I LOVE Goliath Returns explicitly for Garthe’s performance. So much of this episode is gold and I LOVE how well played Garthe was and the meta I derived from it. So. Meta time! Garthe is so expressive but also subtle in his character. So let’s look at how affected Garthe becomes acknowledging Michael within this episode.
Adrianne Margeaux greets Devon and April after their capture from Knight Mansion, but is apt to point out how “disappointed” she is to see “Michael is not with” them. Adrianne then jabs at “what a small world” they have that they all share a “[friendship]” with Garthe. Devon is quick to point out they have no such bond. Garthe of course looks with casual disdain at Devon (shown above). Cool. Still not too much to gather outside what we would expect.
Then we get this:
“Poor Garthe, people say such nasty things about him,” Adrianne says. And for once Garthe is openly showing his hurt.
“But such good things about Michael,” Adrianne adds. And Garthe looks at Devon as if accusingly.
But he recovers to regard Adrianne again. But she makes a point. “I’m beginning to wonder if he is really flesh and blood.” Before adding a VERY telling statement: “I look forward to finding out.”
This is the first obvious fissure in this fragile alliance between Adrianne and Garthe. Look how he knows the implication of her desire for Michael here. She is using Garthe as he is her. But with her it is also very personal in her sexual exploiting and hopes to capture and claim Michael as her own. Garthe is just her toy in the meantime. Nvm she is really the one being played.
But, Garthe is the original. The whole episode plays harder on this concept than his first appearance in Goliath. He is the original, the true heir to Wilton’s legacy by blood, the real son. And he is seen as the copy, the shadow to Michael Knight. A man who not only has his inheritance, but his own familial namesake. Who stole his very face! Even once she is pushed and enraged, Adrianne accuses Garthe of being a fake.
