Goliath 3, steaming on Amazon Prime video, could have been written and directed by David Lynch, and I mean that as a compliment. It has a singer in a nightclub characterizing the action or moving it along with a fine assortment of songs including "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "The Rose". Believe it or not, she even gives a pretty good rendition of "In Dreams," twice no less. Drug states easily and uneasily intermingle with the reality, a state of perception easily adduced to Billy Bob Thornton as attorney Billy McBride, and he's abetted by a great cast including all kinds of memorably seedy people, including even a Dennis in a big role, not Hopper but Quaid.
And the general plot couldn't be more pressingly relevant: a rapacious almond company literally sucking the water out of southern California. As Patty Solis-Papagian (very well played by Nina Arianda), Billy's associate attorney in fighting the monsters, aptly puts it, they're working in "Satan's dusty ass crack". This dry, druggy, alcohol-washed ambience is the most trenchant we've seen so far on Goliath. (But I'd be happy to see Billy unknowingly drugged by his adversaries a little less often.)
Though this season stars a combination of water and the struggling lack of it, there's not a placid scene in the eight episodes. Instead, we get a cascade of surprises, including plot twists, old enemies, comeuppances, and unexpected deaths and survivals. It's a bracing, drenching, refreshing, and addictive season, which makes it an especially good thing that it's streaming (ok, that's it for the water references). Kudos to the memorable heroes (Billy and Patty with the hard-to-pronounce last name) and memorable villains (Dennis Quaid as Wade, and Amy Brenneman as his sister Diana). Highest recommendation.
See also Goliath 1 on Amazon: Law Drama as Its Meant to Be Seen ... Goliath 2: Truly Surprise Ending
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