Television

Standard Of Review: Amazon's 'Goliath' Ends Season With A Whimper

The final two episodes are extremely anti-climatic, according to culture critic Harry Graff.

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(via Wikimedia)

(via Wikimedia)

While I have had some issues with Amazon’s legal drama Goliath over the course of its debut season, I always found it to be engaging and exciting. Imagine my surprise, then, when I watched the final two episodes and found them to be extremely anti-climatic (this column will contain spoilers for the entire season).

The season climaxes with the Larson trial, in which Billy and his team, despite having thin evidence, try to pull a rabbit out of their hat and win their lawsuit against evil defense contractor Borns Tech. I expected to see Billy’s alleged brilliance on display, just like it was earlier in the season when Billy deliberately antagonized Judge Keller to hold him in contempt of court, necessitating a hearing that essentially kept the Larson case alive.

But that was not the case at all. Instead, Judge Keller makes several evidentiary rulings that go against Billy and prevents him from putting on his entire case. Instead of finding a way around this impediment, Billy mostly sulks. Billy also delegates a surprisingly high amount of the trial work, including the opening statement, to Patty, who is participating in her first trial. As much as I love Patty as a character, this legal strategy is questionable at best.

Finally, after Borns Tech CEO Wendell Corey invokes an advice-of-counsel defense, Judge Keller allows Billy to cross-examine his rival Donald Cooperman. Goliath had been building to this confrontation, and I was excited to see these two enemies go head to head. But even this was anti-climatic, as Donald suffers a debilitating stroke on the stand and is not able to complete his testimony (and Judge Keller thus throws it out).

Amazingly, even though Billy and Patty score very few points during the trial, the jury still finds for the Larsons, awarding them nine figures in damages. This twist makes absolutely no sense, and does not square with anything that happened at trial. I am all for a happy ending, but Goliath needed to do something during the trial to justify a finding for the Larsons. It was almost as if the show filmed another episode about the trial and just skipped it (and given how The New York Times had to issue an embarrassing correction after its reviewer watched the first two episodes of Goliath out of order, I had to ensure that I had not in fact missed an episode).

The show also misfires with its treatment of Lucy Kittridge, the second-year associate who inexplicably became the lead Cooperman Bride attorney on the Borns Tech trial team and later began a sexual relationship with Donald. Lucy has a stutter, which she mostly keeps under control but occasionally draws the ire of her superiors. In the seventh episode, Lucy’s stutter prevents her from making a particularly vociferous point during a discussion in Donald’s office. Donald promptly removes Lucy as lead attorney on the case and then breaks up with her. To add insult to injury, the firm fires Lucy in the middle of the trial.

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Obviously, the Lucy storyline illustrates how horrible the attorneys at Cooperman McBride can be. But I was a little disturbed at how the show treated her stutter. Callie and Donald act like the stutter disqualifies Lucy from being a litigator, and even Borns Tech’s semi-kind General Counsel Leonard Letts tells Lucy that she should find another line of work besides litigation. Given that Lucy is supposedly the firm’s best writer despite being a second-year associate, wouldn’t Cooperman McBride have some use for her that doesn’t require her to speak in court? To imply that a person with a stutter cannot be a lawyer strikes me as irresponsible.

As of now, Amazon has not yet announced whether or not it is bringing back Goliath for a second season. I am in favor of giving Goliath one more chance, because I think there is a really good show in there somewhere. I would recommend refocusing the show on Billy, Patty, Brittany Gold, and Billy’s assistant Marva as they take on a new case. I would get rid of Donald, Callie, and Lucy, all characters that never quite worked. Michelle McBride can stay, but only if Maria Bello is given more to do (maybe she can join Billy’s firm, creating an interesting “exes as business partners” dynamic). While my plan essentially eliminates everyone from the “Goliath” law firm, Goliath would not be the first successful show to have its title no longer accurately describe its premise (Veep, Cougar Town, and New Girl immediately come to mind). And there could still be a “goliath” law firm involved in the second season; Billy could litigate against a Biglaw firm other than Cooperman McBride, or perhaps Billy has rode the momentum of his gigantic win against Borns Tech to found his own new mega law firm.

And I guarantee that my proposed Season 2 of Goliath will be more exciting than the end of Season 1.

Earlier: Standard Of Review: Amazon’s ‘Goliath’ Is Half Of A Very Good Show
Standard Of Review: Examining The Visual Look Of ‘Goliath’

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Harry Graff is a litigation associate at a firm, but he spends days wishing that he was writing about film, television, literature, and pop culture instead of writing briefs. If there is a law-related movie, television show, book, or any other form of media that you would like Harry Graff to discuss, he can be reached at harrygraff19@gmail.com. Be sure to follow Harry Graff on Twitter at @harrygraff19.

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