The Good Wife..."Hitting the Fan"

[shadowkat]

The Good Wife this season is kicking butt - it's sooo good. This episode, one twist after another, and hilarious in places. A perfect satirical take on politics on various levels.
Also a realistic one - folks, lawyers and law firms are really like that. There's a great non-fiction novel entitled The Partners that shows some of it. I certainly saw games like that played in law school.

Now, I really, really want Michael J Fox to pop up.

One of the best hours of television that I've seen this year.



Peter's actions, subtly in support of his wife, are interesting. And it's hard to feel sympathetic towards Will and Diane, mainly because they used Alicia to get Peter's favor and Alicia's position as wife to the DA and the Governor's Wife to their own advantage. Alicia got the job over Cary because of Peter. So ...that old adage what goes around, comes around...

Will and Diane's power politics come to bite them in the ass. Peter warns Will that he does not want him as his enemy. But Will ignores him.

Diane niavely asks Eli if her actions or Will's towards Alicia will adversely affect her chances to become a Supreme Court Justice. Of course they will. It's ironic. The interview she gave two episodes was unnecessary - Peter got her a pass. But her support of Will and attack on Alicia...does result in Peter considering other candidates. It turns out it wasn't the Chief Justice she needed to worry about, but Peter Florick and by association Alicia.
The fact that Diane has played similar games in the past...well, has a nice karmic feel to it. (Don't get me wrong I love Diane.) That said, it makes sense that Diane would fight for her former firm and for Will. I just hope they'll let her back in when the judgeship falls through.

There's so much in this episode to unpack. The writers do a marvelous job of showing everyone's motivations and points of view. There really are no good guys or bad guys here.

My only quibble? Is can the 4th year associates be any more annoying? But I get their complaints - they are the worker bees, they do all the work.

This season is turning out to be one of the best to date. And it works, it tracks to the beginning, not only that it makes all the seasons before crunchier and even more ironic.
Almost want to buy them and do a re-watch. But can't afford it - time-wise or financially at the moment.

Comments

[atpo-onm.livejournal.com]

You know, I watch an ep like this, and what keep coming to mind is that scene at the end of BtVS S7, episode 1, where the First Evil cycles through the forms of the various big bads of the previous seasons, ending up in the form of Buffy, while reciting probably the most accurate evaluation of human relations in the world in a mere three short sentences.

Namely--

"It's not about right or wrong."

"It's not about good and evil."

"It's about power."

And why do I get the feeling that Peter's admittedly clever move to save Alicia's fledgling law firm is going to have all sorts of unintended consequences?

Oh, and I loved the difference in reactions between Diane and Will in this, and the way each handled the fallout. Rather revealing.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

It is rather interesting that Peter, David Lee and Will react emotionally to what happens, while Alicia, Kalinda and Diane react logically. Very nice subversion of gender stereotypes.

And both Will and Peter make huge mistakes in their emotional reactions.

*Diane tells Will to document everything. But Will blatantly ignores her and confronts Alicia, throwing everything off her desk, and then attempting to boot her out. He also confiscates her personal phone, which results in a confrontation with Peter.

* Alicia is smarter, she doesn't say anything that could get her into trouble, tells Robin she can't tell her what to do. And doesn't start playing hardball until she's been fired and escorted out of the firm.

Lockhardt/Gardner handled it wrong. Will should have gone directly to the Board, called the full board, explained what Diane said, got Alicia booted by security. Confronting Alicia and in front of everyone was a huge mistake and will come back and bite him.

Diane handled it correctly, but unfortunately she miscalculated with Will - thinking he'd handle it calmly and logically like she did.

Peter's clever move regarding the taxation could have consequences demonstrating wishy-washy or lack of ethics. But, it's relatively minor and just an opinion - he hasn't acted on it. IT's a veiled threat and they do that all the time in politics. No, the yanking of the judgeship from Diane is a bigger deal - although he probably shouldn't have offered it to Diane in the first place, due to her association with Alicia. Remember the episode in which the Melissa George character (his former head of Ethics) told him not to pick the person he had because that guy was a friend or had connections to the Governor, and it was better to pick someone who was a rival or not a friend or associated with him on a personal basis? The fact he picks her (when Alicia's with her firm) then decides to dismiss her (after Alicia is summarily fired) is highly suspect.

It really is about power - how people handle it, use it, and seek it.