punished for our failings. She deserves to be thanked for the lives that she saved. We need to find her not guilty. Judge: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict? We have, Your Honor. Judge: What say you? Foreman: As to the charge of gross negligence, we find the defendant not guilty. (gallery murmuring) That's one in the win column. Very nice to meet you. Hey. Oh. (chuckles) Thank you so much. Of course. Of course. Of course. Mary. Hi, guys. Hi. Come here. Thanks. (sighs) [SCENE_BREAK] (lively chatter) Bull: May I approach the bar? Ah, yes, you may. (chuckles): Aha. Congratulations, Dr. Bull. You, too. Showed a new speed in court today. Yeah, yeah. I picked up a few new moves here. I saw that. Well, I may start calling on you more often out there. Excuse me, Jay. Milady. Thank you. I got a sweet little gift from Vince. (imitates Vince): "Rock on." (laughs) Heard the airline settled with the families. Double what they would have paid if Taylor had been found guilty. So... how's my team? Right where you want 'em. Here.
The Woman in 8D