Season One Review
This eight-part series was an engaging drama, and it was filmed with some excellent shots of Los Angeles. Billy Bob Thornton is outstanding in the role of Billy McBride, a has-been attorney who fell from grace and now seeks redemption through a high profile case involving conspiracy and crimes committed by both attorneys and industrialists.
This scenario is similar to Paul Newman's unforgettable portrayal of a washed up attorney in "The Verdict." In the miniseries format of "Goliath," there is a good set of characters and some lively courtroom intrigue.
The central villain of the series is the head of the law firm of Cooperman and McBride, who is Donald Cooperman (William Hurt). A weakness of the series was in the Cooperman character, a one-dimensional psychopath bent on taking revenge on Billy. But the series never specifies what exactly Billy had done to Cooperman to merit this vendetta.
Some of secondary characters were also poorly developed. The character of Brittany Gold was not quite believable in her exact relationship to Billy and why she would sell him out. The filmmakers had an obligation to make this clear. Another interesting character never fully developed was a priest who was clearly a pawn of either Cooperman or the Borns Tech group. But the filmmakers never disclosed the background on Father Anan. At one point, he was prepared to take the witness stand in the trial, but was never called. In an eight-hour series, there was surely the opportunity to provide the audience with basic expository details.
Still, the eight segments of "Goliath" were compelling drama. The standout characters were the oily lawyers: Callie, Michelle, and Lucy, who would stop at nothing to advance their careers. "Justice" was not a word in their limited collective vocabulary. But, somehow, that was the prime motivation of Billy McBride.
Season Two Review
For both seasons 1 & 2, the strength of the filmmaking in in an engrossing character study, good suspense, and outstanding location shooting in the Los Angeles area. Unfortunately, Season 2 lacked the courtroom suspense of season 1. There were not enough of the trial scenes where Billy McBride is in his element as a defense attorney.
Another turn-off in Season 2 was the excessive violence that involved a nefarious villain heading up a drug cartel, who is also an expert surgeon. The completely gratuitous and gory violence was off-putting and took away from the focus that should have been on Billy McBride.
In Season 2, Billy is reunited with his investigative team, Marva, Patty, and a repentant Brittany. His daughter Denise also returns to reside in a posh Santa Monica house purchased from the $50 million payout from Billy's Season 1 trial.
The most intriguing new character introduced is Marisol Silva, who is running for office as mayor of Los Angeles. Marisol begins an affair with Billy and plays dangerous game when the teenager named Julio whom she befriended has been accused of murder and Marisol seeks out Billy to assist the young man. Julio's father worked in the Easy Jay bar where Billy is a habitual patron, so Billy is fully on board with assisting the lad. But Marisol's political ambitions get conflated with a criminal element, unbeknownst to Billy.
The filmmakers dropped the ball in too many gloomy turns in the narrative and an overly bleak vision of human nature. The film is mainly worth seeing for the engaging Billy Bob Thornton in the role of Billy McBride. But, overall, Season 2 was a letdown from the compelling first season.
This eight-part series was an engaging drama, and it was filmed with some excellent shots of Los Angeles. Billy Bob Thornton is outstanding in the role of Billy McBride, a has-been attorney who fell from grace and now seeks redemption through a high profile case involving conspiracy and crimes committed by both attorneys and industrialists.
This scenario is similar to Paul Newman's unforgettable portrayal of a washed up attorney in "The Verdict." In the miniseries format of "Goliath," there is a good set of characters and some lively courtroom intrigue.
The central villain of the series is the head of the law firm of Cooperman and McBride, who is Donald Cooperman (William Hurt). A weakness of the series was in the Cooperman character, a one-dimensional psychopath bent on taking revenge on Billy. But the series never specifies what exactly Billy had done to Cooperman to merit this vendetta.
Some of secondary characters were also poorly developed. The character of Brittany Gold was not quite believable in her exact relationship to Billy and why she would sell him out. The filmmakers had an obligation to make this clear. Another interesting character never fully developed was a priest who was clearly a pawn of either Cooperman or the Borns Tech group. But the filmmakers never disclosed the background on Father Anan. At one point, he was prepared to take the witness stand in the trial, but was never called. In an eight-hour series, there was surely the opportunity to provide the audience with basic expository details.
Still, the eight segments of "Goliath" were compelling drama. The standout characters were the oily lawyers: Callie, Michelle, and Lucy, who would stop at nothing to advance their careers. "Justice" was not a word in their limited collective vocabulary. But, somehow, that was the prime motivation of Billy McBride.
Season Two Review
For both seasons 1 & 2, the strength of the filmmaking in in an engrossing character study, good suspense, and outstanding location shooting in the Los Angeles area. Unfortunately, Season 2 lacked the courtroom suspense of season 1. There were not enough of the trial scenes where Billy McBride is in his element as a defense attorney.
Another turn-off in Season 2 was the excessive violence that involved a nefarious villain heading up a drug cartel, who is also an expert surgeon. The completely gratuitous and gory violence was off-putting and took away from the focus that should have been on Billy McBride.
In Season 2, Billy is reunited with his investigative team, Marva, Patty, and a repentant Brittany. His daughter Denise also returns to reside in a posh Santa Monica house purchased from the $50 million payout from Billy's Season 1 trial.
The most intriguing new character introduced is Marisol Silva, who is running for office as mayor of Los Angeles. Marisol begins an affair with Billy and plays dangerous game when the teenager named Julio whom she befriended has been accused of murder and Marisol seeks out Billy to assist the young man. Julio's father worked in the Easy Jay bar where Billy is a habitual patron, so Billy is fully on board with assisting the lad. But Marisol's political ambitions get conflated with a criminal element, unbeknownst to Billy.
The filmmakers dropped the ball in too many gloomy turns in the narrative and an overly bleak vision of human nature. The film is mainly worth seeing for the engaging Billy Bob Thornton in the role of Billy McBride. But, overall, Season 2 was a letdown from the compelling first season.