Category Archives: Office Love Affairs

Goliath Season 1(2016)

From Amazon:

Once a powerful lawyer, Billy McBride is now burned out and washed up, spending more time in a bar than a courtroom. When he reluctantly agrees to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against the biggest client of the massive law firm he helped create, Billy and his ragtag team uncover a vast and deadly conspiracy, pitting them all in a life or death trial against the ultimate Goliath.

From Amazon Prime you can stream 4 seasons of this lawyer series.  This review is just for season 1 which consists of 8 episodes where each episode is roughly one hour.

Billy McBride is played by Billy Bob Thornton who has often taken unusual roles. You might recall him as Lorne Malvo in “Fargo”.  In season one he is up against the Goliath of law firms named Cooperman and McBride which he helped establish.  His personal nemesis is the other name on the company name,  Donald  Cooperman. Cooperman as one of the best “bad guys” I have ever seen is played to stunning and eccentric perfection by William Hurt. Not that Cooperman is the only villain.  His most notable lawyer-in-crime, Callie Senate,  is played with cunning malice by Mollie Parker, whose every smug smirk is a masterpiece of acting.  When you really hate one of the villains, that actor is doing her job. Mollie Parker played Jackie Sharp in “House of Cards”.

Rest assured the daemons get their comeuppance.  But the journey to get to that point is agonizingly frustrating.

DO NOT MISS!

 

Keeping Faith (2017)

From Amazon Prime Acorn,

Season 1: 8 one hour episodes.

Award-winning actress Eve Myles (Torchwood) stars in this BBC thriller as Faith Howells, a lawyer with a happy marriage until her husband suddenly disappears. As Faith becomes the police’s prime suspect, her search for the truth leads her to the criminal underbelly of her quiet town.

Season 2: 6 one hour episodes.

A year after her husband’s disappearance, Faith (BAFTA Award winner Eve Myles) is drawn into a new mystery in this BBC thriller set along the stunning Welsh coast.

Season 3: 6 one hour episodes.

In the final season, Faith deals with her divorce, one of the most complex legal cases of her career, and her mother returning, threatening to expose long-buried secrets.

So far Kathy and I have seen the first two seasons and watching is a bit exhausting. Faith repeatedly has to face the challenges of her career and well as many personal problems, especially the betrayals of people near her.  Poor Faith never gets a moment’s rest. Season two does not end well for any of the characters. After abandoning Faith for awhile we will return to season 3. which promises to present Faith with even more wrenching difficulties.

Despite her trials and tribulations, the complicated plots  are well done.  Some of the bad guys are especially villainous.  Although each season brings its plot to conclusion, there is a continuity of themes and characters throughout all the seasons.

Well worth the watch. Just don’t expect to come away happy.

Reggie Perrin (2009)

From IMDB:

Reggie Perrin has a cushy job as head of innovation in a men’s body care products firm, but philosophically hates meaningless office life. He’s equally unhappy with commuting, his dull marriage, his parents, his colleagues and especially his cry boss Chris. Yet he never does anything about this life, even tends to help his hated significant others out of a pickle.

From Acorn TV:

This “finely balanced black comedy” (Guardian, UK) stars Martin Clunes as the title character, a midlevel corporate drone who finds himself in the throes of a midlife crisis. Based on the classic series The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, this reboot was cowritten by the original series creator, and co-stars Fay Ripley (Cold Feet) as Reggie’s long-suffering wife.

From Acorn TV (all things British) you can stream the first season of this British comedy.  Each of the 6 episodes is approximately one half hour. There was a season two, but it is not available from Acorn TV.

Martin Clunes plays Doc Martin in that famous British TV series. Who knew he was also an effective comedian?  Every episode had us in stitches, especially his daydream sight gags.  He is, however, having a midlife crisis and I must warn you that the last and sixth episode of season 1 starts as comedy and ends as head-scratching sadness which left me with a sour feeling.

 

 

Newton’s Law (2017)

From Acorn TV:

Newton’s Law follows Josephine Newton (Claudia Karvan) as she juggles the high-powered and lucrative barrister’s caseload upstairs and the haphazard legal tangles of her former solicitor’s office ten stories below.

From Acorn TV you can stream 8 episodes of this British law comedy. Each episode is a bit less than one hour.

Frothy and light, this series offer you a relaxing escape from the murder and violence presented in so many TV series.  If its style of British comedy appeals to you, you can have a few happy chuckles.

Josephine Newton gets an offer to work for a law firm whose office is in some high floor of a skyscraper. Meanwhile her colleagues from her former firm are eking out a living in an office in the underground parking lot of the same building.  Josephine works upstairs with a former romantic interest while her home life involves Josephine’s fruit cake sister, Josephine’s daughter, and Josephine’s former husband.

Hope you get a laugh or two.