The first words of every season synopsis are: “A disgraced attorney…” But as we enter the fourth and final season of Goliath, I’d say that Billy McBride (Billy Bob Thornton) has more than earned the redemption (another word in every synopsis) he seeks. He’s taken down more bad guys than a Marvel superhero; all while chain-smoking butts and making bad decisions.
This time around, Billy McBride has moved to San Francisco (or what looks much more like a back lot set) to take on Big Pharma. You know, the opioid guys? This may be the only weakness of the season, in the sense that we’ve already seen several other versions of pharma-baddies, as well as one amazing documentary that Alex Gibney directed this year.
But a story like this is only as good as its villain and it has one of the best in JK Simmons, who plays the Pharma Executive. Simmons adds some distinct flourishes to what could have been a shopworn character; he makes him a weightlifter, for instance. A gym rat. He also makes him charismatic and smooth liar, unencumbered by any sense of morality.
Thornton as Billy McBride 
JK Simmons 
Nina Arianda
It’s also great to see the return of Nina Arianda as Patty Solis-Papagian, Billy’s associate and Tania Raymonde as Brittany Gold, also an Ace up Billy’s sleeve. Finally, the amazing Bruce Dern plays a mysterious old man who lives in the building opposite Billy-they spend a lot of time spying on each other, a la James Stewart in Vertigo, before we start to learn more about Dern’s significant history.
At the end of Season 3, Billy had been shot and, as we learn in the trailer, was dead for 6 minutes. He has some trippy, dreamy visions that, for me, were a minor distraction and didn’t really further the narrative at hand. A minor demerit in an otherwise great season. I started watching a few years ago, almost by default. I didn’t like the show title and I didn’t see anything new about the show.
But I’m glad I got into it. It’s been four damn good seasons and I’m sorry to see the show end.
Goliath Season 4 | 3 ½ out of 4 Stars | Now Streaming on Amazon Prime
