Golias

Goliath is a pretty solid legal thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout every season. As always, Billy Bob Thornton was terrific. He has proven time and time again to be a very good actor and this actually might be his best role of his career. Well, at least one of them anyways. Each episode ends leaving you wanting more. There are plenty of twists and turns during each season and they all pay off in the end. This series isn't anything that's not been done before, this show just does it little better. If you're into legal dramas and haven't seen this yet then I definitely would recommend giving this a chance. You won't be disappointed.

Session 2 was a mess. Started off amazing then got weird and incomprehensible. The acting is awesome but the writing totally lost me the second half of season 2.

Binged-watched this one in 3 days and it was an absolute pleasure. It's not that the story itself is so thrillingly addictive, but mainly that almost all of the main characters are so fascinating, well crafted and brilliantly performed that you just keep wanting to go back and discover more about them. All of them deeply flawed, and yet vividly human and (for the most part) to at least some extent likable. Furthermore, the sheer amount of fully fleshed out, round and interesting characters that the show manages to create and build in just one 8-episode season is seriously impressive - there must be around 10 main supporting characters and by the end none of them feel under- served.

It helps of course that the cast is one of the most talented and charismatic ones put together for any show this year, with special mentions going to Thornton, Maria Bello and Nina Arianda, though literally everyone (down to even minor characters like the judge) is at the very least very good, if not excellent. It also helps that the show is masterfully written and beautifully shot, has a very strong visual identity and takes great advantage of LA as its location, particularly with the driving scenes and time- lapse shots.

Don't be fooled by people calling it a legal drama, it might have a lot of lawyers and a few courtroom scenes but the way it's shot and paced, the amount of detective work involved, the score and the atmosphere the show maintains make it feel much more like classy film noir than any legal drama I've ever watched.

Moves briskly despite the length, great courtroom scenes, amazing work from the actors, all of them. Nina Arianda, Tania Raymonde and Olivia Thirlby are standouts in a cast featuring Thornton, William Hurt and Molly Parker, and this is the first role I've seen Harold Perrineau in where I didn't see him, just his character. Maria Bello is quite good as well.

One of the best shows of the year, for me. Maybe 2-3 mildly preachy bits that dragged, but altogether solid. While there's not much actual action, a lot happens, but it doesn't feel clumsy or forced. I would be into a season 2.

Stories, in a way, arise out of different permutations that our lives take, or different paths that the writers can think of. A clichéd screenplay is something close to a path that is predictable. Most of us look down upon the regular plot lines. This is why Goliath is important. The story is full of clichés, that ,ironically, help to winnow out the acting from the sea of banalities. Billy Bob and William Hurt shine throughout and are ably supported by a fantastic cast, including that canine. The music sticks and in a way celebrates Billy Bob's loneliness (cliche ++). Although the makers successfully integrate few surprises, none of them are worthy of an exclamation. But this series was never about that. It's about how good the actors are, that good that you hardly question the fiction. PS - With only 8 episodes, I could sleep peacefully without binge breaking my back!