S06.E09: The End of Democracy

[Zaffy]

The penultimate episode of the series.

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Diane, Liz and Ri'Chard strategize with Neil Gross to help him buy out the Democratic Party. Jay brings Carmen into the Collective to help extract information from a white supremacist. Diane and Kurt battle relationship issues.

[Anela]

"Do you find that swearing helps?"

"All the fucking time!" 

Just watching that breaking news as fiction, made me want to crawl under my quilt. Loved Diane's really on-point speech, and the minister's "Thanks for sharing!"

Loved Marissa's now-husband, dealing with that Baruch asshole. Their little quickie wedding was cute. 

They let Carmen have some fun! 

I like Kurt, but I can understand how Diane feels. It's hard enough dealing with extended family, with vastly opposing beliefs. 

[SoMuchTV]

I laughed so hard my cat was startled when the chumhum guy mentioned his potential candidate. Cross-network promotion?

 I’m generally enjoying the combination of reality and absurdity this season, but this one was the best by far (“in my opinion”). 

[Haleth]

That whole thing with Diane has to be a drug induced dream, right?  It’s all too crazy to be real. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

7 hours ago, Anela said:

Loved Marissa's now-husband, dealing with that Baruch asshole.  

I'm obsessed.

How fucked up is it that I thought Kurt was going to shoot someone?  LOL

Edited November 4, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ms Blue Jay]

Looks like Carrie Preston directed this one.

[marinw]

Best. Funeral Speech. Ever.

”I haven’t bought Twitter. Or Mars.” Burn!

I am going to miss this show.

I am genuinely happy for Marissa. OTOH the final scene between Diane and Kurt broke me.

Edited November 4, 2022 by marinw

[stonehaven]

Great episode with interesting notions. The whole phony jail/lawyer set up is interesting with ethical minefield. I can see a spinoff of that in the future.

As for the other plots, I love this show and will dearly miss it but HATE what Diane did to Kurt. I can see why on a certain level she would be bothered but she KNEW who he was and as kick ass as a woman Diane can be, this feeds the trope that all women think they can change their man.

Kurt was supportive of her in her career. Hell, he even went to this funeral and listened to her practice her speech. Did she ever support him in his career? Maybe but if all you are in a relationship for is similar politics and music then you'll get bored fast. They were similar in the fact they cared about the issues they did and were passionate about what they did for their careers. It just was opposing sides. I really thought Diane was better than that....I am so dissapointed in her for that.  I dd think for a moment that Kurt was gonna pull out a gun and shoot himself in the car. 

Still love Christine Baranski and this show but the Kurt/Diane scene broke my heart....

Now, if CB wants to show up on NCIS as an old flame for Agent Parker, I'd be thrilled....

Still, do not want this show to end.....

[txhorns79]

5 hours ago, marinw said:

OTOH the final scene between Diane and Kurt broke me.

Me too.  They went through so much already and have stayed together. 

42 minutes ago, stonehaven said:

I really thought Diane was better than that....I am so disappointed in her for that. 

I would disagree to the extent that I can see how they drifted apart, and things just got to be too much for her. 

I really did enjoy the overall episode.  It's all quite bonkers, but really well done. 

I'm very curious about how it all will end, and so sad to see it go.

[marinw]

7 hours ago, stonehaven said:

Did she ever support him in his career?

IIRC, Diane did encourage Kurt to take the job with the NRA. But i take your point. Kurt never pretended to be anything he wasn't. 

I have always shipped Kurt and Diane. The fact that they could be together depite thier different politics gave me hope.

[marinw]

7 hours ago, stonehaven said:

The whole phony jail/lawyer set up is interesting with ethical minefield.

That scene with Carmen gave me 24 flashbacks! I'm sure it wasn't exactly legal. Especially the shipping people off to Anatartica part.

Shallow note: Carmen's wardrobe in so interesting. She doesn't dress like anyone else on the show. Kodus to whomever is designing or sourceing her outfits.

[TVbitch]

I can understand Diane being able to handle their differences better when the world seemed reasonably sane to her, but struggling with it now, but I'm disappointed she was not honest when Kurt flat out asked her if there was someone else. She also did not tell him that the Chum Hum guy told her she would have to deal with her marriage if she wanted to lead the party. 

This has to be either one of Diane's PT108 sessions, or it could be a surreal take on crazy conspiracy theories, or the creators really think we are fucked and want the Rock to run for president.  I have no idea how they will give everything an ending. Or maybe they won't. Maybe they could all live happily ever after in a peaceful democratic snow globe. 

[HerkyJerky]

29 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

Maybe they could all live happily ever after in a peaceful democratic snow globe. 

I LOVED St Elsewhere back in the day! LOL

[gesundheit]

This episode was way too much fun. Just every damn part of it.

16 hours ago, marinw said:

IIRC, Diane did encourage Kurt to take the job with the NRA. But i take your point. Kurt never pretended to be anything he wasn't. 

I have always shipped Kurt and Diane. The fact that they could be together depite thier different politics gave me hope.

From a distance I enjoyed them. But his deepest values supported taking away her rights and, from her perspective, being a passionate and public advocate for something that kills children. There's a point at which it stops being a game of opposing ideas like some sort of thought experiment or debate club and starts being about life and death consequences. If her beliefs are real, and I think they became more so over the course of the series (as opposed to a more generalized ideology), she cannot abide that. Just as a pro-lifer who really does truly believe that abortion is killing babies could not possibly stay in a relationship with someone who advocates for it. They don't differ on the size of government or the estate tax. It's fundamental. I don't believe in the slightest that she married him hoping she could change him, I think she changed from someone who loved the thrill of political maneuvering and debate and the "game" to someone more and more disgusted with the idea of the damage caused by those games. It was a heartbreaking but necessary breakup. Frankly the only reason they lasted this long is because they so rarely had to face the day-to-day together.

I am thrilled with everything they've done with Carmen this season after being somewhat baffled by how they used her before. Just sparkling on every level. 

And as a person with a general distaste for Marissa, I've also completely warmed to her this season too! Will the miracles never cease?

[Quark]

Another bonkers, but amazing episode of The Good Fight.

[Broderbits]

15 hours ago, gesundheit said:

I don't believe in the slightest that she married him hoping she could change him, I think she changed from someone who loved the thrill of political maneuvering and debate and the "game" to someone more and more disgusted with the idea of the damage caused by those games. It was a heartbreaking but necessary breakup. Frankly the only reason they lasted this long is because they so rarely had to face the day-to-day together.

I think you are absolutely right. If the world hadn't changed into what it is now, Diane and Kurt could have made it work; but things are so desperately fucked up I don't see how she could just keep on ignoring the fundamental differences between them.

I LOVE John Benjamin Hickey! He looked like he was having a ball playing Neil Gross, maybe for the last time. And great job directing by Carrie Preston.

[7-Zark-7]

What about the DNC guy not needing crutches anymore because The Rock laid hands on him? 🤣 That’s when I decided this had to be a dream.

[txhorns79]

On 11/5/2022 at 7:23 AM, marinw said:

Shallow note: Carmen's wardrobe in so interesting. She doesn't dress like anyone else on the show. Kodus to whomever is designing or sourceing her outfits.

The wardrobe reminds me somewhat of Luca, not because the two characters wear similar outfits, but the wardrobe people often put Luca in attention grabbing outfits that stood out in comparison to how they dressed Liz or Diane. 

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This has to be either one of Diane's PT108 sessions, or it could be a surreal take on crazy conspiracy theories, or the creators really think we are fucked and want the Rock to run for president. 

Part of me does almost worry the final scene will have Diane at Lockhart Gardner, suddenly coming out of a fever dream, as Will walks over to introduce her to Alicia Florrick.   

[7-Zark-7]

On 11/7/2022 at 9:05 PM, txhorns79 said:

Part of me does almost worry the final scene will have Diane at Lockhart Gardner, suddenly coming out of a fever dream, as Will walks over to introduce her to Alicia Florrick.   

Maybe she'll wake up in bed with Suzanne Pleshette. 

Edited November 9, 2022 by 7-Zark-7

[Joimiaroxeu]

Diane getting a text from her boyfriend while sitting next to her husband. Oops.

$680B is almost unimaginable to me. Sounds like Monopoly money.

When keeping it real goes wrong. Heh, even a white supremacist can see the light when things get bad enough..

Duane Johnson? Yeah, no.

Antarctica. OMG, even Antarctica doesn't deserve those guys. Plus, isn't it melting?

Aw, mazel tov, Zev and Marissa!

Whoa, guess Kurt went ahead and made the tough decision for Diane. Dr. Bettencourt, come on down!

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Maybe they could all live happily ever after in a peaceful democratic snow globe.  

Oh boy, there are people who are still mad about that ending. I think it'd be hilarious if TGF used the same gimmick.

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 11/7/2022 at 6:41 PM, 7-Zark-7 said:

What about the DNC guy not needing crutches anymore because The Rock laid hands on him? 🤣 That’s when I decided this had to be a dream.

With that and Marissa's spontaneous wedding, I really thought that maybe they would take the route that Kurt would be able to take the NRA in a reasonable direction (similar to their plans for Fox News). But on balance having the shock go the other way was a more elegant way to end the episode. 

[love2lovebadtv]

On 11/5/2022 at 7:23 AM, marinw said:

That scene with Carmen gave me 24 flashbacks! I'm sure it wasn't exactly legal. Especially the shipping people off to Anatartica part.

Shallow note: Carmen's wardrobe in so interesting. She doesn't dress like anyone else on the show. Kodus to whomever is designing or sourceing her outfits.

I LOVE Carmen's wardrobe. Not because I like it for myself but because it's so interesting. And it's so different from the just-passed-the-bar outfit she was wearing when the character was introduced. 

[pasdetrois]

I wonder if Kurt and Diane were inspired by James Carville and Mary Matalin. (Apologies if this was discussed many threads back.)

[Phillygurl]

I may be in the minority but I don't think Diane and Kurt should have ever gotten married. And yes I agree they had sweet moments and I even liked how he did not want to know about her affair with Tully. But they were always too different and on TGW, there was a scene with her friend when she cautioned Diane that a relationship should be able to survive outside their private little bubble. This seemed like foreboding but here we are 7+ seasons and a spin-off later.

I don't think Diane lied about there not being someone else. She specifically said "not in the way that you mean" meaning she wasn't ending the marriage to be with someone else. It was more like she realized through her flirtations with this other man that things have to be so difficult. I mean let's be real: this entire season it is very clear Diane has felt very alone and hopeless. And the person you are supposed to reach for in those times of feelings of alone and hopelessness is your significant other. And yes Kurt can hold her and maybe even empathize, but he can't agree with her or be angry with her. It's a very lonely feeling. She may have love but sometimes love just isn't enough. She has to hold back a very fundamental part of herself. As someone mentioned above, this is no longer just about debate. The political landscape seems to have turned evil and ugly and there is no choice but to draw lines especially for someone as political as Diane.

I also think Neil's offer is not the reason she ended her marriage. I think it was just the last little nudge she needed to solidify in her mind that this just won't work as it stands now. This breakup has been inevitable from my vantage point.