A show in its sixth season can lead to familiarity and plotting that becomes easier to foresee, but with The Good Wife this has been far from the case as the storytelling has become even more daring the further it has progressed. Alicia leaving Lockhart Gardner last year took a devastating turn when Will was killed and this season opened with a surprise arrest for Cary that has dominated half of the story this season (Alicia’s campaign and the odd case of the week have filled the other half). This all culminates in the “The Trial” and despite the many obstacles they have come up against there is still a feeling that Cary will be exonerated; this is what Cary believes and his certainty sells it to the audience.

Plus they have Kalinda and she always manages to save the day at the last moment with a vital piece of evidence. Except this time it doesn’t go according to the plan we have seen many, many times on The Good Wife and a hard decision has to be made.

These weekly Good Wife posts tend to focus on Alicia (which is why I hesitate to call them reviews as I don’t always address the episode as a whole) and while I have touched on Cary’s predicament this season it is time to shine the spotlight on this character and Matt Czuchry’s performance. Czuchry delivers a wide spectrum of emotions shifting from confident subtle jubilation when the key witness hits the stand to crumpled realization when his Hail Mary lies; this is the face of a broken man and rather than showing his fears via a raised voice the understated reaction hits a bigger punch.

They are out of options and their evidence was flimsy to start off with; even though Cary is completely innocent everyone standing between him and jail is either dead or far too intimidated to tell the truth. With each passing week since Cary was first arrested one thing after another has stacked up against him from the multiple bail hearings to the extra accusations that have been leveled against him. As soon as they get one win, something else knocks him back down. Cary has still remained optimistic to a certain extent and he believes the law will come through for him because he is innocent. There is always another way, until there isn’t.

We are in the same position as Cary as we have seen The Good Wife pull a victory out of seemingly lost case on multiple occasions. This hope is misplaced when it comes to Cary avoiding jail time as each glimmer is struck down. The only option for avoiding jail is testifying against Bishop and Cary would be signing his own death warrant if he did this. Shoulder and hand squeezes of support are my misty eye trigger and there are plenty of these throughout the episode with everyone getting in on this action.

On separate occasions both Cary and Kalinda mention how they are ready for this to all be over; for Kalinda I am sure she wants an end to the constant intimidation from Bishop and Cary wants to regain a semblance of who he is. These past four months has seen his self-assured demeanor get chipped away and despite appearing like everything is all good as he wears his impeccable super sharp suits with matching pocket squares, Cary has definitely lost his sheen. When he gets given a secret option to avoid prison with an offer from Bishop he can’t take it because then this nightmare will never be over. Also they can’t take Matt Czuchry away from us like this, not when they have finally given him a killer storyline.

Alicia’s has been absent through a lot of this process, in part because she had to step down from representing Cary and largely due to her campaign. The pointed comment from Judge Cuesta regarding Alicia’s court presence and how she managed to squeeze it into her busy schedule could be seen as a dig at how absent she has been and yet she has been there to pick Cary up when it matters most. Cary and Alicia’s relationship has endured many contentious moments from their first year competition to the way they butted heads over Diane coming over to their new firm; one thing that has thrived is respect and compassion. Alicia is important in this situation because there aren’t complicated feelings involved as with Kalinda and they have a bond that is on a more personal level than Cary and Diane. The scene where they discuss Cary’s lack of options and Alicia still wants him to fight is heartbreaking as she is the one holding onto the idea that the law is just. Shoulder squeeze, tears, hugs and this question “You’ll come see me?” quite possibly broke me (okay yes it definitely broke me).

Other points of certainty and one that Eli reinforces throughout the episode is how Alicia really shouldn’t joke about ANYTHING, but especially if it includes stabbing one of Grace’s teachers. It doesn’t matter that Alicia was quoting her favorite show (Darkness at Noon of course) or that she was joking because this is a hard thing to spin. Watching Alicia’s campaign team of Eli, Johnny and magnificent bodywoman Marissa – I just want to repeat how much I need my own Marissa in my life – is the comedic interlude this episode needs as they try and figure out how to dig Alicia out of this new hole. The cycle keeps on spinning and when an easy solution presents itself to them, Alicia refuses as she doesn’t want to be the same as Peter accepting patronage to smooth things out.

Eli scoffs at Alicia’s ethics and it is interesting to note who does what unethical act in this episode; Alicia won’t take patronage but she will ask Finn for a favor regarding his former ASA knowledge of Cary’s case. At first Finn calls this unethical and yet on a second (very flirty diner meet up that once again had me yelling ‘MAKE OUT’ at the screen) he relents giving her something they can use. Kalinda’s attempt to use this information ends up screwing Cary over even further as she threatens Bishop where it hurts most – his son – and the last time someone wanted to take Dylan away they ended up dead. If Bishop is willing to kill Dylan’s mother he really is capable of anything. And Peter comes through to help Alicia out with her problem doing the very thing that Alicia didn’t want done in a roundabout way. The only person with something at stake that doesn’t do something unethical is Cary when he turns down Bishop’s Barcelona offer. Although he does ask Alicia to ask Finn about the plea deal so I guess that counts. Basically everyone is willing to bend the rules in one way or another.

Cary’s change of plea at the end of the episode comes across as very final and now we have the long wait until January 4 to see what will happen next. Yep, over a month without The Good Wife. *Sigh*

[Source]

Welcome to TV Ate My Wardrobe’s “Best of 2014″ costuming series and rather than doing a straightforward countdown we’re going to do a variety of posts that look at which costumes and shows have made a huge impact this year. From items that we want in our own wardrobe to pieces that got everyone talking, we want to look at this year’s TV through the prism of costume.

One of the biggest TV moments for me this year was the death of Will Gardner on The Good Wife and how this took what was already a thrilling season and upped the ante to new levels as everyone dealt with the aftermath of this tragedy. This story resonated for a number of reasons and the unexpected and sudden nature put us in the same position as Alicia as they somehow managed to keep this story under wraps; this was not an expected departure – even if it was common knowledge that Josh Charles’ contract was up at the end of the season – and because Will and Alicia’s relationship was unresolved this death hit hard. It is definitely the first time I have ever cried while writing a review.

The education of Alicia Florrick is at the center of The Good Wife and Will’s death is a stab to that heart. Even when they were fighting for the majority of the fifth season there was still a spark and the reconciliation of sorts in a New York City diner hinted at the next phase of their relationship. This was not to be the case as Will was gunned down by his own client at the end of the next episode. The wardrobe of grieving can be many things but when Alicia finds out that Will has been killed she is in appropriately somber clothing and she spends the episode with her zip done all the way up and shrouded in her black coat. As I said it is appropriately somber. This is followed by more black clothing for the funeral (and post funeral drinks with Diane) but color isn’t completely lacking in these episodes as you can see in this shot of Alicia with Grace’s old tutor Jennifer.

It’s after the funeral in “A Material World” where there is a shift in Alicia’s attire as she goes from her usual well put together fancy suits and reverts to sweats. Climbing beneath the sheets – initially while still wearing her court clothes – and contemplating only the heavy handed drama on Darkness at Noon is pretty much where Alicia is at. This move is not surprising as she needs to escape the pain of her own world by watching manpain on her favorite show. Alicia is all about control (it is why she likes the law so much) and this experience allows her to let go of everything she has known to be true for as long as we have known her. On one hand there was Will – the real love of her life where bad timing played its part in keeping them apart – and then there is Peter. Peter is the disappointment, the facade of a marriage that has always been broken since we entered Alicia’s life.

Alicia ending things with Peter when she looks at her least put together is entirely appropriate and this is a conversation that has been a long time coming. It is a rehash of the same argument we have heard countless times as both Alicia and Peter use their past indiscretions to hurt the other. The main difference now is that Alicia doesn’t hold back screaming that her affair meant something and we’ve reached the point of no return for the broken Florrick union. Now she is acknowledging how their coupling is a benefit professionally to both of them, but anything else is completely off the cards. They are done. No going back this time and Peter doesn’t get a say.

Seeing Alicia take control in this manner all while wearing her sweats is a fist pump eliciting moment and something I have been longing to see. Okay maybe transfer super swanky red gown for the sweats in how I envisioned it, but the lounge wear is actually far better because this look is so unexpected. Peter has no patience or empathy for Alicia’s pain, he thinks his wife is being dramatic and maybe she is, however this is what happens when your heart gets ripped from your chest. Peter belittles her loss by inferring that Will’s death isn’t like losing a child or a husband; this is the point where she realizes she is done with his BS and passive aggressive comments about the political function she has missed. He is now free to screw around with whomever he wants to, as long as it doesn’t hurt either of them professionally.

While Peter has indeed invoked the ‘sleep with whoever you want’ clause (and by the sounds of it with someone who he has previously cheated on Alicia with), Alicia is yet to do anything beyond flirtation (with Lost’s Nestor Carbonell and Finn). One thing that is worth noting about Finn is that he saw her in her most vulnerable state and it is not just because he saw her in sweats over her well put together wardrobe. Rather than avoiding Finn, which would have been easy to do as Grace was about to turn him away, Alicia says it is okay for him to come into her bedroom. Her inner sanctum of hiding away from the world. This conversation reinforces not only how much Will meant to Alicia, but also creates this connection between Finn and Alicia that goes way beyond the insane chemistry they share.

Will’s death is a shocking moment and what could have been a cheap twist has been used to propel the characters forward in unexpected ways as well as exposing Alicia’s vulnerability and strength in equal measure. These days away from work allow Alicia to respond to this event in the privacy of her own home, but when she becomes aware of how little privacy there is thanks to the NSA surveillance it gives her a reason to get back out there and kick some ass. The comfy home clothes are discarded for now and the sharp suits are back; the wine cardigan will return but this renewed focus and sense of determination means the sweats have been banished for now.

The Good Wife sure knows how to start the year with a flurry of emotions and it looked like Cary’s future would involve swapping pocket squares and suits for a jumpsuit. Before watching “Hail Mary” I was pretty sure I wanted The Good Wife to see this story through; not because I want to see Cary in prison for a crime he didn’t commit (far from it), but it felt like a bold story choice and I had concerns the easy less interesting route would be another case of Kalinda finding a magical piece of evidence in the eleventh hour. Instead it has created an entirely different tangled mess for Kalinda and one which will probably play a big part in Archie Panjabi’s well publicized exit arc.

Cary’s predicament allows for self-reflection and his future is this big blurry mess of nothing; what do you do when the one thing you were sure of is taken away?

Alicia is prepping for her imminent debate with Prady meaning she is once again absent from the majority of the Cary race against the clock – episodes which involve a tight time deadline like this are always a favorite of mine – but she is more involved than she has previously been much to Eli’s annoyance. Alicia still remains out of the loop and because everything is taking place over the phone (like every call with Kalinda since season 4) she does unknowingly slip up when she mentions to Cary that all hope is not lost.

Corruption is a shared theme between these two storylines as Alicia’s debate focuses on the unethical shortcomings of the current and past SA office. Yep, Alicia isn’t holding back on Peter’s shortcomings. Kalinda meanwhile is pulling every move she can to try and save Cary from going to jail including tampering and changing evidence to make it look like an email had been read, when in fact it had been sent to a spam folder and deleted without ever being seen. It’s not like Kalinda hasn’t ever broken the law or gone to extremes but there is something about this move which has me very worried for where she is heading.

Bishop’s kitchen shouldn’t be terrifying but it has been the center of many heated conversations and Kalinda pushed him too far in the last episode; just look at how small and nervous she looks in this location. Kalinda has a couple of pressing concerns as not only is she in Bishop’s favor debt and awaiting a phone call all episode to say what said favor is, but she has now hacked a police officer’s email account to exonerate Cary. And she didn’t need to do either. Well, maybe the Bishop favor for finding Cary a jail friend isn’t needed, but that phone call is the catalyst for realizing there was an import/export error in the first place so that one can stand. It is the other part that really wasn’t necessary.

Kalinda is usually the evidence finding unicorn of The Good Wife and instead the honor of this prize this week goes to the other Carey as he infers from the transcript there is someone else who was part of the Trey Wagner interrogation. This evidence comes late and Diane has already delivered the other Hail Mary of email fakeness and the look on Kalinda’s face when she realizes she is too late is full on gut punch. Now is the time to praise the face parts acting of all involved with Judge Cuesta overturning Cary’s charges and setting him free as Matt Czuchry once again delivers face crumple perfection along with Christine Baranski. Destroyed all over again and for my worries that Cary would get off due to a technicality I can’t be mad when it delivers performances like this. Plus this isn’t a simple case of evidence equals acquittal as Kalinda’s conflicted reaction all too clearly shows (amazing face parts acting from Archie Panjabi here too).

Teary relief is what happens in the courtroom; when Alicia finds out a rare broad smile is etched all over her face and she lets out an unbridled “WOOH” at what she thinks is an empty parking garage. Turns out Johnny is there and she takes her joy one step further by planting a smooch on his mouth. How much we are meant to read into this moment is unclear as the earlier close up and whispered encouragement definitely cranked up the sexual tension, but it also feels like a spur of the moment emotional release and Johnny just happened to be standing there. No, Alicia is not the kind of person to just randomly kiss anyone and I wonder if Finn had been there whether if she had done the same the power strut that followed would have taken place. I am inclined to believe that it would have been far more than a brief on the lips kiss if it had been the case especially as their debate prep sparring was fully charged in a playful flirty manner even with the mudslinging. They really appeared to be relishing this back and forth until Peter showed up and cockblocked the whole thing, because of course he did. One thing is clear; as chief Alicia/Peter shipper Eli is going to be super pissed at Johnny if he finds out about this parking garage interaction.

Ah yes Peter, and Alicia gets to work her full controlled anger on him as she takes him to task making it clear that she isn’t going to be portrayed as an extension of his current or past administration; Alicia is very much her own woman. It is never not boring to watch Alicia go at Peter like this and I kinda wish she was debating her husband instead of Prady next week. Going into the why of this decision to go for State’s Attorney and Alicia strips it down to the basics mirroring the reason why she likes the law; it is all about control and she believes that she can put the job before self-interests. Of course she doesn’t mention the real more base levels as to why she is running – Gloria Steinem encouragement and Castro’s goading – and this idea of simply being a lawyer when stacked up against all the political machinations that come with this job could be a pipe dream.

Mirroring Alicia’s “simply a lawyer” notion from another angle is Cary as he ponders what his life will look like after all of this; all he has ever wanted to be is a lawyer and now he can’t figure anything out. I think we are meant to wonder if Cary is going to take Bishop’s Spain offer but Bill, his prison consultant (The Wire’s Domenick Lombardozzi) has already pointed out the obvious regarding how terrible Cary would be as an outlaw. Even if that is a very healthy looking bank account.

The ethical line is constantly shifting on The Good Wife particularly when the stakes are huge and there is no way this isn’t going to come back to haunt Kalinda in one way or another, which could also impact Cary in a devastating manner.

Bonus style time and I couldn’t end this first Good Wife post of 2015 without mentioning the red coat Alicia wore in her parking garage smooch and stomp of glory:

This coat looks familiar and that’s because it is from the same coat family as one of my ultimate costume pieces; the Diane von Furstenberg Cosima coat from Orphan Black. Alicia’s has a different collar design and is the ‘Mikhaila.’ It is not surprising to see Alicia wearing this color when she pulls this defiant move.

For the first few episodes of The Good Wife this season Eli spent most of his energy convincing Alicia she would be the ideal State’s Attorney candidate. A few things pushed Alicia into this campaign with Castro provoking her and Gloria Steinem’s words of encouragement hitting the ego sweet spot. Now we are fully into the campaign and Alicia shared the stage with opponent Frank Prady to debate the issues and sell themselves to the voters. Alicia took her time to get there but “The Debate” goes all in with how much Alicia wants to win. She really wants it and she will challenge you if you question why.

Up to this point there has been very little to suggest Alicia’s partners are unhappy with her absence and the main focus has been on Cary’s trial. Now Cary has been exonerated it is back to business as usual for the firm, but Alicia is still running for State’s Attorney. The Good Wife is generally very good at handling an array of storylines with ripped from the headlines moments weaving into the overall narrative; however on this occasion the writers appear to have attempted too much. There’s the debate followed by the free flowing kitchen version, which addressed the position of privilege of the two candidates but still fell short. Peter is meanwhile dealing with a Ferguson like incident (a disclaimer at the start tells us this episode was written/filmed prior to the real life grand jury decisions in both the Ferguson and Staten Island cases) while also finally zipping up his pants. This latter gesture still does not endear him to me and it makes me feel uneasy seeing Peter as some kind of hero in all of this when the politics are the concern.

There are a lot of huh moments this week and some of this stems from the Neil Gross divorce settlement, which I thought had already been sorted. Apparently not and through a series of events he ends up having to pay his ex-wife $60 million more than he wanted. So he fires his lawyers. This is where the absence of Alicia comes into play and this is not the first time Eli has insisted she doesn’t take calls. Alicia tends to ignore Eli on this one but her focus is divided and this is why incidents such as the Cary slip last week occur. It is also why big decisions get made while she is out of contact. In the same way Alicia went over Cary’s head to get Diane on board, so now are Cary and Diane doing the same to Alicia.

Cary and Diane have at times had a contentious relationship, however it is also important to remember how close the pair has been in the past and this bond will no doubt have grown as they have recently been working in close tandem. It is only natural for Alicia to feel out in the cold and this is emphasized in the final scene of the episode. The argument itself comes out of nowhere and it would have felt more organic if Diane and Cary had aired any negative feeling about the SA race prior to this moment. Also Alicia coming at Diane with the ‘If I were a man you would never ask me that’ comeback feels like a weird way to tackle the “Why are you still running?” question. In this moment I am very much with Diane when she argues that this is “about two people trying to run a law firm. It has nothing to do with sexism.” It is an ugly scene because the past few weeks have been about the three of them sharing hugs and tears while fighting for Cary’s freedom and just like that it is gone.

The head tilt of ‘well why?’ from Cary causes Alicia to turn and leave, but she’s been debating all day and this arguing frame of mind causes her to go back for more. While this “how dare you” rage works when being questioned about Peter’s inability to keep it in his pants and of course she’s going to be pissed off that they’ve hired David Lee without consulting her, Alicia also has to understand that she has to pick a lane and the firm is not her priority at the moment.

We go into the hiatus with a distracted and isolated Alicia as she’s not really listening to anything Johnny is saying and instead her focus is on the two people in the office opposite her as they work on things she has no involvement in. Ending on such a moment of disharmony in an episode that comes across as so disjointed gives me unsettled feelings; as this is The Good Wife and they love to throw curve balls it is hard to picture exactly what the working environment will look like when the show returns.

The Good Wife deals with constantly changing moral grey areas and the word ‘good’ is in the title after all. The notion of what this means has been present throughout whether in the way Alicia is perceived as a woman who ‘stands by’ her husband or in her job that sees the blurring of ethical lines at times. Now as candidate for State’s Attorney Alicia has a brand which suggests moral order of the highest with her Saint Alicia nickname, but behind the scenes she makes compromise after compromise; first with her position on religion and this week with the money she will take to give her campaign the boost it needs to keep up with Prady.

This is far from the first time we have talked about this idea of being good nor is it the first time Alicia has discussed it in such an overt manner as she does at the end of the episode, however The Good Wife manages to discuss this same topic in new and interesting ways as Alicia continues to wrestle in private with how far she will go to get what she wants. With the State’s Attorney race it polarizes the previous quandaries Alicia has faced from her personal relationships to how she conducts herself as a lawyer.

In the past she has more than happily – okay she has been super skeezed by Sweeney on countless occasions – represented Colin Sweeney whereas now she knows she can’t be seen with him in court without negatively impacting her SA chances. Alicia has no time for Sweeney in “Dark Money” openly dismissing him until he calls her bluff and threatens to tell the press where her PAC money is coming from. A compromise in an endless stream is met and she gives him legal advice but refuses to appear in court. Sweeney is cool with this and she does indeed give him something to use on the stand. After the big blowup between Alicia, Cary and Diane at the end of the last episode I was surprised that none of this tension was present this week especially as Sweeney is essentially running to Alicia at any given opportunity and sidelining the lawyers who are actually representing him in court. It does position Alicia on one side with Cary and Diane on the other but there aren’t any repercussions from this screaming match, in fact it is like it never happened.

The version of Alicia on the show Sweeney is suing over – ripped from the headlines “Call it Murder” – is “not for sale” and while this a little on the nose it is something Alicia has to deal with this week. Alicia’s relationship with Prady is cautiously friendly and it would have been so easy for the show to have made Prady another distasteful opponent. It is far more interesting this way and I feel like I’m cheating on Alicia by saying this but I don’t think I would even mind if Prady won this thing, especially as Alicia’s PAC keep stooping to new levels of awful with robocalls targeting areas who might be put off by the rumors suggesting Prady is gay and that he supports gay rights. Alicia is constantly battling her team and calls them out for the West Wing themed Twitter accounts – yes I yelped with joy at the Twitter handle @TobyZiegler44 although I am disappointed the profile pic is the egg of sadness – and the negative campaigning. This is all well and good, but Alicia still takes the ‘dark money’ on offer and money she only found out was available after seeing Prady receive a call from someone called Redmayne.

Guy Redmayne is very wealthy and he has a substantial amount of cash to give to either Alicia or Frank. Redmayne spends most of his chat with Alicia inappropriately pawing at her legs and hands which she fake smiles through, but it is when they get onto the topic of her opponent that things shift from sleazy to horrifying as he uses homophobic slurs to describe Frank Prady and his opinion of Prady has been shaped by the robocalls Alicia complained about to her team earlier in the episode. She is complicit without being complicit. What she could have done is tell Redmayne that his money is not wanted and instead she stays quiet rather than objecting. When Redmayne talks to Prady he refers to Alicia as a sex object suggesting all kinds of degrading he would do to Alicia in bed – which Redmayne is using as some kind of litmus test to see if Prady is gay or not – Prady does not stay quiet and voices his disgust and is greeted with a shoulder shrug comment from Redmayne “right, but I’m rich so it really doesn’t matter.” The moral high ground is won by Prady and Alicia’s campaign just got the financial boost it needed.

Both politics and the law can be shady; we’ve seen Alicia wrestle with dilemmas in both arenas going back to the first season when she removed a hairbrush that could be considered evidence against their client (in 1.14 “Hi”). Saint Alicia is far from saintly and it wouldn’t be all that compelling if Alicia always chose the moral high ground. Money makes a campaign stronger and Alicia wants to win, which is why sucking it up and smiling at this asshole was the right call for her campaign. But she can still feel like shit about it and it would be a concern if she didn’t question the lengths she is going to.

Cue an Alicia sized glass of red, a wine cardigan and a good cry with a comforting hug from her daughter. Grace immediately contradicts her mandate that “everybody is bad in some way” by telling her teary mom that she can’t be bad “because you’re the best person I know.” I will give Grace a pass on this because she probably believes this to be true and she is trying to make Alicia feel better about her moral crisis. This is the season where they have finally figured out how to use Grace effectively and I wonder if this is because there is only one Florrick child to deal with.

The Good Wife’s portrayal of both its legal and political arms shows murkiness throughout offering up a variety of paths these characters might take that could lead to victory despite a dodgy background or could land the least complicit person in jail. Even in the Lemond Bishop story he has to deal with everyday problems and not resort to his usual illegal methods; for him the dilemma between really doing something to the bully who is hurting his son versus doing the responsible adult thing is one of the hardest decisions he has made. Also how dumb do you have to be to bully the kid of a notorious drug kingpin? Kalinda has to decide whether to protect herself or the child in question and it is unnerving to see her so unnerved; Bishop’s kitchen continues to be a hotbed of terrifying tension. If only Marissa Gold could be a bodywoman to everyone (myself included) and point out when there is an awkward silence. She will also bring you milk and cookies.

The last time The Good Wife used this approach to show the inner thoughts of a character it was more contained focusing on Will (*sob*) and his preparation for cross examining Alicia showing his feelings of being betrayed by Alicia when she left the firm coupled with a memory of an intense romantic experience. By exploring one single experience in “The Decision Tree” that two people shared the Will/Alicia dynamic played on another level as Will could reveal a vulnerable side in this moment of private space. With “Mind’s Eye” they up the ante by making it about everything; the SA race, romantic feelings for loves past and not yet occurring, Peter, Kalinda, Bishop, Alicia’s kids and Louis Canning. It is all on the table and at several points throughout the episode these different concerns intersect and overlap.

Alicia has a lot on her plate and she has been performing a juggling act all season with work and her campaign. Throw in family and we can ask (with an eye roll of course) can Alicia have it all? With just a week until the election this storyline is in its final stretch as John underlines the importance of this interview. There are plenty of skeletons in Alicia’s closet that could hurt her in this campaign defining interview – an interview Prady has already done and charmed his way through rather successfully – with where her PAC money comes from, Zach’s abortion and the Canning lawsuit. Alicia is left on her own to clear her mind and rest her voice; instead more gets thrown in her direction and she doesn’t take any of the remedies Marissa has bought for her. Alicia is typically a restless person when told to rest especially as there is so much going on for her at this time and for once we are allowed to venture into her thought process.

Where Marissa has no filter and will say everything that is on her mind including telling Grace that she isn’t trying to replace her (and even though Grace has lost her annoying edge I’m sure many viewers myself included would be more than happy if Marissa became a regular fixture in the Florrick family), Alicia is typically all filter. Sometimes Alicia lets her guard down and does not what she thinks she should do, but what she wants to do such as the car park kiss a few episodes ago. Generally she sticks to the ‘good girl’ Saint Alicia brand that has been crafted for her by the media with the occasional push back. Will was one of these push backs when she finally engaged in the romantic affair she had been longing for and yet the reason why this stopped was because of that one time she thought Grace had gone missing (*shakes fist retroactively at Grace*).

The moral/ethical lines are forever blurred and murky on this show and it is why there have been several debates about religion including this week’s Richard Dawkins infused one. When a credit card pop up ad sounds like Will it is like a gut punch memory for both Alicia and the audience. First because I was trying to figure out if I was also imagining that voice and second because we leap into a sex memory. Will’s face is never shown as it is either in shadow or just out of profile; it is just his voice which assures us it is him and it is a deeply affecting. The setup is the same as in Will’s memory from “The Decision Tree” with the trip to New York being a centerpiece and it is the moment they were both at their happiest mixed in with their most contentious. This is the first time this season where Alicia has explicitly dealt with Will and having him spring up when she is already juggling so much is the kind of self-sabotage you would expect Alicia.

Just look at how she is addressing her attraction to both John and Finn with the former looking more likely as she admits in her mind that she does want to sleep with him; the look she gives him at the end suggests something is going to happen sooner rather than later. Finn pops into her fantasies so randomly as he isn’t even mentioned nor does he appear in the episode aside from this moment and I think it is safe to say there are strong feelings there. While John looks like a sure thing I still think this is more fling material and Finn is for long term (this could also be shipper wishful thinking). Her marriage status complicates matters of course and the internal debate she has matches everything we have seen her say out loud about Peter, to Peter and with any other potential suitor.

Peter has of course had several lovers both when they were ‘happily’ married and since the agreement was verbally drawn up last season and the one that still gets to Alicia is Kalinda. Kalinda and Alicia have not shared any scenes that haven’t been on the phone since season 4 and “Mind’s Eye” goes some way to try and justify why this has been a thing; when Alicia thinks of Kalinda all she sees is the woman (and her friend) who slept with her husband (even though they weren’t friends when it happened). When ‘Peter’ says “We don’t talk like this and you know it” of course she knows it but that still doesn’t stop her from tormenting herself with these scenarios. Alicia’s process for working through cases and what questions she might get asked during the interview is methodical taking into account a variety of scenarios; however she can’t be all logical and her usually filtered emotional side reveals insecurities and niggles we have long suspected are there.

The Zach question is one such niggle as she repeatedly sees him dressed as if he is destitute even though she knows he is at college in Georgetown. Why does she keep freezing up at the Zach question? It isn’t the fact that there was an abortion more that she didn’t know about it and this loss of trust is huge. It is also notable that while she eventually tries to ring Zach after making up with him in her mind she doesn’t get through and they are still left without an actual reconciliation. The Grace story this week is interesting (I know, right?!) using her beliefs or in this case wavering beliefs to prompt a frank conversation between mother and daughter while also showing a hilarious vision of Grace as Alicia’s biggest fear – pregnant, sniffing glue and wearing tons of eyeliner/lip gloss. Alicia receives a text meant for Grace (this has happened with my phone after an update linking to my fiance’s phone) and it shows Grace’s beliefs are not as certain as Alicia thought they were. This leads to Alicia’s fear spiral for what might become of her daughter.

As with last week’s interaction between mother and daughter it feels like The Good Wife has finally figured out how to utilize Grace and she might even be nearing Paige from The Americans for the teen character who doesn’t annoy (plus if these shows were set in the same decade these two would definitely be friends, see also Alicia and Elizabeth). The question of faith with Grace weaves into the Canning story as Alicia has been asked to pray for Louis to live through the night by Sandra Beeman (The Good Wife and The Americans manage to intersect here) and while she agrees, she knows it would be hypocritical to do so; Grace is her prayer proxy. It gives Alicia the chance to address what she sees as a concerning text while also following through with her promise in a roundabout way. Unlike Elizabeth Jennings, Alicia doesn’t want her daughter to lose her faith because of her influence and even though Alicia doesn’t believe in it she can also see the positive influence it has had on Grace.

The Canning lawsuit could make Alicia look bad in the press even though she is pretty sure he is spouting bs regarding his dying status, something I thought he was doing right up to Alicia’s visit to the hospital. On one notepad Alicia is working through this lawsuit and every time she comes up with a seemingly winning move something else counters and a settlement looks likely. On the other side of her laptop sits a white pad which has notes for her interview relating to Prady’s interview – does likeability matter? – what she knows about Lemond Bishop’s contributions and her family. The Bishop question is the murkiest as she knows much more than she should let on if she wants to win and at times one train of thought with Canning feeds into her Bishop notes; this is multitasking at its best.

Alicia wants to tell the truth about the Bishop money and she sees a version where she is praised for this honesty as opposed to the usual politician response; luckily for Alicia she has an imaginary Eli to tell her this is a fairy tale and instead she will lose if she comes clean like this. John to an extent also does this in a non-imagined conversation as they debate what the truth actually means with John giving her a politicians answer that lets her avoid the actual truth.

With “The Decision Tree” it played with notions of memory and perception on a singular past event feeding into current emotional conflict and “Mind’s Eye” successfully takes this even further. By giving us a glimpse into Alicia’s mind in this stylized manner it allows The Good Wife to have fun with their format while delivering an episode that is funny, heartbreaking and pushes the storyline forward. Alicia is all about control and this episode is both focused and all over the place in how she is dealing with everything in her life at the moment, while also exploring emotional turmoil from the recent and long ago past. It doesn’t matter that we don’t get to see Alicia’s interview as we have seen plenty of these this season and it is the negotiating in her own mind between these various concerns that really makes this episode a recent standout.

Election day is 72-hours away on The Good Wife and it couldn’t come sooner as this storyline is stuck in a cycle of its own; Prady and Alicia don’t want to smear each other, their campaign managers are trying to find ways they can and other external factors throw wrenches into the works. Peter hovers on the edge even when he doesn’t appear in an episode and I’m getting antsy from how stale it all feels. Thankfully we have Marissa to tell it like it is – “God, handsome men are so weak” – and she inadvertently manages to make her father choke on his yogurt in the process by calling out John’s missteps.

This isn’t enough to kickstart the campaign story which has been slowly floundering since we returned from the break (and even before that with the debate episode) and so I want to turn my attention to the case of the week featuring a pairing that has been absent for too long – not Finn and Diane as the photo below suggests, however he too has been sidelined recently and I am all up for them teaming up in the future.

Diane Lockhart and Kurt McVeigh don’t agree on much in the political sphere as evident from the photos in their offices (Hillary Clinton/Sarah Palin) to their opinions on gun control. And yet they still manage to make it work because they don’t let the political slip into the personal. That is until this week and it has been quite some time since Kurt featured; Alicia and Cary had left Lockhart Garder the previous day. So much has happened since then, but this case also bears some resemblance to the one in “The Next Day” in that it was also the last time Mamie Gummer appeared as Nancy “I don’t know much about guns” Crozier and a defective gun was at the center of proceedings. This time it is the complicated and very new world of 3D printers – so far all my knowledge on 3D printing and guns comes from an Elementary episode and now this Good Wife - and aspects pertaining to both first and second Amendment rights. The disagreement stems from the why of the case; Diane insists she is just looking out for her client but her gun control leanings are also informing how she wants to proceed.

What starts with flirty foreplay in court as Diane gets noticeably turned on by her husband’s performance on the stand spills over into a Taylor Swift song quoting (okay maybe she isn’t referencing “22” but I can’t help but make that inference) quickie in the car. The chemistry between Gary Cole and Christine Baranski is electric and because of what I would imagine is a scheduling issue it is a shame we have had to wait this long to get a Kurt/Diane story. Another side effect of the election storyline is how sidelined some of the other characters have become; especially now the Cary trial story is over (for now). Kalinda gets an especially short shrift this week appearing in one scene to find the evidence that will win the case in her magical unicorn way.

All is going swimmingly between the pair until Kurt finds out about other factors that might have contributed to the gun imploding and Kurt’s whole mantra has always been to say it like he sees it; he can’t and won’t bend the truth no matter who is involved. It should also be noted that Finn has some issues with how the case is being handled when it comes to the political aspect, which adds to the tension as he wants all the focus to be on their client rather than gun control. Other factors making things difficult include Cary’s sneering towards Finn thanks to his involvement in getting him put in jail, which I guess is more than fair. Alicia hovers on the edge acting as referee at one point and it made me realize how much I miss seeing her in court. Also is it just me or does it look like Nancy is channeling her inner Alicia in this red and black dress?

Back to Diane and on this first day in court she adds another ornate piece of jewelry to her already incredible collection. Stag antlers or stags in general tend to represent a masculine psyche with shows such as Hannibal and The Leftovers regularly using this motif. Here it comes across as a sign of unity between husband and wife as the antlers represent the hunting Kurt is so fond; there is strength in this decorative pin. The following day when all has gone sour between the pair with Diane going so far as serving her husband to ensure he appears as their expert witness, the broach has been replaced by pearls and the statement jewelry has lost its statement.

Waving the white flag with whiskey and apologizing to her husband for letting her politics drive a wedge between them is made all the sweeter by Diane’s stocking feet being on display. Whereas we are generally used to seeing Diane impeccably dressed, this little shoe kicked off detail doesn’t make her style any less flawless it just shows the levels of comfort in this environment and with her husband. As mentioned in the scene Kurt is a man of very few words and the matter is resolved as quickly as it began. Compromise is important in all relationships and particularly one where very few opinions are shared. A vacation is suggested, which moves from a theoretical week in Italy in a few months to three days away hunting right now. And having seen the promo photos from the next episode I cannot wait.

One brief final thought circling back to the main storyline as Alicia and Peter’s relationship couldn’t be further from Diane and Kurt’s if it tried with Alicia going publicly against her husband and in private hooking up with John – it would have been much better if the promo hadn’t shown the final scene. They are meant to be ‘the brand’ and instead Alicia has severed ties with this setup just before the polls open; how will Peter respond?

The Good Wife was always going to do a story relating to one of the recent hacks (Sony, iCloud) and they’ve saved it for when Alicia is at her most vulnerable. The most obvious timing would be to use it prior to the election, but this would have probably made her victory unlikely and so they saved it for just after when it could still be just as devastating. I didn’t write about last week’s episode as I was away and while Alicia winning was not a surprise; the day of Halo playing, her victory red, Marissa’s continued employment and Diane’s hunting attire are things I would have loved to write about.

The election story was becoming a little stale with Alicia set adrift from the rest of the show and the hacked email plot brings her back into the fold while also alienating her at the same time. By the end of the episode they are safe from the hack and yet the story is now out there and someone still has two years worth of very incriminating emails at their disposal. What if Alicia getting elected and then failing to actually make it into office is going to be how this season plays out?

Alicia starts the episode in bold white; she’s won and is comfortable in telling the many visitors stopping by her gift packed office that she won’t bow to their every whim no matter how much money they gave or what unwritten rules exist. Soon Eli graces her still very muffin/champagne/ornament filled room to let Alicia know she is doing it all wrong and how this is a game which involves a more diplomatic and roundabout way of saying no. Meanwhile Finn is negotiating her exit package and the amount being offered is not enough to get both Zach and Grace through college (what about Peter’s salary?) and there’s a lot of posturing going on. Just look at the positioning of everyone as they talk figures:

Diane is clearly in charge in the seated position flanked on either side by one person who wants to give Alicia the money (Cary) and two who are very opposed to this notion (Julius – oh hi! – and David Lee). At the end of the episode after email revelations and seeing Alicia in a friendly chat with Castro the positions change with Cary joining David Lee and Julius on the very little money side.

The division between Alicia and her partners has been plotted in a rather unsatisfactory manner as there’s been just one big blowup argument and not much else to suggest dissatisfaction at her distance from the firm and her decision to run. Contentious moments between Diane, Cary and Alicia have always existed as we are reminded by the emails and subsequent remarks but not enough to earn this feeling of dissolution; one forced argument does not a rift make and it would play so much better if the groundwork had been laid out over time in an organic fashion. The offer Alicia gets is small and Finn scoffs at the amount. Alicia uses Eli’s words of advice as to how to say no without saying no (dude needs to write a book) and they take this to be a threat of some kind. If it all does implode for Alicia with her new job will there be a position for her back at the firm or is she blowing up too many bridges?

Alicia’s emails are absent from the initial release as she has been using her campaign email for the last four months and she ignores Eli’s advice about preemptive apologizing going to Finn to say sorry for saying his spine was made of cottage cheese. Finn is the only one who receives such an apology and it is interesting that Alicia is making sure her relationship with Finn stays strong as opposed to anyone at the firm. This goes beyond the flirty feelings I want them to act on and he is someone Alicia wants to keep close, so much so that she offers him the coveted number two position at the SA office. A job he is uncertain of taking for one reason or another.

One thing I do want to note about the black and white ensemble Alicia wears at the end of the episode is the similarity between this and the one she wore when she first returned to Lockhart/Gardner in season 5 for the first time after she left the firm; this was another occasion which involved sitting across from Diane and David Lee. There is a control and confidence in this attire, no it’s not her power color of red but there is something about Alicia in black and white which suggests defiance.

Speaking of statement dressing at the office there is no one who accessorizes quite like Diane Lockhart starting with the power pebble necklace:

Moving onto a subtle but distinctive brooch as the email scandal takes hold:

And ending on a necklace which isn’t quite up to the usual oomph category; it’s part leopard print, part multiple smaller link chains and while it is certainly stylish it doesn’t give off the same level of confidence as her statement jewelry usually does.

One thing “Undisclosed Receipts” definitely delivers is excellent Eli reacts to things material with a lot of this coming from being exasperated by everything Alicia does. One priceless look is when Alicia uses his words back at him to deflect a request. There is pride in that eyebrow arch if you look hard enough:

Eli is less subtle in showing how he feels about phone sex:

And here is a treat as I couldn’t do a post this picture heavy without delivering the gift of screencaps and the email correspondence between Will and Alicia. Steamy emails which were only on screen for the briefest of moments but preserved for posterity here.

You’re welcome.

Alicia Florrick has tried to break the mold in how she ran her campaign on The Good Wife including not going negative and up to now she has managed to win by using this slightly unconventional method. This all ends in “Winning Ugly” as she tries to go against the system and prove she won this race fairly. What she finds out is you can only be so much of a political outlier and the needs of the party far outweigh those of the individual. And for all Alias viewers you know you should be cautious if Ron Rifkin is representing you; the Arvin Sloane backstabbing is to be expected and here he replaces Rambaldi with the Democratic Party. Less prophecies and fancy devices involved.

There is a sense of déjà vu in the goings on at the firm thanks to Kalinda’s tampering with evidence in Cary’s case and now they are back in a similar position with Diane facing jail time unless she testifies against Bishop. Now they have Finn in their corner rather than opposing them, but even he can’t find something to get out of this hole despite his best efforts and the magnificent use of the word ‘exquisite.’ The judge remarks how there has been more remakes of this case than Spider-Man as they are back in the same position we left them in earlier this season. One thing this does is give Kalinda, Cary and Diane a storyline with purpose as ever since Cary was cleared they have been in plot limbo; the somewhat manufactured conflict with Alicia and babysitting Bishop’s son has been far from compelling. Cary has particularly suffered since he has been released in terms of being insignificant and while I don’t want to see him putting himself in a dangerous position with Bishop it is better than standing still.

Diane’s statement jewelry was missing for most the episode as she stuck to bold jackets and simple dresses. There weren’t even any brooches in sight. The black and white jacket she wore when admitting the evidence she submitted had been falsified is chaotic and distracting; the symbolism extends to the blurring of right and wrong in this instance.

Later on in court Diane has her trust chunky chain necklace on, but she’s paired it with a pale pink blazer and this is a very un-Diane Lockhart color. Cary delivers such an excellent WTF squint here.

The recent email hack has led to division at the firm and something as monumental as this could fracture matters further. At the moment everyone is in protection mode with Cary and Kalinda both positioning themselves in a manner suggesting they will sacrifice themselves (remember Archie Panjabi is leaving at the end of the season). This tableau mirrors the one from a few weeks ago and instead Finn is now on Diane’s side and Alicia is not present at all; how will she take it when she inevitably returns to work and finds herself on the outside of everything?

Return she must as Alicia’s winning dream has crashed and burned; her attempt at winning in a fair and just manner has failed. The device placed in those machines almost circled back to the voting fraud from Peter’s election, fraud which Will knew about but an investigation that died along with him. Peter was placed in the firing line several times throughout the episode from this moment to the threat that if Alicia didn’t step down then she would be destroyed and Peter could also be collateral. In politics it is all rather utilitarian with decisions made factoring what will be the most beneficial to the party. Alicia is far down that pecking order and so she must be sacrificed.

Alicia winning the race was not a surprise, but it didn’t occur to me during the build-up that she might win and then not get to take the SA position. Chicago politics is full of corruption allegations so it should not have come as a shocker and The Good Wife is all about the twists and turns along the way. Her lawyer, Spencer Randolph appears to be a good guy who Alicia, Marissa and the panel are all enamored with and his betrayal is swift and brutal. As I mentioned in the introduction anyone who watched Alias is familiar with Ron Rifkin playing this kind of character and yet I was still taken back when he went for Alicia’s jugular.

In terms of costuming Alicia flips between her power color of red when they first appear in front of the panel, to dark muted colors and ending on dress/jacket two piece which resembles and apron from the top half (ooh back to the whole wife imagery) and as with Diane’s jacket is rather chaotic in appearance. The smiles in this photo are not representative of how Alicia ends the episode; she steps out of the elevator (!) where her eyes have been brimming with tears and she collapses sobbing into Peter’s arms. After their more than civil chat over wine last week followed by this embrace, this relationship is the best it has been in a long time. All they needed was a political scandal to bring them together.

At the start of the episode we see Alicia obsessively watching the news as she sits close to the TV alternating by turning the volume down when it goes full negative to turning it up when in her favor. What is important here is Alicia is wearing her sadness sweats and the last time we saw her in this attire was just after Will died and she told Peter their marriage was over except for in name. This is how we know Alicia is in a bad place mentally despite how much of a brave face she puts on. In part because of the fraud allegations, but also because her relationship with Will is playing all over the news and internet and she keeps having to repeat a lie.

Everything is falling apart both for Alicia and at the firm; will they come together in this time of need?

The Good Wife has a tendency to swing left when you expected it to zig right and while this season has been on the messy side at times, I can certainly say I did not expect to be left with Alicia in a crumpled heap with just two episodes to go. The Saint Alicia brand has been destroyed by the election scandal and she is now out of a job at the firm she helped start in the heart of her home. “The Deconstruction” also features the apparent departure of Kalinda and despite a lumpy final story for her I was left in a teary mess by her silent goodbye to Alicia. This is not the farewell Kalinda deserved after several seasons of storyline limbo and it is disappointing to not get a face to face encounter between long ago confidants. To try and make up for the lack of Alicia/Kalinda shared screen time there will be a Diane Lockhart jacket parade at the end because there are plenty of marvels on display.

Memory pop of the week belongs to Kalinda surveying Alicia’s collection of photos on the mantel; most are of family and the pain of seeing Peter and everything that represents is still strong. A happier memory comes in the form of Alicia holding up a handwritten sign of her own and it is a photo Kalinda took. Considering Stern is still in the title of the firm it must be from season one and a time when Kalinda and Alicia were super close. Regardless of whatever has or has not been going on behind the scenes the loss of the Alicia/Kalinda friendship comes with the same feelings as a romantic breakup and the Kings have repeatedly asserted the betrayal is so strong they could never go back to being the tequila drinking buddies they once were. Instead what we are left with is a hoodie and jean wearing Alicia reading Kalinda’s goodbye note and responding as if she has been sucker punched. As far as outfits go it isn’t the sadness sweats and yet it is unlike Alicia’s typical polished appearance.

My tears flowed freely when Kalinda left Alicia’s apartment without seeing her former friend followed by Alicia’s gut punch reaction to whatever Kalinda wrote in her note – Kalinda’s amazing stationary game is one of my favorite things about her – and this is in part a reaction to the overall loss of this friendship even if the initial event took place forever ago.

When it was announced that Archie Panjabi would be leaving at the end of this season I wrote about why this made sense for Panjabi as the writers have been finding it hard to utilize her beyond her magical unicorn case solving ways (she does this in this episode too). I also discussed the Alicia/Kalinda dynamic and this show has been at its most sob worthy (aside from the obvious devastation last season) when this pair have been involved. Kalinda’s elevator breakdown stands out as one of these moments and even though Kalinda’s departure has been common knowledge/they haven’t killed her off I am still left feeling super shitty about it. Part of this is down to her lack of agency in the clusterfuck of a storyline she has been involved in as she became a glorified babysitter and pawn in a much bigger game. All of the sighs.

There is some Cary and Kalinda stuff going on as he tries to take the fall for her; instead he just clues Dexter in on what Kalinda had done with the pen drive. It’s not your fault Cary, but the white knight routine was never going to work here. They get a goodbye and to be honest I was far more emotionally affected by Kalinda’s phone call farewell to Diane and her non-goodbye to Alicia. Sorry, Cary.

At the firm which has a new, new name – it is hard to keep up but now they are Lockhart, Agos & Lee – there is a whole lot of misunderstandings going on with Alicia coming back. Diane and Cary want Alicia back and Alicia wants to come back; instead we end up with an episode of them thinking the other is stabbing them in the back. If they took a moment to actually talk to each other then it would all get sorted out very quickly, instead they all play a game of ‘secure the clients’ with David Lee taking the helm. There’s an upsetting “how dare you” moment between Diane and Alicia with me crying out for more martini drinking between these amazing ladies (there is a friendship drinking theme).

Kalinda plays mediator pointing out the mix-up to both sides and even though everything gets resolved Alicia still ends up on the outs and with no clients. This is thanks to Oliver Platt’s RD sticking his oar in pointing out what a joke the Florrick name is as a result of yet another scandal. It is a little disconcerting seeing Diane put so much faith in RD’s opinion, but he does bring a whole lot of money to the firm. Maybe now Finn can get a decent exit package for Alicia.

Red wine drinking has mostly been a solo experience for Alicia swilling a goblet in the kitchen of her apartment. Since the election scandal Peter has joined her making it a much more social experience showing how far Peter and Alicia have come; the constant bickering and backbiting has ceased and this is the first huge press conference where they are united both in front of the cameras and behind them. There is nothing romantic between them at the moment and Alicia ruled that out a few weeks ago, however this scandal has brought them together rather than tearing them apart as the one that started the show did. Peter is an expert in how to deal with negative press and he suggests she writes a book. As long as it is better quality than those emails then I would read it.

Alicia likes order and now she is completely untethered; earlier she asks “What do I do now?” and this question still presents itself at the end of the episode. The book idea is fine and yet this doesn’t feel very Alicia; the uncertainty about where we will be when season six comes to a close is exciting, but I also don’t feel as confidant as I have been with The Good Wife in the past. This year has been ambitious and yet it has also stumbled along the way. So as a way to break the tension here is the Diane Lockhart jacket parade as promised.

The zips! That ring! Diane means business.

Not a good sign when your statement necklace blends in with your jacket. The statement is lost and this is when the initial Alicia misunderstanding takes place. That lipstick choice is A+ though.

Toning it down in deep purple for a visit to Joy, the court appointed officer but you can’t hide a chain necklace that big.

And back to Diane Lockhart power jacket choice in gold jacquard. No statement necklace or brooch in sight so Diane is not completely on top of her game.

Later on when Diane returns to see Joy she once again completely tones it down covering her bold gold with a black coat, but you can still see it peaking out the top.

Another gold patterned jacket and a double chain necklace which feels like it is part of this jacket rather than blending in, as the chain necklace did earlier on when she was stumbling a little. There is also something a little 70s sci-fi space admiral about this whole ensemble and I’m digging it. Diane got a win for her client and while she failed in the Alicia department her relationship with Alicia remains intact.

Alicia returned to court in “Don’t Fail” after spending her post election scandal days sharing a whole lot of nothing to help her ghost writer with the structure of her memoir while waiting for 5 o’clock to hit so she could crack open a bottle of wine. An old case (one we have not seen before from Alicia and Cary’s first year at the firm is the shot in the arm Alicia needs to re-evaluate exactly what she wants to do with her career now that her political one is in tatters. If the election was intended to get Alicia into this position it is a shame that it took most of the season to get here and really Alicia’s doubts about her profession started just after Will died.

What the law means, whether it is good or bad are some of the preoccupations of this episode and of The Good Wife in general and “Don’t Fail” looks back to the past to inform the present. The Alicia on the tapes is different to the Alicia listening to them, but there are plenty of similarities between the person she was then and who she now is; scandal is still dominating her life.

On the 2009 tapes the Peter comments are still rife, but even in the present day Peter’s indiscretions get the same amount of attention as her own recent issues at the polls. Aya Cash guest stars as a new lawyer Amber (much to my delight) and not only is Amber a massive fan, but her mother loves how she stood by her husband. This echoes the Lexi tape from the investigation as she also mentions how cool it is that Alicia is standing by Peter. The past and the present are forever entwined with matching opinions. Matan even puts in a Peter reference as a dig rather than a compliment and he essentially pushes Alicia into taking the case with these suggestive taunts. Much in the same way Castro needled Alicia enough into starting the whole SA race in the first place and this is pretty much the equivalent of calling Marty McFly a chicken; Alicia will not back down after a moment like this.

Alicia’s scandal is very PG in comparison to her husband’s and as Finn points out in the grand scheme of things “you’re not that important.” Prostitutes and jail time is far more likely to stick in the minds of the public so just ignore the stink eye the dude in hardware store is giving you Alicia. Maybe he just doesn’t like your terrible hat. Finn is the drinking buddy everyone needs as he is the voice of reason and super dreamy to boot. He also happens to stop by court at the exact right time to realize he has the piece of information that could stop this case from going to trial. In this instance he takes on the magical case solving unicorn role Kalinda inhabited on a weekly basis so it makes complete sense that Alicia would name Kalinda as her source. And she makes the perfect patsy since she has now left the jurisdiction. For Finn, Alicia extends an offer; sadly it is only business related and that sound you hear is me yelling KISS HIM and then realizing this is going to be unlikely if they start a firm together. Finn doesn’t give an answer to Alicia’s offer and while it would put a dampener on any romantic action, they do work well together.

“Don’t Fail” also reminds of us of the era in which Cary and Alicia didn’t really like each other all that much, no I’m not talking about now but when they were in competition with each other during the first season. A lot has changed since then with several different jobs and plenty of contentious moments in-between; however despite recent events their bond is still strong. Cary is at first dismissive and slightly hostile over the phone giving Alicia ample opportunity to flex her already incredible eye rolling skills, but later on things soften between the pair over wine and memories. Cary brings evidence files to Alicia’s apartment; files she hasn’t seen before as they used her line of defense the first time they tackled this case. Kalinda’s departure comes up and there is so much history here that no matter how much shit has gone on between them there is still a strong sense of compassion with an appropriate amount of arm squeezing.

Experience is one thread that binds the episode from how Alicia is a seasoned veteran of the political scandal circuit to how much better they are as lawyers. On the other end there is this idea of being completely green to a situation so while Alicia is used to scrutiny it is new for her to be the one front and center of accusations. In court Alicia is commanding and dominant; it is like she has come home and it is glorious to see her in full lawyer mode where as Amber plays the role of novice as she stammers and finds it hard to have her voice heard over Matan. At the end of the episode Amber says she wants to learn from you and Alicia is pretty friendly but firm when she tells her “no you don’t.” Alicia isn’t one for mentoring and yet I would be more than happy to see Amber return and be part of the potential new firm (as long as it doesn’t interfere with You’re the Worst).

Alicia misses “looking at the law as something good” as now she sees it as being neutral. Her idealism has been tainted along the way as she pretty much lives in the murky grey; has she compromised herself too much? Can a new firm reignite her passion as it does in this episode? I am pretty excited to find out and hopefully The Good Wife can get over this messy bump of a season to deliver an excellent and quite possibly final outing next year.

Let’s talk about the leather clad elephant in the room and the way this episode meshes memory pops with flashbacks using the taped conversations is the usual high standard when playing with narrative devices. Until we get to Kalinda and as with most things Kalinda related this season it has been effected by whatever is going on behind the scenes. First of all the flash of Alicia and Kalinda drinking and in the same shot is not a new scene filmed for this episode. Instead it comes from “Hybristophilia” and Alicia’s celebration drinks with Kalinda after she won the competition against Cary in season 1. This scene is pretty much burned into my brain so when that brief shot flashed up it was instantly recognizable. Later on we do get a brand new Kalinda and Alicia scene where they are in the same room, but not really as their coverage could have been filmed at different times and I wouldn’t bring up the behind the scenes ‘whatever’ except it is incredibly distracting. And this certainly doesn’t make up for Kalinda’s departure last week, but there is still one more outing and one more chance for satisfying closure. Don’t fuck this up show.

That’s the meat of the episode as we see Alicia regaining her confidence after such a huge professional setback by taking on a case which reminds her why she loves this job and at the same time it gives us the chance to bask in nostalgia with both the flashbacks and seeing Alicia in court. Last week I offered up a Diane Lockhart jacket picture parade as a way to make up for the sadness; this week’s general picture offerings are here so we can soak up the joy of this episode. And it is only appropriate that I start with Diane.

Diane only shows up via 2009 and her brooch collection was just as strong back then.

Flashing back to 2009 means revisiting this Cary haircut or at least the approximation of this haircut. Their coat game is excellent.

Speaking of fantastic outerwear as Amber’s blue coat is both striking and matches Alicia’s scarf (this is me taking it as a sign that they should definitely work together again). In the present day this is one of the only instances where Alicia wears bold color as she is in mostly black and dark purple in court in an attempt to blend in rather opting for the red which symbolizes her confidence.

Most accurate representation of what I would look like in this moment. Also in terms of Amber’s court costuming all of her outfits look slightly off with either jackets that age her up far too much or polka dots which are too distracting. It makes sense that a novice lawyer would not necessarily have it all put together in this department yet and Alicia’s s style has definitely evolved over the last six years.

The hoodie of sudden crying makes an appearance as part of Alicia’s restless wardrobe. This gets ditched for a nice cream sweater later on when she is more settled with her career plan.

A plan which involves a new home office. Hope you like a door for a bed, Zach.

Speaking of Zach and some costume continuity as this striped top is also what he is wearing in “Hybristophilia” so this is a pretty good memory of what Zach wore around that time (he has a different color long sleeve tee underneath in that episode).

Next week is the season finale and if it manages to deliver the same quality and narrative development then maybe the election storyline will have served some purpose.  Oh and hopefully Kalinda will make one final appearance.

In The Good Wife finale Alicia talks about how losing the election finally allowed her the chance to let go of anger, jealousy and not caring about what other people think. The latter is not so set in stone as she spent part of the last episode wearing a hat as a way to go incognito and there are several things this week that point very much in the direction of caring. It is an important sentiment nonetheless as the impact of the election scandal has given Alicia the chance to reassess where she is with her career and how she feels about the scrutiny of being in the public eye.

The latter comes into play when Peter tells Alicia he is going to run for president – which is met with laughter from Alicia until she realizes he is being serious – not as a viable candidate for this position, instead vying for the veep spot. The big family conference about this has Zach reacting in the same way, but his chuckles are far friendlier towards his father with Grace taking on a more concerned approach while also asking the big question about this now pretend marriage. The camera lingers on Alicia as she takes in her daughter’s reaction noting how it instantly makes Grace uncomfortable. Peter points out they aren’t pretending as they are still married and yet Alicia is quick to acknowledge the charade.

This prompts her to pull Peter to one side telling him she can see through this whole thing; he has already decided and really this is all pomp and ceremony asking for approval from his wife and children. He claims otherwise so Alicia tells him she doesn’t approve of this run for political office as it is just inviting the press in once again (how many times is this now?) to tear them to shreds and put unnecessary pressure on their kids (and especially Grace).

One thing Alicia does on multiple occasions is tell people how she really feels in a super calm fashion from Peter to Lemond Bishop’s lawyer Lester as he tries to intimidate her – Wallace Shawn is so terrific in this role – and we even get the big chat with Kalinda; in a bar and with the long ago tradition of tequila shots. I spoke about the leather clad elephant in the room last week and it is impossible to talk about this scene without mentioning how something seemed off and by off it has a certain Orphan Black quality in both the wide and over the camera angles. It sucks that a scene as important as this in a relationship that at one point was the heart of the show has come down to this and that behind the scene rumblings mean this whole moment was underscored with external distraction. Please Good Wife oral history fill us in on what really happened. I didn’t want to have to address this stuff again and yet it is impossible when the sight lines don’t quite match up. But I do want to discuss the sentiment of the scene because it is important to who these characters are/were.

Kalinda’s final season storyline has been all over the place with her involvement with Bishop as her exit arc. It has also been clear they have struggled with this character for some time now, dating back to the introduction of her awful ex Nick. Alicia has never really had that many friends as she tends to be pretty closed off and protective of herself. Some of this stems from how those closest to her turned their backs when the whole Peter scandal happened, but there have been some exceptions. These close relationships have included the romantic (Will, maybe Finn), ones that were for political strategizing (looking at you Maura Tierney), others have been hampered by romance (oh hey Amanda Peet) or have been more about work (Diane and Cary). With Kalinda it was different and Alicia let her guard down over shots of tequila in bars and drinking beer in bed; this makes the whole thing all the more bittersweet.

In this bar scene Alicia discusses how it is nice not to care since the scandal and ultimately how she misses spending time in bars with Kalinda. Kalinda also uses this moment to point out how their time together was the best she had and she messed it up. The way this is discussed is like exes coming back together to talk about the good times and where it went wrong; as I have mentioned on several occasions friendship breakups can be more devastating than romantic ones. With Alicia and Kalinda it was a double whammy as it involved a romantic betrayal of sorts and killed two relationships for Alicia. Even though they are sharing the same space I found the previous version of their goodbye to have a greater tear filled impact on me, maybe because there were less distractions present.

So long Kalinda, you deserved better. But you still look fantastic in leather and sunglasses. Make sure you take a baseball bat with you.

Alicia’s position of not caring about what other people think is put into question in relation to getting sucked back into the political sphere again with Peter’s presidential bid and the memoir commissioned as a way to soften Alicia’s public persona. The concern from Alicia is that she is being remade as a homemaker or rather as ‘the good wife’ and this is far from something she is comfortable or even a little okay with. Alicia is calm and steadfast in how she refuses to give Eli anything that he wants from her or wants her to be setting up one conflict for next season.

Another comes in the form of Alicia’s new firm and after Finn accepts her partnership offer he later recants after they have successfully won their first case together. They make an excellent team in court and over drinks; work is one thing but the sexual tension is too much and Finn can see something bad happening. By bad he means something very good, right? Okay he is being professional and he also happens to be trying things again with his ex-wife so spending this much time with Alicia in bars, alone in her car or at her apartment is maybe not the best way to aid this reconciliation or even start a professional partnership. But it still doesn’t stop me from yelling “KISS HIM” at the screen as he continually makes his excuses to go. I am only human after all. The back and forth between them has been pretty consistent and Finn references this when he explains why they can’t work together; hopefully Matthew Goode will be back next season to explore the notion of “not always do or don’t.”

Alicia explains that she doesn’t want to work alone and she doesn’t have to as Louis Canning is there at the end to offer partnership; a partnership fueled by anger at Cary, Diane and David Lee because they fired his wife from their firm. Simone got a job by using her maiden name and while Diane is more than fine with her working there both Cary and David Lee raise concerns and their majority wins. In a heartbreaking scene Simone tearfully tries to get Diane to reconsider (she isn’t the issue) with “I did this on my own. This was me.” Simone like Alicia has a surname which comes with preconceived ideas.

In the finale Diane doesn’t really have a great deal to do except purse her lips in frustration at her partners. Hopefully there will be far more for her next year (same goes for Cary), but in the meantime here is one final Diane Lockhart costume parade for the season.

Giving good ‘what?!’ face with Cary in striking white and bold red lip color.

The power necklace offers no support in her argument to keep Simone. Maybe stick to the chunky chain link ones in the future when fighting these kinds of battles.

Excellent lip color and jacket combination but none of this is helping against Louis Canning’s threats to pull this firm apart. I think Diane is regretting her partner choice.

All signs point to Canning teaming up with Alicia and considering how she left the firm she created there is a chance she will get on board with his scheme, except I can’t see her wanting to destroy either Cary or Diane. While this finale isn’t as strong as previous ones (and as the season was so all over the place it would have been very hard to deliver a slam dunk episode) it does do a good job of tying up the loose ends while also setting up conflicts for next year. Now the Kalinda storyline has been wrapped up we might get a more streamlined (maybe final) season as we continue the education of Alicia Florrick.

Last season of The Good Wife ended on a rather sour note both for viewers and Alicia Florrick alike as she had to step down from her newly elected position as a result of fraud charges and we had to endure a farewell scene tainted with behind the scenes rumors and green screen phoniness. Season 6 was a huge step down from the triumphant and exhilarating year that came before it and the election plot was a disappointment on the whole; subsequently anticipation levels for this new season are far lower than this time last year. The Good Wife likes to reset itself each season through campaigns and shifting power dynamics with various degrees of success and “Bond” is no different.

Alicia is once again placed at the bottom of the lawyer ladder and this first episode back is really encouraging in how they are not just playing with Alicia’s journey, but with some of the supporting characters too. I should emphasize the ‘some’ of that sentiment as there are still the same issues when it comes to incorporating all of the supporting characters with the Lockhart Agos crew getting a much shorter shrift of things. But let’s focus on the positives first as “Bond” allows Alicia to grow as well as understand her role in the wider picture.

After the SA controversy she can’t get a job except she can, but the one person offering her a position is someone she considers to be ‘the devil.’ Louis Canning has always been after Alicia to join his firm and the more she resists, the more he comes after her. Alicia is fed up of answering to someone and this was part of the reason why she originally left Lockhart/Gardner (#neverforget) to start her own firm with Cary. In the political and legal sphere there is always someone to answer to and what Alicia has been figuring out from the pilot to now is the different degrees of compromise. Public perception plays a big role and she has gone from the victim of one story to potential victim in another – depending on how much people believe the ‘she was duped by her advisers’ angle. Regardless there is an element of naivety and Alicia has to rebuild her image or rehabilitate depending on what role she is playing.

It is all about working those angles so while Alicia is still refusing Canning’s main offer of coming to work for him she is not against taking work from him. In this latter scenario there is the air of independence even if she ultimately knows there is someone pulling the strings, but there always is no matter how much Alicia wants to believe she is answering to no one.

The same can be said for Peter’s campaign and as soon as Alicia gives the word Eli steps into campaign gear, but he ends up approaching the person who will get his job. That person is Ruth Eastman; played by Margo Martindale and I am thrilled she has joined the ever growing list of amazing Good Wife guest stars, especially as her arc is as Eli’s antagonist. Ruth doesn’t quite know what she is going up against with Alicia and this is one scenario where Alicia is comfortable in controlling the level of access she will give. Eli knows this and after a period of wallowing while watching bad Nazi zombie movies he gets a makeover and reveals his dastardly plan to use Alicia to impact Peter’s campaign.

Eli’s wallowing and subsequent rejuvenation in picture form:

It really is a great haircut.

So is Eli really going to fuck over Alicia to politically point score? This is where things get complicated as Eli really does care for Alicia even if he can’t quite define what their relationship is; however I also think he feels so betrayed by Peter that he is willing to fuck her over in a way that won’t hurt her, but will impact Peter. Eli knows the whole inner workings of the Florrick marriage and so I think he thinks Alicia won’t object to this plan. He also knows she will be mad as hell if she finds out she is a pawn in his revenge plan. And she will find out.

Alicia is currently a one woman law firm working from home with Grace as her assistant. That is one way to cut down on costs. In an attempt to supplement her finances Alicia is working in bond court or at least attempting to as the judge keeps freezing her out because he thinks she is going to waste his time and Marie Antoinette all over the place. Luckily for Alicia she gets a helping hand from fellow bond lawyer Lucca Quinn who after a couple of gossipy quips sees the value and resilience that makes Alicia Florrick the character to route for. Ladies helping ladies is my sweet spot and so when Alicia stands in for Quinn at bond court, Quinn does her a solid by doing the same in Alicia’s probate hearing. Luckily for Alicia, Quinn is pretty quick thinking and knows her shit. Is this the new lady friendship this show needs?

All signs point to yes and yet I am wary of whether this will be the case as we have been burned in the past. And the show is definitely trolling the audience with this moment.

Quinn is a likable presence even if they threw in the random bit of off screen dancing fury at the end and she also has a fun sense of pattern clashing style which differs greatly from Alicia’s own more conservative court room attire. I am of course a sucker for a polka dot, but it is Cush Jumbo’s energy as Quinn that I am drawn to. It all sounds so sad and yet Alicia really does need a friend with no ulterior motives.

A couple of relationships took a beating last season including the manufactured argument between Alicia and her partners Diane and Cary. The former is still strained; the latter didn’t make an appearance as Cary is languishing between the olds he has to spend time with and the younger associates who he longs to be cool with. Oh, Cary. I hope they can find a better storyline for you. Meanwhile Diane wore one of the most Diane jackets and it is fabulous.

A lot has changed on The Good Wife but a lot has also stayed the same; the Diane/Alicia relationship is a difficult one as there is always something that comes between them. All I want is more martini drinking time and planning to take on the world together. Maybe one day, first they have to work through their feelings of work betrayal with standoffish and awkward conversations.

In Diane style news she also wore this fabulous Proenza Schouler stripe jacket (also worn by Olivia Pope) which she made her own by adding a brooch. This is a good tip for personalizing any item of clothing.

Red is Alicia’s power color and it has been used in season openers in the past to signify a bold change (see post Will hookup in season 3 *sob*). After failing spectacularly at bond court in a safe black suit, Alicia steps up her game by wearing her signature shade. While this doesn’t win her any favors from the judge, she does make a friend in Quinn. The red jacket can work in many ways.

Overall “Bond” is a good start to the new season and while it doesn’t wash away the memories of all the missteps last year it seems poised to take Alicia on an interesting path in what might be the final season (nothing has been confirmed as of yet but there are strong hints this is the case). Alicia is in a similar position job wise as when we first met her – at the bottom – but she has seven years more experience in the legal and political arenas. I am excited to see how she navigates these worlds while trying to stay as independent as she can from all the external influences and if such a thing is possible on The Good Wife.

One of the major issues with last season of The Good Wife was that it stopped being fun when it got bogged down in the State’s Attorney election race; Alicia in court is fun and when she was running those courtroom scenes disappeared. Yes there were still cases, but even as this show enters its seventh season there is still something exhilarating about Alicia going up against it in court. Far more so than seeing her in a debate on television (or in the kitchen).

The Good Wife has for want of better phrase ‘gone back to basics’ and while there is a danger of covering old territory this all feels incredibly fresh because of Alicia’s time away from court last season. Her resources are few and yet she has still managed to find a team who are quick thinking and quick to adapt, but there are many obstacles including the task of finding a new investigator.

Ah yes, a new investigator is needed and for some reason everyone on this show has forgotten that Robyn was ever a thing. Don’t worry I have not forgotten you or your amazing sweater collection, Robyn. Kalinda gets a mention and Alicia goes for the investigator who reminds her of her former BFF; I’m guessing it was the leather part of her wardrobe that gave her these feelings because Amanda is no Kalinda and she is swiftly fired when she fucks up for a second time. Enter Grace’s first choice and guest star Jeffrey Dean Morgan giving super flirty vibes as Jason Crouse. And I’m already sensing that things are going to get complicated in this department especially as Jason was offered far more money from Lockhart/Agos; new love interest ahoy. Finding it hard to get excited about new romantic entanglements as I still feel burned by the Finn Polmar of it all.

Last week Alicia turned down Canning’s offer of a job because she doesn’t want to answer to anyone. This is of course a pipe dream as in the legal world there is always someone to answer to, but she wants as much control of her work environment as she can exert. This means taking cases she knows Canning has pushed in her direction is fine as the influence is kept at arm’s length. Choice or lack thereof runs throughout “Innocents” from Alicia’s case to everything that is going on with Peter’s campaign. Alicia knows Eli is using her, but because she is aware of his intentions she plays along even if he tried to manipulate her. This is the big difference between Alicia now and the one we met back in season one; she is now so much more equipped to deal with the intricate plotting of those around her. She is fine with Eli doing this because she wants Eli on her team.

Loyalty is vital in Eli achieving his goal so when Ruth asks Nora to spy on Eli for her it was clear Nora would tell Eli what she has been tasked with. For all her expertise, Ruth sure is getting played and as this battle between Eli and Ruth starts to heat up I am rubbing my hands with glee at the thought of Margo Martindale and Alan Cumming going up against each other.

Eli essentially tells Alicia to do what he has done with Peter and while Alicia is fine with being used by Eli in this manner – her response to Peter when he points out she is being used “I know. Who isn’t?” is telling – I don’t think she will be so thrilled when Eli exerts his second half of his revenge plan.

Alicia has to swallow her pride with Frank and the DNC to help with her “pathway to rehabilitation” and then she will able to screw Frank over in the future. In the meantime she has to play along including being told which way to vote and the smell hypocrisy is strong. There are some things she does not disclose to Eli and this compromised position is one of them.

Work is giving Alicia the freedom she craves and none of the bureaucratic BS Cary is dealing with over at Lockhart, Agos. Cary goes up against Howard in a way to show the younger associates that he is the guy they can turn to and it is about time for Howard as a plot device to go. He is not going quietly and he has plenty of friends in high places including a judge who moves up one of Cary’s cases by a month. Cary has an ace in his pocket and knows the best way to get Diane to listen to his concerns is to disrupt something that is important to her; Howard interrupts her EMILY’s List meeting and it goes exactly how Cary imagined. Howard offers the “easiest ultimatum” when he tells Diane and David Lee that either Cary goes or he does. Only one of them has their name on the door.

The connective tissue between the goings on at Lockhart, Agos and with Alicia is slight; Alicia rings Cary about investigators and inadvertently gives him a few leads. There are the inevitable cases against each other and I’m hoping this is one area that isn’t going to become a drag.Alicia went up against an old foe this week and one who pretends she only vaguely knows who Alicia is. Oh Nancy, I do enjoy when you come to play. Mamie Gummer makes a welcome return as the all too earnest and innocent Nancy Crozier in a case which explores the world of copyright, art and consent. The guest stars keep coming with Amy Irving (oh hey Emily Sloane!) playing an artist who took photographs of her naked children when they were 8 and 10 with Johnny Simmons as the now grown up son Erik. Erik is so unhappy with the new exhibition featuring his image that he took a hammer to one of them. This is how he crosses paths with Alicia in bond court and because Lucca Quinn gave Alicia the case she comes on board as co-counsel.

Once again Quinn shows she is quick thinking and hopefully we are edging toward Alicia offering her a position at her startup firm; especially as they won quite a large amount of money this week. In classic Good Wife fashion after exhausting all options they came up with a winning solution and even helped mother and son reconcile. In the same way I feel burned by the whole Finn Polmar business, this show has also never been particularly consistent with Alicia having any female friends. I want Lucca Quinn to be the exception to this rule, but I am also not counting on it. The chemistry between Cush Jumbo and Julianna Margulies is pretty great and they feel like equals. Plus Quinn is upping the style stakes with her penchant for color and pattern. A quick fashion parade.

Another character who has been given a wardrobe upgrade is Grace and she made the transition from the annoying teen bracket to rare teen that isn’t there just to antagonize. Plus she inadvertently provides a helpful solution to the case. And Alicia you really should be paying her and not just in awesome blouses.

One more sartorial pick from “Innocents” and Diane is embracing the longer jacket for the second week in a row; this one is even more spectacular than the jacquard approach from the last episode.

Geometric color blocking perfection.

Alicia might be at the bottom of the legal ladder and yet this is the happiest she has been for a long time. The knowledge she now possesses about her work and the political world she is entrenched in has made her far savvier about how much choice she has. This doesn’t mean she is impervious to the manipulative tactics being employed by those around her and there is still plenty to learn – the Kings love to talk about how each season is part of the education of Alicia Florrick – but she appears to be in a strong position and there is a sense of freedom which was missing last year.

Despite branching out on her own Alicia Florrick can’t avoid the office politics of her old firm and she ends up as a pawn across intersecting storylines in this week’s episode of The Good Wife. Everything is still shiny and new with this whole starting over business and Alicia’s isn’t the only one who is reinvigorated by a change in job role as Eli is positively thriving in his quest to ruin Ruth’s campaign. He is in full sabotage mode and he doesn’t even have to do that much heavy lifting in succeeding in his plan to mess with Ruth. Yes she might be able to dictate his tiny office space, but Eli comes with years of Florrick family knowledge giving him an instant advantage. Eli’s advice to Alicia about steering events so ‘they don’t steer you’ is his current playbook and at this point Eli has taken the lead.

What Eli is also doing is making it seem like Alicia is the one making the decisions. When he tells her that if she says yes to “Mama’s Homespun Cooking” she won’t have to do a dozen other things he is appealing to her desire to do as little as possible for the campaign. Eli knows full well this cooking show will be a disaster and this is what he is banking on. Why else would he tell Alicia she can be herself? If this had been during Peter’s other campaigns, Eli would be throwing a fit at the discussion Alicia and Veronica have live on TV; instead he is pretty much cackling with joy at their unfiltered conversation.

Eli’s got his fingers in all the pies in “Cooked” warning the judge in Alicia’s case that he is part of a bribery sting. Not that Eli is doing this out of the goodness of his own heart and it is all part of his plan to bring down Frank Landau of the DNC. Last week Alicia reluctantly apologized to Frank and Eli mentioned a revenge strategy to her, but it is not Eli’s style to reveal all the intricate details of his plotting. So it looks like Alicia is about to get caught in the crosshairs of this scheme; I believe Eli doesn’t want to hurt Alicia, but I also think he is so angry at how Peter treated him that he is going to push this as far as he can go. Even if it means Alicia is collateral damage.

In bond court Alicia and Lucca’s working relationship and new friendship is tested when they are pitted against each other. Alicia finds a way for them to join forces, but there is an unsettling element to this case that puts Alicia in full paranoid mode. The involvement of the FBI instantly raises the question of a sting operation and the target could be a number of people including Alicia. It doesn’t help that Alicia has given her client advice that could be construed in a negative way and Lucca was the one who suggested this direction.

Alicia withdraws from her pally interactions with Lucca suggesting they have separate trials and Lucca is direct in letting Alicia know how she feels about this telling her “screw you.” Lucca is very good at her job so it is unclear why she is languishing in bond court when any firm would be lucky to have her and Alicia’s initial suspicions don’t seem that out of line. Thankfully the pair is not on the outs and Alicia has her back. Now to make Lucca an official partner at Alicia’s startup so this friendship and my love for Lucca’s costuming can continue.

Speaking of which here are the spectacular offerings from Lucca this week with check, lace and a jacket Diane would love.

Suspicion is the reigning feeling this week with Diane flipping out when she thinks Alicia has betrayed her. Going back a few steps and Diane is suffering from young summer intern fatigue after her mentoring offer is met with a surprising lack of enthusiasm. Cary argues that people want work/life balance, which makes little sense to Diane. Diane turns her attention to Alicia and their working relationship suggesting to the equity partners that they share some of their overflow with Alicia. This is not an all together altruistic offer as Diane thinks Alicia can become their pawn instead of Louis Canning’s. Part of the reason she reacts so unfavorably to Alicia ‘helping’ Howard is this romantic notion that Alicia is of the same mold as Diane and this goes against that.

I would not want to be on the receiving end of this facial expression. Ever.

Or this one.

Killer outfit from Diane (standard). In leather (not so standard for Diane).

Alicia’s apartment sees a stream of repeat visitors throughout the episode and when Diane makes her second trip she accuses Alicia of representing Howard and plotting against them. This isn’t strictly the case, but Diane is having none of Alicia’s ‘it’s not what it seems’ reasoning. Yes Alicia gave Howard advice about the ageism thing, but she also told him he needs to work harder and this is what he is doing. Really she is doing Lockhart, Agos a solid.

In true Good Wife tradition an elevator become the important location for a romantic interaction and after Howard had a meet cute with Jackie Florrick he asked her out for dinner. They really hit it off and now the pair is dating; this might be beneficial to Alicia if Jackie is happy in her own personal life as there will be a whole lot less meddling and fewer passive aggressive remarks. Actually that last one will always happen.

Plus Jackie is now part of #LadySuitWatch2015 after rocking an all white ensemble. Jackie’s heartbreaking story about her mother’s response to her laughter also goes a long way in showing why Jackie is the way she is.

There are already many moving parts and angles getting worked at this early juncture and Eli Gold is hitting Blair Waldorf levels of scheming. Veronica warns Alicia that the good feeling from starting over doesn’t last forever and it will be interesting to see how long it will be before the wheels come off for everyone who is embroiled in Peter’s campaign and how sustainable Alicia’s solo project is. This is another good solid episode and the start of season 7 is doing a lot to wipe clean the memory of the disappointing State’s Attorney campaign, even if Alicia is not as in control as she thinks she is.

Alicia held favor in bond court for a very brief amount of time on The Good Wife before the judge was back to calling her Marie Antoinette and taxing her heavily. The issue being that she was causing waves in how the system flows as the court is more concerned with processing speed, rather than dealing with cases on an individual basis.

Everyone is a number and one in a stack of many files; those numbers include probation offers, bail money and their place in the pile. It can even be their weight which factors into nothing more than a way to sort out which bond lawyer gets first pick.

If this was a reality show then I’m sure Alicia might be pulling out the “not here to make friends” moniker as she is ruffling pretty much everyone’s feathers by disrupting procedure as she actually listens to her clients and actively tries to get them the best offer. But she has actually made friends and despite many exasperated looks from Lucca Quinn throughout “Taxed” it hasn’t damaged the rapport they have built up over the last few weeks; much to my delight.

A+ disdain and patterned outfit combo.

The whole system needs a makeover, but money rules everything and there is “no glory in this slog.” Alicia is shaking the wrong tree, or really she is shaking the one which won’t pay the bills especially when Judge Schakowsky is at the helm. Alicia has a pretty decent civil action case because the store in question could easily be accused of racial profiling – as several real stores have – and instead she trades that for surveillance footage which clears her client. The problem is that it shows her client’s mother originally stole the sweater in question. Not exactly the win Alicia was hoping for. What it does do is open her eyes to her current working situation; Alicia has no desire to go back to Lockhart, Agos and this freedom in cases is exhilarating. And yet she is still bound by bureaucracy and people who don’t want to fix what is broken.

Cary wistfully remembers starting the firm in Alicia’s apartment and this is the wrong way to go about getting Alicia to return to Lockhart, Agos by doing Reese Dipple’s bidding. The atmosphere between the pair is warm and there is hope for a working relationship between Alicia’s startup and her old firm despite the prickliness from Diane last week. Alicia doesn’t want to be stuck in the favor cycle and starting over was meant to wipe the slate clean; now she is stuck in another kind of legal purgatory with Judge Schakowsky.

Over martinis with Lucca – wearing another fantastic outfit – she ponders her next move and when Lucca spells out the disadvantages of Alicia’s current strategy an offer is made. This is the offer I have been expecting/hoping for with Alicia asking “Want to do it together?” That is shaking the tree for better paying cases. We don’t get Lucca’s answer and this isn’t the first time Alicia has offered this kind of deal to someone (Finn *sob*), but they have proved their success as a team and I can’t see why Lucca would turn her down. Job security is one reason to stick with bond court and there have been a couple of moments of conflict; however this would be a good move for both Alicia and Lucca. Seeing Alicia working in a different legal environment has been fun and yet I am now at the point where a break from Judge Schakowsky would be bliss.

Another person who is causing a stir is Jason Crouse and woah is the screen oozing with all the sexual tension whenever he is on screen with Alicia. When Jeffrey Dean Morgan first appeared a couple of weeks ago I was maybe reluctant at accepting this new potential love interest; now I am all in. I am also fully prepared to be disappointed. Jason is a bit of a mystery and this is apparently part of the whole investigator persona – here is another investigator mystery WHERE IS ROBYN? – and Alicia learns a few more things this week. He used to be a lawyer and he got disbarred for punching a judge. He also claims he is one of the calmest, sweetest dudes but he agrees with Alicia’s assessment that she should worry about him. He claims he is not joking and this only makes him seem more enigmatic (and attractive). Just look at the way he looks at her (*swoony sighs*).

Tree shaking is going on all over the place this week and Eli is playing mischief maker by taking Cary’s turned down request to Alicia and putting the other female Florrick’s onto Peter, but really onto Ruth in a bid to mess with her. And at first it works as Jackie feels put out by Peter’s new campaign manager and Grace is passionate in her disagreement over physician assisted suicide and this bill. Ruth is no fool and she quickly figures out Eli’s scheme and sweet talks her way with both Jackie and Grace; Eli is going to have to work a lot harder if he wants to sabotage Ruth’s efforts.

Euthanasia and this forthcoming bill provide the thrust of Diane’s storyline and it is so good to see Diane in a strong plot of her own. Last season Diane had to go against her principals to secure Reese Dipple as a client and they even got rid of Alicia at his request because he comes with a lot of prestige and so much money. He is their new ChumHum and once again Diane is put in a difficult position to keep him happy. Dipple doesn’t make an appearance and I’m guessing Oliver Platt wasn’t available. Not to worry as Sandy Cohen himself, Peter Gallagher is here as a very welcome proxy and he puts Diane in charge of an anti-euthanasia case, much to her chagrin.

Diane might not agree with what she is fighting against, but they want her because she knows the case and she knows the opposing counsel. Louis Canning is a formidable foe and yet Diane is more than aware of his sympathy inducing diversion tactics. She can also argue against something she believes in even if she can’t always hide her distaste at the methods and overall objective. It even looks like they have won it until Canning finds the message board smoking gun. It is a mighty fine week when none of the usual victors – Alicia, Eli, Diane – actually succeed in what they set out to achieve as it can get really boring when our guys win every case.

And to close here is another addition to the Diane Lockhart stunning jacquard jacket collection.

Grace also continues her fabulous assistant blouse look.

One final patterned delight from Lucca. Sorry about the smears on the plexiglas.

Fingers crossed Lucca will accept Alicia’s offer and my love affair with her costuming can continue.

Escalation is one strategy used to achieve results on The Good Wife and for several of the characters in this seventh season this has been a key tactic. Eli continues his schemes against Ruth with varying results and over at Lockhart, Agos they are dealing with a disagreement which is impacting relationships with clients. For Alicia and Lucca, their first case officially working together – Lucca answered yes to Alicia’s martini laced question – involves varying extremes of upping the stakes as they go from pursuing a debt collecting agency to a for-profit school.

The Alicia/Lucca partnership is in the fun early stages and they are still figuring things out such as how much they charge an hour. You would think that would be one of the first things to address, but getting cases is the priority. Grace points out the importance of money and while they have not given an explanation as to why she is not at school (when is she meant to graduate?), she is proving useful by reminding her mother that they have bills to pay. The particulars of this case constantly evolve throughout the episode and The Good Wife continues its fun hot streak. Spending a week away from the frantic atmosphere of bond court is much needed, particularly when arbitration is held in such a chilled out setting. The fact that even in season 7 they are finding new ways to present cases is an achievement, even more when all three plot points are threaded together in a cohesive and not too coinkydink fashion.

And speaking of fashion; Lucca continues her reign as the new Good Wife style queen from the teal number with striped cuffs above to injecting a little bit of leather in arbitration.

Leather will always be synonymous with Kalinda, but that hasn’t stopped costume designer Daniel Lawson from using it this season with faux Kalinda investigator sharing this style penchant with her predecessor to Diane’s amazing matching leather skirt and jacket combo. Lucca is all about mixing prints and textures and this is no exception. It also looks like Alicia has been raiding Diane’s wardrobe with this patterned jacket choice.

There is also this fantastic kaleidoscope floral dress and as with their working practices Lucca’s style is far bolder than Alicia’s. Lucca is the one that wants to take things to the next level when they get sued and this is a good thing as sometimes Alicia is in danger of playing it safe. It could cause conflict at a later date, but for now they are a very match for each other and a successful partnership is not about having the same style or opinions on everything. They do have their simpatico moments with shared emphatic objections and there is a fair amount of reading the situation in a similar way.

Lucca isn’t the only one working out in Alicia’s current work situation and Jeffrey Dean Morgan continues to light up the screen with so much grufty sexual magnetism I almost inclined to say “Finn who?” I say almost because I am not going to forget that missed opportunity for a long time. Jason is all kinds of wonderful this week and proves his very low hourly rate just by sitting there wearing glasses. He also tracks down the scam artist and gets Maggie’s money back while also preventing someone else from falling foul of this scheme. All while smoldering and being super casual. There is a darkness to his persuasive tactics, but Alicia has always been a fan of the bad boy.

The episode ends with another unanswered question posed by Alicia and never has “what do you drink?” sounded so much like an invitation in as it does here. Also this dress works so much better without the jacket.

One of their tactics against this for-profit school is to introduce a debt strike and it was Eli and his magically raised plotting eyebrow that suggested this move. Eli has a week of ups and downs with his current employment situation going from outright glee at the media coverage of Peter’s position on unions to despair at Peter’s positive poll numbers. Marissa returns this week (much to my delight) and she is concerned about her father’s spiraling. Eli’s motivations aren’t exactly covert and she knows he is trying to get back at Peter; to counter she has found him an amazing job opportunity to get him out of this mess. All Marissa needs is some cereal and for Alicia to make it look like she is firing him.

Alicia does her part and is very convincing when she dismisses him pointing out that she knows he is using her. This doesn’t have the desired effect and when Eli later tells her he isn’t going anywhere she doesn’t fight him because she knows there is no changing his mind. The debt strike tactic pits Alicia against Peter’s current union position and Ruth is furious at him for how much this is messing with her campaign. At the moment this Ruth versus Eli story is going gangbusters, but there is a danger that it could become quite repetitive and I am proceeding with caution.

The link between all three plots this week is the food service union boss, Ronnie Erickson and this is where the Cary/Howard battle hits breaking point. Howard has informed Erickson of Cary’s temporary home last year and causes major embarrassment for Cary when it becomes clear that they think he is some kind of criminal. Diane has had enough and to stop a lawsuit (because Howard is in a protected class) she hosts a mediation to air grievances and work through them. This has varying results and it turns out that their jokes about Howard’s age have set the tone for other employees. Howard shows the types of products which have been left in his office such as adult diapers and a bib; this is work place bullying and it puts Howard in an entirely sympathetic position. Yes jokes are made about everyone, but they shouldn’t breed this kind of degrading behavior.

Cary does raise the question of whether Howard planted those products himself and while we can’t be a hundred percent certain of their veracity, I am inclined to believe that Howard is telling the truth on this occasion as he appears to be genuinely hurt. This results in sensitivity training giving us this wonderful moment, which Howard definitely milks for sympathy.

Diane still looks great even with cotton wool up her nose.

This earlier outfit and her ‘come the fuck on’ face are also aces.

There is a lot of legal chicken this week and not a whole lot of backing down. Eli is still intent on his current mission, but the Lockhart, Agos dispute looks like it might be sorted (for now). Alicia and Lucca have proved themselves to be a formidable team and I am looking forward to seeing who they will take on next.

The Good Wife goes all in this week with Peter’s campaign, a case that brings the NSA back into Alicia’s life – and some familiar faces – and an interesting discussion on diversity over at Lockhart, Agos and Lee. Eli’s schemes go full steam ahead until he realizes that his smoking gun will have a devastating impact on not just Peter, but Alicia too and Alicia gets in her own way when it comes to Jason Crouse. Like I said there is a lot going on in “Lies” and this forward momentum is what this season needs. Every week has been a case of “that was fun” and this is a vast improvement on last year, but we were nearing the point where it seemed unclear if it could be something more than that.

For all of the problems that followed the incredible strong season 5 one thing The Good Wife has is a very deep well of storylines and talent to pull from. There is still the matter of the election rigging which gave Peter the governorship that died along with Will (*sob*) and Alicia’s own voting scandal is very much at the forefront of Eli’s plot to ruin Ruth. This week also sees the return of the NSA dudes who are as much into the tangled love life of Alicia Florrick as we are (even if they can’t remember Will’s name) and never did I think I would laugh this much at goat videos.

It isn’t just that they have the best and longest guest star list on any TV show at the moment (maybe ever) or that their ability to rip from the headlines is incredibly strong (okay there was that one blip), but that they can weave the two together so seamlessly. The world the Kings have created is so rich and layered, which makes watching it such a pleasure.* Especially when the plot moves forward like this.

*Okay sometimes they drop plot points and characters in ways that are frustrating and you know what I’m going to yell, right?! WHERE DID ROBYN GO? 

Let’s start with Alicia and Lucca; the case of the week is a gift from Canning and involves a tech firm – Running Milk – a wrongful termination and the NSA. Polygraphs are at the center of the firing and for all of Jason Crouse’s how to mess with a polygraph techniques (he did not opt for The Americans squeeze your anus Oleg advice) they come up short as the new test is being administered by a computer. It is impossible to use Jason’s inconclusive tactics with something automated as doubt is all about the emotional (as we will see with Eli later on).

There are a lot of small victories, followed immediately by hitting another brick wall and it is a tricky case because of the NSA involvement and what can and can’t be said in court. Also who can and can’t appear in court with Zach Woods making a return as Jeff Dellinger or the “poor man’s Edward Snowden.” Dellinger is living what he thinks is the covert and high life in Iceland, but he doesn’t realize the NSA are still listening in even with his list of precautions. Alicia under a blanket making this initial burner phone call did make me laugh a bunch.

This gets them back on the Alicia Florrick phone tap and thanks to her innocuous use of the name Edward Snowden, this means they can listen into her conversations again. Hitting the big time now that Peter has thrown his hat fully into the presidential race. 

Alicia has some other work concerns and when the question of insurance comes up she reveals her Jason related worries to Lucca regarding the judge punching incident. What this amounts to is classic self sabotaging Alicia; this is the woman who in part started her own firm as a way to cure her dizzying and mind clouding Will Gardner feelings. There is an obvious spark between Alicia and Jason and this could get complicated for a number of reasons such as her husband is running for president, they work together and well he might be unhinged. But right now all I want is for Alicia Florrick to get laid as it has been far too long. No I am not counting Johnny from last year and yes I am still mad about Finn. Just look at his mugshot. Even that is oozing so much grufty rugged charisma.

Bad timing is what came between Alicia and Will, but really this is the excuse Alicia could use with any prospective beau. And Peter is the obstacle causing this. Now he is running for president and suddenly Alicia is potentially locked in for even more bad timing with anyone who might come her way. Switching out a goblet of wine for homemade no frills margaritas is meant to be a sign of Alicia’s reliance in booze, a warning sign of her impending despair if you will, but hitting the strong stuff makes sense when you factor in what the campaign trail now means for her.

This is a loss of freedom and privacy, which she has been trying to claw back since the pilot because the media is definitely going to bring up every single scandal they have been involved in. They may want to conjure up images of the Obamas, but they are far more Kennedy no matter how many matching outfits they wear.

Eli’s got a big decision to make and he’s got everything in place to humiliate Ruth and Peter. The problem with his Frank Landau plan is Alicia will get caught right in the middle and he clearly cares about her well being. Alicia knows he has something cooking so if this rigging scandal does come to light she will know he is the source. When Eli is watching the press conference he leans in and catches a glimmer of Alicia’s true feelings through her ‘good wife’ super smiles up on that podium. Yes she is baking in the outdoor attire while inside a sweltering gym, but that look is one of sadness that she is going through this public spectacle for Peter. Is this enough of a sign for Eli to go all steam ahead with this plot or did he misread this brief look?

Meanwhile over at Lockhart, Agos and Lee they have new summer interns to consider and the messy work politics takes a new direction this week. Work place diversity is on the docket and Cary wants to hire three dudes who look like him. He is not thrilled when Diane mentions this similarity to which Diane passionately rebukes him with “A lot of things that aren’t fair are true.” David Lee is all about getting the best and by best he means those who have been to Ivy League schools and Diane wants to mix things up and hire Monica. Monica doesn’t meet Cary and David Lee’s criteria and the discussion turns to diversity. Diane wants to challenge the usual hiring process and while Howard is Team Monica he doesn’t actually get a say because he isn’t a named partner. Ultimately Diane can’t get the guys to compromise and so Monica gets a friendly and patronizing ‘thanks, but no thanks.’

While Diane did fight for Monica, she doesn’t come across in an entirely positive light as she also talks to Monica in a way that would suggest that because she is black and from Baltimore she must have grown up in a bad neighborhood. The struggles that Diane and the others place on her are a stereotype and Monica is not here for Diane’s ‘understanding or advice’ and what she needs is a job. Diane loves to play the mentor and we have seen this time and time again using her experiences and placing it onto someone else. Sometimes this works, but in this situation it smacks of condescension. It is unnecessary for Diane to call Monica in to give her the kiss off, but this is Diane’s way of showing that she is the good guy here and alleviating her guilt. Monica sees through this bleeding heart routine and while Diane clearly means well the way she has gone about it is misguided.

In terms of Diane’s costuming her signature chain necklaces tell their own story:

Going for small and not so intimidating for the interviews and initial candidate discussion. Plus a huge chain link necklace would be too much with this amazing patterned jacket.

Pulling out the big guns when she goes to bat for Monica. This is the ultimate statement even if it doesn’t work.

And finally this is halfway between; it’s not so big that it clashes with her jacket, but it is also more of statement piece than the first one.

While I’m on the subject of costuming here are Lucca’s best looks this week.

Best look also extends to facial expressions and Cush Jumbo gave great awkward face in this scene followed by a hilarious exit.

This jacket is also a fabulous addition to her already amazing costume roll call. They’ve established what a good dresser and smart lawyer Lucca is and now I really want to learn more about who Lucca is; we need some backstory please.

The pieces are moving and the conflict is building; I think it is more than fine to declare that this isn’t just a fun hot streak, but The Good Wife is hitting those pre-season 6 levels.

Alicia Florrick has got her groove back and her DGAF attitude is aided by how well she knows the political game. The line between public and private life was shattered long ago when she stood behind Peter during THAT press conference and everything since has been a navigation of this moment. Now Peter is running for president there is a renewed and deeper level of scrutiny of their relationship including their living arrangement – thanks Vice – but there are ways of pretending. In the past Alicia would have been frustrated by this turn of events; now she is the embodiment of a shoulder shrug even though her apartment has been taken over by Peter’s campaign.

Her home life isn’t the only thing being invaded by faces from the past and the case of the week sees a return to Lockhart, Agos (and Lee). Louis Canning is the opposing council and he is the one who sent the client to Alicia making this a threeway of sorts with a whole lot of history. Alicia doesn’t let this fluster her and it isn’t like the time she returned to the office after her last split from the firm (cue memories of Will and all the sadness). There are no bad feelings on Alicia’s end even if Diane recently visited her apartment and accused her of sabotage. In fact Alicia has fun with this case and doesn’t go easy on either side much to the chagrin/amusement of the opposing counsel.

It is Lucca Quinn’s first trip to Alicia’s old stomping ground and she envisions Alicia as the “Queen Bee Bitch” and rather than taking offense to this, Alicia laughs at this notion remarking that she is a “much calmer person now.” I’m not sure I would call Alicia a “Queen Bee Bitch” and to borrow a phrase from Donna on Parks and Recreation she is more often a Boss Bitch over a Bitch Boss.

The look on Cary and Diane’s face when Alicia walks into the deposition is priceless; almost as spectacular as Diane’s colorful jacket and gold necklace combo.

What they are up against is a confident Alicia and part of this comes from a renewed sense of control now she is her own boss once again. Yes she is getting clients courtesy of Louis Canning, but she isn’t letting this sway how she proceeds with a case and she goes just as hard against Canning as she ever has. These are no longer the things that fluster her and she’s over caring about her old firm. In a way I do wish there had been some interactions between Alicia and Diane/Cary outside of the deposition because I am always here for those and yet it was probably more effective having her come in and leave in a purely professional capacity.

There is an edginess to her costuming this week and I appreciate that she was already in the leather accented ensemble before she got the case. She didn’t just pick this because she was returning to her old workplace and it also works incredibly well for all the eye rolls and exasperated facial expressions at Eli’s campaign calls.

You know what it also works for? Homemade margarita infused contract signings. The Alicia/Jason relationship edges toward something more and Alicia’s desire to talk is clearly a desire to do something else. And I’m not just talking tacos (her reaction to them being in date was almost as good as her uncontrollable laughter when Jackie announces her engagement to Howard). Alicia loses the jacket and the leather sheath Narciso Rodriguez dress is the perfect seduction outfit.

This is classic Alicia when it comes to a guy that isn’t Peter as she tiptoes around the inevitable. We saw it on many occasions with Will where things almost happened and even if they did she had a habit of finding a reason to stop (okay still being married is a good reason I guess). She didn’t even go beyond a chaste hand touching moment with Finn and there was plenty of opportunity for that to move from flirty drinks to more. Johnny happened but that was a snoozer. And now we have Jason.

This week the cockblock comes courtesy of Vice and their comments about Alicia and Peter’s living situation. Cue an extended stay from Peter and a taco party interruption. Alicia’s DGAF attitude extends to this arrangement and after a particularly good cross she propositions her husband. Peter is also feeling pretty fucking great as he’s just secured a $1 million donation and this is an ideal time for no strings sex. When Alicia and Peter have hooked up in the past it has sometimes been in reaction to outward influences such as parents or Alicia denying her Will feelings; this time it is simply a case of feeling horny and Peter is the uncomplicated choice. There’s no awkward fumbling and they pretty much get down to it in a very matter of fact way. It is notable that it happens in the spare room and not Alicia’s bed further adding to this not caring attitude. If it was in her bed it would mean something.

Alicia also wields her power by getting Peter to not pick up his phone. Yes there might be another $1 million donation on the other end, but a moment like this is fleeting. Post hook up it is pretty chill even with Eli banging on the door and she points out that she was the one who initiated it saying that it is always sexier not to care and that sex is sexier without love. I’m not sure Alicia actually believes the latter because Will, but I think she wants to believe and does so in this moment. She is very good at protecting her heart. And also this reaction to Eli’s judgmental face is my favorite.

Later on when Eli tries to get a rise out of her she tells him that the old Alicia would have been bothered, but not now as the “new me just doesn’t care.” Control plays an important role in this change of attitude; “Bad things happen or they don’t. But there’s just too much craziness in the world.” This also goes back to what happened to Will and his presence is still subtly felt two years later. Eli is the one who worries too much and it is maybe time for him to take a page from the Alicia Florrick way of thinking. It also looks like Eli is taking a break from Operation Destroy Ruth (and Peter) as he has his wooing cap on for Vanessa Williams’ Courtney Page. Another excellent guest star to add to the already long list of excellent Good Wife guest stars.

It isn’t all smooth sailing for Alicia this week and Frank Landau continues to be the angry controlling thorn in her side. He’s all blustery faced threats and the challenge is to find a way to nail him to the wall without implicating anyone else. Inner conflict turns outward with this graphic print jacket from Lafayette 148.

There’s no easy fix to this and I wonder if our friends at the NSA will prove useful when it comes to sorting the Frank problem out. For now Alicia finds herself in a difficult position and it is one area where her level of control is severely reduced and her ability to not care isn’t going to work here.

In the battle of Diane Lockhart versus Diane Lockhart there are no winners and it is becoming increasingly clear that one very rich client may end up being detrimental to the rest of their business. Actually there was one person who did rather well out of this fight as Grace scooped up all of the clients who are unhappy with Diane’s role as Reese Dipple’s mouthpiece. It doesn’t matter how many times she mentions this is First Amendment case when the subject matter is one dealing with choice. Why does Diane go so hard line on it?

Part of this is down to being presented with a quote that came from her own speech to EMILY’s List and there is a certain amount of trying to keep bias out of the courtroom. But I also have to wonder if this is all there is to Diane’s motives and even though this video is against everything she believes in why does she take it as far as she does? Dipple is their most valuable client financially and he has already impacted the firm by laying down stipulations to stop Alicia from returning last season.

So there is this element of Diane bending to accommodate because of how much Dipple is worth. And because it is a First Amendment debate Diane can at least pretend she is arguing for something she does believe in. My main concern with this case and the Dipple relationship (which is being conducted through the always amazing Peter Gallagher) is how much it compromises Diane and what it looks like it might be setting up in the long run; a Diane versus Alicia showdown.

Don’t get me wrong I am thrilled to see Diane getting a story of her own – now can we find one for Cary please? – but I worry that it will result in more animosity between Alicia and Diane. Take last season when Alicia’s campaign got in the way of her job and she had what still feels like a very manufactured fight with her then partners followed by the blow up over the supposed Howard related sabotage. The latter was a misunderstanding and while Alicia and Diane have never been the besties I long for them to be (Alicia’s lack of friends is something I worry about more than I probably should) there has always been a strong level of respect. So it is a concern that the pieces are aligning to put them in conflict especially now Alicia potentially has four of Diane’s clients and the little matter of Jason moonlighting for Lockhart, Agos.

Ah yes this is something Jason hasn’t disclosed and the surprised look on Alicia’s face when she heard Diane in the background during a Jason phone call is also steeped in displeasure; I don’t think Alicia wants to share.

When Diane utters “well that was easy” we know it is probably going to be the opposite and the resolution is pretty much Diane pulling a catch 22 and excusing herself from the case. Cary gives her kudos for this conclusion, but I’m not entirely sure what the overall point was other than to show that Diane is good at arguing against something she believes in and to create a rift with some of her clients.

Diane dresses for battle in the way we know and love from one her phoenix like pins to the double chain necklace of glory. Also delivering on the “Who the fuck are you face?”

There is a certain element of feeling slightly unmoored this season and despite this being a creative leap from last season’s messy endeavor it still lacks direction. Every week has been fun and it definitely more enjoyable watching Alicia and her startup than Alicia and her SA campaign, but we are reaching the point of the year where the wheels needs to be doing more than spinning. Especially as this could be the last season (there has been no official announcement but all signs point to this could be the final outing).

In the Florrick, Quinn (not Florrick, Agos) the firm continues to explore their options in making this venture a success with varying results. Quinn meets with Canning in a move to find some clients to poach and this fails spectacularly; they are a formidable team in the courtroom, less so in a boardroom. Maybe talk to each other before these pitches. Meanwhile Grace solidifies her position beyond her mother’s lackey (what about school?) as she uses the many computers in their apartment to create what sounds like a busy office and ends up doing rather well out of Diane’s case. Part of this is luck and good timing, but Grace can’t just be dismissed as she does a much better job than her mom and Lucca.

Grace gets points for pattern clashing delights and then some get subtracted for that awful ‘famous’ cushion on her bed. She earns those points back for telling her mother how much she now owes her after scoring these new clients.

It also looks like Lucca has been taking jewelry tips off Diane and this necklace is like a less intimidating version of the chain link statement pieces Diane favors.

One place where motives take center stage is between Eli and Courtney Page. Eli has a crush and his eavesdropping is no longer about revenge. His desire to get Courtney to change her mind about how/what she pays her employees does relate to the campaign, but really it is an excuse to spend more time with her and seeing a vulnerable Eli always makes for a fun and rare change.

I’m not entirely sure what the purpose is of this courtship or where this storyline is headed and yet I’m thoroughly enjoying the change of pace; aka the perfect way to describe this season.