"This was Never Meant Personally"-The Good Wife 5X05

If there was an award for most apt title, "Hitting the Fan" would win in a landslide. Because shit. hit. the. fan.

The writers and creators have been building to this moment for awhile. No, not just from last season, but from the beginning of the show really. They took these characters and showed us their reasons and motivations for just about anything, allowing the viewer to understand and sympathize with them at different points. With this episode, they stuffed each character in their own cannons and just started shooting them at each other. And it is damn entertaining.

The episode starts off with more of the conversation between Will and the publicist than we heard last week, where they are ironically discussing how stable the firm is. Diane comes in, and the firm falls apart. Will unleashes rage onto Alicia, trapping her in her office and getting the other partners together to fire her. Then, they go about firing everyone else. Diane traps Cary and he angrily gives up important info, like they're going after ChumHum, to her before she fires him. Again. David Lee gleefully walks from office to office firing every fourth-year in site. Alicia is removed from the building. Everyone has been kicked out of L&G, so they set up shop in the coffee place downstairs.

Alicia cries, you cry. That's how this show works right?

They scramble to figure out what clients are coming with them because they desperately need money and have no files. Then there's that dude who remarks that they didn't get their bonuses. Can we fire that guy? Like now? Kalinda comes down to offer her services and Cary, once again, gives too much away. This will end well. Alicia decides to distract Will with actual work, which no one is doing at the moment, so he has to go work a deposition about a nurse that was fired for being too pretty. I kind of love that they are doing a ripped-from-the-headline thing without actually going into a case? It's like their mocking people that criticize the show for its on-pointness. Will also has Alicia's phone, which makes for some interesting conversation when Grace and Peter call. Grace just needs a permission slip, and Peter just yells at him. Dude, you haven't even spoken to your wife. Please stop threatening on behalf of her, and if you haven't noticed, she can take care of herself. 

Alicia's client calls her because she doesn't think Will is handling the case right. Will take the phone and argues with Alicia, resulting in the most hilarious conversation of the night:

Alicia: OH, GO TO HELL!
Will: NO, YOU GO!...Oh, you're daughter called. She needs you to call her school to let her go on a field trip
Alicia: Oh, when was this?
Will: About forty minutes ago
Alicia: Oh, okay. Thanks
Will: You're welcome.

Because really, The Good Wife is a comedy.

Alicia "Sassmaster" Florrick

If I wasn't convinced that Breaking Bad is going to sweep at the Emmy's next year, I would say Josh Charles has a shot (and maybe the show as a whole) for next year. Because this may be his best episode yet.

Kalinda also reveals her true intentions, leaking information about F,A&A for Will to use. She gives up where their offices are, which David Lee promptly shuts down. 

The tensions escalate as Alicia and the the other try to wrangle clients. L&G serves them a restraining order to stop them from going after ChumHum, so after a snarky court session causes Alicia to get a restraining order against L&G. How fun. F,A&A sets up camp in Alicia's house, and then Carey wierdly hits on Grace while Grace pours him wine. What?

All of the awkward

Then Peter comes over, mainly to check up on Alicia, but also for some gross sexytimes.

The way that this show uses sex-specifically with Alicia and Peter-is really fascinating. The show is very specific in showing us when and why the two of them have sex as their relationship become increasingly complicated. For Alicia, she initiates sex with Peter in order to reaffirm her status as "The Good Wife". I talk a bit about it here, but her choice of Peter is reactionary. In the first season, she feels guilty about her feelings for Will, so she has sex with Peter. Last season, her mother said that Alicia should choose Will. To choose Will means being her mother, means being not "The Good Wife", so she pulls Peter into the bathroom. Peter is there to reassure her that she is not a bad person. Peter, on the other hand, fetishizes his wife's power. One of the reasons I love Will so much is that he truly respects Alicia, even if she's not with him. Peter, on the other hand, seems to respect Alicia because she's his wife.

 In this article, they discuss that Alicia and Will have a clear mutual, professional respect for each other even though they may be at odds personally. In scenes where Peter initiates sex, it is often done after Alicia shows some enormous amount of power. In season 2, it was after watching her kick ass in court (and was questionable in the consent department). Now? He's watching her kick ass in starting a new firm. He doesn't routinely see Alicia's BAMF-ness as much as we or Will does, but whenever he does he has sex with her.

The hilarious part of this whole scene is how much emphasis everyone puts on their relationship. Florrick, Agos and Associates does play up that they have the governor's wife as a partner, but Lockhart and Gardner put an even larger emphasis upon it. But in this episode, Alicia is fired, goes to court, gets a restraining order, and has half a dozen meetings with her new firm in various places without ever telling her husband. Then, when he shows up, her response? "Oh good, you've heard!". Then she has sex with him and nonchalantly says they can't renew their vows, and goes back to kicking ass. This is the relationship everyone puts so much emphasis on?!

Implications and, let's be honest about this scene, grossness aside, that was definitely the most creative "Lean In" reference I've ever heard.

Cheers!

F,A&A and L&G go head to head to fight for ChumHum. Originally, L&G win, but with some meddling by Peter ChumHum decides F,A&A is in their best interests. So much for Peter running the most ethical governorship ever (because I really thought that was going to work out *sarcasm*). Then Peter decides Diane should not get the judgeship because of this whole Alicia business. Peter, if you actually talked to your wife, you would know that Diane tried to take herself out of it. She didn't want any part of it because of the judgeship. You really just did a 180 on the whole ethical thing in the matter of days. That must be a new record.

Sundays were always my favorite night for this show, but it really became my favorite night after this episode. This season is shaping up to be magnificent, and I am so excited to see the rest. 

Now please excuse me, I'm going to go convince everyone I have ever met to watch this show.

What are You Watching?

What I'm watching (bold is non-network, italicized is midseason):

Sunday: The Good Wife, Revenge, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Homeland
Monday: Castle, HIMYM, Sleepy Hollow, Lost Girl
Tuesday: S.H.I.E.L.D., Pretty Little Liars, Ravenswood
Wednesday: Modern Family, Nashville, Suburgatory
Thursday: Parks and Recreation, Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, Parenthood, Elementary, Community 
Friday: Haven

There are a few midseason shows I'm considering: Crisis and Us & Them, but I'm not sold yet.

What I'm for sure NOT reviewing:
HIMYM, Castle, Modern Family, Suburgtory

I will be reviewing Downton but with the American schedule, not the British schedule that is currently airing. I won't spoil anyone here, but my Tumblr might.

This may change because no one decided to consult my emotional health when creating that Thursday schedule. Or maybe I'll switch to live-blogging for some. Thoughts?

If you see I'm missing something you dearly love to watch, head over to my friend Emily's blog here!

What are you looking forward to? Not looking forward to? Are you willing to help my Thursday night wine/tissue fund? Answer in the comments!

"I'm in"-The Good Wife 4x22

Oh Zack. I know you're trying to be a good kid, but why do you always find yourself in these situations? The Good Wife puts up another quirky case with court in the middle of the night to stop the votes from being counted. And what do they add to make it more awesome? Patty Nyholm. And her children.

She's back! With babies!

Seriously, the best exchange of the night was:
Will: Is that one new?
Patty: I don't know, I've lost track.

This case was something that could only happen on The Good Wife. It was so entertaining to watch Alicia, Diane, and Will have to switch sides mid-case AND join with opposing council. It's another example of what I talked about last week, where e show is more concerned with how the law works rather than if it is just.

Go home George

I really hope they bring the election cheating back next season. Peter may try to claim innocence, but leaving the decision up to Will was a jerk move. You don't get to be a good person if you let election rigging happen. Will clearly made the decision for Alicia's happiness, so he gets a little reprieve in my book. I feel like if Alicia finds out about e rigging, her relationship with both Peter and Will could be damages. But, I think her relationship with Will is fixable because he did not already lie and cheat on Alicia with prostitutes. And Kalinda. Peter's out of chances.

"My mother just threatened me?"

What did you all think outcome? In particular, there was a comment about how many votes Peter won by. I interpreted it as the place Zack voted at to be not the only place that the votes were changed, and that's why Peter won by more than he thought he would. However, I have heard other ideas that he never needed them in the first place and the rigging was for nothing. Thoughts? Post below in the comments!

Serious Alicia is serious.

I completely bought it. I watched this episode with my friend Emily (who has an awesome blog at loudemily.blogspot.com) and we thought Will was going to be on the other side of that door. We were literally jumping off the couch with excitement. But The Good Wife sucker punched us with Cary's face and Alicia's "I'm in". The last sequence of this episode was done so beautifully. Alicia comes home and has a glass of wine, does some laundry and waits. By pairing the daily events of her life with a HUGE life decision emphasizes the importance of this decision and Alicia's constant choice to remain a good wife. Or at least her version of it. Many people have been complaining (Tumblr, I'm looking at you) that Alicia made a cowardly choice or no choice at all by not leaving Peter. Now, I would like her to leave Peter as well. But I understand why she doesn't. Beyond him being the father of her kids, he represents something to Alicia. This season they introduced her mother, a woman that moves from man to man. Alicia doesn't want to be her mother. It has been previously mentioned that she didn't like that her parent got divorced. And then in this season her mother tells her that she should go after Will, and Alicia immediately pulls Peter into the bathroom for sex. I don't think she really wants to be with Peter, but Peter represents how Alicia can avoid her mother's failings. We have seen Alicia battle between what was expected of her and what she wants. In a flashback to their pre-cheating life, their relationship is almost stepfordish. There is a historical notion that women are supposed to be the keepers of virtue, expecting to forgive their husband's transgressions and make none of their own. Alicia still feels the pressure of the 50's notion of womanhood that she thinks she's supposed to conform to, and that means choosing Peter also means that her previous relationship with Will is a transgression to be forgotten and moved away from, hence the Cary choice. The Kings noted that even though Alicia is trying to distance herself from Will, who says that will work out? I'm interested to see how all this plays out, and I am counting down the days until the next season. Add your predictions and hopes for next season in the comments!

Princeton, Not Prison: The Good Wife's Take on Rape Culture

**Trigger Warning: Rape**

The Good Wife usually does it's ripped-from-the-headlines episodes, and this was no exception. Except, it's ridiculously timely. The actual references are Bitcoin, "women can't get pregnant from rape", Aaron Swartz, the recent rape cases such as Stubenville, as well as Anonymous. But Anonymous made headlines last week with the Parson's rape case (which you can learn more about here and here) in a similar fashion to this case. But this only happened a week ago and could not have been the reason The Good Wife included this storyline.  They are just so on the nose that coincidences like this happen, especially when it comes to news and events that involve technology. Unfortunately, The Good Wife gets criticized for how topical it is (an example is here)  I think this an unfair assessment  because the show uses popular media brilliantly and is not appropriating the storyline because they can, but rather they are making a statement on these events. . In the world of the 24-hour-news cycle, which has majorly screwed up recently (see: The Boston Marathon), The Good Wife shows us intricacies of these cases that are not just focused on "who?". This is not something the show should be criticized for, but celebrated. This episode really highlighted the writer's way of taking complicated, real-life situations, and making them into a great (feminist) episode of television.

But before I get into the major themes, I wanted to point out a tiny portion of the episode. A small detail that I liked is that the police officer asked if she said yes to sex, not if she said no. The difference between 'yes' and 'not saying no' is incredibly important when it comes to rape and that is something lost on the media. We often hear 'no means no' but really, it should be 'only yes means yes'.

The lawyers on The Good Wife generally win their cases. This was pointed out to me by my mother, and I realized that I hadn't paid attention to the firm's win-loss record. Although the verdict is important, The Good Wife is not about whether the client is guilty or innocent or if they got the justice they deserved. Every once and awhile, sure, the show chooses to focus on a client winning who deserves to win. But most of the time? We don't know. Take Lamond Bishop or Colin Sweeney for example. They are complicated characters who bring complicated cases to the firm and the writer allow us to decide if they are guilty or not. This perception is filtered through the lawyer who represents them, and it usually is Alicia. This means that we see the good side of people, even if they aren't, because that's who Alicia is. The important part is that the writers let us decide rather than try to one-up the viewer by having an innocent-looking client be guilty. In last weeks episode the focus was on whether or not Sweeney committed a crime, and we were shown fairly conclusively that he didn't. This week, the focus changed from if it happened to how it was covered up. The show does this wonderfully by telling us that the question was not if the client was raped. The first scene of the entire show sends the message: this was rape.  The show did not delve into a "maybe she was lying" portion. He did it. He got away with it. And now he needs to pay. This is such a refreshing change of pace from shows that either use rape as a story device or treat possible rape victims like they might be asking for it. The Good Wife is showing us what rape culture looks like in the legal system.

First Shot.

The show opens with Rainey being held in contempt for tweeting about what the perpetrator did to her. Then, evidence was thrown out on technicalities, even though it showed that the perpetrator was guilty and most of the evidence relied on technology. It modernized it (I mean, the title of the episode had 'modern' in it), by showing how technology plays a part in rape. We can see this in the Stubenville rape, as pictures played heavily in convicting the two boys. .(Sidenote: Because this episode relied so heavily on technology, here's a fantastic article by Emily Bussbaum at The New Yorker about how important the relationship between technology and "The Good Wife" really is.)

In that case, even though there is photographic evidence showing exactly what happened to the victim, people still believe them to be innocent. And that is a major part of rape culture. The episode illustrated it with the video discussing the perpetrator wanting to shove things into the victim's vagina. Yes, how Anonymous gave the information to the firm was questionable, but it was evidence of what had happened. At the end, we feel like we won, as we watch Alicia (longingly) watch Will hug Rainey in a slightly hopeful ending to this case as she is no longer held in contempt.. I hope The Good Wife takes this case us again in the future, because we still do not have a conclusion to this case. Even if we don't, The Good Wife has provided us with an analysis of rape culture in the legal system that needs to change.

Idealism vs. Realism-The Good Wife 4X20

I thought that the case in this episode was extremely timely and important, and will have a whole post dedicated to it. This portion is about the rest of the episode.

Diane/Will

Diane continues to be vetted for the Supreme Court position, and the investigator starts meeting with her. My favorite parts:

1. The concern over her business proceedings over her romantic life
2.  The confusion over the word 'partner'. I love that it was interpreted to mean romantic, not business. 
3. Kalinda's surprised face. It takes a lot to surprise her.

Surprise!

I'm glad that Diane defended Will. Even though on the outside he looks like a bad guy, we as the viewer know that he is generally a decent guy. The difference between Will and Peter is that Will doesn't pretend to be a fantastic person, whereas Peter thinks himself to be great. It does mean that Diane may not be on the Supreme Court, but I don't think the show is willing to give up Diane and she can't be a large part of the show and on the Supreme Court.

Cary/Kalinda/Staff

What are you up to?

I'm not sure if this new firm thing is going to hold out. I think Cary will be made partner at Lockhart Gardner instead to appease the 4th year uprising. They did it once, they could do it again. And I'm not sure Robyn os going to stay, I think she'll stay if the new firm is created because Kalinda would follow Cary.

The Good Wife 4X19- The Good Wife is Actually a Comedy

 That is the only way to explain a show that treats Vampire Diaries fanfiction, a father's political scandal and a birther love interest with the same amount of concern. The scene in which Kalinda reads the fanfiction aloud is so good because it treats it so seriously. Other shows would jokingly reference fanfiction, but the Good Wife sees it as a serious matter. And we get this exchange:

Kalinda: Elena and Damon have sex in the end in a pickup truck

Diane: I'm happy for them.

This is literally her reaction. I. Love. This. Show

Said with a completely straight face. There's never going to be another show like The Good Wife, is there?

The Case
Sweeney is always a joy to have back on the show. I mean 'joy' in that he creates interesting storylines, not that he has a refreshing personality. Mostly, he's just creepy. Case in point: telling Will that it's okay Will helps out on his only if Will tells him details about sleeping with Laura. Another case in point? His girlfriend/fiance.

Alicia: You know she's going to cheat you.

Sweeney: I know. It's okay, I'll just kill her.

Will my husband kill me? You married Sweeney, so probably.

I love Morena Baccarin in this role. I loved her in Firefly and love her in Homeland currently, but it's nice to see her play a slightly more evil role. I mean, she was good in V, but it wasn't good enough of a show for me to keep watching. I hope her and Dylan Baker can resume these roles sometimes in the future, because they pull them off so well.

Laura, Will and Alicia

Other than being harassed by Sweeney's girlfriend and picking out new fabric for her couch in her HUGE office, Alicia had very little to do in this episode. Except the scene where she has to tell Laura she and Will had a thing. The fact that this show isn't dragging out the whole "Alicia-slept-with-Will-but-is-giving-Laura-advice-about-dating-Will" thing shows how highly the show thinks of it's viewers. To go into that would be a tired storyline, and I'm glad the show avoided it. I'm also glad they didn't add to the current love triangle and had Laura break up with Will. But you know the guy she mentioned totally doesn't exist, so that makes me wonder what she is going to tell Alicia. I mean, if Alicia's her friend, wouldn't they have conversations that may include this dude? I'm intrigued to see how this is going to play out in the last few episodes.

Carey and Robyn

If you haven't fallen in love with Robyn yet, watch this episode. I mean, look at her face.

Kalinda is funny because of how people react to her. Kalinda does not always respond in a socially acceptable human fashion, and the audience loves her for it. Everyone else, however, is not accustomed to her Kalinda-ness are are often put-off in a humorous fashion. Robyn, on the other hand, is funny because she plays along and tries to be as serious as possible. She's nice and generally up-beat, and just has smart as Kalinda, but she does not have the cold exterior that Kalinda does. The dynamic between these two should be interesting to explore for the rest of the season, but I kind of want Robyn and Kalinda to become a kick-ass investigative team who feed off of each other rather than argue with each other.

Diane
Here's another reason I love The Good Wife: the female characters like Diane. After spending the episode digging through her past so she can become a state Supreme Court Justice, she proposes to Kurt. This is not shown to be the 'safe' option, just her choice. And she pursues her choice. But most importantly, she's the one who proposes. Very few shows let their female characters do that, currently the only one that comes to mind is Gilmore Girls. Kurt is the one with doubts, Diane is the one who is all for it, even if it may be a difficult marriage and fuck anyone who would consider her birther boyfriend/fiance/husband a tarnish on her record. Vampire Diaries fanfiction and her father's indiscretions, sure. But not who she decides to be with.

There are only a few more episodes left in this season, and I'm excited to see what happens.



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The Good Wife 4X18-Let's Do Some Shots

You know it's going to be a good episode when:

1) Alicia is wearing red

2)  John Noble is guest starring

I mean, Alicia wears red all the time, but she wears it often in conjunction with major emotional moments. Also, it's at a gala-type thing and Matthew Perry is also Guest Starring. Speaking of which, he plays psychopathic asshole really well.

The real OTP of The Good Wife is Alicia and her wine

"If you start clocking my alcohol intake, I'm going to do shots"
Oh snarky Alicia. Oh drinking Alicia. I love it when these two Alicias become one and just really stop giving a fuck. She tells Kresteva to "Die chocking on his own blood", compares him to Hitler, and calls his psychopath all while finding the bar. But first, Eli. He brings up her St. Alicia-ness, even though we all know she's not a saint. And that's okay. But, of course, Will shows up. He is the blemish on her St. Alicia record that no one knows about, other than Peter. Alicia escapes this awkwardness to yell at Kresteva and then be interrupted by the police.

The Good Wife always does special cases of the week really well. This proved to be an interesting case about who murdered Lockhart Gardner's client, played by John Noble. It was nice to see him not setting his son on fire (see: LOTR) or heading dangerous experiments.

*Sobs*

 Even though he was only shown during flashbacks, he pulled off a wonderful performance and I found myself liking his character even though he was a huge ass. Or maybe I just miss Fringe. Anyways, Alicia spent most of her time at the police station, 'helping' them find his killer. Laura Hellinger shows up for some potential BFF/crime-solving time. Or, to get advice from Will. I think Laura either already suspects or will know about Alicia and Will by the end of the season. The night gets progressively weirder as Alicia is threatened by the murderer. It also gets weirder through the drunk man singing and the growing noise in the station.

So much snark. So little time.

Back at the gala, Kresteva is spreading lies about Alicia's son. And of course, Peter has no time for that. Peter gets Kresteva and (awesomely) punches him in the face. Great editing at this part, cutting to commercial after the punch. Then, he spills his glass and makes it look like Kresteva is a drunk, violent man. I'm not always a fan of Peter, but in this moment I was.

Die choking on your own blood, please

Also, Diane is offered a Supreme Court seat IF Peter wins. This makes me think Peter isn't going to win, and he'll go for a Senate seat instead. Also, the Good Wife is at it's best when there's a campaign. But I don't think Diane will leave Lockheart Gardner at least when the show is still on. Maybe a series finale? Diane and Will are way too good together and I love Diane as Alicia's mentor.

A shocked Diane

Grandma brings her grandchildren to a bar. And then tells all the family secrets. Okay, I kind love Alicia's mom, she's a whole lot better than Jackie, but seriously why did you think this was good grandparenting?

Kalinda to the rescue! Alicia calls Kalinda for help, and she ends her date early to do so. When are these two going to admit that they are BFFs again? Soon I hope. Also, I think her and Cary slept together a few episodes ago. There have been a few weird looks, more touching, and a tad bit of awkwardness since then.

Alicia calls Will. This scene is why I love her and Will. Her offer to come, not because she can't handle it, but because he cares about her. He doesn't need to step in and save the day, he is fine watching her do it, but he wants to be there for her. This reminded me of a scene in season 2, episode 20 where Will watches Alicia kill it on an interview for Peter. His affections for her are not selfish, whereas Peter's are. But I loved Will coming to Alicia and their discussion, no matter how hard it was.

How can you not love this face?

Alicia rarely gets a moment alone. She is constantly on display, whether Eli is trying to make her appear more "Good Wifely" for the campaign, other lawyers identifying her as Peter Florrick's wife constantly, and Lockhart Gardner eyeing her for partner. She is even on display for her kids, especially Grace, who want to know if their parents are going to fix things. But she had Will. Even if she had to hide her relationship with Will, she did not have to be on display when she was with him. And I don't believe what she told Grace at the end of the episode. I mean, I think Alicia loves Peter on some level. But really, she loves Will. But everyone else is watching her, and to be the Good Wife she has to stay with her husband.

"All I can tell you is go fuck yourself"

Of course, the episode ends with Alicia swearing. Because why not? I love how this show gets by the sensors. Also, the only other episode Alicia's mom was in ended with swearing also. And bathroom sex. 

Next week? Sweeney and Morena Baccarin. I. Love. This. Show