Season 4 - The "Final" Season (well, we'll see about that)
Do you know when a friend launches into some really disturbing-to them-dream they had and 30 minutes later, you're still trying to find the logic or...stay awake? Unfortunately, Season 4 has way too much of that. But since this is "Goliath" with Billy Bob Thornton, why not suffer the silly stuff and hope you get the goods. You do...get the goods. However this is a case for never giving Thornton the first episode of series to direct (nice try, but "Sling Blade" this ain't).
Although I had a lot of questions about why we're suddenly in Dashiell Hammett's dark and wet San Francisco (You keep waiting for Sydney Greenstreet to show up); why a significant law firm with an even more significant settlement of a major lawsuit over to (the always wonderful) Nina Arianda as sidekick Patty Solis-Papgian who brings on the notoriously unpredictable Thornton to wrangle the settlement amount; why Thornton is ensconced in an "iffy" Chinatown apartment; why Brittany (Tania Raymonde leaves her job in frigid Chicago and shows up just in time to do what she does (snoop around); why Thornton (as McBride, who's apparently lost half a lung recently) is always trudging up and down San Francisco's famous hills; why Thornton isn't incarcerated for his courtroom antics? Lots of initial questions.
Then, Jena Malone as a directing partner of a snazzy law firm and J. K. Simmons as the Evil Opiates Pharmaceutical emperor quickly sell a topical plot and an advancing case of Multiple Sclerosis while crazy Bruce Dern gives a strong (yet ambivalent) performance as...well, as maybe a friend, maybe a foe. The plot, the stylish side of San Francisco photographed with superb clarity (by Jeffrey Greely), make Season 4 binge worthy television. The dream stuff, however, irritates throughout. (You get used to it or suffer it so you can enjoy the good stuff.)
And the powers that be are convinced to give us one more season of this always watchable series, please bring along Jena Malone and J. K. Simmons (they can really aggravate Patty).
Although I had a lot of questions about why we're suddenly in Dashiell Hammett's dark and wet San Francisco (You keep waiting for Sydney Greenstreet to show up); why a significant law firm with an even more significant settlement of a major lawsuit over to (the always wonderful) Nina Arianda as sidekick Patty Solis-Papgian who brings on the notoriously unpredictable Thornton to wrangle the settlement amount; why Thornton is ensconced in an "iffy" Chinatown apartment; why Brittany (Tania Raymonde leaves her job in frigid Chicago and shows up just in time to do what she does (snoop around); why Thornton (as McBride, who's apparently lost half a lung recently) is always trudging up and down San Francisco's famous hills; why Thornton isn't incarcerated for his courtroom antics? Lots of initial questions.
Then, Jena Malone as a directing partner of a snazzy law firm and J. K. Simmons as the Evil Opiates Pharmaceutical emperor quickly sell a topical plot and an advancing case of Multiple Sclerosis while crazy Bruce Dern gives a strong (yet ambivalent) performance as...well, as maybe a friend, maybe a foe. The plot, the stylish side of San Francisco photographed with superb clarity (by Jeffrey Greely), make Season 4 binge worthy television. The dream stuff, however, irritates throughout. (You get used to it or suffer it so you can enjoy the good stuff.)
And the powers that be are convinced to give us one more season of this always watchable series, please bring along Jena Malone and J. K. Simmons (they can really aggravate Patty).