Admittedly, I am not the most fervent nor versed noir and film scholar. I may miss many references and allusions to the past made in modern media, but I love observing the sheer craft and devices employed to do so. This is what happens when a 17 year old becomes a 5-year fan of a television show literally headed by Billy Bob Thornton, but favor it I do. The conclusion of Goliath on Amazon Prime Video arrived September 24th, and has completely floored me since.
In many respects, Goliath could have gone wrong. A law drama about LA and corrupted corporations; it’s been seen before, done before. Each season follows a decently similar structure: a David and Goliath style lawsuit that comes with just as many threats and conspiracies as one would expect. Billy McBride, the grizzled protagonist played by Thornton, is a washed up former celeb attorney who lost his name partnership at after falling off the wagon. He teams up with Patty Solis-Papagian, part time realtor/night-law-school graduate, and Brittany Gold, a former hooker he represented who also does paralegal work, to bring justice to victims of monster corporations and their legal reps who steamroll lives for profit.
The first season sees Billy take on his old firm (and ex-wife), in order to discover the truth behind a wrongful death case caused by a major arms broker. Season Two takes a political turn, as the prospective new mayor of Los Angeles loses grip on her shady back-door partners when a child from her community is wrongfully charged with murder. The third season guides us completely off the rails to a desert-landscape-almond-farming beauty corporation stealing water from federal land and local townspeople. Billy also spends a lot of time hallucinating in casinos in this one.
You can see the pattern I’m drawing, and Season Four doesn’t fail to fall in line with its predecessors. After winning big on the Blackwood Farms case the season before, Billy relocates to San Francisco at Patty’s request. He leaves behind his teenage daughter and light of his life Denise, who refuses to clean up his mess after he spirals back into alcoholism while recovering from a near-fatal gunshot wound. He joins Patty at her new white-shoe firm on a fraud settlement going after three big pharma distributors, the most ambitious target they’ve tackled yet. Head of the firm, Sam Margolis, is a shrewd and jumpy Jena Malone. Sam pulls the strings of the case, dealing her own dirty deeds, battling chronic illness that is wonderfully relevant to the topic of the case and never shied away from, and delivering some of the final blows in the finale. Malone’s performance is chilling; simply put, I didn’t know she could do that! I will be watching accordingly in the future!
In the midst of this honorable quest, Billy faces his own trials. He’s haunted by the choices he’s made in the past and those others made for him- such as his father. Ominous dreams and vision sequences with references to the Wild West create a more abstract structure; the presence of flashbacks pulls us away from the sticky, sardonic atmosphere of the California courtroom. These themes of haunting are compounded by the subtle horror influences that leave as soon as they come. A delicious sense of dread follows one character in particular; Rob, played by Brandon Scott, is an attorney who digs too close to the truth regarding the death of his friend and co-worker initially assigned to the Zax Pharmaceuticals case. The mournful score and expert camerawork get the audiences’ hearts racing, while all Scott needs to do is tearfully stare, shaking, at a painting of the ocean in his office.
This season leans into these themes, as it began to in Season Three; in some ways, it directly borrows from it. A J.K. Simmons led “Pain Killer” musical theater number is the showy intro to Episode Two, which aligns very closely to the Dennis Quaid-Amy Brenneman-psychedelic-fueled-weirdly-incesty sibling serenade that gave the audience goosebumps in Season Three. These devices don’t get tired, per se, but close watchers will be able to pick up on their presence easily.
Regarding the legal aspects of this case in comparison to past seasons, the concept doesn’t fail to be compelling. The opioid epidemic is fresh on audience’s hearts and minds, and presents a usual Goliath-type villain. Borns Tech and Cooperman & McBride were killing innocent civilians in the name of patriotism (and lying to feds), Wyatt Industries, Marisol Silva and La Mano were taking lives for the organ trade (and lying to feds), and the Blackwoods were bleeding an entire county dry (and lying with feds). It takes a while to reveal just how deep the sinister motives of Zax Pharmaceuticals run, but they reach new personal depths of betrayal for all witnesses and plaintiffs involved.
In the same breath, this season also explores the concept of the protection wealth provides. By expanding upon the lack of virtues in the wealthy, George Zax breaks boundaries and destroys lives to keep his most valuable secrets safe. One of the most compelling scenes this season is Frank Zax’s witness questioning, where the audience (and the jury) sees him driven to hysteria due to gaslighting and the effects of the mental duress his brother forced upon him. The fact that this cycle repeats with Kate, the one person George claims to hold dear, paints a vivid picture of cold-blooded excess.
Now we return to our final cast. Nina Arianda is at her strongest here, portraying Patty’s grief, insecurity and wit with ease. Her comedic timing remains unparalleled, and she genuinely had me in stitches over her trademark banter with Thornton. Seeing Tania Raymonde’s return for a mid length but meaningless stint as Brittany Gold in the latter half of the season was a disappointment for me. I appreciated her presence so much and the skill she brought to a typically stereotyped character, only for her to materialize to mysteriously hand Billy some crucial files and hold cigarettes for Patty. Underutilizing talent always sinks the boat for me, but luckily the hazy tone of this season kept it afloat.
I took note of so many deliciously crafted visuals that would be a noir fan's wet dream, so perhaps the full potential was lost on me. I still found ways to savor the neon lights of Billy’s neighborhood, the haunting figures in his building complex and the moments of sentimental sweetness peppered in between sharp banter. Even though loyal fans such as I may miss the old landscapes of the Chez Jay and Ocean Lodge, the new ones are whimsical and fresh. An old western train station set is a mainstay vaguely alluded to in “real-life” moments, but its true significance lies within Billy’s mind. The common rendezvous spot of a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant provides gorgeous lighting, cozy wood barstools and lively chatter to back some of the most pivotal introductions and conversations in the show.
All in all, this season felt familiar, cozy. Fans could cheer, laugh and cry, recognize Classic Billy! moments and dive into the world of the antagonists in a fresh way. Personification of a nationwide epidemic is challenging, but Zax Pharmaceuticals steps up to the task. When someone has all the money in the world, it’s only simple to bulldoze anyone in their way. They can’t afford it. Unflinching evil, last grasp desperation and pyrrhic victories: this show has it all! Until next time, I love you! Have a great week.