The Good Wife 3.11 What Went Wrong
Dec. 12th, 2011 09:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which the characters aren't the only ones who high-five.
Yours truly is of course most delighted about the Alicia and Kalinda thread, but before I get to that, may I say: I KNEW IT, re: Wendy being after Peter, not Will at all. (As well as Wendy = Kenneth Starr, with the script reminding us again of the comparison between the Clintons and the Florricks Diane made in the pilot.) I'm also glad that the Dana writing this week is better; her seeing the judge as biased pro L & G is understandable, and there are no attempts to make her, asabigail_n put it, Bad Kalinda.
As often, there is a lot of irony about in the way the characters deal with the uses of power. Even while seeking for evidence about undue influence and pressure on jury members, Alicia is all for Peter using his influence to get their children into a private school - both in a benign way (turning on the charm) and then, when that doesn't work, in a ruthless way (point-blank power play, and don't tell me Alicia wasn't aware Peter would do that when she reported the headmistress' refusal to him). Wendy is seeking evidence of corruption while using influence and implied threat as well. Then there are the emotional ironies: Alicia becoming increasingly aware of her emotional isolation while having contributed to it (her remark to her client, "I never understood my peers", can be read in this context as well), Alicia and Peter harmonizing more than they did in eons on the parental front while professionally fighting at court, Diane offering friendship and advancement to Alicia who when pondering her options with Owen didn't even consider Diane as friend (presumably because of all the boss and Will complications).
I'm really glad they didn't drag Alicia finding out Kalinda helped her with Grace out the way they did the Will's phonecall business last season; it was the perfect way to bring home to Alicia how much Kalinda never stopped caring, and what a great friend she can be. (To Alicia. Kalinda's other relations are, err, their own story, but she has always been there for Alicia.) And while it's a bit constructed that this happens at a moment where Alicia can use her awesome lawyer fu on Kalinda's behalf, it was still enjoyable to watch.
"Enjoyable to watch" are of course all the times when Owen shows up on this series, so it was great to see him; and it made very much sense for him to be in this episode, too, as he is the person Alicia would open up to about her current situation. And he doesn't judge her for her admission that the big appeal of the Will affair was the exciting sex, not love. (Speaking of ironies: Alicia finding her old tennis pal annoying is one, since what the woman talks about is the way Alicia handled Will.) Though it's interesting that (as far as we know) she never told him about Kalinda, i.e.their falling out, reasons for same etc.
Case of the week: the snow avoids telling us whether or not the client is actually guilty, with the focus being on the jurors pulling a reverse of the Twelve-Angry-Men plot instead. It's interesting that we never actually "meet"Henry Fonda the foreman whose change of opinion changed the rest of the jury's, either. The two jury members who get scenes make points about the uses of power as well; in the end, they changed their minds not because of threat and undue influence, according to them. He himself changed because he found out about the background of a key witness. Now L & G does this all the time as a defense tactic - shaking the credibility of key witnesses by bringing up their past. But does this officer's past have relevance on his testimony for his collegue? We don't know, not least because we never heard it, the aftermath being what the episode is interested in.
Now: Alicia patching things up with Kalinda again and getting told by Diane that a partnership should be her goal, when in the same episode Owen brings up that she could change jobs, while Wendy reveals she's gunning for Peter makes me wonder whether the next thing to be tested will be how comitted a) Diane is to encouraging Alicia once she finds out about the Wendy revelation, and b) Will, newly disillusioned about Alicia's feelings for him but also not in the mood to play Wendy's game, won't be the one to quit the firm, instead of Alicia, in the season finale. Just a guess. Though probably not (given he's a regular etc.).
Yours truly is of course most delighted about the Alicia and Kalinda thread, but before I get to that, may I say: I KNEW IT, re: Wendy being after Peter, not Will at all. (As well as Wendy = Kenneth Starr, with the script reminding us again of the comparison between the Clintons and the Florricks Diane made in the pilot.) I'm also glad that the Dana writing this week is better; her seeing the judge as biased pro L & G is understandable, and there are no attempts to make her, as
abigail_n put it, Bad Kalinda. As often, there is a lot of irony about in the way the characters deal with the uses of power. Even while seeking for evidence about undue influence and pressure on jury members, Alicia is all for Peter using his influence to get their children into a private school - both in a benign way (turning on the charm) and then, when that doesn't work, in a ruthless way (point-blank power play, and don't tell me Alicia wasn't aware Peter would do that when she reported the headmistress' refusal to him). Wendy is seeking evidence of corruption while using influence and implied threat as well. Then there are the emotional ironies: Alicia becoming increasingly aware of her emotional isolation while having contributed to it (her remark to her client, "I never understood my peers", can be read in this context as well), Alicia and Peter harmonizing more than they did in eons on the parental front while professionally fighting at court, Diane offering friendship and advancement to Alicia who when pondering her options with Owen didn't even consider Diane as friend (presumably because of all the boss and Will complications).
I'm really glad they didn't drag Alicia finding out Kalinda helped her with Grace out the way they did the Will's phonecall business last season; it was the perfect way to bring home to Alicia how much Kalinda never stopped caring, and what a great friend she can be. (To Alicia. Kalinda's other relations are, err, their own story, but she has always been there for Alicia.) And while it's a bit constructed that this happens at a moment where Alicia can use her awesome lawyer fu on Kalinda's behalf, it was still enjoyable to watch.
"Enjoyable to watch" are of course all the times when Owen shows up on this series, so it was great to see him; and it made very much sense for him to be in this episode, too, as he is the person Alicia would open up to about her current situation. And he doesn't judge her for her admission that the big appeal of the Will affair was the exciting sex, not love. (Speaking of ironies: Alicia finding her old tennis pal annoying is one, since what the woman talks about is the way Alicia handled Will.) Though it's interesting that (as far as we know) she never told him about Kalinda, i.e.their falling out, reasons for same etc.
Case of the week: the snow avoids telling us whether or not the client is actually guilty, with the focus being on the jurors pulling a reverse of the Twelve-Angry-Men plot instead. It's interesting that we never actually "meet"
Now: Alicia patching things up with Kalinda again and getting told by Diane that a partnership should be her goal, when in the same episode Owen brings up that she could change jobs, while Wendy reveals she's gunning for Peter makes me wonder whether the next thing to be tested will be how comitted a) Diane is to encouraging Alicia once she finds out about the Wendy revelation, and b) Will, newly disillusioned about Alicia's feelings for him but also not in the mood to play Wendy's game, won't be the one to quit the firm, instead of Alicia, in the season finale. Just a guess. Though probably not (given he's a regular etc.).
no subject
Date: 2011-12-12 09:09 am (UTC)I thought it was also about Will finding his ethical base - he loathed Peter using an investigation to punish Will, and he's ethically dicey, but not like Wendy who is really really ruthless.
The lunch with the old tennis friend was I think more about Alicia's secrets than the woman, who while quirky, was not obnoxious. She asked several questions about Alicia's life that due to her deal with Peter, Alicia can't open up at all about - Alicia can only have casual friends or the very few people already in on her complicated life.
I liked that Alicia instantly put it as "other people aren't good enough" without recognising that her need to guard her secrets and refusal to allow others in is her major limit in connecting with people.
It's good to have a lead who is flawed and intellectually vain in that way - she's so much more interesting for her failures.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-12 06:07 pm (UTC)It's good to have a lead who is flawed and intellectually vain in that way - she's so much more interesting for her failures.
True, it contributes to making her three dimensional.