S06.E14: Mind's Eye

[cali1981]

As much as I like Michael J. Fox and admire his determination to continue his acting career while dealing with Parkinson's, it got to point that anytime Louis Canning returned, I cringed.  They went to the well far too often with the character and there were always thinly veiled hints that he was playing up his medical condition to gain sympathy from judges and juries and was just plain manipulative.  Even last night, you had Alicia making snarky comments about how long he's been dying or had liver or kidney failure.  There's just something distasteful about it all.

[merylinkid]

He's suing because he is Canning.    It's what he does.   It gives his life meaning.   The money is only a way to keep score.

[Former Nun]

I never liked Canning, but wondering why he was suing for millions of dollars. Did he not have life insurance to take care of his family?

 

 

Even if he dies, Julie23, I'll continue to think it's a scam.

[milkyaqua]

Thank you, photo fox.  I thought I was the only one waiting for fake-Will to morph into Colin Sweeney because I would have laughed my head off.

 

I also wondered why Alicia was imagining Zach as homeless.  What the heck was that about?

 

I will say going into Alicia's head was just as bad as I imagined the preview to be last week where I let out an audible groan.  I found the Will-resolution completely unnecessary considering what else is going on in Alicia's life.  If I were John or Finn, I'd run to the hills before I let Alicia get close to me but of course this is TV and that's not going to happen.

 

Also, wouldn't Bishop just assume he's being tapped 24/7/365 days a year?  Yet, he thinks it's a good idea to say he's bought the next SA?  Really?

 

Looks like this epi hit a series low ratings-wise.  Not surprising.  They better resolve this election stuff fast.

Edited March 9, 2015 by milkyaqua

[LadyMustang65]

Fake Will was really unworthy of this show, or any network show for that matter. I honestly thought he was going to dream-morph into Colin Sweeney, because that's who he really resembled.

 

**Ugh.  Cannot get quotes to work today.  But thank you!!!  I thought I was the only one who thought that, and it was really creeping me out while I was watching.  Yike!  =:0

Edited March 9, 2015 by photo fox
fixed quote issue :)

[Primetimer]

Grace is doing it because she's in Alicia's fantasy of her life falling apart now that she's lost her faith. The producers of this episode have no such excuse.

Read the story

[Black Knight]

I also wondered why Alicia was imagining Zach as homeless.  What the heck was that about?

I didn't think it was homelessness per se, rather a representation of how he's been out in the cold so far as Alicia is concerned since she learned about the abortion.

 

I liked the concept of the episode and I liked the episode itself okay, but I think the execution didn't fulfill the potential of the concept.

[Tetraneutron]

 

Also, wouldn't Bishop just assume he's being tapped 24/7/365 days a year?  Yet, he thinks it's a good idea to say he's bought the next SA?  Really?

They explained that in-show. By not making it clear which candidate is corrupted (or making it seem like they all are) Bishop gets to have his lapdog in office without the risk thar person won't get voted in. In real life, Bishop would have bought off both Alicia and Prady. Besides, all the stiff with Bishop took place in Alicia's imagination in the first place.

 

I don't understand why everyone is so mad about Alicia's treatment of Zach, and saying she's a bad mother. Zach has two parents and during the episode we find out about Zach's abortion, Peter and Alicia were on the same page. He's not literally homeless, they just haven't spoken since that phone call early in the season about his abortion. (I do kind of roll my eyes that Alicia is so mad about this, though. She's pro-choice, for one, and she certainly wouldn't want Zach to be teenage dad, both personally and for her political career. Is she just mad because he didn't confide in her?)

 

As for the landline, don't dorms still come with them?

[TV Diva Queen]

I was so hoping that when she went to see Canning in the hospital - it would have been County General and she would have an image of her an Clooney making out somewhere or an image of her in scrubs.  They really should have done something like that, both shows took place in Chicago

Edited March 9, 2015 by TV Diva Queen

[LakeLover]

They explained that in-show. By not making it clear which candidate is corrupted (or making it seem like they all are) Bishop gets to have his lapdog in office without the risk thar person won't get voted in. In real life, Bishop would have bought off both Alicia and Prady. Besides, all the stiff with Bishop took place in Alicia's imagination in the first place.

 

I don't understand why everyone is so mad about Alicia's treatment of Zach, and saying she's a bad mother. Zach has two parents and during the episode we find out about Zach's abortion, Peter and Alicia were on the same page. He's not literally homeless, they just haven't spoken since that phone call early in the season about his abortion. (I do kind of roll my eyes that Alicia is so mad about this, though. She's pro-choice, for one, and she certainly wouldn't want Zach to be teenage dad, both personally and for her political career. Is she just mad because he didn't confide in her?)

 

As for the landline, don't dorms still come with them?

 

 

As a parent, I'd be pissed off that my child put him/herself in that position in the first place (not in having sex, but what was probably unprotected sex). I'm pro-choice, but we always stressed safe sex with our kids, and if a pregnancy results, then the likelihood of there having been safe sex was nil.

 

With regard to landlines in dorms, the connections are still there in the dorms, but there are no longer phones in any of the dorm rooms our children have occupied. They all use their cells.

[photo fox]

Our local universities have taken them out, because nobody was using them and they were losing money. Before, they were actually a revenue stream for colleges because they tacked on charges to all the long-distance calls. I don't know about Georgetown, though.

Does Zach live in a dorm or an apartment? I can't remember.

[Tetraneutron]

My point was everyone's piling on Alicia for something that, at minimum, is the responsibility of Alicia and Peter. And Zach has been consistently written as smart and savvy - I'm sure he knows about safe sex. No birth control is perfect, and even careful people lose control occasionally. I don't think the show was saying Zach and Nisa didn't practice safe sex.

The landline think was a contrivance. I suppose they wanted the drama of Zach missing a call, and that doesn't happen with a cell phone glued to your hand.

The recap said the voice in the autoplay credit card ad was Josh Charles's. Did anyone else catch that? I didn't. If so, it doesn't make sense that they'd use his voice there and not when it was actually supposed to be coming out of Will's mouth.

[Maherjunkie]

It's not impossible the birth control could have failed.  I don't see the extent of her wrath either, maybe disillusionment that he didn't confide in her but with a grain of salt as he is becoming an adult.

 

Also, Richard Dawkins? Would it even be in character for Alicia to have his voice in her head? She's not an anti-theist, she's someone who's tempermentally an atheist but doesn't see it has her identity. And isn't a vacuous narcissist, but that might be my personal biases. Dawkins is the worst. Any of the other professional atheists are better, although I still don't think Alicia sees Atheism like they do.

They didn't have room in the budget for Bill Maher. Was that actually Dawkins?  It didn't look like him.

I never thought there would be a more annoying character than Grace but in comes Eli's daughter.  WTF is a "body woman"?  Whatever it is boot her off to Staten Island like they do on Law and Order.

[pennben]

 

My point was everyone's piling on Alicia for something that, at minimum, is the responsibility of Alicia and Peter.

 

What I've found offensive was Alicia's rage reaction and apparent decision to not speak to her son for months.  That's all on her.

[Ms Blue Jay]

First of all, if Zach is homeless, why would that give him a unibrow?

 

Second of all, Zach misses a call, yet he can't see who it was from, and can't call that person back immediately?  Is this 1982?

 

Third of all, Mom of the Year strikes again, doing what she always does.  "Worrying" about her son and doing absolutely next to nothing about it, i.e. giving her son a call and not caring that he didn't pick up.

 

I don't know if the calling part was a fantasy or not and frankly I don't give a damn.

 

As for the landline, don't dorms still come with them?

 

No offense, but I graduated from university 10 years ago and the premise of that is ridiculous to me!  No..... not where I come from...  no.  I haven't used one in a home since the 1990s.

Edited March 9, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay

[Black Knight]

What I've found offensive was Alicia's rage reaction and apparent decision to not speak to her son for months.  That's all on her.

Exactly. To give her son the silent treatment for months is a big deal.

 

I'd like to think part of the reason she reacted so badly is because she's embarrassed that she was asking Grace whether she was being a "good girl" and freaking out every time she saw Grace within ten feet of a male who wasn't a biological relative while not subjecting her son to the same monitoring. It wouldn't excuse her giving the cold shoulder to Zach for months, but at least it would mean some self-awareness on her part of how icky her double standards were. Unfortunately I don't think she's that self-aware. I think she's just mad that something that can be used against her in a campaign is something that she found out from someone else rather than from Zach directly.

[Ms Blue Jay]

If Alicia's mad at her son for not revealing something very important to her, shouldn't that make her take a closer look at how she parents rather than freezing her son out so that he can make the same mistakes again?  No wait, what am I saying, LOL this is Alicia Florrick..... 

[MYOS]

I actually liked this episode. It was nice (at times hilarious) to see Alicia the way she sees herself and the way she sees others.

Not a fan of  her having an affair with Johnny. The closer she gets to him, the closer to Peter she becomes. That may well be the point, but I don't like it. At this point, I really want her to lose the race, wake up, and realize that she needs to win differently, not be a copy of Peter.

She sees Kalinda as more threatening than Ramona, indicating that she really has no clue and doesn't understand much about Peter.

She REALLY doesn't get her kids, something we always had a clue about from their interactions but here we saw it for real: she thinks all that's keeping her daughter from sniffing glue and getting pregnant is her faith group (way to trust your kid Alicia) and Zach has become homeless (loved it when he said I'm at Georgetown", the voice of reason.) It was also funny to me because my being homeless was one of my parents' fears.

I imagine only his mom and his dad would have the landline number.

 I hope she "wakes up" before she morphs into Peter. It seems to me that Johnny pulls her to the "dark side", the "Peter-side", whereas FInn pushed her to a better side. Johnny is too shady.

Loved how in her head, the only person who's on her side is Marissa.

 I want Prady to win.

Edited March 9, 2015 by MYOS

[WearyTraveler]

1. Did she actually go to the hospital to see Canning or was that in her head.

 

Yes.  They were pretty consistent with Alicia's voice.  When the scene was in her head, she spoke in her normal voice.  When the scene was in the real world, her voice was a raspy whisper because of the laryngitis.  

[Tara Ariano]

The recap said the voice in the autoplay credit card ad was Josh Charles's. Did anyone else catch that? I didn't.

 

He's listed on IMDb as appearing in the episode but uncredited -- not necessarily for that part, but it sure as hell sounded like him to me!

[photo fox]

He's listed on IMDb as appearing in the episode but uncredited -- not necessarily for that part, but it sure as hell sounded like him to me!

Yep, in articles that I read earlier (from Paley, maybe?), the showrunners said it was him. Too bad they couldn't have also gotten his profile, because no amount of shadow was going to hide the lack of JC's nose.

[swimmyfish]

1. Did she actually go to the hospital to see Canning or was that in her head.

    2. Anyone else a little freaked out as his 5pm deadline approached, especially as they kept showing the clock.

    3. Nice to know that David Lee could still be deceitful and realize that he would gain power if they all had to write checks.

    4. Why is she picturing Zack as homeless?

 

 

It looks like someone already answered 1, so I'll start with 2.- I did! I didn't actually remember when the deadline was,but I knew it was coming so every time they showed a clock, I got a little tense.

 

4. I think she was picturing Zack as, as another poster said, "out in the cold", or unable to make it without her? She fears the worst has befallen him, since she cut contact with him. His reminder, that he's at Georgetown,was very well done.

 

Overall, I actually really liked this episode. I don't particularly like Alicia, but I thought this was a very good device to get into her head; particularly because there's really no other way to do that : she doesn't pray, doesn't go to therapy, has literally no friends. If we want to find out what she's thinking, this is the only way to find out.

 

Also, I feel like last night settled for me the issue of whether the show supports Alicia, and I really think it does not. I don't think Alicia's epiphany that lying would make her a good State's Attorney is the show saying "See? You do have to be corrupt to be a politician!" I think the character, who has had to do a lot of shady things for clients over the years, is embracing that she can now do shady things for herself. She wants to win, and, as she has done for her clients, is prepared to do so by any means necessary. While the show may have her win, that doesn't necessarily mean they condone that behavior. Bad people prosper in life; it happens.

 

I, personally, hope she does not win. I haven't really found Alicia's downward spiral to be all that compelling a storyline. Isolating her from the rest of the characters has been a disservice to all of them, and while I did find the King's explanation for the fracturing of characters in an interview interesting, that they had to make it clear via interview rather than in the show means, in my mind,that it was not a success. What I would like to see is her lose the election, and then be voted out of The Firm (to be renamed later), and then either set up her own shop OR maybe take a job under Prady, or some other way that she'd butt heads with Agos, Lockhart and Lee.

 

Also, Clarke Hayden should be in there somewhere; I have a completely unreasonable love of him.

 

In any event, my absolute favorite part of last night's episode was the shot of Prady that paused on, that they kept showing each time she reconsidered watching the rest of the video. It was perfectly undignified pose, exactly what happens when you really do hit pause, and it made me laugh every time. Kudos to Niles Crane for the absence of vanity that made that possible.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

When Alicia imagined Bishop saying he bought the next SA multiple times, I was expecting one of them to be, "I bought the next state's attorney a cup of coffee today," or something equally innocent that could be edited to sound worse than it was.

[CaptainCranky]

For a show that I've enjoyed immensely over the years, this without a doubt is the worst show they've had.

 

That was a waste of an hour of my life.

[jb1183]

For a show that I've enjoyed immensely over the years, this without a doubt is the worst show they've had.

 

That was a waste of an hour of my life.

 

I couldn't agree more. I've watched since day one, and for a long time this was my favorite show on television. How things have changed.

 

The show has moved so far away from all the things I used to love about it that it's barely recognizable as the same show. Alicia used to be a complex but ultimately rootable protagonist. The relationships among the charcters at L&G used to be the center of the show. The show used to have heart.

 

I miss the show this used to be.

Edited March 10, 2015 by jb1183

[dcalley]

I remember "The Decision Tree" had wonderful coloring and camera tricks to question the veracity of memory: had Alicia worn blue or red at the Ashbaugh meeting in NYC? Initially, I found myself looking for such details in Alicia's fantasies, but then kind of gave up trying about 20 minutes in (second commercial break or so).

There was a color thing going on in this episode, too. I wasn't paying complete attention because I was bored, but the clothing colors were limited to black, white, and gray for a lot of the imaginary stuff, maybe all.

 

I agree with you, chocbutterfly, about the handing off of the praying to Grace. What was A supposed to do when Ms Canning asked A to pray? Tell her that I don't pray but I'll send positive thoughts/vibes to you & Louis?

I may sound like a real ass saying this, but I thought it was so weird for Mrs. Canning to ask her to pray that he makes it through the night. This isn't someone who was in a car accident, this is a terminally ill man. Is tomorrow his daughter's birthday or something? Pray that he doesn't suffer? Sure. But specifically that he makes it through the night? Kind of weird.

 

The recap said the voice in the autoplay credit card ad was Josh Charles's. Did anyone else catch that? I didn't.

I realized that it was supposed to sound like Will, but I didn't think Josh Charles actually provided the voice.

[CMH1981]

The recap said the voice in the autoplay credit card ad was Josh Charles's. Did anyone else catch that? I didn't.

I realized that it was supposed to sound like Will, but I didn't think Josh Charles actually provided the voice.

 

I thought it was fairly obvious that it was Josh Charles' voice.  I thought it was funny that he would voice a small credit card commercial for the show but wouldn't actually come film a few scenes w/ JM.  I do understand he could have just done the voice over the phone or something for them.  I also caught his uncredited blurry appearance on Girls on HBO last night.

 

So are we to believe that Alicia has had no contact w/ Zach since she left him the horrible voicemail?  No holidays or anything?  If so then she is forever irredeemable to us.  Hell, after I came out to my mother she decided to re-establish contact after a week of silence with me.

 

I have a pondering...if the creators do decide to have JM win the SA race, how would it even work next year?  Each week would be a case with Alicia vs Diane and Cary in court?  Does the SA even try cases in court?  I don't recall ever seeing Childs, Peter, or Castro in a regular court...they usually sent one of the underlings along like Cary, Matan, Finn, Geneva, etc...  I just really can't conceive any possible way for the show to work next year if Alicia win's the SA race.

 

Part of me thinks the rest of this season will be Alicia causing friction and alienating everyone at the law firm from her, even throwing them under the bus at times and then she will lose the election and next season will be about her trying to repair all the mistakes she made and dealing with the tension/fallout of her decisions.

[shapeshifter]

...I also wondered why Alicia was imagining Zach as homeless.  What the heck was that about?...

Actually, that's one of my go-to fantasy nightmares whenever any of my adult kids have money troubles. It's probably not applicable to Zach (which his character pointed out), but that doesn't mean she doesn't worry about it.

[jb1183]

 

I thought it was fairly obvious that it was Josh Charles' voice.  I thought it was funny that he would voice a small credit card commercial for the show but wouldn't actually come film a few scenes w/ JM.  I do understand he could have just done the voice over the phone or something for them.  I also caught his uncredited blurry appearance on Girls on HBO last night.

 

So are we to believe that Alicia has had no contact w/ Zach since she left him the horrible voicemail?  No holidays or anything?  If so then she is forever irredeemable to us.  Hell, after I came out to my mother she decided to re-establish contact after a week of silence.

Lol, It feels like there's some sort of rule in place that JM is in as few scenes as absolutely possible with the other original cast members. I really don't know what to make of it, but it all seems very fishy.

 

And, yes, Alicia will not be winning Mother of the Year anytime soon. Even in the early seasons she didn't come across as a particularly nurturing or attentive mother, but if she really hasn't spoken to Zach in months over this, that's atrocious and she should be ashamed of herself.

[Aethera]

I found this episode boring.  I see what they were going for, but it was so contrived, and yes, I was SO distracted by that not being Josh Charles' nose in that outdoor scene!  

 

The fantasy scenes I found least annoying dealt directly with the lawsuit. The rest of it was just frustrating or eyeroll-inducing, especially her still being upset about Kalinda and the glue sniffing Grace.

 

Alicia should lose gracefully, get over it quickly, and get on to letting us see everyone sparring charmingly with Prady.  Chances of that seem nil at this point though.

[Kiddvideo]

At least Alicia made a decision. Not that I want her to lie, but she can get off the angst of "what should she do." I'm curious if this will dictate her behavior in court, too. Lie to get elected, lie to win the case. It's all for the greater good, and she'll be able to pull herself off that slippery slope when she gets elected, right?

Edited March 10, 2015 by Kiddvideofan

[Black Knight]

I'm sure it's because I watch too much "Face Off," but I was so annoyed at the makeup people over FakeWill's nose. Even the worst contestant on FO could have laid down a nose prosthetic so that the silhouette would be right. Since FakeWill had to be in shadow, they wouldn't even have needed to spend much time blending the prosthetic in and getting those edges down.

[AudienceofOne]

Dawkins is the worst

 

 

He's an atheist. He's also an egocentric overprivileged misogynist. To misquote Ten Things, he is the ultimate example of the fact that in this culture being male and an asshole somehow makes you worthy of our time. Which could be interesting if he'd shown up to represent those parts of our culture but in this context I WTFd. The last thing we need to believe is that Alicia has wealthy old white guys lecturing her in her head.

 

I couldn't concentrate in this episode because they used some stand in for Will who looked nothing like him. I was half expecting it to be deliberate; to have him move forward into the light and be revealed as one of the other two she was fantasising about - Will being merged with them or something - but it just turned out to be bad casting.

[Tetraneutron]

It was a bad night for stand-ins over all. A Will who looked nothing like Will, and a Richard Dawkins who looked nothing like Richard Dawkins. I still don't get the point of having a fake Dawkins when the show had real Steinem and real Jarrett and real Brazile. It looks tacky. It wouldn't surprise me if they did ask the real Dawkins but he wanted to give a five minute monologue about atheism, and then tell Alicia that her concern over Grace was just her irrational lady-brain talking. 

 

But it didn't work storyline-wise either. I said it upthread but Alicia just isn't that kind of atheist. She's an intellectual, upper class, WASPy, woman from a big liberal city who wasn't raised with a religious tradition, and grew up in an environment where no one else was either. Her atheism isn't a reactionary protest against Islamism and molested altar boys. It's not a source of comfort or identity to her. She's just not religious. And once she saw Grace wasn't going to be a homophobe, she wasn't worried Grace was either.

[Lnmop]

My notes to those involved with last night's episode of the Good Wife:

To the Producers King:

That was a dreck. Your show has slipped so far that it's below the floor. If you made JM a producer to appease her and this was her idea, fire her from that position. If it was your idea, fire yourselves. This is not the show I loved.

To JM:

As a producer, how can you let them get away with this? Please tell me it wasn't your idea. And if refusing to work with the rest of the cast was your idea, rethink it. This used to be an ensemble show. Bring that back. If you've become a Prima Donna, get over your own self.

To the fake Will Gardner:

You wanted us to believe you were Will Gardner. I've seen Will Gardner. You, sir, are no Will Gardner.

To Louis Canning:

Please just die. I'm tired of seeing you try to take down Alicia. On second thought...

To Diane, Cary, Eli, and David:

Please take LG back. Alicia has become a liability. Do what they did on The Closer - just replace the title character.

To Peter and Kalinda:

Enough with the sex flashbacks. We know, that's why Alicia hates you both. Move on.

To Lamont Bishop:

Damn! You're looking as fine as ever! Don't change a thing.

To my fellow TGW (original flavor) viewers:

I share your pain. We all deserve better. Let's hope they have it in them.

Lnmop

Edited March 10, 2015 by Lnmop

[Guest]

Fake Will was really unworthy of this show, or any network show for that matter. I honestly thought he was going to dream-morph into Colin Sweeney, because that's who he really resembled.

 

 

 

I couldn't concentrate in this episode because they used some stand in for Will who looked nothing like him. I was half expecting it to be deliberate; to have him move forward into the light and be revealed as one of the other two she was fantasising about - Will being merged with them or something - but it just turned out to be bad casting.

 

I too thought it might be Colin Sweeney at first. 

 

How do we know it wasn't the Jonathan actor?  By the end, I thought that was the implication.  So I was less annoyed it didn't look like Will.  

 

I was thinking it must be nice to be a married employer who can just look at one of your workers, a very hot, younger man, and just KNOW you're going to sleep with him, as if it's inconceivable that he might not want to.  Though maybe we've seen John let her know he's game.  I don't watch that closely.  I'd rather she land on him than Finn, honestly.  

[Former Nun]

Lol, It feels like there's some sort of rule in place that JM is in as few scenes as absolutely possible with the other original cast members. I really don't know what to make of it, but it all seems very fishy.

 

 

Most series have "a bottle episode."  There are some good (and some not so good) explanations online for this budget-conscious ploy.  I don't think it's anything personal with any cast members.  A good example is Breaking Bad where Walter White was the only character...looking for a fly (a contaminant) while cooking meth.

[AudienceofOne]

How do we know it wasn't the Jonathan actor?  By the end, I thought that was the implication.

 

 

Well, me too, which is why I kept waiting for the "reveal". As it was, since that didn't happen, I don't think that was the intention at all. Unless there was a deleted scene that didn't make the cut.

[vibeology]

Most series have "a bottle episode."  There are some good (and some not so good) explanations online for this budget-conscious ploy.  I don't think it's anything personal with any cast members.  A good example is Breaking Bad where Walter White was the only character...looking for a fly (a contaminant) while cooking meth.

 

Except this wasn't a bottle episode. They used multiple sets including the new hospital set and the interview room, shot exteriors, had multiple guest stars and included every member of the cast for at least a scene. This wasn't about saving money. The Kings did this because they thought getting a look into Alicia's mind would be fascinating. And maybe there would be a way to do that, but I don't think they succeeded in this case.

 

I was thinking it must be nice to be a married employer who can just look at one of your workers, a very hot, younger man, and just KNOW you're going to sleep with him, as if it's inconceivable that he might not want to.  Though maybe we've seen John let her know he's game.  I don't watch that closely.  I'd rather she land on him than Finn, honestly.  

 

I was so grossed out by that. First she walked up to him randomly and kissed him in the parking garage and now she's decided they're having sex. Yes, he did seem at least a little interested after the kiss, but its still awful for her to make up her mind that they're going to have sex and the issue is resolved. Maybe he doesn't think sleeping with his boss is a good idea. I would just like for Alicia to set her sights on a guy and him to be totally uninterested for a change. JM is a pretty woman and Alicia is smart and I can see her appeal, but not every guy she likes should like her back.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Man, this episode was terrible. I waited a whole day before posting to see if my feelings would mellow about it, but no, it was still awful. I understand the concept of what they were trying to do, but the execution was not good. As if that wasn't bad enough, then the show insulted all of us with an obviously fake Will. If they couldn't get Josh to come film, then why didn't they just keep Fake Will in shadow without putting him in profile? That would have been easy enough to do. Show him only from the back, show him with his head turned 3/4, just show his feet sticking out on the end of the lounge chair, etc. There are so many other ways they could have shot it that wouldn't have had all of us noticing his nose. I mean, seriously, they do this kind of thing on daytime soap operas better than this.

[Kel Varnsen]

This "bottle episode" was so obvious...obviously trying to make some budget cuts.  Obviously filming (mostly) one character at a time.  It was tedious.  It was an hour taken out of my wasted time...but it made no difference to the storyline, unless....unless Canning really IS dying.

If that was supposed to be a bottle episode, which are supposed to be money savers, then to me it totally failed. Because it had every guest star imaginable (which probably wasn't cheap) and everytime Alicia imagined someone talking it took place in a different location. Personally I just found the whole thing annoying. I mean you get all these great guest stars, and nothing happens, and for the most part Alicia just talks to people over the phone.

I also don't mind Alicia lying about knowing Bishop is founding her campaign. She cannot say she knew. The lying is not the problem, ACCEPTING THE MONEY FROM BISHOP IN THE FIRST PLACE IS THE PROBLEM. She should have returned it or denounce it or whatever from the moment she found out he was funding her. She knew that was the right thing to do, or more likely the ONLY reasonable thing to do! You cannot accept funding from a drug dealer and then expect it not to bite you in the a$$. And I'm not even talking just about the press finding out about it. No, the implications are bigger, what is she going to do when Bishop comes demanding return for his favor? Didn't she ever see the Godfather??

Isn't that the whole point they are trying to make about the PAC. I really don't know 100% how they work, because they aren't really as thing as much in Canada. But from what the show and other sources have told me Alicia can basically have no control or association with him. If Bishop wanted to start a a PAC called "drug dealers for Alicia Florrick" she probably couldn't do anything. Isn't that why an official political commercial will have "I am Alicia Florrick and I approve this message on it". So with the Bishop thing, I am not sure what she is supposed to do?

 

.  One thing that stood out was that Makenzie Vega, who plays Grace, has grown up to become quite a beautiful young lady. 

Even though I have always thought the kids on this show were kind of annoying and kind of dumb for kids who have probably had every educational opportunity, I have always appreciated how well the casting was done. Because I would fully expect that if Juliana Margulies and Chris Noth had kids together that they would be crazy attractive.  

[merylinkid]

This week wasn't the first week, Alicia had minimal interaction with the rest of the crew.   The debate prep one, she was off at her campaign place while the rest were at the law office.   Last week, they were in court, she was in the office.   It's becoming glaringly obvious that her interactions with her law firm partners are over the phone.   

 

I really hope there is a good reason for this like trying to show Alicia's increasing isolation from the "real" world as she enters politics or something like that.   I hope it is not that JM refuses to be in scenes with the other actors out of fear of being shown up.   She is a fine actress.   Maybe not on Christine Baranski's level, but it's not like when JM is in scenes even with CB she comes off as a much lesser actress.

[Guest]

Well, me too, which is why I kept waiting for the "reveal". As it was, since that didn't happen, I don't think that was the intention at all. Unless there was a deleted scene that didn't make the cut.

It occurred to me later that maybe Alicia's last long stare at John's profile as he was driving, with her little smile, was the confirmation that he was who she saw in the shadows, not Will?  Going from memory here so maybe I have details wrong.  

 

Grace did look pretty with the heavier makeup on, in her 'pregnant sniffing glue' and after scenes.  

[Maherjunkie]

Sorry to break up the thread, but can someone address the Richard Dawkins/misogynist point?  I only know him from Bill Maher and he seems reasonable there.

[whatsatool]

Actually I thought Alicia going to the hospital was the best part of Alicia.

[whatsatool]

The credit card for uncredited Will was clever. Thanks for pointing it out.

[kwnyc]

 

Actually I thought Alicia going to the hospital was the best part of Alicia.

 

Yes. She's morphed into someone who's quite unlikeable at times, but there's still a part of her that keeps a promise she made to Canning. He asked her to go to the hospital (what was it, about 2 seasons ago?) and she did it.

 

THAT part of her inflexibility is the Alicia people like. 

[Guest]

Sorry to break up the thread, but can someone address the Richard Dawkins/misogynist point?  I only know him from Bill Maher and he seems reasonable there.

If you google "richard dawkins and misogynist" there are articles discussing his sexist remarks.  

[Black Knight]

Sorry to break up the thread, but can someone address the Richard Dawkins/misogynist point?  I only know him from Bill Maher and he seems reasonable there.

What's funny is that I noticed last night that #RIPRichardDawkins was trending on Twitter (maybe still is) although he hasn't died, and most of the tweets are snarky hypotheticals about how he met his (non-)death. I was googling to try to find out what kicked that off, and came across this article from 2014 that doesn't clarify that but does mention a couple of times he's run afoul where women's issues are concerned: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-28553283

[Maherjunkie]

Thanks!  Sorry for that "Grace" moment, should have Googled first.