Creators Robert and Michelle King have built a formidable reputation on television by stepping directly into the cultural crosshairs, tackling thorny legal battles, institutional corruption, and complex religious conundrums with a signature blend of razor-sharp humor, dramatic pathos, and striking realism. From their acclaimed work on The Good Wife and The Good Fight to their mind-bending supernatural investigations in Evil, the creative duo has consistently proven uniquely adept at processing the anxieties of modern life. Now, the Kings are back with a sly, smart, and timely new drama, Cupertino, turning their analytical gaze toward the current tsunami of tech threats, pervasive artificial intelligence, and the relentless erosion of digital privacy.
The season premiere, titled "Michael & Olivia," immediately establishes the show’s cynical yet grounded worldview by introducing its two central protagonists under the worst possible circumstances. Set against the glossy, hyper-competitive backdrop of Silicon Valley, the episode opens with veteran corporate lawyer Michael Price, played with charismatic assurance by Mike Colter, and junior attorney Olivia Siffre, brought to life with shrewd vulnerability by Rachel Keller, being unceremoniously fired by their employer, the high-flying tech start-up S-Talk.
Despite their vastly different stations in the corporate hierarchy—Michael is an equity co-founder who has spent years building the enterprise, while Olivia is barely a year out of law school—they find themselves sharing the ultimate equalizer: the cold, abrupt termination notice of modern corporate America. As the two newly unemployed lawyers awkwardly commiserate on the pavement outside and express genuine, mutual respect for each other’s legal capabilities, Olivia tosses Michael a vital piece of information. Because Michael has always treated her with basic human decency, she decides to share what she overheard while working closely with company owner Richard Everett, played by Will Brill. She heard Everett consulting someone on how to legally maneuver an equity partner out of the firm for cause while retaining their financial stake—a clear indication that Michael was illegally pushed out of his rightful position.
From that initial moment of shared allegiance and professional survival blooms the dynamic duo that serves as the beating heart of Cupertino. Mike Colter, a reliable and magnetic collaborator who has worked with the Kings going back to his days on The Good Wife, brings an irresistible combination of intellect, commanding physical presence, and simmering charm to Michael Price. Although the character wears impeccably tailored suits and hails from a prestigious lineage of legal professionals, Michael fundamentally identifies as an underdog champion. He acts as a believer in the proverbial Davids battling against the sprawling, amoral tech Goliaths of Northern California, a perspective that keeps the character deeply grounded and immediately empathetic to viewers.
Serving as the perfect narrative counterweight is Rachel Keller’s Olivia. Fresh off her stellar work in Tokyo Vice and FX’s critically acclaimed Legion, Keller portrays an attorney who is simultaneously shrewd and professionally green. Having migrated straight to the tech-obsessed crucible of Silicon Valley from the sheltered, conservative confines of her rural Christian family, Olivia faces a steep learning curve as she begins swimming with corporate sharks. Keller easily goes toe-to-toe not only with Colter’s commanding screen presence, but also with Cupertino’s ever-expanding ensemble of top-notch recurring actors. The upcoming season promises appearances from an impressive roster of talent, including Girls5eva alums Busy Philipps and Renée Elise Goldsberry, alongside seasoned character actors Joe Morton and Jackie Earle Haley.
For existing fans of Robert and Michelle King’s extensive television portfolio, Cupertino immediately evokes a comforting sense of familiarity. The series expertly utilizes many of their signature storytelling elements: ripped-from-the-headline legal disputes; the inspired casting of theatrical character actors; narrative threads that twist breathlessly on a dime; and an uncanny ability to make profoundly serious, technocratic subjects comprehensible, absurdly eccentric, and deeply entertaining all at once. The Kings have even taken their beloved archetype of the whip-smart, unflappable lady fixer from The Good Fight—Marissa Gold—and successfully updated it for a new generation. In Cupertino, that role is filled by Christy Palladino, played with Gen Z street-smarts and unflappable confidence by Ella Stiller.
Yet, while the structural DNA of the show feels familiar to loyal followers of the creators’ previous work, it never feels derivative or dumbed-down. The pilot episode alone takes on an ambitious array of contemporary issues, tackling systemic tech industry sexual harassment, deep-seated equity disparities, the ethical nightmare of stealing human personhood to feed resource-hungry Large Language Models, and the fragile egos of tech bros hiding behind elaborate shell games and unethical smoke screens.
All of these complex, fast-moving themes are presented with remarkable wit and intelligence through characters who function as audience surrogates, guiding viewers into an alien world of stealth technology. They help decode an industry that appears to be moving at breakneck speed, seemingly breaking everything in its path with total impunity. Cupertino serves as a welcome reminder that there is no artistic shame in embracing the broadcast procedural format when the work is executed at the caliber demonstrated by the Kings and their talented collaborators.
If The Good Wife and The Good Fight could successfully educate mainstream television audiences on the intricacies of Constitutional law and systemic governmental flaws, viewers have every reason to look forward to the masterclass the Kings are preparing to deliver regarding the modern technology sector.
Verdict
Cupertino possesses all the crucial narrative elements required to become Robert and Michelle King’s next essential, must-watch drama. Mike Colter and Rachel Keller establish fantastic, crackling chemistry as diametrically opposed lawyers who balance one another out brilliantly within a high-stakes arena populated by amoral tech companies developing software that just might end up threatening humanity itself. Challenging, deeply engaging, and sharply executed, Cupertino arrives as a welcome and sophisticated disrupter of the traditional television procedural format.
