Sydneyside

I wonder if something about Alicia's side of the conversation got vetoed or changed in the scene? Given Alicia's line in her apartment from the promo "I don't have any friends and I don't know why." disappeared from the aired episode -- more grist to the mill. (Although it's certainly happened before that the cut the CBS promo monkeys use is not the one that airs, we've seen things disappear before that I'm sure were just decisions from the Kings to keep the episode under time.)

I kept the cheating spouse and the friendship. Maybe I don't count to JM because I'm a lesbian?

One good thing about TGW fandom skewing older is that the fanfiction is sentimental AND snarktastic. Read this: http://archiveofourown.org/works/3941056 The RPF conclusion is wonderful.

Agreed, I don't understand this oft-repeated sentiment. The scene was lame and could never deliver after years of nothing, no matter how it was filmed or written. If I had my druthers, Kalinda's exit screentime would have been spent on her relationships with Cary and Diane. (Especially ALL THOSE SCENES driving Dylan around.) And I *am* a Kalicia shipper! Agreed again. Unless someone will go on record, it will just remain "one of those things". What I don't understand was why on earth TPTB chose (and boy did they choose to do it!) to sell the A/K scene so hard in pre-finale publicity. It's like lifting up the rug and showing the visitors all the crap you just swept under it 30 seconds before they arrived. (Although it's quite hilarious how deadpan Archie was on Twitter in the leadup. She's quite the subtle thrower of shade...)

I think after the success of everyone keeping the secret about JC's exit, TPTB might have thought they could get away with anything. And clearly the sharks are circling, but no one is prepared to go on record and jeopardize their job. I think it's as simple as they knew they would be rightly hauled over coals if a fan favourite and the only non-white, non-straight regular on the show was written out. Maybe it was seriously contemplated, but CBS said "Keep her! Just make sure no scenes with JM. We can't afford the problems it would cause." And no one thought about the long game that there would always be fallout. I cannot even imagine AP being involved in something like this. And I am officially declaring I don't want JM on my team. That said, truth is stranger than fiction, so who knows?

I actually find it hard to believe jealousy was the only cause of the ban, although I can imagine increasingly strained relations leading up to the point when JM banned Archie. I still think it was a disagreement over plot -- the only point of the Nick storyline (besides proving Robert King has a lurid streak a mile wide) was to make it maintext that Kalinda was in love with Alicia. We had all those hints about Nick looking for who kept Kalinda in Chicago, then...*crickets chirping*Remember that TPTB terminated the Nick arc early, so Kalinda should have spent the night in Alicia's hotel room while he was in the picture. Cue dramatic confrontation with Alicia after Nick finds out where Kalinda was that night: Nick: (drinking water threateningly in front of Alicia) You're sleeping with my wife! Kalinda: Nick, no...now just calm down... <insert melodramatic arc conclusion here> I think JM vetoed the ending. I think Archie was understandably upset that after taking all the heat she did for the worst storyline ever, it tailed to a pitiful conclusion, and frosty relations became arctic. And then JM got her permanently sidelined. Just remember, Archie was prepared to suck it up and keep working with JM though.

No, that's the last time they were recorded in the same spot -- it was shortly after the 100th episode was shot. If you look at other shots of the event, Archie and JM are *only* in the group shot together. There are no shots of JM "working" alongside Archie, like she is with other cast-mates. The only other shots of AP are her and Matt fielding questions outside.

Totally. Michael C Hall also looks clearly uncomfortable for the dissing of the fans that (indirectly) pay his bills. I loved him trying to explain that having a sense of longing isn't wrong.

True dat. Why would watching Kalinda apologise *again* be satisfying? Why was there no acknowledgement from Alicia that she was the one who shut Kalinda out with no explanation after formally asking her "try to make this work" a season earlier? What happened to the line that was in the promo? (Alicia saying "I have no friends, and I don't know why.") Was there a reason it was cut other than the usual last minute time-trimming? Did JM veto it?

We're also not illiterates when it comes to the screen language TGW uses for shooting. They have never shot a "two people at a bar" scene like that, and everyone that watches the show with attention to detail knows it.

Aww, I had no idea I'd been missed! Thank you :-) I'd like to add to my collected tin-hatting above: Since their first appearance on Twitter the show's writers account had the still of Alicia and Kalinda drinking from the Pilot as their avatar. After JM threw down her "nothing left to explore" comment after the finale of S4, and the Kings said "we don't want to get into a public fight" etc, they changed it briefly to an image of Anonymous that they'd used in a recent episode, and then to what it's been ever since: Chummy the ChumHum mascot. So anyone who thinks Kalicia shippers were delusional about the central nature of A/K should think about the fact that it was the image the show's creators used to symbolise what they'd written, until they were prevented from exploring that relationship anymore.

I'm late to this delicious thread! I think "the Kings should have put their foot down" position doesn't understand the power dynamics at work. Showrunners don't put up the money, CBS does. JM has a lot of clout and clearly did from day 1 when she got them agree to shoot the show in NYC despite pre and post production being done in LA. Then in Season 3 she got herself made a producer just at the point where she is publicly on record disagreeing with the Kings on a storytelling choice (A/K reconciliation) and claiming a victory for good sense in making them slow the pace of it down. JM has CBS in her pocket. The Highest of higher ups at CBS have a decades long relationship with her going back to ER. Les Moonves green-lighted ER, and Nina Tassler developed it when both worked for Warner prior to their current tenure at CBS. They've also now given JM a producing deal, so she does have a project to go on with after TGW ends. I don't think it was a coincidence that JM made her move to get Kalinda and Kalicia shanked just at the point when Kalinda's stock was lowest because of the public outcry over the Nick storyline. Archie Panjabi was a relative unknown and the last person cast when TPTB were at the point of changing Kalinda's ethnicity when they couldn't find anyone of Indian heritage they liked. She unexpectedly became a breakout star and got a lot of buzz including the Emmy. Anyway who remembers S1 and 2 publicity for the show (including 2 lavish and expensive photo shoots for CBS Watch) can see how differently she was treated later on. Official accounts for the show congratulated JM on nominations and didn't do the same for AP when she was up for the same awards in her own category until fans noticed and started calling them on it. I could see how petty it had become when the show had it's 100th episode. There was much congratulatory tweeting and shots of parties on set. Then when it aired AP didn't have a single scene with her regular cast mates (she is on the phone to Diane only) and would have scarcely been on the lot because most of her material was on location. I think the Kings didn't want to write in the direction they've been forced to, but they've well and truly bought stock in JM's Kool-Aid factory. They're both on the board of JM's ALS fundraising organisation for instance. I think they saw the way the wind was blowing and stopped tacking into the breeze. They make their risible "it was all intentional" statements that contradict what they said when the shit hit the fan at the time at the end of Season 4. I blame JM 100% for what took place because she is the one refusing to work with Archie. Whatever "happened" Archie remained willing to show up and do her job. I also can't believe that it's been "Archie behaving badly" that has caused it. If she were being unprofessional on set, well, you'd expect MC to keep speaking well of her because they are clearly friends. But CB started going out of her way to say nice things about Archie last year, and we saw they met up at the after-party for The Follies in London. Also, people who *are* friends with JM like her stand-in and double Danielle Sepulveres, and the series' most prolific director Rosemary Rodriguez who got the gig because JM liked her back from Canterbury's Law keep tweeting in friendly fashion with Archie. If Archie was the "difficult one" why are all her working relationships with the rest of the cast/crew so good?

After a season that left some ships literally dead, perhaps some fanfic as therapy would help? The "Everything Changes" 2014 The Good Wife Ficathon started today and runs until August 6th. It's held over at sweetjamielee's LiveJournal -- right here: http://sweetjamielee.livejournal.com/106698.html Anyone can leave a prompt, or fill a prompt. No experience necessary, not even an LiveJournal account -- you can post anonymously.