I'm going to be covering more than just one episode in this review, so bear with me. The first season of "Goliath" had set such an impossibly high bar, a lot of us who were following it felt a bit let down by the 2nd and, to a lesser extent, 3rd seasons. And now, after a typically maddening delay from the pandemic, we have the 4th & final season of the Amazon Studios show, & it's revelatory!
Over the same October time period that I was watching "Goliath," I also began watching a series on another streaming platform called "Dopesick," based on the non-fiction book of the same name. And both of these "limited series" tackle the same subject matter: the epidemic of opioid use and misuse in the U. S. And as good as the Hulu series (q.v.) and its great cast has been (I am writing this *before* the last few weekly episodes have even been released), the fictional "Goliath" and its cast is even better.
Of course, Billy Bob Thornton reprises his leading role as Billy McBride, and he continues to get himself in more legal hot water, as any attorney concerned truly with morality and justice would. In his personal life, he's also struggling to re-establish ties with his daughter.
If there's been one constant throughout the 5 year-long run of "Goliath," it has been the excellence of Nina Arianda's creation of, and performance as, the unique character, Patty Solis-Papagian. And as the unwillingly manipulated and frequently enraged real estate agent turned high-powered attorney, she is totally believeable and very compelling. And her grin at the verdict in the Zax Pharma trial seems perfectly genuine.
Tania Raymonde plays Brittany Gold, a sex worker turned private investigator assisting Billy with his cases (and once in a while, his daughter). She's very good at making the mostly thankless "hooker with the heart of "gold" role much more than it could've or should've been.
We see William Hurt again in season 4, playing Billy's old founding law partner, Donald Cooperman, mostly in dreams and flashbacks. He is, of course, great.
And for this season, we add the all stars: J. K. Simmons as George Zax, of "ZaxLax" fame & billionaire co-founder of Zax Pharma with his older chemist brother, Frank, played by the one and only Bruce Dern, perfectly cast as a man struggling his entire life both to remain true to his family (especially his chemist daughter, Kate, well played by Clara Wong) and also to remain ethical in his business. It gradually becomes clear the mental/emotional price he's paid for it.
Elias Koteas, a great, very underrated actor, plays grieving father of an opioid victim and whistle-blower Tom True, a co-founder of the law firm Margolis-True with the father of Sam(antha) True, played ably by Jena Malone, who is a bit desperate to save her family's business (and to deal with her Multiple Sclerosis).
All this makes it sound like there's TOO much going on, but over the course of the 8 hour-long episodes, with the use of the aforementioned flashbacks and dream-like sequences, all is revealed. And the satisfying (but not at all sappy) ending shot suggests that Billy and his own daughter may yet reconcile.
I will miss "Goliath," but it's writers, directors (including Lawrence Trilling) & producers (including David E. Kelley) know how to go out on top.
Over the same October time period that I was watching "Goliath," I also began watching a series on another streaming platform called "Dopesick," based on the non-fiction book of the same name. And both of these "limited series" tackle the same subject matter: the epidemic of opioid use and misuse in the U. S. And as good as the Hulu series (q.v.) and its great cast has been (I am writing this *before* the last few weekly episodes have even been released), the fictional "Goliath" and its cast is even better.
Of course, Billy Bob Thornton reprises his leading role as Billy McBride, and he continues to get himself in more legal hot water, as any attorney concerned truly with morality and justice would. In his personal life, he's also struggling to re-establish ties with his daughter.
If there's been one constant throughout the 5 year-long run of "Goliath," it has been the excellence of Nina Arianda's creation of, and performance as, the unique character, Patty Solis-Papagian. And as the unwillingly manipulated and frequently enraged real estate agent turned high-powered attorney, she is totally believeable and very compelling. And her grin at the verdict in the Zax Pharma trial seems perfectly genuine.
Tania Raymonde plays Brittany Gold, a sex worker turned private investigator assisting Billy with his cases (and once in a while, his daughter). She's very good at making the mostly thankless "hooker with the heart of "gold" role much more than it could've or should've been.
We see William Hurt again in season 4, playing Billy's old founding law partner, Donald Cooperman, mostly in dreams and flashbacks. He is, of course, great.
And for this season, we add the all stars: J. K. Simmons as George Zax, of "ZaxLax" fame & billionaire co-founder of Zax Pharma with his older chemist brother, Frank, played by the one and only Bruce Dern, perfectly cast as a man struggling his entire life both to remain true to his family (especially his chemist daughter, Kate, well played by Clara Wong) and also to remain ethical in his business. It gradually becomes clear the mental/emotional price he's paid for it.
Elias Koteas, a great, very underrated actor, plays grieving father of an opioid victim and whistle-blower Tom True, a co-founder of the law firm Margolis-True with the father of Sam(antha) True, played ably by Jena Malone, who is a bit desperate to save her family's business (and to deal with her Multiple Sclerosis).
All this makes it sound like there's TOO much going on, but over the course of the 8 hour-long episodes, with the use of the aforementioned flashbacks and dream-like sequences, all is revealed. And the satisfying (but not at all sappy) ending shot suggests that Billy and his own daughter may yet reconcile.
I will miss "Goliath," but it's writers, directors (including Lawrence Trilling) & producers (including David E. Kelley) know how to go out on top.
