Hm, but aren't the differences greater than the similarities? (Starting with the gender and social background of the suspects/condemned prisoners.) Still, interesting to know there's a precedent here as well.

re: office for Alicia - I agree it would be more of a closing point but a campaign on this show lasts a whole season anyway, and - do we know how many seasons the show has guaranteed?

Jackie's stroke: at first I thought she faked it entirely, but then the hospital would have noticed, presumably, so there must have been something. Your guess of her being about to be killed off sounds plausible enough, because I don't think there's much more they can do with her; Grace and Zack, while not above using Alicia's struggle with Jackie for some gains in Zack's case, are clearly siding with their mother, and Peter when she's not under immediate threat of health has taken Alicia's side as well. Jackie's current victory can't last if she recovers, but if she dies it will make for an overall Florrick family guilt trip.