House of Lies: The Fourth Season

This Showtime-aired satire of American corporate culture and business consultants stars Don Cheadle as Marty Kaan, the proudly unscrupulous head of a management consultant company (Marty opened his own firm in the third season) and Kristen Bell as Jeannie van der Hooven, Marty's partner, and—as this fourth season begins—former lover. Marty is struggling to rebuild his brand after serving prison time and Jeannie is pregnant with his child, but he can't forgive her betrayal (she inadvertently put the Feds on his trail), so he's forcing her out. Meanwhile, one member of his team (Josh Lawson) battles an unstable, vindictive bride (Jenny Slate) who blackmailed him into marriage, and another (Ben Schwartz) struggles with the return of an absent father (Fred Melamed)—a kvetching, judgmental jerk who plays the cancer card for sympathy. These are not nice people, which is why they are so good at their jobs as highly-paid specialists who fix failing companies, rehabilitate reputations and brand names, and raise investment capital by any means necessary. This season they gamble their future on an egotistical and similarly underhanded young electric car mogul (Demetri Martin). Marty narrates and periodically freezes the action to explain his philosophy and schemes, but while it can be entertaining when it comes to bad (or at least reckless and self-centered) behavior, House of Lies has nothing insightful or original to say about unethical acts in an amoral business culture. Compiling all 12 episodes from the 2015 fourth season, this is an optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)