The Good Wife 4.15

[selenak]

You know, it may be because I spent the early episode praying "no more Alicia/Will, no more Alicia/Will, no more Alicia/Will" that Will's scenes with Laura Hallinger reminded me I had the distinct impression earlier in the season the show was setting her up with Will. Mind you, she's too good for him. I mean, seriously, Will, you act all insulted about a) someone calling you on the fact that one of your top clients is a drug dealer, and b) someone actually doing their job, which is vetting? Seriously? But still, Laura/Will would (presumably) mean NO MORE WILL/ALICIA, so that would be good.

I had the impression Diane was doing some more dividing and conquering with Alicia and the associates - not so much trying to adjust Alicia to being a partner as to separate her further from the associates and giving them more reason to resent her. It's in character, but it's been a while since the show gave us something likeable about Diane at all, which I regret.

Elsbeth & Kyle MacLachlan: continue to be fun, though occasionally with Elbeth's facial reactions veering into over the top ness. But mostly fun.

...and we got to see an example of Eli being actually good at his original job, which is what I've been longing for since eons. Granted, this demands Jordan giving bad advice first, but okay, still, we got competent!Eli back for three minutes, and the whole Alicia telling Peter to call him and Eli being both good at this job and touchingly happy that Peter still loves and needs him.

The best scene o fthe episode, however, belonged to Jackie, fair and square, as she managed to simultanously mindfuck with Eli and help him (or rather, help her son, in the long term, but Eli immediately) out of a dicy situation. The show doesn't always manage a balance with Jackie, but here it does, making her both her prejudiced self yet also intelligent and doing what a great many female characters on this show plus Louis Channing do, using a perceived or genuine weakness (her memory losses) as a strategy.

Comments

[viggorlijah]

I thought the Will bit was a nice callback to his invisible privilege - he assumes people like him and think well of him on the surface and he translates deference as genuine pleasantness. He's rarely been in a weaker position in his life, and his arrogance gives him blindspots. Not cruel arrogance, but of privilege.

I also liked the back and forth with Diane and Peter where she subtly said I'm doing you a favour, you give me a favour of adding us to the bid, and they both delicately spoke around it as assured political peers.

The "jewish stuff" line and Eli's reaction face was just perfect. And when she was served papers, her friends' faces melting from how cute to you little ass - I just love the show's smaller moments and attention to framing shots. They think about their characters.

[selenak]

You're on to something re: Will's privilege (and it not being the same as cruel arrogance).

Yes, the actresses who played Jackie's friends even though they just had a few seconds of screen time and were background were obviously directed and played to full attention: stuff like this makes the show feel so much like af fully realized world.

I wonder whose idea it was for Diane to play act as Mattie as part of Peter training for the debate? It was the perfect opportunity for her to make that subtle approach, so I wonder whether she hadn't suggested, or more likely had gotten someone else to suggest it in the first place.