S06.E14: Mind's Eye

[apgold]

I actually didn’t notice that the credit card VO was Will’s voice.  I thought it was some inside joke about JM’s VO for Chase.  When watching again with the close caption on it said Will’s voice.  Yes, fake Will was really bad, but I think Alicia needed to say goodbye to him in some way.

 

I thought in some ways this ep was brilliant (in concept) and in others cringeworthy (in execution).  We didn’t need to see how much she still resents that Kalinda slept with Peter.  We know that because they haven’t shared a scene (except by phone) in years.

 

I hope Canning is dead – I love MJF but enough of this character. 

 

I love Marissa and I hope Sarah Steele becomes a regular if her theater career doesn’t get in the way.  She and AC are a great comedy team.  I’d watch their spinoff (The Golds), if they had one.

[nara]

I thought in some ways this ep was brilliant (in concept) and in others cringeworthy (in execution)

 

I hope Canning is dead – I love MJF but enough of this character. 

 

I love Marissa and I hope Sarah Steele becomes a regular if her theater career doesn’t get in the way.  She and AC are a great comedy team.  I’d watch their spinoff (The Golds), if they had one.

My sentiments exactly.

Fake Will was horrible. I was hoping they would throw in an "I'm starting to forget the sound of your voice and the look of your face" to explain that travesty. You would not think that casting a Josh Charles type would be that hard.

[marny]

I really hope Alicia loses the election.  I miss when this was a show about lawyers being awesome.

[Kel Varnsen]

I really hope Alicia loses the election.  I miss when this was a show about lawyers being awesome.

I hope she loses to Prady, plus a bunch of other write in candidates. It would be hilarious if the polling showed her neck and neck and then she was just destroyed in the election.

[momlyd]

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

I woke the dog and passed gas laughing at this!!! I thank you!

The dog does not.

[Ms Blue Jay]

You're welcome and thanks for the appreciation!  Sorry, Dog.

 

Thanks for the information on Dawkins.  That is awful.  I'm an atheist too and he doesn't represent my views.

Edited March 11, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay

[Texasmom1970]

Guess I should have chugged some Nyquil, that is probaby the only way anyone would like this crappy episode!

[Splash]

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?

 

Actually, yeah.  I generally say something along the lines of that they'll be in my thoughts and I've never had someone take offense to that.  To me, it's disrespectful to another person's belief system to say you're going to pray for them when you don't believe in it.

 

But I don't think that was about her trying to be polite about the request; that was Alicia in campaign mode.  She's spent months being coached to say she's anything but an atheist.  She can say she's struggling, searching, or anything that might indicate that she has some sort of religious belief, but not that she's an because "public atheists" don't get elected.

 

I didn't really want Alicia to run for office, because they've focused so much on campaigns in the past, but I think it's interesting to see how Alicia has changed.  She hasn't even been elected yet and is already being corrupted, just by the process of running for office.  

[calico]

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.

 

Since we're at least five and counting I think it's official that they actually used the Colin Sweeney actor to play not-Will.  Which is just bizarre.  And a total missed opportunity because I too was waiting for the big reveal which would have been awesome.  The only awesome thing about this show in weeks.

 

As soon as they start with the agenda pushing these shows go straight into the toilet.  I have a very uneasy feeling that the producers want us to cheer Alicia's decision to lie about the PAC funding:  See, women can be just as self-serving and venal as men.  Yay us!  That's the way to 'find your voice' ladies!  Ugh.  

[Splash]

The PAC thing has been bugging me from the start, because I've either missed when they clarified what kind of PAC they're talking about or no one bothered to do a google search about it.  A PAC has to disclose the names of donors and there are limits on how much a person can donate, but they CAN coordinate with candidates.  A SuperPAC also has to disclose donor names and there is no limit to how much a person can contribute, but they CANNOT coordinate with campaigns.  Campaigns and PACs have to file quarterly reports that list donor names and expenditures and it's public record; anyone can look it up.

 

Starting a PAC isn't anonymous; there has to be a treasurer and that person's information is listed on the paperwork.  Bishop said he started Alicia's PAC and he will put her in touch with his 'contact', meaning the treasurer.  It's doubtful he just pulled in a random person off the street, so there's the first public connection between Alicia, Bishop, and the PAC.  

 

I'm assuming that Bishop is using the PAC to "buy" Alicia, but it's also possible he's using it to launder money in some way.  Except, any money donated to the PAC must be disclosed.  And by disclosed, I mean name, address, occupation, employer, etc are listed.  So, that's the second public connection.  

 

So why is everyone on her campaign trying to be so hush hush about the origins of the PAC and its connection to Bishop?   It wouldn't take a person that's moderately connected (or really bored) to figure out the money trail.  Do they think people aren't going to check the records?  Checking stuff like that is a huge part opposition research and the minute there's any whiff of something sketchy going on, they'll have people going over the disclosures with a fine toothed comb.

 

The only thing I can think of that would make sense is that Bishop created a 501(c )4 and didn't tell Alicia.  They can collected unlimited donation amounts and donors are anonymous.  Then the 501(c )4 can donate unlimited amounts of money to the SuperPAC, which will only have to disclose that they got the money from the 501(c )4.

 

Alicia's struggle with the whole PAC/Bishop thing just bugged the crap out of me.  It's not a deposition, so lying about Bishop's connection isn't perjury.  And her campaign manger was right on; Alicia only knows that Bishop told her he started the PAC, she doesn't know for certain that he's behind it or has contributed to it.  How many times have they shown her doing deposition prep with clients, where she told them to just answer the question asked.  

[Kel Varnsen]

Alicia's struggle with the whole PAC/Bishop thing just bugged the crap out of me.  It's not a deposition, so lying about Bishop's connection isn't perjury.  And her campaign manger was right on; Alicia only knows that Bishop told her he started the PAC, she doesn't know for certain that he's behind it or has contributed to it.  How many times have they shown her doing deposition prep with clients, where she told them to just answer the question asked.  

This is interesting how the whole PAC/SuperPac thing works (not entirely clear on the difference). I am curious, now that the whole Bishop donating thing is out in the open, at least among Alicia's campaign people, how come Eli or no one is freaking out on behalf of Peter. I mean the governor of Illinois can pardon criminals right? Shouldn't there be some concern that a major criminal is spending a ton of money trying to influence the campaign of the wife of the governor. To some there could be at least a perception that Bishop is not only buying the SA's office, but the governor as well. 

[marny]

I was hoping that all of her fantasy strategizing would make her realize how much she missed actually practicing law and convince her to withdraw from the election.  All of the stuff she hates-- the gladhanding, the interviews, the politicking-- is basically what a State's Attorney does full time.  They almost never handle cases in a courtroom (unless it's a publicity stunt for a high profile case).  It's a political position whose duties are basically administrative tasks and media-related obligations.  Frankly, from what we've seen of Alicia over the past couple years, it's a job she would hate.

Edited March 11, 2015 by marny

[CoderLady]

I agree. I noticed how every time she got a call from the lawyers at the firm she dropped everything to help them and continued to think about their case even between calls when she should have been preparing for the interview. A bit more self awareness and a little less political ambition and she would have realized what she'd rather have been doing.

Edited March 11, 2015 by CoderLady

[momlyd]

As soon as they start with the agenda pushing these shows go straight into the toilet.  I have a very uneasy feeling that the producers want us to cheer Alicia's decision to lie about the PAC funding:  See, women can be just as self-serving and venal as men.  Yay us!  That's the way to 'find your voice' ladies!  Ugh.

I agree and have been perceiving this as a jab at Hillary. "See? She's no different from Bill!" Substitute Alicia and Peter for the other names and I see it.

[Tetraneutron]

 

But I don't think that was about her trying to be polite about the request; that was Alicia in campaign mode.  She's spent months being coached to say she's anything but an atheist.  She can say she's struggling, searching, or anything that might indicate that she has some sort of religious belief, but not that she's an because "public atheists" don't get elected.

I thoughtit was the opposite. If Alicia was in campaign mode, she would have just agreed to pray for Canning when Simone asked her to, and not given it a second thought. The fact that she felt guilty meant she waasn't seeing it as a campaign opportunity. Besides, Simone has been consistently written as this loving, sweet, Donna Reed housewife - not at all the person who would gleefully call the media with "Alicia said my husband would be in her thoughts! Not prayers! Atheist!"

 

The show really loves showing the contrast between the venal, slimy, Canning and his Norman Rockwell personal life outside the courtroom. They think the contrast is interesting or something. And Canning, like with David Lee, Howard Lyman, Colin Sweeny, Bishop, Peter, Neil Gross, and every recurring character on this show at all, is just the same notes over and over to less and less effect as they run out of new things to do with the characters. The first time we heard about Howard taking his pants off at work it was funny? In this episode? Yawn.

[needschocolate]

I guess I must have missed an episode (I thought I saw them all) or had drifted off during a previous episode (not an unlikely occurrence this season) but I do not remember Bishop ever telling Alicia that he started/funded the PAC, as was shown in the previouslies.   I have been viewing under the impression that, although she may have her suspicions, Alicia didn't know that Bishop was involved. Wow! She is more of a hypocrite than I thought.

 

This episode reminded me of the episode where we get to find out what goes through Elsbeth's mind - at least there were no bunnies or whatever it was that Elsbeth was distracted by. I started thinking that this episode was an attempt to make the viewers think Alicia was losing her mind or needs to be treated for Adult ADD.  Then she starts imagining sex with Will, Finn, campaign-guy-whose-name-I can-never-remember, and Peter (maybe he was just having sex with Kalinda, but she was still imagining Peter having sex) - I have now come to the conclusion that what the writers are pointing out is that Alicia needs to get laid.   I think it might have been clever if one of the guys Alicia imagined sex with was Bishop - Since the other thing weighing on her mind was his Pac and her being perceived as being "in bed" with him.

 

Biggest WTF moment for me... Zach has a landline? And he actually tries to answer it? Even assuming he lives somewhere that provides the phone, no teenager I know would give that number to anyone, and so would have no urgency to get to it. And no parent I know would actually expect them to answer it.

For that matter, no teenager I know actually talks on the phone. They let it go to voicemail, listen, and then text back. (Sad, but true.)

 

Especially after they point out that Grace's texts were appearing on Alicia's phone (and Graces's too since she responded to the text) because Zach updated their phone plan.  Therefore, Zach must have a cell phone.

 

Poor Grace...she must have no friends.  She is a teenage girl, but hours go by and she only gets one text (no others were on Alicia's phone) and she spends all her time doing nothing (every time they showed Grace she was just sitting or laying - never doing homework, watching videos, online, etc...).

[Maherjunkie]

I wish they would bring back her tutor.  She did have Christian friends at one point.

[milkyaqua]

...I have now come to the conclusion that what the writers are pointing out is that Alicia needs to get laid.

 

She's got no friends.  Heck, she needs to get out her frustrations some how...

[paramitch]

I actually really loved this episode, and thought it was very well-done. I definitely think the show's title is becoming  more and more ironic, and I like that Alicia seems to be very aware that she keeps moving the line. And because Alicia is so quiet and self-contained, I like these little glimpses that show us what she's thinking and feeling.

 

But I have to echo those who laughed at the Very Bad Will Silhouette. Come on, show. There was no way THAT was Will. It was totally missing Josh Charles's magnificent schnoz, dammit. No way was that Will.

 

Finally, how pathetic is Alicia that she's still more obsessed with Kalinda and Peter than she has ever been with Ramona and Peter or Peter and the prostitute he slept with in their marital bed? The Ramona betrayal is more recent, she knew Ramona for a much longer time and the affair could have seriously damaged her professional life but somehow when she thinks about Peter cheating, its Kalinda. 

 

I liked the quick flash to Peter and Kalinda. I believe it as something that could flash through Alicia's mind randomly now and then even if for a few fleeting seconds (which was the length of the scene). I also loved that she called herself on her own drama ("You know we don't really talk like this") -- she herself knows that Kalinda/Peter meant little to nothing to either of them (both of whom are pretty great at detaching from sex as anything but sex).

 

I did love homeless Zach. He was too adorable.
And I did love some of the lines from her head people when they questioned her musings--like homeless Zach pointing out that he was enrolled at Georgetown.

I thought homeless Zach was cute and very believable because it was just about where Alicia's mind was at. She doesn't really think Zach is homeless, and I don't think this episode was meant to imply that she hasn't heard from him or communicated at all. It seemed to me that they'd been missing each other and trading voicemails, and the homeless aspect was just a really smart and funny way, I felt, of spotlighting Alicia and her "Mom" instincts. My Mom always thought if she didn't hear from me in college that I must be starving, and it always cracked me up. So I thought the homeless-Zach scenes were hilarious.

 

Loved this episode. I think this season has been pretty uneven (not unusual for this show) and last week's episode was bad. But the bad episodes are worth it for the really great episodes like this week's.  Really smart and well-crafted. Will need to rewatch to catch all the little things I missed.  

I loved it too, and like that TGW will occasionally zig when I expect it to zag, giving us a more whimsical or funny internal dialogue. I thought it was great (and helped to humanize Alicia when she's so utterly disconnected from everyone else right now). It was a smart way to reconnect her in some ways.

 

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.

 

I know many feel that Alicia is turning into Peter, but to me, she has always been a smart politician and a pragmatist. Always. The very first episode of "The Good Wife," she stood by Peter for reasons that were as much to do with herself as with Peter, and I feel like that's still the Alicia I'm seeing to this day.

 

I don't mind her pragmatism -- I do mind that I just do not see or buy WHY she is running for DA, especially when she has visible evidence that Frank Prady would be a fantastic, driven, eloquent and moral choice for DA that would allow her to instead stay with the job and independence she has fought so hard for. To me, this just doesn't work as a "Hilary" story -- I don't find it empowering for Alicia to run for DA at all, and to me it actually only ties her closer to a life of lies with Peter, instead of freeing her. So it doesn't work for me.

 

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.

 

I have been totally flummoxed by Alicia's visible isolation this year (and last to some degree as well), especially since we haven't gotten the diva rumors you usually get if someone is impossible to work with (cough::KatherineHeigl::cough). I even asked a close friend who's an entertainment editor and she said JM has a pretty nice rep overall. Interestingly, JM talks about why not to be a diva in this Variety interview:

 

Margulies: I’m always shocked when actors have diva-esque behavior. It’s like, you’re really going to walk by the d.p. and not say “Hi”? These people are here to make you look good!

 

Regardless, Alicia is now so isolated from the rest of the cast that it's actually rare for her to, like, have scenes with the show's main characters, and that's weird to me. If it's a purely artistic choice, I hope the Kings rethink it and reintegrate Alicia back into the cast and storylines -- I like the show best that way. And as others have commented, I'm sad to see no sign of many lovable recurring characters -- Hayden, Robin, etc., too.

 

I'm still enjoying the season, but I hope going forward that the show stops trying to break up the ensemble so much. The splintering stories for Cary, Kalinda, and especially Alicia dilute so much of what I still love about the show.

[candall]

Was JM trying to produce a reel for Emmy submission?  This was a vanity project.  How many times can a camera zoom in and pull back from someone's face while we watch her "think"?

 

I never saw the first two seasons.  Do Alicia and Kalinda not have scenes together because Kalinda slept with Peter or because of something personal between JM and AP?

[Kel Varnsen]

But I have to echo those who laughed at the Very Bad Will Silhouette. Come on, show. There was no way THAT was Will. It was totally missing Josh Charles's magnificent schnoz, dammit. No way was that Will.

Maybe in Alicia's fantasy that crazy client didn't shoot Will, but instead punched him in the face and broke his nose.

Edited March 13, 2015 by Kel Varnsen

[Noreaster]

I never saw the first two seasons.  Do Alicia and Kalinda not have scenes together because Kalinda slept with Peter or because of something personal between JM and AP?

A lot of speculation going on in the Behind The Scenes thread!

[candall]

A lot of speculation going on in the Behind The Scenes thread!

Thanks, Noreaster!  Two solid pages mulling over the issue--I'm thoroughly up to speed.  : )

[TiredMe]

I think that was one of the hours ever on television. This is exactly why I don't bother watching this show until the next weekend like I just did. It's just not "must see".

[WearyTraveler]

I think that was one of the hours ever on television. This is exactly why I don't bother watching this show until the next weekend like I just did. It's just not "must see".

 

Ooops! I think you might be missing a word between "the" and "hours"! (although I guess we can deduce the general tone of the missing word ;-)  )

[Fredward]

I... liked it. I'm almost starting to feel as if I'm doing something wrong by liking it.

 

I liked her making the lists, how much more she seemed to enjoy mental fencing with Canning to the moral sidestepping with regards to Prady. I liked the walk with the music. I liked how even atheist Alicia seemed to attribute some kind of moral superiority to Christians, it was telling. I also like how they portray her as an atheist, especially by contrasting her to Richard Dawkins. I liked that even in between all this moral sidestepping she still went to see Canning, despite her feeling, on some level that he wouldn't do the same. So she's not losing herself completely, just evolving?

 

Not sure about the shadow-Will, I mean that didn't even look vaguely like him. But whatever. To me the more important bits about that was that she's still a sexual being, she's still smarting over Peter's betrayals, especially with Kalinda and that she's willing to shed the 'Saint' part of herself maybe finally and permanently.

[j5cochran]

I... liked it. I'm almost starting to feel as if I'm doing something wrong by liking it.

 

Come sit by me.  I liked it, too.

[John Potts]

Put me in the "hate it" camp. I couldn't understand why Alicia was so insistent that she didn't have a cold - that sort of macho bullshit posturing is of minimal sense if you're doing it in public, but when you're doing it to impress(?) two people who are on your team, what exactly is the point? Hell, drink lemon and honey or a brandy if it makes you feel better, but stubbornly insisting on doing nothing seems completely idiotic.

 

And as for the election, it does seem that Alicia doesn't actually want the job, so why exactly is she running? Prady doesn't seem a bad choice (OK, he might turn out to be a terrible choice - but there's been no evidence of that so far) and given the way she was deliberately avoiding thinking about her interview to contemplate how to deal with Canning, she doesn't seem to even want it, so why is she still in the race?

 

cali1981 The best moment was when Peter was with Kalinda and said to Alicia something like "you know we really don't speak this way".

Loved that too!

 

merylinkid He's suing because he is Canning. It's what he does.

 

I do like the portrayal of Canning as a good family man in contrast to his shark-like persona in court. He does seem to come alive by beating his opponents. And he even justified his defence of big corporations by saying that nuisance suits raise costs for everyone. And on the prayer thing, I didn't think it was unreasonable to pass that "job" onto Grace - if you don't believe but you know somebody who does, surely that's better than doing nothing? Obviously, Richard Dawkins (which that clearly wasn't) would argue praying is doing nothing, but clearly Mrs Canning doesn't feel that way.

[millennium]

WTF was that?   I may be way behind everyone else who saw this episode, but let me assure you, this episode still blows six months later.    It was just like a fever dream.  It made me feel claustrophobic and very uneasy and it felt like it would never end.

 

What happened to this show?   I can't even get into the courtroom stories anymore because that awful awful campaign plotline keeps intruding.   Who gives a shit about Alicia's debates and interviews and polling?   By this point, Eli Gold has gone from character to caricature.  Can't stand him.   Ditto for that guy from Rescue Me.

 

What a fiasco.