#amy watches tgw

[tunemyart]

okay so i'm already past the juiciest kalicia parts of tgw and aside from my being really sad that the potential for their reconciliation (which it seems they wanted to arc out!) went thumbs down emoji, I'm so inevitably ahhhhhhhh about the roots and manifestation of kalicia at all! bc so much of both is down to kalinda's character - her mystery, her careful reservation and restraint in both her words and her bearing, her halting, repeated protests that she doesn't really have friends... with the implication, in saying this to alicia in various contexts, that alicia is an exception, and a big one at that.

how unfathomably huge an exception isn't more than hinted at in the subtext (which is there, sure! BUT) until that jawdropper of the way blake lays out what he's put together: how off the wall defensive and terrified kalinda becomes every time alicia or kalinda's friendship with her is threatened, and how that tell has led him to kalinda's buried past and how it was buried. and let me tell you i screamed when in the next episode's recap, which picked up at the precise moment of that very revelation, the line changed slightly - but dramatically!! - to be even more emphatic: "alicia. it's about alicia. that's what you care about more than anything."

uhhhhh??????

I don't know I don't know I don't know!!! but it was sure something to watch her spiral out of control while trying so, so desperately to keep a lid on it over the next few eps in a way that to this point, and without this layer exposed, might have actually seemed antithetical to her character... but it's not. why? bc it's alicia. it's what kalinda cares about. more than anything.

idk I'm just so feral about kalinda in this stretch of time, telling on herself in so many ways, none of which she would previously have allowed herself. shaken after the confrontation with blake, her first call is to alicia - just to hear her voice. she goes and talks to peter florrick, who correctly surmises that alicia learning the truth would destroy her - but only from the perspective of his own marriage to her. but you can see so clearly on kalinda's face and the things she's almost audibly restraining herself from saying - she knows it's going to be less about peter, and more about kalinda. and she's right. she hooks up with amanda rollins sophia russo, who if I'm not mistaken is kalinda's first onscreen woman lover, in what is 100% a reaction to the fallout with alicia, and - by kalinda's standards - loses her shit when she finds out that sophia's gotten married since she last saw her, that kalinda is, once again, albeit in a very different way, the person with whom a spouse is cheating.

but that's also the thing that I'm ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh about - bc kalinda has made exceptions for alicia. in friendship, of course - but holy shit, it's beyond obvious that kalinda loves her. and kalinda is very determinedly someone who does not do relationships, who doesn't want to let someone, anyone, close bc she's terrified of both being hurt and hurting them. so sex is practical. sex is fun. sex is no strings. anything else doesn't make sense to her. she and will have that conversation about how they're not normal, and will talks about being in the middle of an emotion and realizing he's not feeling anything, he's just acting. and as with so many other kalinda scenes, she says very little, but her scene partner manages to say so much about her, if only via holding up a (funhouse) mirror to her in their words, one that she acknowledges.

and so in light of all this, the idea of a kalinda/alicia relationship? in just what ways would alicia continue to be kalinda's exception? the thing that kalinda cares about - more than anything?

[florrickandassociates]

TGF Thoughts: 1x07-- Not So Grand Jury

Thoughts on a delightful and eventful episode of The Good Fight under the cut. And (spoiler alert!) I don’t complain a single time about Maia not working. 

 We pick up where we left off: With Colin in Lucca’s office, telling her to be careful because her firm took an $800,000 bribe.

After Colin exits, a ticking noise kicks in (it’s the opening of a song, and it heightens the tension appropriately) and Lucca walks directly to the open seating area. Maia’s claiming a desk when Lucca arrives and pulls up a chair. (This is news Lucca has to sit down to deliver, a smart stage direction that both demonstrates Lucca’s understanding of how hard this will be for Maia to hear and matches with the lyrics about friendship in the tick-tick-tick song (“just for tonight/we can pretend/that we are friends/to the end”.)

(The Tick Tick Tick song is actually “Pretend” by Emika; I don’t know what it’s about because I haven’t listened beyond the line played in this scene yet, but it seems fitting to me to pair a lyric about pretending* to be friends with a moment where Lucca makes a friendly gesture—sitting instead of standing to deliver tough news—to someone who she wouldn’t call a friend.)

*it sounds sinister in the song, but in the show, I think it comes off more as acting as a friend towards someone you normally wouldn’t give that label to.

Lucca states the information she just heard from Colin. “That’s what I told my dad,” Maia realizes. “I know,” Lucca says in an understanding tone.

“Look, I know your first instinct would be to call him, but for the firm…” Lucca begins, but Maia’s learned her lesson already: “We need to tell the partners,” she interrupts. This breaks my heart. Whatever reservations I have about how Maia’s been written, it’s devastating to see a woman who had the utmost trust in her family just a few episodes ago become the person who suggests going straight to the partners. (Also, I love that Lucca makes a point of letting Maia know about the betrayal before she clues the partners in.)

Meanwhile, Mike Kresteva has empaneled a grand jury. He’s working with AUSA Zschau (Aaron Tveit), who appeared once on TGW (in 3x07) and has returned to the TG-verse now that Aaron Tveit is a favorite of the Kings. (He was a series regular on BrainDead last summer.)

Bribery and tax evasion (the fake stories Elsbeth planted) are the main focuses of the Grand Jury… for now. Like all TG-verse Grand Jury plots, the initial focus or strategy barely matters. As Kresteva says, all the grand jury has to believe to indict is that there is a possibility a crime was committed. This is why, at least in TG-v (I really need to come up with a standard way to refer to both shows at once; I feel like I’ve switched names for this as often as the writers switched the name of Diane’s firm in late-season TGW), grand juries usually involve throwing a bunch of things at the jury and hoping at least one thing sticks.

Diane isn’t on the list of name partners. Two episodes out from her power play, I’m wondering if they’ve dropped that thread or if we just haven’t circled back to it yet? On TGW, the signage was always updated the second the name changed. At the end of 1x05, Adrian congratulates Diane on being a FULL partner, not a name partner. Is there a chance Christine just said the line wrong and the script supervisor didn’t catch it? Diane asking to be a full, rather than junior, partner would make more sense than her asking to be a name partner, no? (Though, after bringing in an $86m/y client name partner makes sense too…)

Kresteva arrives at Elsbeth’s office with an order to assist in their investigation. Is that legal? Isn’t there attorney/client privilege here?

Anyway, Kresteva is there to confiscate Ada. “Ada! Erase history! Purge all files!” Elsbeth requests. Ada says “activating,” but then gives a synopsis for the movie The Purge. This is the second time in two episodes the writers have referenced The Purge; is Eli Gold responsible for this?

(The Tick Tick Tick song continues.)

Only a few minutes in, and Kresteva knows the bribery story is a lie. This is the moment where, on my first viewing, I knew this episode would be good. One of Elsbeth’s strategies failing? Elsbeth being undone by voice recording!? The piece of info that seemed like it would be central to the episode becoming an afterthought already!? How exciting! (But seriously, they just swiftly dispense with what seemed like the premise of the episode, instead focusing on new strategies without forgetting about the underlying tensions—the ones between Maia and her family members— of the old strategy.)

I don’t always love it when TG-V is all, TWIST! TWIST! ANOTHER TWIST! LEGAL MANEUVERING THAT’S SUPER FUN BUT WAIT WHAT IS ACTUALLY GOING ON! But it never fails to be fun, especially when it’s treated as fun and good character moments are sprinkled in. (Okay, it’s failed to be fun before, but usually it’s fun on the first watch, at least, and the only time I really wasn’t on board was Peter’s trial in s7 of TGW, and… that arc had its own problems that had more to do with the structure of the season/character development/abandoning interesting threads than it did with the courtroom stuff.)

Ah, Colin has answered my question about attorney/client privilege. They can listen whenever it’s just Elsbeth talking to Ada. Colin remarks that Elsbeth reprimanding Ada is “not privileged.” Still, Ada records everything, so Ada has recorded Elsbeth saying that the $800,000 bribe story is a lie. (Wait, who is Elsbeth talking to here and why isn’t it privileged?)

Now Henry Rindell is in trouble: Kresteva suspects Henry is working with Maia, which would make much more sense than a father turning on his daughter, but isn’t the truth because Henry Rindell is horrible (but has potentially convinced himself he is not horrible).

Henry seems outraged when he realizes Maia might’ve been wearing a wire. Yeah, how dare that daughter of yours mistrust you! You’re so innocent, just trying to destroy her place of work, thinking she’d want you to do that without ever bothering to actually take her feelings into account. Father of the year.

“I have to see her,” Henry insists. Kresteva’s ready to send Henry back to prison. Henry wants to investigate, and Kresteva and Zschau go for it… if Henry wears a wire.

AMY IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the moment that confirmed the episode would be good. (Note: I don’t watch the credits so I can be unspoiled about guest stars.) Henry’s there for a visit, and Amy is not thrilled. She hands Maia a rum and coke, knowing she’ll need a drink.

Maia asks what Amy’s been talking to Henry about, and then realizes she’ll need to record this, too. (It’s April 13th, according to Maia’s phone.)

“Your apartment looks beautiful, Amy,” Henry makes small talk. Your apartment? Is it Amy’s apartment? Doesn’t sound like it, since Amy replies that they’ll have to move in a month or two.

“Oh, why’s that?” Henry asks cluelessly. Maia and Amy both glare at him. “Money, dad,” Maia reminds him. So, this answers questions I had about who’s paying for that lovely apartment: clearly, Maia’s parents were the ones paying much of the rent. (Though, it seems weird to me that between Maia and Amy, the two of them wouldn’t be able to pay the rent on that apartment. It’s a great space, but it appears to be an extra-large studio or a loft and they have two salaries between them. OK NOT THE POINT, I GET IT, THEY ARE UNDER MORE FINANCIAL STRAIN THAN THEY WERE AND I APPRECIATE THAT THE WRITERS ARE ACKNOWLEDGING THIS. (I just like to nitpick.)

Amy says she’ll let Maia and Henry talk. I’m not sure where she’s exiting to—is there another room other than the bathroom? A kitchen?

Maia stands as far away from her dad as she can—the distance is obvious. And, they’re standing.

“You didn’t trust me,” Henry accuses. EL-OH-EL. “You told me a lie last time. There was no bribery at your firm” he says. This scene was a sneak, and my first thought was, “MAIA, DON’T ANSWER HIM, HE COULD BE TRYING TO TRICK YOU INTO ADMITTING THE LIE!” That’s irrelevant, now, because he already knows it’s a lie and doesn’t need Maia to confirm. I’m happy to see that Maia and I were on the same page, because, after she expresses some frustration with the fact this conversation is even happening, she says, “You were wearing a wire. If I told you a lie there was a reason.” Note the use of the word “if.”

“Talk to me like I’m your daughter. I am right here,” Maia insists, sitting down. Oh, how cool! I wasn’t even thinking about the sitting/standing difference when I mentioned it with Lucca, but it seems to be a thread, since Maia sits down at the exact moment she requests that the conversation switch from being formal to familiar. *Pats self on back*

Henry turns off his recording device (how cynical am I that I worried he had a second one stowed away?) and sits down. Maia, in return, turns off her phone recording.

Henry finally offers her an explanation: “I’m not doing this to save my skin. They’re coming after you. […] [For] the foundation. Your signature on the transferred funds.” Maia reminds him that her signature was forged. “Honey, I don’t think they’ll believe that,” Henry says. “You’re saying you were recording our conversations and using them against my law firm out of some clear concern for me?” Maia restates. Henry confirms this and says the Feds are threatening to prosecute her. Maia says that’s a lie; Henry insists it’s not. “Then don’t fucking use me to clear your conscience, dad,” Maia says. “You want to make a deal for yourself, do it. Don’t do it for me.”

Henry slips Maia info about how Kresteva knows the bribe is a lie. Maia knows that’s true, but she still asks Henry why she should trust him. Good question. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…

Henry’s info here is right: Kresteva does just want to destroy the firm; subpoenas are about to go out. And maybe he has convinced himself he’s doing the right thing or protecting his family. But that doesn’t mean he’s not acting in his own self-interest, that he’s not betraying his daughter, or that his family wants him to involve them in his strategies.

Cut to: a French cooking class. This sequence reminds me of the beginning of 3x12, where everyone’s subpoenaed while they’re out and about, so I knew what was coming and that we’d get little glimpses of what the characters do in their free time. What I didn’t know—and what was brilliantly withheld from the way this first scene is written/directed/edited—is that it’s not Diane who’s taking the French cooking class. As soon as I heard the word “French,” I assumed this was Diane’s way of capturing a little bit of France since she couldn’t have her country home. But nope! Adrian is the one taking the class, and now I love this moment even more than I would’ve if it had been Diane. He’s also, apparently, good at making complicated French sauces. I love it.

Barbara, meanwhile, is having dinner with an old friend from school. (#WilliciaVibes?) She’s having a good enough time with her companion that she doesn’t even stop to realize that the “waiter” (the process server) is bizarrely dressed. What an unpleasant surprise. I want to know more about Barbara’s friend!

And Lucca? She’s gearing up for a run (I was so excited to see her doing something on her own time that wasn’t flirting with Colin!) when the process server stops her at her doorway. She closes the door on him, but he slides the subpoena under.

Notably, we don’t see Diane get served—at this point or later in the episode. Any episode that gets the little things right is an episode I like. While I would’ve enjoyed seeing Diane in her free time, I also already have a sense of what Diane would do in her free time. It’s news to me that Adrian takes cooking classes, that Barbara is (apparently?) single, and that Lucca’s a runner. Choosing to focus on what the more unfamiliar characters do in their free time is, to me, a better use of time than showing us more of what Diane likes to do in her free time. (I suppose there’s no reason they couldn’t have shown a fourth—or fifth, since we do see Marissa get served too—one of these for Diane, since episodes don’t have to be 43 minutes anymore, but three examples conveys the point better than a sequence that goes on and on and on, and if there’s one that I’d choose to take place off-screen, it’d be Diane.) (Also, we’ve seen Diane get subpoenaed several times, including at least once already on TGF.)

Elsbeth and the partners strategize. “Grand juries always indict,” she reminds them. I’m a little shocked this episode isn’t called Yet Another Ham Sandwich. “Unless it’s a police brutality case,” Adrian comments. Accurate.

Elsbeth then gets off on a tangent about Barbara’s earrings. “Elsbeth.” Diane warns. “Right! Sorry. You’re amazing,” Elsbeth responds. God, I love Elsbeth. (I also love that Diane always seems to have less patience for Elsbeth than most of the other characters do.)

The Paisley Group, a former Florrick/Agos client, is thinking of jumping ship. How did RBK even have The Paisley Group as a client in the first place? I mean, that’s the client who told Alicia to read Ayn Rand. Kresteva is trying to scare off all the RBK clients.

Lucca has something to add, but she decides against sharing. Elsbeth calls her out on it, and she shares some info she got from Colin. The assistant attorney general was concerned that the investigation was seeming racist. She can’t reveal how she knows this, but everyone in the room agrees on a strategy: make it seem like the white AG’s office is targeting the firm because of race.

(I love the hand gestures Elsbeth makes as she says “close down the grand jury.”)

They have an audience of one, Elsbeth explains: the assistant AG. (This is similar to Elsbeth’s strategy from when she represented Will in 3x14: the strategy then was to tie everything to Peter Florrick.)

(I’m pointing out all the similarities to past episodes because, as I said on Twitter, this episode feels like TGW’s greatest hits thrown into a blender. Since this episode isn’t just repeating past episodes, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s just that every twist and turn in this episode felt familiar.)

Adrian asks Barbara for her opinion. “About using race?” she asks. “Well, it is about race.” The scene ends there. Perfect. I love the acknowledgement that this is a trial strategy, but it’s also the truth. Kresteva’s whole strategy is that he’d rather silence and destroy a majority African-American law firm than improve policing so that officers stop shooting/beating black people. It is absolutely about race.

Next, Adrian appears before the grand jury. He emphasizes that the firm is majority African-American, taking every opportunity he can to mention the racial makeup of his firm. Heh. (Also, he’s been practicing law in Chicago for 35 years.)

Barbara appears next, and Zschau and Kresteva seem increasingly irritated by all references to race. “I didn’t ask about your firm’s racial makeup,” Zschau says. “Yes, but you did ask me to answer in my own words, and these are my own words,” Barbara replies. (This is straight out of 1x14—Kalinda says this on the stand, too.)

Colin informs the AAG (is that an abbreviation? I don’t care; for the purposes of this recap it is) of what’s going on in court. He’s not pleased. Kresteva insists he’s staying away from race, but the AAG doesn’t care. He wants it to be clear it’s not about race.

This means that another round of subpoenas has to go out… this time only for the white people. Yes, because subpoenaing an assistant who’s been at the firm a month because she’s one of three white people at the firm is definitely going to convince the grand jury it’s not about race.

When she’s served, Marissa is learning Italian in the work elevator. Jay gets on the elevator, too. He asks why she’s learning Italian; she says she’s always wanted to. Apparently, Marissa is saying, “In my next life, I want to come back as a shark.” I’d question what kind of tape would have this as a phrase to learn, but I’ve used Duolingo before and some of the sentences really are that bizarre.

The process server finds Marissa: “Marissa Gold?” She responds by saying, in Italian, “No, in my next life, I want to come back as a shark.” In a wonderful twist, the process server speaks fluent Italian and responds, “Too bad. In this life, you’ve just been served.” I can’t. stop. Laughing.

As Elsbeth strategizes about what to do now, the Tick Tick Tick song returns. Now Kresteva’s being served. I love the process server guy even more because he’s self-aware about how many subpoenas he’s delivered in the last 48 hours.

Elsbeth has a strategy, and it’s one she also used in 4x15 to defend Eli (as I said, this episode is TGW’s greatest hits, though I’m not sure 4x15 actually counts as a greatest hit). She opens a suit in civil court to find out information from the investigation.

Elsbeth vs. Kresteva is working SO well for me. It’s like he’s the adversary for her that they always wanted Josh Perotti to be. What a shock—when there’s no weird romance/stalking subplot, Elsbeth vs. the liar working for the federal government works.

I keep getting served Netflix ads during commercial breaks. This feels weird.

Elsbeth presents Jay with The Schtup List. He expresses no interest in it until Elsbeth explains its importance. Neither Elsbeth nor Jay recognize the numbers listed next to the names, and Elsbeth asks Jay to investigate.

The Chicago Board of Trade is the DOJ now? Stock footage, shrug. (I mean, you can read that it says CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE in the clip they show.)  

“I hate him,” Colin tells his boss. “Him” being his coworker, Kresteva. Heh. The AAG asks Colin if he’s under the mistaken impression he only defends people he likes. “No, I’m under the mistaken impression I don’t defend anyone. I’m a prosecutor,” Colin replies. HEH. (And, this is a thread that keeps coming back throughout the episode!)

Colin’s stuck with the case anyway. He tells his boss he’s dating a lawyer at RBK; his boss just says to stop dating her. This strategy doesn’t work either.

Colin tries to get Elsbeth’s case dismissed, but Elsbeth has a plan for that. She turns things over to Adrian, prompting Colin to ask if Adrian is the plaintiff or a lawyer. Since Colin’s the first to mention that Adrian should be called as a witness if he wants to talk, Judge Gallo allows the case to move forward. Heh. Colin’s out of his element. He also calls Elsbeth “the defense” and Gallo corrects him: “the plaintiff.” This is great. As I said, I love the little things, like reminding us that Colin isn’t used to arguing in civil court. They infuse moments of courtroom drama (or other plot-driven moments) with revealing character information.

Another example of this is that Colin, even though he hates Kresteva and personally agrees with Team RBK, is not in any way (well, aside from not breaking up with Lucca) intentionally throwing this case. He’s not giving it 110% (he wouldn’t be fumbling like this if he were), and he’s distracted by Lucca and by his internal conflicts, but he is doing his job.

“Make me your second chair,” Lucca advises Elsbeth. Elsbeth agrees.

Colin objects to a witness’s statement. He is really off his game.

Colin questions Adrian and asks how important the three clients they lost, the ones Kresteva scared off, were. They were only worth a combined 1.3 million, which means they must not have been doing much business for The Paisley Group (which makes sense to me, given what we know about The Paisley Group). Colin points out that they just signed ChumHum, which is worth $86 million. Yeah. But, as Lucca points out, that doesn’t mean Kresteva isn’t still affecting their client list.

Colin and Lucca bicker in court. Judge Gallo isn’t happy. Lucca apologizes, then asks why the defendant isn’t there. “I see. So Mr. Kresteva is too busy for Judge Gallo?” Lucca says when Colin explains Kresteva is busy. This is smart: Gallo seems like exactly the type of judge who would take offense at this sort of snub.

Marissa takes the stand next—in the grand jury room-- and sticks with the strategy. She explains that Diane mentors her in “becoming aware of the nature of white privilege.” Heh. Zschau mentions that Marissa also worked with Diane at Lockhart Deckler etc., and Marissa just comments that “that was definitely not an African-American firm. It was like the Trump White House there.” Bwah. The grand jurors like Marissa. When Kresteva suggests she move off of the subject of race, Marissa apologizes and says “Touchy.” The grand jurors like that, too, and their level of respect for Kresteva declines by the second.

Now Diane is the target: did she slip Adrian privileged information in F101?

Marissa calls Diane after court, then notices Andrew Hart. She takes a picture and takes it to the legal team.

To find out what Andrew Hart said to the grand jury… they call him to the stand in the civil case. Hehehe.

Elsbeth is on the most obvious fishing expedition ever—she has a list of possible motivations and runs through them one by one (at least, I think that’s what that list is?) until she figures out what Hart is up to—and it works. Idk about the legality of all this, but it sure is fun to watch.

Lucca distracts Colin as he tries to object. And by distracts, I mean sucks on her pen. In the middle of the court room. It works. (Hello, 5x12 Willicia.) (Only without the tension/hatred.) (Colin doesn’t really seem to care that Lucca’s throwing him off.)

After court, Lucca walks past Colin, makes sure he sees her, and then walks into an empty courtroom. He follows her in. She asks him to come by that night, and he tells her he’s been told to break up with her. She says he better do it and starts to leave. He stops her and pulls her in for a kiss. “You’re going to get fired,” she warns. “Mm. I hate my job anyway,” he says. That’s the truth right there. At this point, I think Colin really doesn’t care if he gets fired over this.

Meanwhile, Barbara sits down with a client Andrew Hart is trying to poach. The client doesn’t seem to like Hart very much, because he testifies for RBK and offers even more information than he’s asked to just to help.

The litigation financiers have been subpoenaed to testify at the grand jury. This episode moves fast, y’all. It’s impressive (but unsurprising) that TGF built, in six episodes, a complicated web of things that could come back to hurt RBK.

Can two people testify before a grand jury at once or is this a thing I just have to believe could happen because TV?

Things look bad for RBK: they have a clear story about the settlement for the case in F101 and how Diane’s warning led Adrian to be confident in a favorable settlement.

The litigation financiers don’t want to tell Adrian and Diane what they said to the grand jury, but they say just enough Adrian and Diane understand what they’re up against. “Fuck,” Adrian says, and one of the financiers reminds him not to swear. “It bugs out Jer,” Adrian recalls, quoting F102.

Diane takes full responsibility for this. She says she told Adrian more than she should have. (Adrian is correct in recalling what Diane says, FWIW. Diane said they would be getting a good settlement and to hire Maia, because she found a key piece of evidence. Unless this all hinges on the “you’ll get a good offer in a few hours” part of it? Is that disbarrable?)

Adrian doesn’t let Diane take responsibility for this. He reminds her Kresteva is going to go after anything he can. “Stop kicking yourself. We are dealing with people who are coming at us for the smallest infraction,” he says. He meant it when he told Maia in 1x04 that people at RBK look out for each other. Of course, RBK still has its office politics (see: Julius Cain), but the sense of loyalty and community is refreshing. It feels like the family environment L/G always purported to be.  It’s easy to see, given this moment and others earlier in the season, how committed RBK is to its mission and culture. Adrian and Barbara have a clear vision for what they want their firm to be and how they want it to run, and I’d like to know more about it. (And more about how Diane threatens/can strengthen it—this is the sort of corporate culture Diane always said she wanted to cultivate!)

Adrian suggests that they defend themselves with something called “mere puffery.” I don’t know what this is (rather, I didn’t know what it was until they explained it in a later scene), but Adrian and Diane both crack up at the suggestion, so I find it funny too. Also, “mere puffery” just sounds funny.

Marissa saves the day! She recognizes a nine-digit number from her W-2. This… is a stretch.

Y’all know I paused the stream to read Marissa’s W-2. This W-2 says 2013. Also, that Marissa made $71,706.01. Lol. Lol. Lol. Lol. Lol. LOL. Doesn’t that seem awfully high for an assistant job that consists of running errands? Oh, God. Now I’m looking up the salaries all of these people would be making (Glassdoor says Marissa would not be making that much).

It’s a federal tax ID number. Marissa and Jay realize at the same time that if numbers on The Schtup List match numbers from Lockhart Deckler, Diane is screwed.

Diane is on the stand. She tries out mere puffery, which she explains (it means promoting through exaggeration). Kresteva says he knows what it is. (Yay for good exposition!)

They show her The Schtup List, and connect it to Diane hiring Maia, and… yeah, this doesn’t look good.

Kresteva also explains that they have Henry Rindell coming in the next day.

After the grand jury, Diane finds Adrian and says she needs to resign because she’s about to be indicted. “Are you… guilty of anything? Other than being friends with the wrong people?” Adrian asks. No, she isn’t. (Maia listens in and figures out what she has to do—this is something I wish she’d done a few episodes ago, but better late than never, and I appreciate that it’s tied to her concern for her godmother.) Diane keeps insisting that she should resign, but Adrian is, in his words, “not running scared from motherfuckers like [Kresteva.]” Awww, warm and fuzzy feelings.

Then the scene ventures on preachy, but only because it’s the 2nd scene in 3 episodes to include repetition of the word “fight” as what Diane has to do. Like, yeah, we get it, this is called The Good Fight. No one ever called Alicia “The Good Wife” to her face! (But I guess “Saint Alicia” is the same thing.)

Diane looks shocked that someone could be so kind to her. Must take a lot of betrayal to get to the point where you’re surprised when your partners stand up for you. Poor Diane. (I wish Barbara were here for this conversation, though. It would be interesting to see her agree with Adrian on this, not necessarily because she supports Diane without any reservations but because she believes that her firm shouldn’t throw its own under the bus.)

Maia meets with her father again, recording devices off. “You’re testifying against Diane?” Maia asks. “No, I’m telling the truth,” Henry says. “Oh. Your alternative truth?” Maia says. HAH.

Maia connects the dots, a little too late. Was that the only use of The Schtup List? Not turning against Jax, but framing Diane in exchange for a lighter sentence? (I wonder about this. Given that Jax is barely mentioned in this episode and Henry wanted the list, not proof it was on Jax’s computer, I suspect that Maia’s right about Henry’s motives.)

Henry says it was just about leverage, but Maia cuts through that bullshit: “You betrayed her for a lighter sentence?” Henry insists this is so Maia won’t see jail time, and neither will Lenore. But… dude… you had to have Maia break the law and implicate herself in order to get that list, and now you’re ruining her workplace. And Maia sees through this, too: it wasn’t just altruistic… Henry wanted a lighter sentence for himself, too.

“I want a chance to see you have kids. I want to hold my grandkids,” Henry says. Maybe you should’ve thought of that before you stole people’s money! “What was the deal?” Maia asks. “Ten years,” Henry says, and Maia immediately understands how favorable that is. She asks him not to testify against Diane—an offer of ten years indicates a weak case.

But Henry keeps insisting he has to testify… “it’s for you, too.” Maia rejects his help in the strongest way possible: “You do this, dad, and if I ever have any kids, you’ll never see them. I’ll never let you see them.” This is hard to watch (would be even harder if I had emotional investment in any of the Rindells, which I don’t, really). Maia’s probably more damaged by this conversation than by any other part of the scandal. Her own father is trying to disguise his own self-interest as protecting her, to the point where he’s able to rationalize throwing old friends—friends whose life savings he’s already wiped out because of his own greed!—under the bus as something noble.

He tries to kiss Maia goodbye, but she rejects his embrace. “I love you,” he says. Maia doesn’t respond.

For the first time in episodes, Diane and Maia feel like godmother/goddaughter. They’re sitting together in civil court, anticipating Henry’s testimony (he’s been subpoenaed there as well). “Are you alright?” Diane asks Maia. “No, not really,” Maia replies. “I wish I could tell you it’ll get easier,” Diane says. “I wish you could tell me that too,” Maia says. And in one short exchange, Maia gets the character development I’ve been looking for! She’s grown more accepting, mature, and resolute. And, unlike in past episodes, we’re actually getting a check-in on how she’s doing. In the episodes where Maia was acting recklessly, it wasn’t clear enough, IMO, why, other than the generic motivation* of “family,” she’d make the decisions she did. (The solution to that problem would’ve been more stories about life before, or moments that felt very genuine between her and her parents, or anything else that would make me believe Maia would really help her cartoon villain parents.) But in this episode (and the last), I understand Maia’s decisions. I see what changes for her and when and why, I see her questioning her loyalties, and I see her coming to terms with her new reality and forming/strengthening new bonds. Even a line as simple as this exchange shows Maia’s thought process, and that’s a welcome change from the conspiracy-driven nonsense of the past few episodes.

*this is not a bad motivation or even a bad plot; my problem is that it was an underdeveloped motivation that made it hard to sympathize with a brand-new character who was almost exclusively interacting with two dimensional characters who seemed so obviously shifty that Maia’s trust in them (well, just Henry, really) and willingness to break the law for them never quite made sense.

Anyway, Elsbeth asks a question influenced by information Maia’s told her: what did Kresteva offer him in exchange for his grand jury testimony? Henry stares right at Maia, and tells the truth: ten years instead of life without parole. Maia stares back: she knows what she’s done, and she’s not hiding it. She knows she’s just almost guaranteed her father will get life without parole. And she is okay with that. She knows she’s going to have to be.

Things aren’t going well over at the DOJ. The news of the (proposed) plea deal is out, and Kresteva’s strategy, now that it’s so public and not just a backroom deal, isn’t to the assistant attorney general’s liking. (Shitty boss, though, because he totally signed off on this strategy in a prior episode.)

Kresteva shows up at Elsbeth’s office. He hands her a cardboard box, and tells her he was just fired. “I’m just happy it’s over,” Elsbeth says. “I just think it’s funny that you think this is over,” Kresteva says. Then he leaves. So… is there more? Or is this just Kresteva’s way of getting the last word? (Side note: I appreciate that this episode didn’t rely at all on the “Kresteva is a lying liar” thing. He still is a lying liar, but he’s not just someone who makes up stories. That only works to a point.)

What’s in the box? Ada! I dunno about you, but I wouldn’t use that thing ever again. Half the time, it doesn’t work, and it’s also always recording you.

At RBK, Diane stops by Maia’s desk and thanks her. “You could have protected yourself, and instead you protected me,” Diane says. “Please, don’t mention it,” Maia replies. “You got me this job,” Maia says warmly. “You deserved it,” Diane replies. She thanks Maia again, patting her head (well, not exactly, but I’m blanking on how to describe it and “patting her head” captures the dynamic more accurately than “stroking her face”). Maia doesn’t reject this gesture the way she rejected her father’s kiss.

Another great, short moment that’s better late than never. I would’ve liked to see more from Diane and Maia between 1x01 and 1x07, but this is exactly the sort of development I wanted. Strangely enough, this is also development that had to take place this far into the season and after the events of this episode. It wouldn’t have worked to have Maia realign her loyalties so she values her relationship with Diane (and, secondarily, the firm) more than she values her relationship with her parents right at the start of the show. Maia had to lose her trust in her parents and make choices for herself before we could get here. Otherwise, it might have felt like Maia was just rebelling, or that she was making a hasty, emotional decision. So, I’ll amend my earlier statement: this moment isn’t better late than never. It’s precisely right for this moment, but I wish we’d gotten the Maia and Diane scenes that were precisely right for all the moments between 1x01 and 1x07, too.

(I can’t say enough good things about this scene. It shows Maia’s maturity and awareness, but still conveys that Maia is the closest thing Diane has to a daughter. This moment doesn’t establish Maia and Diane as peers—even though you got me a job, I saved your job seems like it could do that. It reminds us that they’re each other’s chosen family, and it acknowledges that Maia is both a mature adult and someone who could use a mother/mentor figure. I want more of this going forward, and I will be very disappointed if this thread disappears for another several episodes. This is the sort of thing that should be present in almost every episode, even in the smallest moments.)

(For example, Diane tells Maia that she “deserved” this job. That could be because Maia’s a great lawyer who found a key piece of evidence, but it’s also totally because Diane has an easy time picturing Maia, the smart girl she’s watched grow up, as someone deserving and capable. That sort of thing should be clear in every scene between Diane and Maia—and there should be plenty of scenes between Diane and Maia, since her connection to Diane is the reason we have Maia on the show in the first place, right?)

In another good moment for Maia (have you notice I haven’t complained about her not working in this recap!? Sure, that’s because there’s no COTW or subplots that seems to take place during business hours, but it’s also because the writers finally bothered* to use Maia well), Marissa asks to get drinks. Maia says no, at first, but reconsiders. She needs a drink after that day, but this isn’t about alcohol: this is about establishing ties. She’s reaffirmed her loyalty to Diane, but she’s also starting to think about making new friends, embracing her workplace, and focusing on the things she’d be focusing on without the conspiracy drama surrounding her.

*I say “finally bothered” because the past few weeks, they haven’t even been trying. I’ve seen the writers try and fail to convey character development, and I’ve seen them try and succeed at character development. It felt like they were not even trying the past few weeks.

Lucca’s heading out for another run, but she’s interrupted again, this time by Colin. He says something, but the music’s too loud for us to hear it (by which I mean that the music plays instead of whatever he’s saying). Lucca gives him a hug to comfort him and invites him in. Hm. I don’t know what he said. Perhaps he was fired? That would make sense, given that Kresteva was fired, the grand jury was a mess, he’s already indicated he was ready to move on, and that Lucca’s hug suggests she’s reacting to bad/sad news, not just greeting him. I wonder if we’ll ever find out what he said, and why the writers chose to make the line silent.

In any event, I’m intrigued. This has been the most enjoyable episode since the pilot, and it hit the right balance of character moments and plot development. It also seemed to tie up some plots that weren’t working and brought together a lot of threads. Plus, the grand jury episodes are always fun, especially when they have real stakes and/or involve Elsbeth. It’s smart that this episode, by the end, places more importance on the consequences of this investigation for Maia. We know the firm’s probably going to survive this, and that it’ll probably survive any subsequent investigation plots. But Maia’s relationship with her dad doesn’t have to survive or be repaired for the show to continue, so there’s a character-motivated reason for the grand jury. The episode also concludes (?) the Rindell conspiracy arc in a way that involves everyone at RBK instead of pulling Maia even further out of the RBK orbit, and it solidifies Diane’s membership among the partners of her new firm. That’s what I want to see: A fun (if, at times, derivative) episode that still feels consequential and is about characters as much as it’s about plot.

[xtltokio]

A comfort note for people who started watching The Good Fight because of Maia and Amy without having watched the original series The Good Wife.

Why had more scenes  of others side characters and not Amy.

The focus in Diane and Kurt is because of how their stories ended in TGW and we need answers for what happened

Colin is listed as one of the main characters and because he's involved in the main story and knowing the King's writing, my bet is that eventually he will work together at the firm with Lucca, Maia and Diane.

The series doesn't have a tendency to focus on various aspects of a character's personal life at the same time, so they will not  focus in Maia's family and in her relationship with Amy. They don't have many scenes between Maia and Amy is because it's not the focus of the show at the moment.

“All tthat needed is a single scene, they just need to write a comfort scene”

but this not their style, they only write scenes when they have some purpose, They only write personal scenes when they have a deeper meaning, to pull the series forward, not just to show that a couple is still together. The moment for Maia and Amy will come, but I don't know if I would be happy with this, the King are known to be quite cynical when it comes to couples.

[mchartforever]

Diane Lockhart is back!

(The Good Fight Episode 1: Inauguration)

After I’ve seen the first two episodes of my new favorite show I felt this sudden urge to post something on here. I haven’t written about episodes in a long time, but I used to enjoy it, so I decided to give it a try. Maybe someone will read my silly ramblings.

Even though we were very spoiled on the Pilot, I was looking forward to seeing it with my own eyes and it really didn’t disappoint. My only complaint was that everything happened so fast, it felt a bit rushed, but fortunately they included a few scenes that really stood out for me and made the episode great.

One of these was the scene where Diane broke down in front of Kurt. That was some amazing acting from Christine, and a scene I could fully relate to. I could just watch it over and over again. Another memorable scene was between Maia and Lucca in the bathroom. I can’t always sympathize with Lucca, but with scenes like this she could definitely grow on me. Adrian asking Diane to join his firm was my next favorite part. I’m already liking his character a lot and looking forward to seeing more of their dynamics.

And then there’s the last scene with Diane and Maia which was really powerful and emotional. It was a beautiful ending to the episode. Their interactions show us a side of Diane that we never got to see on The Good Wife. And that’s just one of her many new sides. We can also see her dealing with being broke, which isn’t fun, but makes for good drama. Not to mention she’s not the boss anymore, in fact she has a boss who clearly has issues with her, that’s another relationship - between her and Barbara - I’m curious to see develop.

To me the most surprising detail of the episode was Lucca saying yes to Adrian and Barbara hiring Diane. I don’t claim to know Lucca that much to understand her reasons, but it was refreshing to see she was able to put aside their differences and be objective about her. How they are going to get along side by side is another question for the upcoming episodes.

My favorite moments of the Pilot were when Diane was staring at the screen and the photo of her and Will. Nice touch from the writers to keep his memory alive. Wish there was a way to bring him back to this show, I wouldn’t object to flashbacks either.

Maia and Amy are totally relationship goals, the power couple, I love them already. But since we’ve learnt our lesson with TGW, we probably shouldn’t expect their happiness to be lasting. Hoping for the Kings to prove me wrong though.

As for my struggling ship, their interactions broke my heart, but I loved seeing them again. It was way too little though, so that disappointed me a bit. Kurt definitely seems angry and Diane’s pretending to have already let go, yet she doesn’t want to divorce him. I love complicated, and they have always been complicated. The fact that Kurt did sleep with Holly…I’d rather not get into that, but I definitely need more than that one line about this subject so I can at least try to accept that it’s true. Really hoping for more and longer McHart scenes in future episodes.

All in all, the Pilot was a good setup for the new show and made me want more right away. I’m really liking the new characters, but also enjoyed seeing old ones back, like Howard and David. (Hope Jackie and Howard are still happily married btw.) Barbara and Adrian remind me so much of Diane and Will, which is equally refreshing and heartbreaking. I already need to see more of them.

But most importantly I love finally having a show with Christine as the lead. I already felt very lucky back then when I joined the CB fandom and a few months later they announced The Good Wife. And here we are almost 8 years later and Diane’s story is still not over, in fact it’s better than ever. I feel like one of the luckiest fans in the world, because just like Christine I’m not ready to let go of Diane Lockhart either and hopefully I won’t have to for a very long time.

[tunemyart]

oh my god kalinda sharma actually is in love with alicia florrick isn't she

[tunemyart]

i keep thinking about kalinda reading vampire diaries fanfic posted under diane's ip address out loud to diane's face in her office

and then i go, now this is why i could never be a state supreme court justice

[florrickandassociates]

TGF Thoughts: 1x06-- Social Media and Its Discontents

Thoughts under the cut... 

The Kings wrote this one, which always means it’s either a big episode or it contains a topic they’re passionate about. This episode falls into the latter category.

And Jim McKay directed. He’s directed many TGW episodes (and has directed at least one episode every season), and also lots of episodes of shows ranging in style from Rectify to The Americans.

The episode kicks off with a white dude in front of a solid green screen ranting about coding and how men are inherently superior to women. He is very mad about a change in Google’s algorithm that implies that women can invent things. Like, he’s seething. Over the idea that women could invent things. His resentment—and his complete lack of logical reasoning—would be almost comical if this weren’t based on a very real online harassment problem.

We cut away from the green screen to Neil Gross slapping a sheet of paper down on the RBK conference table and explaining that’s just one offensive post made on his social platforms.

The device used to illustrate the content of the posts is reminiscent of how the writers have brought cases to life in the past. Whenever a case requires a lot of talking, the writers like to bring in these illustrations to make the plot clearer and more captivating (see 3x07 and 6x18). In this case, they may also be trying to put faces to posts that would most likely (but not necessarily) be made anonymously.

Neil presents the RBK team with 4,758 “problematic” posts. What, is he only looking at the past hour?

Neil continues to comment on how cool it is that there are black lawyers… while only addressing Diane.

He brings a gift for the RBK team (no sign of it being RBKL yet…). It’s a Chummy T-Shirt with “Team Reddick, Boseman & Kolsted” written on it. I bought the Chummy shirt the CBS store offered and it’s super soft and comfortable. If CBS made this shirt—without the typo, of course—available, I would buy it too. Hear that, CBS? I am telling you I will spend more money on your product!

Barbara’s last name is misspelled on the shirt (it’s “Kolstad,” not “Kolsted’), and she notices immediately. When she points it out to Adrian, he just notes that Neil is bringing in $86 million a year. Wasn’t it $58 million last episode?

Neil needs a new Terms of Service agreement because two of his sites have become “like the Wild West of racism and sexism.” These sites are “Chummy Friends” which is Facebook-like (a way a real life Neil Gross would literally never describe his own site, but character Neil Gross has to because how else would we know what Chummy Friends is standing in for) and Scabbit, the Reddit clone from 5x09. (In 5x09, ChumHum definitely didn’t own Scabbit. Florrick/Agos represented ChumHum at the time, but they were the ones going up against Scabbit in court. I suppose they acquired it.)

Ah, one of the trolls is played by Ophelia’s boyfriend from Sweet/Vicious, which gives me a great opportunity to tell all of you to go watch Sweet/Vicious. Especially if the case this week made you feel angry and powerless. Go watch Sweet/Vicious.

Neil wants the posts gone on moral grounds… and because they’re hurting his business by scaring off advertisers.

“I notice only eyes for Diane,” Adrian comments to Barbara. This is true.

Neil sets a deadline: a new TOS by 5 pm. He then continues to talk about how cool it is that black lawyers exist and how it gives him hope, which he seems to see as a compliment but Lucca, Adrian, and Barbara all (correctly) read as patronizing.

As soon as Neil leaves, Diane suggests splitting into groups to tackle the problem. Barbara immediately overrules her and says they are going to sort the posts instead. (Why wouldn’t ChumHum have given them a digital copy of these posts? That would be much easier to sort.)

Adrian suggests making piles for racist posts, anti-Semitic posts, and threatening posts. He forgets misogynistic, which Diane immediately realizes (and which is a weird oversight I have trouble buying, given that Neil mentioned sexism twice in his introductory speech). Is this meant to be a comment on how Adrian thinks (I mean, you know how I feel about the way he talks to Barbara!)?

Barbara also asks what’s missing, so now I’m confused, because… duh? It wouldn’t just be a white woman who’s bringing up issues of misogyny, even if I bet Diane would list misogyny as an issue before she’d list racism.

Diane calls Maia onto the project through the glass wall. Maia is currently busy, not with work (…) but with a personal phone call to her father. “Dad, I’ve been working pretty hard lately, but, um, I’ll try,” she says. STOP THE PRESSES: MAIA’S BEEN WORKING HARD? Maia hasn’t been on a case that we’ve seen in three episodes, and she’s had a seemingly endless amount of time during the workday to investigate her own problems. Is this Maia’s idea of hard work? Hahahahahahahahhahahhahahahahahahahahahhahahahaha

(Seriously though, SHOW, NOT TELL.)

“But the problem is, I’m an associate. I don’t control my own fate,” Maia says. Ah, so in her first two lines, she’s managed to announce that she’s working hard (when, obviously, she is not) and then inadvertently take my favorite Alicia theme about controlling one’s fate. I want to want your character on the show, Maia, but I kinda just want to buy you a one-way ticket to Mandyville. (To be clear, I don’t care that Maia happens to mention controlling one’s fate; Alicia doesn’t own that issue. I don’t like these lines because they remind me 1) of the ongoing issue I have with the way Maia’s being written and 2) of how much better the Kings did when they explored the same things with Alicia. I know they’re capable of writing better material than this.)

Maia agrees to go see her dad that night. She gets off the phone to go—GASP—do work.

In the conference room, Lucca’s reading a post about the abortion debate. Julius calls it “political” and I’m just wondering: what’s the difference between threats and politics? If your politics are to deprive people of their rights, and you’re stating them in the most abusive language possible, and directing it at a specific individual, how is that not a threat/harassment?

Lucca asks to call a vote on whether this is “political” or “threatening” (also, why can’t it be both?). Julius plays rank and reminds Lucca that she’s an associate and he’s a partner. Ugh. He’s just mad he’ll lose to someone he outranks. I love that Lucca always shares her opinions even when she’s not asked and she’s outranked. Some (like Julius) may not like it, but I admire her confidence. And, I love that she doesn’t speak up to show off or to prove her ideas are the best: she does it because she truly believes that what she has to say is important. (Even better: it usually is important.)

Diane calls a vote on another post, this one about rape. Barbara immediately says it’s a threat. Adrian says it’s not—he’s just making a distinction between a threat and misogyny. Lucca disagrees, vocally. Adrian says the person has to say “I am going to rape you” in order for it to be a threat, because otherwise it’s protected speech. Um, but, as Neil Gross already said, this is ChumHum’s call, not a First Amendment issue. Your right to be a dick on Chummy Friends isn’t protected by the Bill of Rights.

Diane reminds Adrian of this, and Julius goes, “Yes, but the terms have to be fair.” Do they? Legally? Or just for optics?

Maia speaks up to argue against Julius. “And if I’m attacked 50 times a day?” Maia says. Julius says that those who are the most harmed shouldn’t be judging speech. Maia takes out her phone and reads one of the abusive texts she’s been sent.

“But that’s about your parents’ scandal, right?” Julius argues, as though that makes a difference.

“My guess is yes. But sometimes they’re so busy discussing my rape that they, uh, they don’t have time to state their reasoning,” Maia retorts. Then the discussion shifts away from this.

A missed opportunity, I think, to have Maia be able to do more than say, “hey, I got a threat, and it was bad like all these others are also bad!” Has she perhaps noticed a pattern? Spoken with others who face the same threats? Read up on the issue? Picked up on other problems the TOS needs to address? Anything? This is Maia’s only contribution to the case.

Don’t get me wrong (especially since I’m always ragging on poor Maia, who hasn’t done anything other than be poorly written). I think it’s smart to bring Maia into this conversation. She has dealt with this problem personally (on Chummy sites or off), and that insight is valuable. She doesn’t need to save the day or have all the answers (she’s just a first year associate!), and I know that once they’re out of the brainstorming phase there’s not as much Maia can to do get involved. But this harassment stuff is the only thread we’ve gotten about Maia’s personal life that isn’t conspiracy drama about her parents (or the two appearances by Amy in the early episodes, #BringAmyBack), and now there’s a case about it, and the writers are only going to do the bare minimum to tie the two threads together? Maia jumps at the opportunity to help with this project. But is there more? Does she volunteer to help see it through, does it make her want to work on something else as a distraction, is she totally neutral about it to the point where people are whispering that shouldn’t she care, something, anything!?

This case doesn’t need to be a lens to develop Maia. I usually hate cases like that—the ones that only exist to parallel the main characters’ life. But if the show’s going to tackle the topic, why not loop Maia in to a greater degree? Especially after three consecutive episodes where she’s not doing any work. Just give her work to do. Tie her into the cases of the week, and not just the ones that she can relate to. Again, this was never a problem on TGW. If anything, the problem there was that Alicia was on too many important cases. That happened because TGW wasn’t an ensemble show, so, especially at first, everything had to relate to Alicia. TGF is an ensemble show, so it should be really easy for it to find the balance between “Maia’s on every case and everyone needs this one associate on every project” and “Maia never works.”

I KNOW I AM A BROKEN RECORD BUT I’LL STOP WHEN THE WRITERS DO.

Lucca gets a call from Colin and ducks out to take it. He wants to have lunch and also to know what color panties she’s wearing. She says she’s color blind—I think as a joke?

Why does “lunch” always mean “sex” on this show?

Colin goes to talk to his boss about Kresteva’s nonsense. The boss is more interested in his salad than in justice. His boss explains what Kresteva’s trying to do—scare off other firms from taking on police brutality cases by making an example out of RBK, even if that means letting Henry Rindell out on bail. Ah, this is what I suspected but at least we know the strategy for sure now.

Now Colin is “oversight head of whatever, we’ll figure out the title later.” He has no veto power, though. This boss seems fun.

Diane wants to ban every use of the n-word, which Adrian argues against because that would end up banning every rap lyric on the planet from being quoted, as well as Huckleberry Finn. Yeah, Diane. I was with you on the “adding a pile for misogynistic posts” but Adrian’s right here.

Barbara slips up and uses the word “tweets” instead of “posts.” But it’s okay; we all know we’re talking about Twitter here and not Chummy Friends.

I wonder if the writers contemplated calling it “Chummy Chums” or using the word “Chum” in it.

With no segue (deleted scene?), Julius begins talking about how there’s a problem: 50% of misogynistic tweets are sent by women. Okay, and…? How is that a problem? If women are being misogynistic and abusive, why wouldn’t they also be banned?

Lucca and Marissa chime in to say that study (which, naturally, they’ve both read) is bogus, because of how it defines misogyny.

Even Marissa is arguing against Julius. I love it. Diane taps Marissa’s arm like, “not your fight, drop off the coffee and leave” and Marissa, instead of quietly exiting, calls more attention to herself and says, “Yeah, I’m going.” Julius is all, “Who is that?!”

“I’m bored. Teach me something,” Marissa announces to Jay, who is working. People on this show have such odd ideas about their professional responsibilities. Or maybe it’s just Marissa.

Jay tells her to fuck off, I think. Marissa insists: she wants to learn how to investigate!

She asks Jay if he’s ever seen a dead body in person because he’s looking at crime scene photos. He says yes, six. “I’ve seen twelve,” Marissa replies. Jay didn’t expect that. Marissa doesn’t explain this happened during her time in the IDF. It surprises me we didn’t get more exposition there.

Anyway, this conversation makes Jay more receptive to Marissa’s questions, so he tells her she needs to get an investigator license unless she assists a licensed investigator. Marissa takes this as an invitation to join him.

Then Jax walks in and interrupts them and Marissa has to call Maia out of a meeting, because there are labor laws specifically in place for Maia Rindell that protect her from having to work for more than 15 consecutive minutes.

Maia and Jax go into a conference room to talk. There are three windows in the room’s window-wall, and there’s a great shot where Maia and Jax stand behind the window on the left and the window on the right, leaving a lot of distance between them.

Conspiracy stuff happens. Jax warns Maia against talking to her dad because he’ll be wearing a wire.

“I’ve got to get back to work,” Maia says. Do you really though?

(The answer is no, because we follow Maia through the hallways of the office and back to her desk, where she picks up her personal cell phone and phones her father to cancel their plans.)

(Rose is doing a very good job as Maia. I love the way her face changes when Henry insists that they can’t talk over the phone; it has to be in person. She takes it as an indication that Henry really might be wearing a wire, and begins to question everything she thought she knew… again.)

(I like the idea of this plot and the idea of Maia but the writing, ugh.)

More bickering about the TOS happens. I’m going to stop recapping this stuff because I think it’s pretty clear where I stand on it, and once we get to Felix… I just don’t have the time to break down why every argument he makes is wrong.

Colin texts Lucca to meet her now, so she smiles and then proposes a solution to the TOS dilemma: an appeal process. Users will be suspended after a certain number of harassing posts, a panel will review, and they’ll have a chance to appeal. I have questions about the logistics of this, but I like the idea. So does the rest of the room, Julius included. Adrian’s thrilled to have solved the problem well before the deadline.

The policy goes into effect IMMEDIATELY and without any notification (well, we don’t know that there wasn’t a new TOS agreement everyone had to click, but this would’ve been news) and begins to piss off/delight trolls. Now they get to troll lawyers!

Maia goes to meet with Elsbeth. This I’ll excuse because it seems pressing and affects the firm, so it’s kind of working.

Elsbeth doesn’t have furniture in her dentist’s office office, so there are only folding beach chairs.

I think Elsbeth’s “Ada” was designed just to fuck with me, because last week it interrupted an Alicia update and this week it’s playing a song by an artist called “Good Girl” because Elsbeth said, “Good Girl.”

Elsbeth wants Maia to feed her dad false information. Maia’s hesitant, but comes around to the idea. Elsbeth tells her to record the conversation if she does feed him the info.

Lucca and Colin are in bed together, and Colin asks Lucca out for dinner the next night. She wants to know if he means dinner or dinner dinner. The former just means “fucking” and the latter means a date (then fucking). Lucca, we deciphered this code (well, as it applies to “lunch”) during the Willicia affair, but it’s good to get confirmation.

Colin wants the date, and Lucca turns him down.

Ugh, fuck this Felix guy.

But, he reveals something interesting: Diane donated $18,860 to Hillary (which is well over the contribution limit, isn’t it? Where’s he getting this number?), and Barbara donated $23,000. Barbara donated more than Diane did. I’m surprised, but I really shouldn’t be, since a large donation lines up with what we already know about Barbara.

I don’t get how this panel works. They’re going to spend this much time on each Twitter Egg? All the name partners at RBK, for several days, hearing out every troll in person? Why did they institute a new TOS without a trial period or testing it out at all (with mock panels and etc)? This appeal system, in its current form, seems like a waste of time and money. And also weird, because… do you have to go to the RBK offices to appeal? Is there a standard procedure for who’s on the panels? For what happens during deliberations? Do you have to give up anonymity to appeal (that would make sense, tbh)? Are they a matter of public record?

For a show that comes around to the conclusion that we shouldn’t engage with trolls, it sure spends a lot of time on Felix’s antics.  

Now Diane and RBK are being harassed online. There’s a never-ending stream of hate. And somehow, in all that, Diane realizes that each account is keeping their harassment to 12 posts. This confuses me. Are their terms of service so vague they don’t tell you what would get you banned (probably; they could just say “continuous harassment” or something like that instead of revealing the exact number or that there is a number of harassing posts you can send)?

So, Adrian wonders if there’s a leak and asks Jay to investigate. Knowing that the trolls will probably talk to a white girl, he asks Marissa to help.

Lucca’s out at drinks with the dude whose ass we saw in the pilot, Zack. He’s her personal trainer. She doesn’t care about him at all, because the only reason she’s out with him at all is so that Colin can run into him and get jealous. Colin doesn’t. Awww, Lucca, you’re starting to care!

Maia goes to meet with her dad, and I wonder if she called first (which… would be the logical thing to do if she’s worried he’s wearing a wire, since he’d need to anticipate the conversation in order to actually be wearing the wire, right?) (unless “wearing a wire” means “making an iPhone recording” in this case?) because there’s a party going on when she arrives home.

At the end of the night, Maia and Henry have a chance to talk. Unfortunately, it plays out exactly as Elsbeth suggested it might, and Maia has to feed her father the lie about RBK.

This Ada thing is a running gag now. Hmm.  

Marissa goes to investigate and finds one of the trolls in person. Marissa compliments him, and suddenly he’s let his guard down and tells her everything she needs to know—namely that Felix has their transcripts.

Adrian asks Jay to investigate Julius as the source of the leak. Neither Diane nor Barbara seem to agree with this decision, but they don’t disagree strongly enough to argue.

Ugh, Felix.

I am not the hugest fan of these definitions that pop up in the mean posts. Not sure they’re necessary, nor am I sure those terms are what would confuse a viewer who didn’t already know exactly what this episode was about. Actually, who is the intended audience of this? It seems a little too widely discussed to be these writers’ usual material.

As Lucca, Barbara, and Adrian discuss what to do, Elsbeth arrives, carrying three Vera Bradley bags and grinning. “Oh my God, when did this law firm become a circus?” Barbara wonders.

Felix warns Diane that Neil Gross may have gone to her firm for the TOS for a reason.

Elsbeth updates Barbara, Adrian, and Lucca about the story she planted with Henry.

Marissa enjoys pretending to be someone she’s not for the purposes of investigating. Anyway, turns out Marissa and Jay are investigating Felix’s boyfriend.

Annnnd it works, and turns out the leak isn’t Julius… it’s ChumHum’s offices. Diane realizes it’s a set-up.

Marissa is alerted to a new problem: instead of using the n-word, trolls are now writing “Neil Gross.” Oh, no. (So they DID ban specific words?? I DON’T UNDERSTAND)

Marissa brings this to Diane and explains that one of the trolls really likes her. Diane is confused by how Marissa would even know the troll, and Marissa says, “It’s nothing. They’re easily confused when women offer them attention.” This is her best line since she told Elfman, “God, handsome men are so weak.”  

Lucca walks into Colin’s office, angry, and tells him she hates games and to knock it off. He’s not doing anything bad… he’s just not acting jealous, and that makes Lucca mad.

Colin figures it out, and realizes that Lucca’s plan didn’t work. “Let’s go,” she says. I can’t wait until these two just decide to become a couple and stop with the games.

Ugh, I am not here for this Lucca-kisses-and-fondles-Colin-while-he-drives-down-a-dark-and-twisty-road thing. I know these writers well enough to know the car isn’t going to crash, and so it just feels weird and unnecessary until Colin finally pulls over. It also feels exactly like the Kings’ (okay, mostly Robert King’s) idea of edgy sex, and there was more than enough of that on TGW. More 3x01 Willicia type scenes and fewer scenes that remind me of season 4 Kalinda, please and thanks.

Colin lives in a giant house. Why does one person need all those rooms?

Julius notices that someone’s gone through his things and storms into Adrian’s office (or maybe it’s Barbara’s office? They’re both there). Julius, understandably, isn’t happy. He says he was the most loyal employee they had, but no more: he knows he was targeted for this, and that people think differently of him now. He quits the firm and calls Andrew Hart, the lawyer who gave him his card in 1x03.

Diane has to inform Neil Gross about how his name is being used. He’s not pleased, and now he just wants this whole TOS thing to go away as fast as possible. What a shock.

Ugh, Felix. Diane says they’ll reinstate him and he’s sad he can’t keep trolling. Boo hoo.

Diane monologues at him about how he’s a clown and how he destroys his points by being racist and misogynist and how he’s a bully. It’s satisfying, but doesn’t really solve any problems. Like, is the show saying here that harassment is hard to control so it’ll never be controlled, so just don’t feed the trolls?

Diane confronts Neil about the leak, and he responds—even though she’s right—by calling Adrian and Barbara in for another meeting, one without Diane. Barbara is pleased with this: for the first time in weeks, her power doesn’t seem like it’s slipping away from her.

Lucca isn’t wearing high heels!

Colin shows up to RBK and meets with Lucca. He warns her to stay clear of RBK’s finances. Why? Because of the story Elsbeth planted. It’s sweet that Colin warns Lucca. She thanks him, genuinely, but she’s distracted… Maia’s right there, and Lucca knows this means Maia’s world is about to be destroyed even more.

[florrickandassociates]

TGF Thoughts: 1x01-- Inauguration

For those of you familiar with my posts, you know what this is. For those of you new to this fandom, I write obnoxiously long recaps of every episode (and you can find them all here). I started doing this with 6x01 of The Good Wife and I’m continuing the tradition for The Good Fight. They’re obnoxiously long because I try to be detailed, but they’re in bullet points so it should be easy to skip around and find comments on a particular scene. 

As always, I’m happy to elaborate/explain/discuss any of the ideas in here. I’m hoping to get a 1x02 recap up before 1x03 goes live, but we’ll see. 

Often, it’s easy to tell what a show wants to be from the way it introduces itself to the audience. First impressions aren’t all that matter—but they’re important. They’re especially important on the spinoff of a show that had an opening scene so iconic the writers recreated it seven years later, expecting viewers to get the reference. TGW’s opening scene set the tone for the whole series, so the bar was high for TGF, a show that exists essentially because CBS wants more money. How do you craft an opening scene that sets the tone for a show where the premise is PLEASE GIVE US YOUR MONEY?

The answer, it turns out, is to begin the series with a scene that acts as an argument in favor of its own existence. As Diane watches last month’s inauguration, we’re given a reason to care about this show about a diverse group of women fighting back. Why should we tune in to this show? Because we’re ready for a fight, too.

So, the opening moments of TGF—Diane, alone, watching that man’s inauguration—are irrelevant to most of what follows. You could argue (as I think the Kings have tried to, bizarrely) that Diane decides to retire to run away from the shitshow, but, come on. You and I both know that Diane decided to retire because the Kings needed a way to make her extremely vulnerable to the scandal they created. We know she would’ve retired if Hillary had won (that “shattered every glass ceiling” line they say they had to replace was terrible, btw), and we know she would’ve retired if this spinoff had aired a year earlier. As far as I’m concerned, the opening scene stands alone, and that’s fine.

In fact, since it sets the tone for the whole show (which will, undoubtedly, become more political as we get into the episodes written/filmed post-election), I’d argue it works (much, much) better as an opening scene than the Maia intro (here’s a new woman you’ve never seen before! She is a lawyer!) or the Diane intro (here is a house in France that will be important to this episode and only this episode!).

As much as I hate to admit it—because admitting it means that we’re really living in a world where that man is POTUS, the most recent presidential election gave TGF the reason it needed to exist. The moment I saw the tagline “GET NASTY”, it clicked into place. Suddenly I was excited about TGF as more than a weekly check-in with some characters I used to love. Suddenly I liked the name The Good Fight much more than The Greater Good (the show’s working title). Nothing had changed about the show itself—the “fight” in the title was still about recovering from a fictional scandal; the show was still something that came about because CBS wanted to profit more off of TGW—but it felt different. It felt necessary. And, even better: the show knew it.

The Kings claim they didn’t expect Trump to win, but they do have a knack for being eerily good at predicting what the political mood will be like in a few months. They seem to be right on the money with The Good Fight, even if they had to rethink the opening. The name and premise of the show, both decided in advance of the election, are about struggling.

(I know the Kings think there’s something darkly funny about watching Diane watch the inauguration or whatever but come on. They’re marketing to an audience that would not only understand that “Get Nasty” is a reference to “Nasty Woman” but be driven to watch by that reference.)

Before I move on: Hi, Diane… I’m sorry, but I have a message from the future—one fucking month in the future—this is really happening and it is a horrific shitshow.

Diane turns off the TV, drops the remote, and walks out of the frame as Erin McKewon’s “You Were Right About Everything” begins to play. She has the right idea.

A few seconds in and TGF is already spot-on with its music choices. Yay! (I don’t know if I like the songs used in The Good Universe because I associate them with the shows or because the people choosing them and I have similar tastes in music, but I’ll take it either way.)  

Diane’s dark living room gives way to an image of an unfamiliar face against a black background. Moments later, the lights come on, and we see Maia Rindell, nervously waiting to take the bar exam. It’s hard to make much of her from this glimpse—who wouldn’t be nervous waiting to take the bar exam? Why would a character be on this show and not be a lawyer? One thing, though, is clear: she’s just starting out her career.

Cut to the French countryside, where Diane is touring a beautiful estate. She takes in the view and smiles: she’s going to love it here.

Then we’re back with Maia, sometime later. She’s waiting impatiently for her bar exam results. When she learns that she’s passed, she screams, alarming her sleeping girlfriend, Amy.

Maia begins to jump up and down on the bed and then jumps on top of Amy. It’s super adorable.  

(Before I continue: I’m happy that a) Maia is queer, b) this is not remarked upon or treated as a huge reveal, and c) she’s in a committed long-term relationship. Seeing as TGW had a total of zero lead characters in relationships that resemble the ones most people actually have, this is a welcome change.)

Also: Maia and Amy’s apartment is amazing; they live behind a giant clock.

The music continues, and now Diane’s in a setting both familiar and unfamiliar: it’s familiar because David Lee and Howard Lyman are there; it’s unfamiliar because it’s an office in New York City instead of the old L/G/KeyboardSmash offices. Okay, I know they’re still in Chicago. But that... is definitely New York…

Anyway. Diane’s announcing her retirement. She stands and walks around the room, totally in control. The firm has grown since we last saw it. David and Howard congratulate her, and David secretly rejoices as the music ends. More power for him!

You know what I find odd? Lucca isn’t in the opening sequence. She’s ostensibly also a co-lead, so where is she in this sequence that starts of the show? My hope is that this doesn’t indicate she’s less of a co-lead and was instead an intentional move so her appearance later is more sudden. (Then again, this sequence doesn’t hint that Diane knows Maia or that Maia’s going to work at Diane’s firm, so… I see no reason Lucca couldn’t have been included too.)

The firm now has NINE name partners (LDGLLGLKT) because the Kings think they’re clever. I’m less amused by this than I am excited to know they (finally) understand that the audience is so over the name changes.

It’s Maia’s first day at LockhartKeyboardSmash, and she’s making friends one of the other new associates.

Maia wears a rosary ring, but she is not religious. Hm.

She is, however, nervous. She seems to be a very nervous person in general, though maybe that’s just my impression because we’re mostly seeing her in environments where she’s uncomfortable. (Maia is such an Alicia-esque character—the original casting call for her said it, not me!—that I wonder if Alicia used to act like that, too. Did Alicia struggle to put together a sentence without hesitating, the way Maia does? If so, when did she get that out of her system and learn to pause strategically instead? Law school? Being a politician’s wife? Gradually over time? Ok back to Maia now.)

I would never want to receive a job orientation from David Lee, and that’s all I have to say about that.

David calls off names of the new associates, and his tone changes when he gets to Maia. Be a little more obvious with your ass kissing, would you?

“Say hello to your parents for me, would you?” David tells her. He also informs her that some flowers have arrived for her, because apparently her parents are clueless as to the fact that she might not want to publicize, on her first day of work, that she’s the daughter of prominent billionaires.

Maia tells her mom not to send any more gifts; she doesn’t want to seem “entitled.” At least someone has some self-awareness! “Are people not being nice to you?” Maia’s mom, Bernadette Peters (!!!!!) asks. That one line is enough for me to recognize that it’s amazing Maia even understands that entitled is a thing people might call her.

Lenore, sitting in her office that looks like a living room but is really adjacent to a trading floor (what?), asks Maia if she wants Diane to give her her own office. Oh boy.

(Maia may not want to be seen as entitled… but I have to ask why, right out of law school, she took a job at her godmother’s firm. I’m not saying she shouldn’t have taken the job or anything... I’m just saying that while she understands she’s being perceived as entitled, she’s not exactly rocking the boat trying to accomplish things without her privilege. She seems pretty damn comfortable benefitting from it.)

Maia tries to rid herself of the Flowers of Privilege by mixing them in with the other LGKeyboardSmash floral arrangements. Howard walks by and assumes she’s a florist. Heh.

Maia is then called into Diane’s office. I love Diane’s new office, especially the wallpaper.

Diane also offers to give Maia her own office. This is because Diane is Maia’s godmother and she wants to spoil her. Oof. I get the impulse to help, but in what world is that helping to do anything other than make instant enemies for Maia?

Diane gives Maia a folio (is that what those things are called? I’m blanking on the word) that was given to her by Chicago’s first female public defender. She calls it a “baton” and tells Maia it’s her turn to carry it. Awww. It’s amazing how instantly I buy that Diane has a goddaughter even after seven seasons without a single mention of Maia.

Diane brings Maia into a deposition. Before we find out the topic of our COTW, we learn that Lucca’s not at LGSKGJSLG38527;;jslfj82745K anymore. What a shock.

Lucca’s been at Reddick and Boseman, the firm she’s at now, for four months. “Alicia too?” Diane wonders. “No, just me,” Lucca says pleasantly, but she doesn’t offer any further comments, so it comes off like unspoken shit went down. I don’t really care, though. I know why Alicia and Lucca aren’t working together and aren’t as close as they were, and it has nothing to do with them and everything to do with TGF’s plot. I don’t want TGF to tell me what Alicia’s up to, because I have my own headcanons. This line is the bare minimum for addressing her absence, and that’s fine by me. (I hope she and Lucca didn’t have a falling out, though. I would love to think they’re still friendly and working together, but obviously, if that were the case, there’d be a strong reason for Alicia to still show up frequently in TGF, and that’s not going to happen.)

Adrian Boseman walks in, interrupting any chance we had at learning more about Alicia’s whereabouts. I like you already, Adrian! No, but really: I like Adrian.

He sizes up the room, noting that all of the lawyers his firm brought are black and Diane’s whole team is white. Diane laughs off his comment. Sure, Diane.

The case is a police brutality case, and there’s a video. Case stuff happens; we spend a lot of time watching Maia react to it. Also there’s metadata, a word the Kings will never tire of using.

Maia thinks they should settle for 4 million (Diane’s asked for her opinion). Diane says they’ve been asked to settle for under $500,000. See, they’re representing Cook County now.

Adrian encourages Lucca to “play the radical” but she doesn’t want to; she thinks Diane will know. Lucca does anyway.

Diane makes an argument about Adrian’s firm taking on police brutality cases to make a profit. This is something I’d be interested in learning more about. The Kings said they’ve done their research on this, but I’d like to do a little research of my own.

“We’re both using this case, Lucca; why don’t you just stick to the facts?” Diane says. This is one of those arguments where it’s hard for me to determine who’s right and who’s wrong because we’re not given all the facts, but I think I’m going to side with Lucca here. There’s using a case to make a profit, and using a case to do good and make a profit. Only one of those sides contains “doing good,” so why would I suddenly only focus on the profit part?

Maia has the same questions I do. “Are we on the right side on this one?” she asks.

“We are on a necessary side,” Diane explains. Hold up. I understand that it’s necessary because this is how legal procedure works in this country and all that. But how is it necessary that Diane defend racist police departments who use unwarranted force and beat the shit out of black people? How is that a necessary side? Diane didn’t take on this case because she believes in the innocence of these particular policemen. She took on this case because Cook County is a good client to have. If she can sleep at night, then fine. But don’t tell me it’s a necessary side just because they might be innocent. You could say that about literally every single side of every single case. Isn’t that the whole point of trials? Everyone’s entitled to representation, innocent until proven guilty?

Diane continues with her speech: “People I’ve thought with all my heart were guilty turned out to be innocent, and people I thought were saints, they, um, they weren’t. That’s why you don’t go on instinct. You wait. You listen. And watch. Eventually everyone reveals themselves.” Argh. I find this so unsatisfying as an answer. It’s not bad advice to keep an open mind, but it feels like Diane’s not saying “keep an open mind instead of making snap judgments” but rather saying “keep an open mind because it’ll make you feel better about representing people you’d rather not be representing.” On second thought, that is useful advice. After all, Maia still has to defend clients she thinks are guilty, and maybe that would help her do it.

“People I thought were saints, they, um, they weren’t.” The Kings have said this line is about Alicia. If you follow me on Twitter, you know this has been under my skin for days now. At first, I thought Diane would never say these words. I’ve reconsidered. While I still think it’s odd she’d think of Alicia before, I dunno, the liberal legend who turned out to be a rapist (W205—I’m writing W in front of TGW episode numbers and F in front of TGF episode numbers, btw) or her dad who accused his best friend of being a communist (W419) or her husband who she discovered cheated on her, I suppose it’s possible, especially since this scene comes right after a meeting with Lucca. (Also, why would Diane have learned this lesson from Alicia’s betrayal in W722 and not from 40 years of being a lawyer?)

But, it irks me a little that Diane would use Saint Alicia as an example here. If anything, Diane was one of Alicia’s biggest critics throughout TGW’s run, and she was always suspicious of her (she never bought into the Saint Alicia myth!). In W101, Diane believes Alicia’s being entitled and trying to upstage her (Alicia is really attempting to help a client and clumsily moves a little too fast). There’s another season 1 episode where Diane is and remains convinced Alicia’s using SLG to fight Peter’s battles (this thought has not crossed Alicia’s mind). There’s a season two episode where Diane asks Alicia to join her new firm behind Will’s back, and the second Diane finds out Will knows about the new firm, she says that Alicia must’ve told him (Will didn’t know that Alicia knew). Diane befriends Alicia in season 3 in order to discourage her from sleeping with Will. Even in the later seasons, there are episodes like W620, where a misunderstanding is enough for Diane to believe Alicia’s scheming against her, or W703, where an even sillier misunderstanding leads Diane, for the second time in like five episodes, to mistrust Alicia. And that’s not even including the time that, you know, Alicia plotted for months to leave Diane’s firm and take clients with her. But sure. Diane thought Alicia was a saint.

I think what’s happening here is that the Kings thought they’d be cute by referring to Alicia as a saint, because SAINT ALICIA. The problem is that they put those words in Diane’s mouth, and now it sounds like Diane is saying she actually bought into the Saint Alicia crap. But maybe that’s the part of the point. Maybe Diane’s trying to save face just a little bit. After all, it’s easier to admit that you mistakenly believed in the same larger-than-life myth everyone else bought into than it is to admit that you had your suspicions, truly believed you knew someone, and were proven wrong. Ironically, if Diane’s trying to teach Maia that people aren’t always what they seem, she’d be better off telling her the full story.

(Um, also, I’m being a little unfair. Obviously a lot of the reason why Diane would reference Alicia here is that she was hurt—whether she “should have been” or not—by Alicia’s actions. I’m not questioning why Diane would mention Alicia; I’m questioning why she’d use the word saint to describe her own views towards a woman she’s been suspicious of since day one.)

At Reddick/Boseman, the attorneys are having an internal meeting about settlements, and we get our first glimpse of Barbara Kolstad, who would be my new favorite character if I didn’t also love all of the other characters. Barbara asks Lucca for advice on how to handle this. “I think Diane’s got something to prove and she’s out to prove it,” Lucca says. (Oh yeah! In all of my talk about Diane’s reasoning, I forgot to mention that this is her last case and she doesn’t want to lose it. Also, that reminds me that the last time Diane thought she was working her last case, the client fired her and hired Alicia instead. Yes. Diane definitely thought Alicia was a saint.)

Barbara understands what Lucca’s saying. I really like the way Erica Tazel plays Barbara’s thought process—her eyes express everything.

Seriously, I can’t wait to see more from Barbara and Adrian.

Reddick/Boseman is quite obviously the old LGksadjklasjflkahg set after some (minor) renovations. I think, mostly, they just painted, redecorated, and took out the central conference room. I don’t think there’s an in-universe reason they’re in the same space; I think there’s a budget reason.

Lucca has to put on a British accent so Adrian’s call will be put through faster. Haha, it’s just incredible that Lucca has a believable British accent. I don’t know how in the world they came up with that one.

Adrian is amused by Lucca’s fake/real accent, and I’m amused by his amusement. Unamused? Lucca.

Now we’re watching a retirement slide show for Diane. “Good Luck Diane! We’ll miss you!” a slide reads in an ugly font. The narration on the slideshow says that Diane was an assistant district attorney. Wait. So she practiced law somewhere other than Chicago (since it’s ADA and not ASA), and she didn’t start out in a private firm?! Woah. Also, omg, young Diane!

Diane’s many friends congratulate her and joke that if she wants to come out of retirement, they’ll have work for her.

The Rindells appear and briefly talk finances. Hmmm. Then Maia and Amy arrive, and Lenore asks when they’re getting married—they don’t have the Supreme Court excuse anymore. (So, Maia and Amy have been together for a while.)

A photo of Diane and Will pops up the slideshow next, and Diane wistfully stares at it. I’m glad that made it in. <3

Then the party’s over, and… that was fast. I was expecting to spend a whole act there.

Outside in the valet line, Maia’s dad gives her a weird warning about her uncle Jax.

Case stuff happens. Maia notices that there’s a car in the background of the video that has its own camera, so there’s an alternate recording of the events somewhere. What a great thing it is that Maia has enough money to know that! (I kid, I kid. It’s an important find.)

The familiar TGUniverse score is back now, but it sounds a bit more up-tempo and seems to have percussions now. Fine by me.

Maia feels triumphant for a moment, then Lyman mistakes her for a florist again (… ffs, I just wrote “florrist,” with two rs like I’m writing Florrick, because habit), and then she gets a call from Amy, informing her that their apartment is being searched.

Two things of note on the search warrant: one, Maia’s address is listed and it is a bogus address that gives no indication of where in the city she might live, and two, it’s dated 2/24/2017, so TGF takes place a few days ahead of realtime. I expect that TGF will be as bad with timeline as TGW was, so…

Amy tells Maia that the search is connected to Maia’s parents, then gets off the phone to argue with some agents who are trying to tell her what she is and isn’t allowed to do.

Maia calls her dad, who doesn’t pick up: he’s having a drink. Then Diane’s called out of a deposition to talk to her accountant. Uh oh.

Maia arrives at her family’s home just in time to see her dad being taken away in handcuffs. “I didn’t do it, Maia,” he says. “I know,” she replies. But does she? 

Diane hasn’t heard the news yet. She turns on the TV and sees what’s going on: BILLIONAIRE INVESTOR HENRY RINDELL ARRESTED. He ran a Ponzi scheme… and now all of Diane’s retirement money is gone. 

“FUCK,” Diane says when she learns all her savings are gone. That’s a very well deserved inaugural f-bomb, show!

Now it’s time for the credits sequence. At first, they seem like nothing special: cast names in an ugly font and images of objects you’d find in an office. Then the objects BEGIN TO SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST IN SLOW MOTION as the score gets more operatic. I’m not sure I understand, but I’m not sure I need to.

(I don’t associate most of the TGW/TGF score with Alicia—more with the general feel of TGUniverse’s Chicago—but it’s weird to me that the piece of music in the TGF credits is the one from the 6x21 scene where Alicia and Grace turn Zach’s room into a home office. It’s possible they’ve used it before, but it only took me a second to place it. And I’m bad at identifying instrumental music, so I must strongly associate it with Alicia. Weird. 6x21 is an episode so Alicia-centric that when I wrote about it, I suggested that TGW no longer needed most of its non-Alicia series regulars!)

This episode was directed by Brooke Kennedy. I like it when Brooke directs, since she’s the producer most involved with the day-to-day on set. She has a very good understanding of the show’s themes, and she’s usually able to find interesting ways to visualize those themes.

This show was not just created by the Kings: there’s some other dude listed as a creator. I’m not even going to bother to write his name here, because… well, because I haven’t heard much about his role in the creative process, which I take to mean that he was called in to help with the show when it looked like the Kings weren’t going to be involved, and the moment the Kings returned, his level of involvement decreased significantly. I’m curious to know the real story.

Apparently you can see some dude’s bare ass in the first scene of act 2, but it’s so hidden in shadow I’d have to raise my screen’s brightness all the way and really look to see it. And, I’m sorry, CBS, but I really don’t care enough about this guy’s ass to get excited about the nudity.

The naked guy is with Lucca. Lucca’s watching the Rindell scandal unfold on TV. She recognizes Maia and watches carefully.

Maia, Amy, and Lenore wait for the family lawyer to arrive. Maia was on the board of a foundation, which might’ve been a front. Amy realizes this is bad: Maia needs her own lawyer. Lenore tries to convince Maia otherwise, but Maia knows Amy’s right.

Some dude on the news is insisting that Maia must’ve been in on the scheme. As the news plays, Maia showers. Amy joins her and comforts her. I’m excited to get more moments like this from Amy and Maia—not shower scenes, but scenes that show how they support each other from day to day, how well they know each other, and stuff like that.

Diane and her accountant go over the details of her new financial reality. It’s bad. Her money’s gone, even money that wasn’t involved in the fund is at risk (including Kurt’s money; they haven’t divorced yet), and all the charities she’s steered towards the Rindells have also lost their money. The house in France is gone. And Diane can’t even retire. She might not even be able to keep her apartment.

Christine Baranski is amazing. Have I said that yet?

At the next Lockhart Deckler Lee whatever meeting, Diane sits at the head of the table. Brooke positions the camera behind Diane, so we see everyone staring at her. She commanded the room in the earlier scene where she announced her retirement, but here, she’s not the one with the power. And everyone can see right through her speech about not wanting to retire.

Diane’s lost most of her leverage, but not all of it: she can still remind the partners they’re going to lose Cook County’s business without her. The score from W601 beings to play. Not sure why.

In the elevator at work, someone recognizes Maia and begins to yell at her. “I know where you work, you stupid bitch,” he screams. You ruined everything, you stupid bitch, SING WITH ME!

Maia’s new lawyer, Yesha, is waiting for her when she gets off the elevator. Yesha is 25, so Maia doesn’t trust her. Yesha seems capable, but inexperienced, and Maia resents having to get a lawyer at all.

Diane embarks on a quest to find a new job. Might one of her friends that said they’d always have a position open for her be willing to take her on? Everyone thinks she’s looking for an emeritus position. She’s not. And not even her friends have room for her, not now.

Diane gets to say “bullshit” and it feels so natural and appropriate to the moment it was only on rewatch that I processed it as a curse word. I’m glad—and unsurprised—to see that the Kings know how and when to use swear words.

“You’re poison. No firm will hire you,” Diane’s friend, Renee, informs her. Quick! Where’s the nearest desk!? Shove everything off of it!!! Now!!!

After a long and frustrating day, Diane returns home to find Kurt waiting on the stairs outside her home. She invites him in for a drink, and they discuss divorce. “It’s about money. It’s not about us,” she insists. Kurt doesn’t seem to care. Diane says it’s in his lap. Kurt says he didn’t leave her; Diane says that actually, he did—when he slept with Holly. I’m not sure I understand why Diane wouldn’t initiate the divorce? Does she not really want to? Does she not want to accept that it’s over? Does she want Kurt to accept responsibility? Maybe her reasons will become clearer later on. Or maybe she’ll stay married to but estranged from Kurt until season seven and beyond. (Sound familiar?)

Kurt isn’t even sure where they stand now. Honestly, neither am I. Did Kurt really cheat on Diane while they were married?! I still can’t believe that.

At any rate, Kurt still knows how to be there for Diane. She explains her current predicament to him and starts to cry. “How is my life suddenly so fucking meaningless?” Diane wonders. “It isn’t,” Kurt reassures her. I’ve said it before and I have a feeling I’ll be saying it many times over the course of TGF’s run: Christine Baranski is amazing.

I’m rereading this section of my recap, and it just occurred to me that I didn’t even think to comment about what it means for someone as successful as Diane to lose everything she’s known. I think part of the reason my mind didn’t go there is that this screams “NEW SHOW, NEW SCANDAL” instead of “NATURAL PLOT DEVELOPMENT,” but I think I should try to treat it as the latter. Diane’s emotional arc, no matter why it came about, is something that’ll drive this show going forward. For ages, I’ve thought of Diane as a character who works best in a supporting role. She’s well-defined enough to be a lead, but she’s so stable and successful—where’s the story? I can picture her leading a procedural, or a character study drama, but a huge part of her character was that she’d worked so hard, pre-TGW, that aside from firm drama bullshit and ambitions of getting a judgeship, her life was already the way she wanted it to be. She was more captivating than her story arc, if that makes sense. Because of the way the Kings like to write, it makes a lot of sense to me that to promote Diane to lead, they’d want to turn her into an unlikely fish out of water. Now she’s a captivating character with a captivating plot. And better still, a lot of the reason this plot is likely to work is that we know what Diane’s accomplished and how hard she’s worked. When she cries about her life feeling meaningless, we know exactly what meaning she used to find in her life. And, because she was always so stable and self-assured (and well-written!) as a secondary character on TGW, watching her lose everything hits even harder.

Maia’s playing with her rosary ring and lurking in reception, waiting to greet Diane. Diane’s not in a great mood, to say the least.

“We have a little opening right here,” Adrian advises Lucca, observing the icy Maia/Diane interaction. "Go for jugular.” As he says this, from approximately his POV, Maia is literally standing in the opening between two panes of glass.

Case stuff happens. This case is barely there. Lucca makes things personal, and Diane steps out.

Elevator Asshole who called Maia a stupid bitch has returned to complain more about Maia. Dude. It sucks that you lost your money, but you’re a misogynistic asshole who’s hanging around lobbies all day to harass a 25 year old woman at her place of work. You’re pathetic. And scary. And please don’t follow Maia, you creep.

Maia runs into the ladies’ room. Lucca takes care of the creep. He screams he’s going to sue Maia, and Lucca screams at him, “THEN DO IT. BUT RIGHT NOW, FUCK OFF!” YAY LUCCA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I want so much more from Lucca in this series. In the first episode, she’s pretty much just playing lawyer and supportive friend. I’ll have more to say about Lucca in episode two.)

Lucca walks into the bathroom, and Maia scurries into a stall, not sure if whoever opened the door is a friend or a foe. Lucca looks straight into the mirror and gives Maia a pep talk.

“When they see you cry, it makes them happy. So get it out of your system here,” she begins. Maia eyes her through the opening in the stall door—Lucca’s positioned herself where she can easily be seen. And she knows Maia’s watching.

Maia doesn’t understand why Lucca, who’s on the opposing side of the case, would be helping her. So Lucca explains it’s because Maia is the New Alicia. At least, that’s the (not very sub) subtext of her words.

No, but really: why is Lucca helping Maia? Lucca may like to say she’s out for herself, and she speaks with the non-nonsense, hard, strident tone of someone you wouldn’t necessarily want to befriend… but Lucca is actually a really kind person. And she’s not just kind to people she knows or had a reason to be kind to. She’s kind to people who should be her competition. I don’t know if there’s something she finds compelling about victims of scandals (my two examples of “Lucca is a kind person” are Lucca helping Alicia and Lucca helping Maia, and obviously Alicia and Maia have some significant things in common) or if she’s normally the kind who would reach out without realizing what she’s doing, though. I have a feeling she doesn’t do this too often, because anyone that’s constantly looking out for strangers is going to have at least a few friends.

(Which makes me wonder: Lucca helps Alicia right away, but only becomes her friend after months of working with each other and watching Alicia’s 7x13 breakdown. Does Lucca help Maia because she realizes she can help, because she wants to help, or because Maia reminds her of Alicia? Or all three?)

“I had a friend. Went through the same thing. Said it was hell for a few months,” Lucca says. Maia opens the door. Lucca doesn’t turn around the whole time, and when she’s done with her speech, she turns sharply and leaves.

Lucca’s speech is long, at least by the Kings’ standards. It’s also nearly identical to the speech Alicia gives her client in W101. I wish I could appreciate this more as a moment for Lucca, but it just makes me think about Alicia. To her credit, Lucca delivers the speech in a different manner than Alicia does. Alicia manages to be empathetic without getting emotional (which is, I think, why she made such a good handholder for clients—they felt her connecting with them but she still always came across as professional). Lucca is clearly sympathetic to Maia’s situation—she’s giving the speech, after all—but it kinda sounds like she’s trying to keep her tone as impersonal as David Lee’s orientation spiel, with only occasional glances (via the mirror) to let Maia know she’s a friend.  

Diane gets a case related video and it’s bad for her client.

Adrian stops by to see Diane. She seems almost too tired to talk. But then he says something interesting: “I want you to join our firm.” Diane laughs, but Adrian is serious. He offers to let Diane be their diversity hire. Heh.

Why isn’t Adrian afraid of the Rindell scandal? His firm wasn’t affected by it, because the Rindell fund “never invited black folk.”

Adrian offers Diane the opportunity to “fuck them back” for fucking her over. Why do I feel like Adrian is going to be responsible for most of the swearing on this show?

Adrian—whose office really looks like Will’s office, because I’m pretty sure it is—and Barbara fight over the offer Adrian extended to Diane.

Barbara’s concern about Diane is that “she doesn’t know her place. She’s not gonna be happy until she’s in the inner circle.” I’m not sure what new, desperate Diane looks like, but that totally describes the old, confident Diane. You don’t get to be that self-assured and content making big decisions quickly without fully believing you deserve a seat at the table.

(In the TGW Pilot, Diane had a similar suspicion about Alicia—a junior associate who doesn’t think she’s a junior associate—and that was way off base.)

Adrian argues that he and Barbara are also ambitious like that, and ambition is a good thing. Barbara’s point isn’t that ambition is bad, though: it’s that they don’t want “people who are only happy when they’re giving orders.” She calls in Lucca for backup.

Lucca’s dress has a friggin’ cat on it. I love this show’s costume department.

Lucca argues in favor of bringing Diane in because she’s a good lawyer, idealistic, and cunning. Adrian laughs at Barbara’s move backfiring on her. And now Diane’s a junior partner.

Amy is watching a sex tape. Someone’s put some generic lesbian sex tape on TMZ and is claiming it’s Maia and Amy. “This isn’t even us! This person has a tattoo!” Amy exclaims. Maia tells her to ignore it—she’s a quick study.

Diane’s in her office, looking at a picture of her and Will, when Kurt shows up.

Kurt says he doesn’t want a divorce—he “doesn’t want the door to close completely.” Is the door really open, though? “It is closed between us,” Diane states. Kurt gets a bit agitated: “Then divorce me. But I won’t do it.” I’m curious, everyone: why do you think Diane’s insisting that Kurt be the one to initiate a divorce?

“You Were Right About Everything” begins to play again. Maia and Amy are in bed getting ready to go to sleep. “My parents saw the tape,” Amy says. They don’t believe it’s not her, and that breaks my heart a little.

Diane’s back in the Lockhart/Deckler conference room. Like the first partner meeting scene, she’s standing up. She’s in control, announcing her new firm. She walks around the table on her way out, drops the bombshell that they’re going to have to agree to a $6 million payout on the police brutality case, and defiantly exits the room. “Want the door closed?” she says. She leaves before she gets the answer.

David Lee fires Maia, who’s already having a rough day (week). Maia’s returned the folio to Diane, as though to indicate that she’s giving up (Diane said the folio would force her to accomplish something that would make her feel she deserved it). When Diane goes to return it, she sees that Maia’s being fired.

As Maia leaves the firm, Howard stops her to say he’s sorry she was fired; he likes the flowers. Wait, he knows she was fired but still thinks she was in charge of the flowers? Why would that be the case?

As Diane’s packing up her office, she calls Adrian to let him know Maia’s role in the COTW. She suggests that Adrian hire Maia. This is one of those moments that seems innocent enough—Diane’s just trying to help out her goddaughter who’s going through an awful scandal—but when you think about it, Diane’s first act at the predominantly black firm that took her in when no one else would is to get her (formerly) wealthy white goddaughter a job. YMMV on this. It’s not wrong of Diane to make this suggestion, but it’s this kind of thing that, when unchecked, leads to the lack of diversity Geneva called Peter out on in W412.

Maia sits outside of the firm, staring off into space and watching a WALK sign turn to DON’T WALK. I was going to write something about how Alicia also stared at a WALK/DON’T WALK sign when she found out Will died, but apparently my memory has mixed up Alicia’s feelings after Will’s death with a visual from the scene where Prady realizes he’s lost the SA election. Don’t know what happened there. (I think I mixed up the insert of Alicia watching a mother and child cross the street with the WALK/DON’T WALK?) At any rate, the writers have used this before to symbolize an existential crisis. I think it works because it suggests that there should be movement—walk when it says walk; run when the light starts blinking; don’t get stuck at the light for another traffic cycle—when there isn’t any. Maia’s at a standstill, stuck even when she should be moving with urgency.

Diane sees Maia sitting there and approaches with the folio. “You left this,” she says. “Give it to someone who needs it. I’m done,” Maia responds. “No, you’re not. Let’s go,” Diane decides. “Where?” Maia wants to know. “Someplace,” Diane says. “Why?” Maia can’t wrap her head around this. “Because it’s not over yet,” Diane reassures her. No, it’s not. The Good Fight is just beginning.

[florrickandassociates]

TGF Thoughts-- 1x02: First Week

Thoughts on 1x02 under the cut! 

(I did it! I recapped two episodes in one week!)

First Week takes advantage of its ability to swear from the very start: “Bitch. Fucking bitch. I know where you live,” a man says angrily. This delightful (by which I mean vile) message is on Maia’s personal cell phone. She’s listening in the elevator on the way to work, and it’s evident, watching her reactions, that this is getting to her. Phone Twitter Egg #1 then promises to rape both Maia and Amy (though he doesn’t refer to Amy by name, instead choosing to use a slur). Maia moves on to the next message, which starts off well enough: “Hi. Good morning.” Maia relaxes for a split second, before Phone Twitter Egg #2 spits, “fuck you.” Maia tenses again, then scrolls through her voicemail. It’s full of unknown numbers leaving multiple messages a minute, presumably all like the two we’ve heard.

This opening makes me appreciate that TGF is on All Access. The writers don’t have to dance around the language that most directly and concisely makes their point, and they don’t have to sub in words (think about how the TGW characters always had to say “banging” when you could totally tell they wanted to say “fucking”). Do we need to hear this abusive language to understand what’s going on? No. But there’s something about how explicit it is—and I mean explicit both in the sense of “clear” and the sense of “R-rated”--  that shows exactly what Maia’s up against.

On a different note, is Reddick/Boseman supposed to be literal LGjhahagkjashfl? They didn’t even try to make the elevator look different.

Maia tells the receptionist it’s her first day and she’s not sure where to go. The receptionist holds up a finger, telling her to wait, so she looks at a stack of copies of the Cook County Vindicator instead. I wonder when this insert was filmed, because there’s a headline that says “TRUMP POLICIES FACE PUSHBACK FROM CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS.” It begins “Less than two months after being sworn in […] Trump is facing the fiercest opposition to the implementation of his new his immigration policies...” I’m pretty sure, since it says less than two months and this happened in reality less than one month in, this wasn’t added in later. I mean, it’s a predictable headline, but, uhhhhh.

The part of the paper relevant to this ep is a small story barely above the fold about the Rindell scheme.

Omg, wait, there’s a shot of Maia with the paper and it is formatted differently. The headline is still the same, but I don’t know about the body of the story. So something definitely happened here.

Anyway, Maia’s not able to read the rest of the article because someone’s ready for her: Julius Cain, who is no longer at LG’s New York Office.

Julius informs Maia that they have 55 associates and 40 workstations, so you just sit down at whatever desk is free and can’t keep anything with you there. Oh man, I would hate that so much. They’re really small desks, too.

Maia has her first assignment already, too. She’s going to the SWSMU offices at 10. It’s a union they represent, and they have to do pro-bono work for them for appearances, essentially.

First days of work are difficult enough without unknown numbers threatening to cut your tits off. I feel terrible for Maia. (I love the little flashes of anger on Maia’s face as she reads/listens to these words.)

While Maia’s trying to harden herself against harassment, Diane is staring off into space in the parking lot as she gets more disappointing news: Lockhart/Deckler is withholding her capital contribution, so the only money she has for the buy-in at Reddick/Boseman is the money she’d get if she sold her department. And she’s not willing to do that. So maybe, her accountant suggests, her new partners will offer her a loan.

Diane looks at Barbara, who’s exiting her car at that exact moment. Diane knows exactly how that conversation would go.

Next, Lucca arrives at work. She exits the elevator, nods at a colleague (she’s been here for months), and finds Julius in her office. She’s being moved from her office to make room for Diane. Her new office is right near the men’s bathroom… and the bathroom door opens straight into the (glass, of course it’s glass, did you think for a minute they’d give that up?) wall of her office. This is going to be a recurring gag like Eli’s tiny office, isn’t it?

Lucca also has to go to the SWSMU. She complains that she did it last month, but Julius doesn’t let her out of it.

Adrian arrives next. He jokes around with the valet and his secretary, which gives me a very good sense of his personality. He throws his keys to the valet, and asks him how the college search is coming. He’s playful, but not in a way that’s disrespectful of others.

Next, he talks to his secretary about the case from 1x01. They’ve officially won. And, his secretary alerts him, Diane is already meeting with Barbara.

In Barbara’s office (which is the one I thought, in 1x01, belonged to Adrian, but in any case is still Will Gardner’s office), Barbara tells Diane she heard her speak at an ABA conference. “Oh, yes, on racial hiring,” Diane recalls. “That’s right,” Barbara says. She doesn’t elaborate, and Diane understands: “Oh. I hope I didn’t embarrass myself too much.” Barbara doesn’t reassure Diane (and why should she?): “Hmm. Not too much.” Diane laughs to move the conversation along, but they both know Barbara wasn’t joking.

Yeah. That’s definitely Will’s office. See the door to his private bathroom of Willicia sexytimes?

Adrian enters before things can get any tenser between Diane and Barbara. Adrian has a gift—a nice bottle of wine—for Diane. It’s from his own row of vines.

Barbara mentions that they’ll need Diane’s capital contribution by next week. Diane tries to spin the situation with the old firm, telling them she’d appreciate their patience. Adrian says it’s fine, because he’s dealt with David Lee, and tells her she needs to be in on a meeting at 11 with litigation financiers.

Diane exits, and Barbara asks Adrian, “And how patient are we to be?” “Let’s give her two weeks,” Adrian replies. Their dynamic reminds me a lot of season 1 Will and Diane. Definitely not the same, but the sense of partners who have very different ideas about how to approach situations and what they’re trying to accomplish.

Marissa is plugging in Diane’s computer when she gets to her office. “Are you from Lockhart/Deckler?” she asks, not recognizing Marissa (who’s under a desk). “Lee, Deckler…,” Marissa begins to recite. No more Lockhart! When Marissa pops up from under the desk, Diane recognizes her. Marissa wants to help as much as she can, because if she goes back to Lee/Deckler, she’ll just be sent out on another errand.

“When Alicia hired me, I was supposed to be involved in cases and everything, but it’s been all moving boxes since she left,” Marissa explains. How did I miss an Alicia reference the first time through!? I just deleted a whole thing about how I don’t understand how Marissa got a job at Lockhart/Deckler when she was always in Alicia’s universe and… this makes so much sense. Though, it also means that Alicia would’ve had to have hired Marissa in late season 7 of TGW, right? But we didn’t see that happen. Or does it mean that Alicia stuck around for a little bit even after 7x22? Whatever. The important thing is that it makes a lot of sense that Alicia hired Marissa.

Unpacking a box, Marissa holds up the Diane/HRC photo. “Still want this?” she asks dryly. “Definitely,” Diane replies. WHY WOULDN’T SHE, MARISSA?

Racist as fuck David Lee sent Diane a box of African masks to take to her new firm. A perfect moment for Barbara to walk in—she definitely sees the masks. Barbara mentions that Diane will need an assistant and candidates are coming in today. As soon as Barbara’s out of earshot, Marissa starts angling for the assistant job. She says she doesn’t have a resume, but wants to be hired for a day as a trial.

At the union, Lucca is sort of in charge. Everyone else is there to give 20 minute max consultations. Their purpose isn’t to find new business, it’s to refer people to other resources. Which is a nice way of saying that maybe they’ll help a few people, but mostly it’ll look good.

“You’re the ‘door close’ button in the elevator. Comforting, but not necessarily effective,” Julius explains. I like that analogy. (Also, of course it’s an analogy about elevators. How long ‘til TGF’s first elevator makeout sesh?)

Case stuff happens, and we get a sense of how this type of legal work plays out. Maia’s not sure how to accomplish what Julius instructed her to do. “I’m not really supposed to help…” she tells one woman. The woman then asks, “Then why are you here? If you can’t help, why are you here?” Maia doesn’t have an answer.

Lucca surveys the room and notices that Maia’s line is longer than anyone else’s. She glances at the other lawyers, and it’s obvious why Maia has the longest line: she’s the only white lawyer. “Oh, come on,” Lucca says to herself.

Lucca tries to convince a white man in Maia’s line (the line behind Maia isn’t entirely white, btw—I think this scene is about both people assuming that a white lawyer would be more knowledgeable or better just because she’s white AND racist white people being comfortable around other white people) to come with her instead. He isn’t interested. Lucca tells him she’s a third year associate and Maia just passed the bar, and he won’t budge. She moves on to the next man.  

The case of the week begins with Maia talking to a man who’s been accused of stealing product and had his wages garnished. He wants his wages to be garnished less, but Maia wonders why her wages are being garnished at all. He signed a confession.

Maia takes it to Lucca. It was a forced confession. There’s arbitration that afternoon, and Maia wants to go to help him out. Lucca tries to talk her down, but Maia asks again. Lucca, sensing that Maia could use a win/a distraction from her own problems (Lucca doesn’t know it, but Maia’s still getting those messages.)

Lucca also asks if Maia’s doing okay, and Maia says that for the first time in a while, yes. “It’s good when you can focus on someone else’s problem,” Lucca says. Maia smiles in agreement. “First place I’ve been I wasn’t recognized,” Maia comments.

The meeting with the litigation financers—two dudes who run cases through an algorithm, which is a thing so Kings-y it must actually exist (it does: http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/what-litigation-finance-is-really-about) – is going on over at RBK. (Heh. I am reading that New Yorker article now, and guess what ad I was served? Yep. An ad for TGF.)

The RBK conference room is Diane’s LG office. Seriously, they didn’t even change out the window backdrops.

Marissa calls Diane out of the meeting to meet with Lenore, Maia’s mother. I think Diane’s office is one of the 27th floor offices, maybe Alicia’s old one. Those windows look really familiar.

Lenore is trying to get to Maia through Diane. Diane doesn’t want to do anything to help Lenore—doesn’t Lenore see how much she’s hurt Diane? Lenore insists it was all Jax. But Diane doesn’t believe that: she asked about the money for the house, and they told her to keep it in the fund! Yup. Not sure if I noted it last ep or not, but definitely thought it was fishy Henry was being so pushy about Diane not buying the Provence house…

Lenore says she’s innocent and wants to know why Diane’s treating her like she’s not. Uh, maybe for the reason she just gave you? Maybe because it was your responsibility to know if there was a scheme going on, even if it wasn’t yours?

Finally, Diane agrees to tell Maia that Lenore stopped by. Satisfied, Lenore begins to leave, then mentions that it would also be great if Diane could visit Henry in prison. Since Henry is Diane’s oldest friend (interesting that she’s friends with Henry more than Lenore—I want more backstory!), Lenore wants her to visit and maybe give legal advice. Diane considers.

Arbitration takes place in the mall where Client of the Week, Frank, works. 

Maia begins to make an argument, and no one else in the room takes it as seriously as she does. Then Lucca pops in as “an observer from the union.” More like “moral support for Maia.” (And Lucca might be thinking this could lead to bigger things.)

The arbiter decides against Frank, and Lucca provides Maia with another argument to make. She came prepared. (Lucca’s so good and so quick on her toes. I bet she’ll be moving up the ranks quickly. She deserves to.)

Diane does, in fact, decide to visit Henry (whom she calls Hank) in prison. It’s hard to see him in an orange jumpsuit.

They end up talking about the case. Henry also mentions they went to college together. But WHERE? “I’m telling you the truth,” Henry insists.

Henry explains that it’s all Jax’s fault and his lawyer won’t use that as a defense strategy. Henry wants Diane to represent him, and she says no—he needs someone objective. About time someone on this show realized that! What in the hell was Diane doing representing Peter Florrick in season 7?!?!?!?! On a case that involved her husband?!?! #StillBitter about how bad that trial arc was. It’s amazing I’m this bitter considering that I was never even invested in that arc!

Henry accepts that and asks about Maia. “She’s gonna blow us all away,” he says proudly. Diane wants Maia to stay away from her parents until the scandal gets sorted out, and Henry decides to mention that Lenore “doesn’t have years” because her breast cancer is back. This turns out not to be true, so I’m not sure who’s playing whom, but I don’t trust Maia’s parents. I especially don’t trust her mom, but I don’t think we’re supposed to.

Diane passes the information onto Maia, as Henry had to have known she would.

Meeting with the partners, Julius is furious that Lucca took on the COTW. Lucca makes the case for her actions, and Julius thinks it’s about her losing her office to a partner. That’s news to Diane. Lucca says it’s about a good case.

Meanwhile, Maia is doing her idea of working, which is calling Amy to ask a question that’s easily Googled. I mean ChumHummed. Amy even tells her to go look it up online when Maia asks for more information. I’m really not sure why Maia had to call Amy during the work day with a work question. I’m also not sure why this seems to have gotten under my skin.

Lucca brings Maia the bad news, but then reconsiders and tells her to go ahead anyway—on their own time. They’re going to attend a seminar on the method of questioning that was used to get their client to confess.

It’s total bullshit, as one would expect. Maia listens attentively, while Lucca doesn’t buy it for a second. I know why Maia’s tempted to believe in this—she wants to know if her parents are lying!—but I’m with Lucca on this one. She notes that since this method is about anxiety, not guilt/innocence, it’s an unreliable indicator of guilt. Who wouldn’t be anxious? Bingo. Maia wants to know if the same thing holds true if there’s no reason to be anxious (she’s not thinking about the case now). Lucca thinks people have tells but…

She doesn’t get to finish that thought, because she looks at the name tags of the fellow seminar attendees, and realizes they’re mostly middle managers at stores just like the one Frank works at. Now THERE’S a case.

“This is a massive class action,” she tells the partners the next day. Now, the partners are in favor of it and tell Lucca to go certify a class.

An aspect of TGF that I’m very excited about is the hierarchy at RBK. One thing that always strikes me as a smart structural choice when I rewatch season 1 of TGW is that Alicia and Cary feel like first year associates. There’s tension inherent in that, plus there’s the competition between them. They have less room for error, a lot to learn, and they have to take orders. As TGW goes on, Alicia takes on more responsibility at work and becomes more important to the firm, even becoming a partner. When she and Cary go out on their own, they both become name partners, and from then on, all the leads who are lawyers are of equal rank. The conflicts are different at that level—scheming and backstabbing instead of trying to navigate a workplace hierarchy. I have to wonder if losing the hierarchy was part of what led to the firm nonsense in the later seasons of TGW.

TGF is set up differently. Instead of having two first year associates and two name partners as the regulars, we have: an assistant, a first year associate, a third year associate, a junior partner, and two name partners. Each character has a unique position, and thus unique expectations/goals/responsibilities/concerns, and I’m hoping this structure organically translates into tensions—and then plots—for the characters.

Diane encourages Adrian and Barbara to keep Maia on the case now that it’s a big deal. Adrian agrees, because everyone hating her is a great way to mold a fighter.

In reception, three black women wait to interview for the assistant job. “There may not even be a job here, I just want to warn you,” Marissa tells them. Oh my God, Marissa. Do you even know how that came across?!?!?!? Do you know how rude and clueless and privileged you’re being?!  

Marissa senses that, if she wants to be Diane’s assistant, she’s going to need to help out in a big way. She asks Maia and Lucca what the case is, and isn’t she in luck? It’s about retail workers. And what was Marissa doing last year? Working at a mall, making friends with lots of retail workers. Marissa may be a little obnoxious, but she is resourceful (which doesn’t excuse the cluelessness/obnoxiousness). And not just resourceful: she’s also good at talking to people, persistent, and comfortable in situations most people would avoid.

The head of the union is mad about the class. Now they need to find a new financer, so back to the algorithm boys we go!

Is it typical to use the first person who signs up for a class action as the test case? And to move this quickly? I would think you’d want to independently vet the test case as carefully as possible before deciding?

Algorithm boys don’t want to go for it because they don’t like the judge assigned to the case. “Your algorithm’s not taking into account that I’m a fucking good lawyer,” Adrian responds. Otherwise, the algorithm likes the case, so Adrian says he’s going to get a new judge.

“We’re going to court. Fuck the union,” Adrian declares, walking into Diane’s office. He points at Maia and tells her she’s second chair.

They’re having trouble finding people for the class, and at the moment Maia and Diane tell Adrian, Marissa appears with a list of people who are on board. “And there are two more people here to be interviewed,” she says, knowing she just got herself the job. “Who was that?” Adrian asks. “My new assistant,” Diane decides.

In court, Adrian asks the judge to recuse himself. Why? Because he lost money in the Rindell fund, and Maia’s second chair.

The judge recuses himself, and now Abernathy is presiding. Fun bit of trivia: Abernathy’s first episode was W1x02. Now he’s in F1x02. His quirk in this episode is that he has to wear his prescription sunglasses.

Opposing counsel is Andrea Stevens, the woman who kept telling Lucca she loved her hair in TGW season 7.

Case stuff happens! It goes well for Lucca et al.

“Good to see you’re still at it,” Andrea tells Lucca after court. How condescending. Why wouldn’t Lucca still be at it?

“It’s, uh, Mia, right?” Andrea says to Maia, damn well knowing Maia’s name.

Andrea wants to talk to Lucca sometime. Lucca says they can talk now. Lucca assumes it’ll be a settlement offer, but Andrea just wants to know where Lucca gets her haircut. Andrea makes me so uncomfortable. She’s so fake.

Oh no, I just noticed that Maia’s phone says it’s March 9th. I’m kind of tempted to go back to the earlier scenes and see if the timeline matches, but… I’m good.

“It was just a scare,” Lenore tells Maia when they finally talk. Of course it was.

Maia tries to interrogate her mom. The shot gets tighter and tighter (on both Lenore and Maia) as they talk—Maia’s definitely trying to apply that interrogation method she learned about. But it’s inconclusive.

Later, Maia and Amy are in bed together. Amy plays with Maia’s hair as Maia talks about her conversation with her mom. “I don’t know if she’s lying or not,” Maia says. “About the cancer?” Amy wonders. “No, about the fund,” Maia clarifies.

“We were always the boring family. All my friends, their parents were divorcing or having affairs, and I used to lie about mom and dad fighting so that I wouldn’t seem so weird. And now… it’s like we’re paying for all those years of happiness,” Maia explains. I was just watching Robert King talk about this scene, and it’s interesting to me that he puts some of the blame on Maia for not sensing it earlier. Were they really happy, or was she just content to think they were? How much has her privilege allowed her to keep her eyes shut and not question the world around her?

Maia and Amy are great together. I can’t wait to learn more about Amy. She seems like she’s a bit older than Maia. How long have they been together? Who pays for that lovely apartment? When did they move in together?

Case stuff happens.

Maia’s so nervous at first in court. She speaks haltingly and quietly. Then, when she’s asked to speak up, she speaks too loudly. I feel you, Maia.

Barbara notices that Marissa is acting as Diane’s assistant. “Diane. You didn’t like any of the applicants?” Barbara wonders. “It’s just that I know Marissa,” Diane explains. We, of course, understand why Marissa is a tempting pick for Diane: she’s familiar, reliable, and just saved their ass on this case. Those are good reasons to hire someone. But Marissa’s also white, probably unqualified for this job (did she even go to college?), and the daughter of a well-known campaign manager. It’s the same thing that happened with Maia last week, but now it’s looking like a pattern. Diane is the only white person at RBK, and she immediately begins to bring more white people over, just as Barbara suspected she would.

Andrea Stevens makes a settlement offer for Frank, but it’s only good if they drop the class. As Andrea leaves, Lucca calls after her. “I have an answer for you now,” she says. Playing Andrea’s game, she proceeds to hand her the number for her hair stylist.

The algorithm boys don’t want to take the settlement. This turns out to be a bad move, because… Frank has a history of stealing from employers.

“I hate losing,” Maia says after court. She’s also confused because she thought Frank was telling the truth. “Maybe he was. About the running shoes,” Diane theorizes. “You know people can lie and still be telling the truth. Nobody’s 100% of any one thing,” Diane continues. I like this advice more than her advice from last week.

“My mom lied about her cancer,” Maia confides in Diane. “It was a scare. It wasn’t real. She just wanted to see me.”

“She’s lonely,” Diane explains. “People get desperate when they’re lonely. You should go see her.”

Maia takes Diane’s advice, but maybe she shouldn’t have, because when she gets to her family home, she finds her mom in a nightgown (one of those nightgowns that look so much like lingerie I wonder if anyone actually wears them). Lenore suggests breakfast the next morning, and tries to rush Maia out. Maia asks whose car is parked outside, and Lenore lies. Then Jax—Maia’s uncle—walks in. Uh oh.

I’d be more invested in this cliffhanger if I ever cared about these ongoing arcs.