User Reviews

While, from the point of view of one who feels revenge is the greatest motivator, I found the final offering just a bit too pat. What happens to Cooperman has the taint of cliché and lack of imagination. It does force Billy to draw from other sources to make his case, and that is fine, but his game is just fraught with improbabilities. Some of the players in this drama are just unbelievable and fall into lock step with the plotters. But most of us go away happy. The upside of this Amazon release includes the great Billy Bob Thornton who steals every scene he is in. The rest of the cast sparkles. William Hurt, as always, is very good as the nasty Cooperman, but his thing goes a bit too far. Dwight Yoakum is really fun. I had no idea that this country western singer had morphed into a really engaging actor. Molly Parker's smug lesbian lawyer is a controlling witch who plots her way into her own failure. But, like Scarlett O'Hara, she knows that tomorrow is another day. Watch this series. It's a great deal of fun.

This final episode in the "Goliath" series is primarily the final trial. Cooperman and Callie Senate have co-opted Brittany to testify against Billy. But Brittany is the only witness called by Born Tech defense team.

In his closing argument, Billy points out the glaring absence of weaknesses. But he primarily appeals to the audience with the "David and Goliath" argument, namely, the powers of ordinary citizens like those of the jury to stand up to jaded attorneys and nefarious manufacturers of arms.

With the verdict in, Billy has yet another trick up his sleeve in recording his private conversation with Wendell, the head of Born Tech, who admits that his company was producing illegal fuel that killed Ryan. This will be the coup de grace on both the Cooperman law firm and Born Tech.

Needing career redemption, brilliant, alcoholic attorney takes on the Church--er--Big Defense Manufacturer. Hostile judge, well-heeled law firm opponent, weak witnesses, squelched evidence, made Season One "Goliath" a drawn out version of "The Verdict." Entertaining for eight episodes due to the excellent acting, but Paul Newman and David Mamet did it first.

I've got to agree with the other reviews about the ending to what was a really good first season build up toward the trial. This episode has a real Jury Ex Machina aspect. The prosecution in no way whatsoever proved its case enough to win, certainly not enough to validate the award. Cooperman's stroke was also very well timed. The guy is as ruthless and despicable as the most criminally despisable lawyer comes. Yet he was so pressured by a short line of questioning, which he actually went out of his way to set up, that he stroked out on the witness stand? Then after damages had been awarded the CEO of the guilty corporation wants a parlay in order to negotiate a lower settlement along with being absolved of any guilt. Then when it's declined he has the biggest brain fart of the year and clears the room of his legal counsel so he can have a private conversation with the prosecuting attorney? I have a hard time believing that anyone, let alone the CEO of a major defense contractor, would or could ever be that stupid.

I give it 6 stars for the acting but the entire trial was just a big pile of huh?

McBride's closing argument should have been what clinched the deal. There needed to be some killer 'gotcha' moment. Unfortunately, it just didn't happen. The speech started well, then descended into a pious generalities. In the final reckoning the jury sided with McBride against the huge evil corporation because it was a huge evil corporation & unsurprisingly the little guy turned out to identify with the little guy. Just seems sloppy to me, but it could probably justified as a a stab at realism. I guess in the real world there are few gotcha moments.

Fairlly unsatisfying ending to an otherwise brilliant series.

*** Spoilers ***

The season was conducted at a certain level of sophistication. The interaction between the lawyers was especially interesting.

In the final episode everything comes together. With all of the ups and downs and chess game dynamics of the season, how is he going to win his case?

It's like they had a different writing staff. His nemesis sets up a showdown to be questioned in court, then completely falls apart at the simplest questions.

The title character has no case. The wrong guys won. Then in his closing, he basically says it doesn't matter, you can find the corporation guilty anyway ... which they do ... for 162 million dollars ... so the corporation CEO of course talks to the title character alone and tells him the dastardly truth while agreeing to a 50 million dollar settlement ... the guy hadn't heard about cellphones recording so his confession gets him sent to jail.

In reality, even though we know the corporation was guilty in this series, if you can't make a case they're not guilty by default. They would have appealed and at the very least gotten the verdict chopped down to a couple million, or thrown out all together.

The whole series went from intriguing ... to what just happened? What kind of crap was this to end with? Very disappointing.