Startup & Goliath: Parallel Lines & Mirror Images

I started watching Startup a couple of months ago. I'm not typically a binge-watcher, so progress can be slow! The first series is pretty good, and it did have me hooked, most of the way through. I must admit to being a little disappointed even to find out there was a Series 2, so I didn't go into it with much enthusiasm, and it fell a bit flat for me.

Then I had a guest staying here for a week, so I paused my viewing of it - and that was three weeks ago. I will get back into it - or at least give it another chance - but I'm in no great hurry.

It was created by Ben Ketai, who seems to have previous form in the horror, sci-fi and slasher genres, making this quite a change for him.

(You is another series on Netflix where the first one was intriguing, and took some interesting - some may say risky, but mostly successful - moves in terms of storytelling, narrator, structure and so on, but I got bored during the second series (I can't even remember where!) and just gave up on it. I feel no huge compunction to go back to it, either, just to see a serial killer getting away with it over, and over, and over, and over, and over again...)

I just started watching Goliath a few days ago. This one was created by David E. Kelley and Jonathan Shapiro, who specialise in legal dramas, and it's in an altogether different league. This was clearly the case right from the start; Amazon took the unusual step of green-lighting it for production without testing the pilot episode in front of audiences first to assess whether or not the series gets made. This was a huge vote of confidence.

For starters, I count seven female leads off the top of my head, including the hilariously versatile and drop-dead gorgeous Tania Raymonde as Britney Gold. The male leads are Billy Bob Thornton and John Hurt, two absolute cinema powerhouses. Of the two, though, it's Billy Bob Thornton I admire the most. He has a unique on-screen presence - feral keeps coming to mind, for some reason, though it's not quite accurate and nowhere near enough. He's got the most radiant smile (as just one example) but I've seen him use it in the most chilling of ways. Think of him as Lorne Malvo in the Fargo series - menacing does not do that role justice. He has an unhurried gait (that he carries over into Goliath) and this slightly hunched-over posture (though in Goliath he carries himself tall - perhaps it's the much warmer climate!) that makes him look like a feline hunter.

There you go - feral and feline! It's a good enough point at which to leave this thread, for now.

So I'd like to make the case that Startup and Goliath are closely related; sometimes like parallels, sometimes like mirror images of one another, but never very far apart. There should be a spoiler alert here, I guess, though there's not much in the way of detail, only a few references to story arcs so far. Bear / bare / bair in mind I've not finished either series as yet.

Both series are, in essence, about conspiracies.

In Startup we, the viewers, are on the inside of the conspiracy, looking out, being carried along by the rollercoaster currents as three essentially good people carry out increasingly illegal shit for higher and higher stakes while mixing with ever-more dangerous individuals. I think Series 2 lost me because it became less and less credible, as time went on, that these folks would keep on keeping on. Ronald, the Haitian gentleman, yes, his character would not be one to give in easily and, along with being a pretty dangerous individual himself, he also has big dreams for his family and his neighbourhood. Izzy now has a massive reason to keep going - revenge. But Nick? Not so much...

By contrast, Thornton's character, Billy McBride, is our guide on the outside of a conspiracy who, having raised questions about an alleged (and suspicious) suicide, brings down upon himself and others a whole torrent of pain as questions lead to more questions as deeper and deeper we go down the rabbit hole. I've watched five of the eight episodes in Series 1, and the threat level is about to rise again for those trying to get to the truth (as it just has for those trying to hide the truth) so things are going to get a lot worse before they get better, clearly.

Right now, I'm fully engaged. It'll be interesting to see of it holds my interest through the next three episodes and then, potentially, the next three series.

We then get the contrasting lead roles.

Billy McBride (Goliath) is acting largely out of integrity, wanting to do the right thing, to make the world a better place. He's nowhere near perfect - that's part of the point! - but his intentions are, for the most part, good.

Nick Talman (Adam Brody), as the male lead in Startup, is acting out of fear and greed. Izzy, the female lead, acts out of pride, (some) greed and, latterly, from a need for revenge, while Ronald is similar to Izzy with regard to motivation (especially in protecting his family) but to differing flavours and degrees.

What I find particularly interesting is the fact that both main protagonists - one acting from integrity, one from fear and greed - have to face some horrendous consequences, for both themselves and those around them, that clearly flow directly from their actions and choices. That's a fascinating storytelling choice right there. Let's pretend, for a moment, that popular movies and series are our modern myths, the stories we are being told around our global campfire. Let's further suggest that the storytellers - and their funders and gatekeepers - have our best interests at heart and wish to serve nothing but the Greater Good. (I know, I know, but let's just roll with it for now!) On that basis, should we not expect tales that embed, or at least encourage, a more realistic picture, perhaps even an aspirational reality - playing with the idea, for example, that acting with integrity tends, on the whole, to lead to positive outcomes? Instead, what we get, in these two series at least, is a subtext that tells me that my intentions and motivations don't matter - it'll all quickly turn to shit anyway, and then it'll just keep on getting worse.

It's not very motivating or uplifting, is it? And it's hardly helpful in discouraging those who may be tempted by the Dark Side, whether that be sharky business practices, shafting other people (in the fraudulent, deceitful or sexual senses), or being the deliverer and / or receiver of emotional or physical violence. Why act with integrity if the outcomes are just as grim as acting from fear and greed and without integrity?

Surely I'm not the only one who thinks that's a dangerous question to subliminally throw out into the global population?

I've learnt something about myself since I started writing this piece a few hours ago. I am much more animated and engaged in Goliath than I ever was with Startup, or even You, which clearly suggests that stories centred on 'heroes with a heart', no matter how flawed, are much more compelling to me than those that elevate psychopaths.

(My love and frequent viewing of No Country for Old Men fits this hypothesis. On the other hand, my adoration of Breaking Bad, still one of the best TV dramas of all time, is not such a neat fit.)

Three final thoughts.

1. Billy Bob Thornton, in the opening sequence, smokes a cigarette like a bad-ass (including using his lips only, no hands, on three separate occasions), then appears to ascend, Christ-like, from a pillar of fire, through a body of water, to eventually walk on the water, Christ-like, extinguishing said cigarette in the ocean with a distinct little hiss. Not many people could pull that sequence off.
2. His relationship with the dog is highly symbolic and significant.
3. I love the soundtrack.

I may return to this topic when I'm further through these, or when / if I actually finish them. In the meantime, happy viewing, folks!