S06.E19: Winning Ugly

[ElectricBoogaloo]

When potential voter fraud is discovered in the State’s Attorney election, Eli and Alicia take steps to stop a recount by enlisting the help of a well-respected civil rights lawyer, Spencer Randolph (Ron Rifkin). Also, Diane learns she unwittingly submitted false evidence in Cary’s case.

[merylinkid]

Holy hell.   It wasn't quite redeeming Alicia, but I was all "You Go Girl" when she refused to resign.    First, the Party rigs the election for someone else, then they  let her take the blame for it, then when it comes out who the rigging really was for, they tell her to take the fall.   There's always next time.   This is so Hillary Clinton -- we'll let you get elected until we find someone we like better (Obama).   

 

Then taking her phone was scary.   Everyone turning on her was even scarier.   Just because she wouldn't be a good little girl and take the crumbs handed out to her.   Just like she had to find herself when her husband went to jail, she is finding out who her true friends are now.   Good god, the Kings pulled it off.

[whatsatool]

Yeah except according to the promos she does end up resigning after all. So what was that about? She cedes to a corrupt Prady?

Edited April 13, 2015 by whatsatool

[MerBearHou]

I'm glad, for once, things didn't turn out well for Alicia. I never thought she really wanted the SA position and then it became about the "win", not the job. I prefer her at the firm anyway so I'm thrilled it turned out this way and in such an explosive manner. Unsettling, for sure, to see the behind-the-scenes machinations, but still a captivating episode.

The meta-data storyline is interesting too -- we shall see how this plays out. Diane...Kalinda...Cary...Bishop.

I love Matthew Goode, but I don't "buy him" on this show. And his mushmouth method of speaking with an American accent is off-putting.

Best episode of the year. That's not saying much since so many have been AWFUL, but I'm glad to finally be glued to an entire GW episode again. Haven't felt that way this entire season.

[Tetraneutron]

 

I love Matthew Goode, but I don't "buy him" on this show. And his mushmouth method of speaking with an American accent is off-putting.

It gets worse every episode, doesn't it? I think Matthew Goode might be more of a star than an actor. He's appealing and charismatic, but can't really sell anything complex. Love interests seem to be his speed.

 

Well, that should be a disappointment to all the people here who thought Prady was the good guy. Turns out he accepted bribes from the guy in charge of the voting machines.

 

And all that drama about the voting machines kind of led to nothing, didn't it? Alicia is cleared quickly, and Peter isn't implicated. It has something to do with some guy we'd never heard of. And the evil Democratic machine will control everything and make this go away. That seems dumb - there are Republicans in Cook Co. They don't challenge? Especially for a race that lets them fillibuster? And wouldn't Peter be interested in bringing these guys down? It ruins his reputation via his wife, and his wife getting some cushy patronage isn't going to placate him. And what about Alicia? Normally I'd say fight it, but the fact that all of Chicago thinks she slept her way to the top would make it harder for her to do her job anyway.

 

I liked seeing Alicia and Peter on the same team. It's a whole new area for the show and it's interesting, at least for now. You can see they're really settling into the Bill and Hillary of Illinois.

 

Also, I'm tired of Grace's innocent babe in the woods act. She's a year or two away from college. When Zach was younger than her he was going toe-to-toe with the police and the courts, and getting the SA to withdraw. Meanwhile, Grace is shocked that the media is mean and politicians are corrupt and her parents, whose sex lives have been a media circus for 6 years, might cheat on each other.

Edited April 13, 2015 by Obviously

[terracool]

The bs with Geneva Pine going after this person no that person no some other person is getting beyond tired, and that's not even counting the absurdity that such prosecutorial misconduct could just continue. And Kalinda is headed out to kill Bishop blah blah blah

The show is kind of becoming a chore to watch. All drama, few cases. For me it's in that inertia stage where is not really good enough to watch but there's so much invested after so many seasons that you sort of hang on longer than you should. Even the great job by Christine Baranski can't save it from its excessive storylines forever.

[bentley]

 

I love Matthew Goode, but I don't "buy him" on this show.

 

I can buy him in the role, but I wish the writers would take the time to show he's a good lawyer. Have we ever even seen him win a case? I know they haven't shown him to have any creative stategies a la Elspeth or a go for the jugular mentality we've seen in other lawyers on the show. I really don't understand what they're doing with him. They're making his defining quality that he's "nice" and   pushing him into a friend zone with Alicia that will be hard to backtrack on if he's the end goal romantic interest. I've seen them do so much better with so much smaller parts, that it's truly a mystery what their aim is with his character. The writers once said in an interview he was to bring some "testosterone" to the show, and then they write him in such a mild-mannered way that they even have the show's protagonist call him weak and soft. Ouch.

[tennisgurl]

Is it weird that I still really like Alicia and Peter? Maybe not as a couple, but I really like their scenes. 

[pennben]

Oh, there's so much to complain about here, but, what the hell, the show was fun to watch tonight  I'll give it a bye until next week.

[Auntie Anxiety]

Apparently Alicia never heard all the stories about Chicago politics.  That's how it's played, Alicia.  You're going to make a great sacrificial lamb.  Now maybe the show can go back to something far more interesting?  Hopefully?

 

If Alicia is planning to have a relationship with Finn, she's too late.  Lady Mary got to him first.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Not everyone gets to see the promos.  They have never, ever shown the promos in Canada, from what I've seen.  Can't we just, as a courtesy, not talk about those?

 

All Grace does on this show is walk around that house looking hot now.

 

Can someone explain slowly to me who was Bob Balaban's character and what exactly he did to Alicia?  It would be so appreciated.  Because of goddamn football or whatever there's a 5 minute lapse in my taping, and it's where they kicked Alicia out of that office. 

Edited April 13, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay

[FuriousStyles]

How could Alicia's old lawyer guy say the voting fraud was her idea when the day before they ALL heard Alicia's phone recording of the other guy admitting he was the one who rigged the machines for Prady because Alicia didnt accept his bribe?

And on a similar note....were the machines rigged twice? Once for the Alicia/Prady race and then for the other bigger race? Because the guy Alicia recorded seemed like he was only focused on the SA's race.

I actually liked Alicia coming back down to earth. Listening to that lawyer go on and on about what a "hero" Alicia is, (while she had that look of pure satisfaction on her face) made me gag. I was kind of happy he screwed her in the end. Not sure why neither she, nor Eli or Peter never gave this lawyer the side-eye after finding out the Democratic Party was responsible for the rigging and wanting her to take the fall. The Party was the one who hired this guy in the first place. Not hard to see where his loyalty would lie.

I love this metadata story. I agree with people who commented last week that PIdad drags his kids around as an intentional distraction tool. It happened again with Diane. With that said, I dont have a clue what that toy was that was making those sounds, but NOTHING will ever top the talking lion phone in PIdad's arsenal...so dont even bother trying show.

[mrsdalgliesh]

Ms. Blue Jay, I think you mean Ron Rivkin, not Bob Balaban.  Probably not the first time people have confused them.

 

So happy Alicia's not going to be the S.A.  I've never been as unhappy with the entire show as many here seem to be (the actors keep me in no matter what happens), but I'm so relieved the Kings didn't go through with that.  Though there could have been storylines there, it was going to take the focus off the firm and it's that interplay and those characters I find  most interesting. More David Lee!  And can Michael Boatman stay?  

 

I do applaud the Kings for the number of ways this end game with Kalinda and Lemond Bishop could play out.  There was a time when we all would just assume that Kalinda was going to kill him, but they've set up the father/son dynamic, her relationship with his son, and Bishop's statement that he wants to get out for the benefit of his son -- all reasons she might not.  So now what?  At least I'm wondering and tuning in.

[CleoCaesar]

Things I could not care less about: 1) Alicia’s latest dramaz, 2) anything having to do with Grace. Good lord, this idiotically split show format is annoying. Once they get rid of Kalinda somehow, and the office is free of Kalinda cooties, can Alicia rejoin her own freaking law firm? (Substitute the actors' names for the last sentence too.)

 

Also, Grace’s mental handicaps continue to manifest in nearly every scene she is in. By the age of, what, 17 she should know what “lying” is and why people need to do it in certain circumstances.

 

My intense dislike of Geneva Pine continues to blossom every time her smug face is on screen. Actually same goes for Andrew Wiley.

 

The only thing I liked was anything having to do with Diane. As is usually the case.

Edited April 13, 2015 by CleoCaesar

[vibeology]

I know that Alicia is being bought out of the firm or has been already, but she worked with Diane, Kalinda and Cary for years. Diane was nearly put in jail. Does Alicia even know? The worst part of the whole SA thing was how fractured the story has become. I hate it and whatever it takes to get everyone in the same universe again, I don't care. Diane and Kalinda's mess is heartbreaking. Kalinda was wrong to do what she did but Diane didn't know and the fact that she'd be the one to suffer the most for it is crazy. Kalinda, Cary and Diane are in this high stakes situation and I'm supposed to care that the state snack is popcorn? 

 

Honestly, I hate Alicia and her smug face. She thought people would believe the "it was a flirtation" crap. Those emails read like exactly what they were, two people who have sex emailing about it. I laughed and laughed as her situation got worse and worse. She's made the choices she's made and those choices have consequences. The only person I hate more than Alicia is Geneva. The case against Cary was crap and using methods like that to go after Bishop rather than actually finding something on him is a low move that she's still defending now. There are probably people in the SAs office more qualified than Cary was or Finn is to be the deputy, but its not Geneva. She's a lazy prosecutor with incredibly questionable ethics.

[Tetraneutron]

I can buy him in the role, but I wish the writers would take the time to show he's a good lawyer. Have we ever even seen him win a case? . . . They're making his defining quality that he's "nice" and   pushing him into a friend zone with Alicia that will be hard to backtrack on if he's the end goal romantic interest.

They brought him in to replace Will. His literal only job is to be Alicia's love interest. Which means they're stuck, because they can't really move him out of the good guy box, and that makes him dull and kind of stupid. They could afford to have Will be interesting, because he and Alicia had passion and history, which meant the audience was more ready to forgive him and want him to end up with Alicia anyway. (Plus, if it hadn't worked out, they could have gone in another directior for Alicia's happily ever after). But they don't have that luxury with Finn. They can't give him passion or history with Alicia, and the characters are established enough that we know Alicia won't fall in love with someone else on the show. So it's Finn or some other new guy.

 

Not everyone gets to see the promos.  They have never, ever shown the promos in Canada, from what I've seen.  Can't we just, as a courtesy, not talk about those?

 

All Grace does on this show is walk around that house looking hot now.

 

Can someone explain slowly to me who was Bob Balaban's character and what exactly he did to Alicia?  It would be so appreciated.  Because of goddamn football or whatever there's a 5 minute lapse in my taping, and it's where they kicked Alicia out of that office. 

They're on youtube, if you want to watch them. I think what the writers are trying to do with Grace is make her be the conscience. The sweet, innocent person, who believes in all these ideals that the rest of the characters don't even pay attention to any more. It's stupid and doesn't work at all.

 

He's a famous left-leaning civil rights lawyer (hence Alicia and Marisa fangirling all over him). He believes in the ideal of not having corrupt politicians in Chicago use recounts to try to swing the result their way (like Florida 2000, every damn election). So he defended Alicia on the basis that the winner should stay the winner. Then he learned that by doing that, he'd open a huge can of worms for the Democratic party, plus they'd lose their supermajority, so he conspired with the Party to throw her under the bus. The fact that this also hurts the Governor image-wise, who may or may not be inclined to take revenge, is ignored. Though Peter probably wants that supermajority more than anyone, so he'd probably encourage Alicia to play ball.

 

And now the hero of the show has everyone thinking she resigned in disgrace because of corruption AND that she slept her way into a job. How do they writer her out of that?

 

Also convienient: Alicia not being the SA means she can't drop the charges against her firm, which means Kalinda has to sacrifice herself. Smart, writers.

[lunastartron]

In terms of narrative logic, I'm not really seeing this episode as a major improvement upon the season. After multiple people pointed out that the attorney advocating for Alicia at the election board hearings was acting as a representative of the state party and not as her attorney, neither she, Eli, nor Peter thought that it might not be the best idea to to spell out that her interests were now counter to said party? Not to mention, why did the attorney to in question need a debriefing from her right before selling her down river (I know, dramatic tension, but he would have already been brought up to date by the party chairman). This is ever bit as unbelievable as Alicia, the years she spent as a political wife notwithstanding, somehow not realizing that state officials should exhibit basic politeness and social finesse during tete-a-tetes with campaign backers. Despite all of the grandstanding that Alicia has done in lip service to "you go, girl" feminism, I can only read the writing this year as a pretty explicit indictment of limousine liberal entitlement - for all of her superficial insistence on clean campaigning and an ethical approach to politics, the plot highlights what a fantasy that is - and, generally speaking, how out of touch Alicia seems to be with reality. When she started talking about how she and Peter were "two people who should hate each other" last week, I was like, huh? Everything was fine with Peter until she decided, apropos of nothing at the time of Will's death (with whom she was barely on speaking terms), that he was somehow to blame for - well, it was never really specified what he was to blame for.

[Kiddvideo]

I hate this deus ex machine crap. Prady's ethical, until he isn't. Alicia wins, until she doesn't. I never wanted to see her as SA, but I'd rather her be SA than have the storyline pivot because of new information.

What next? Will isn't dead but was in witness protection and now he's going to testify against Bishop in exchange for Cary's, Diane's and Kalinda's freedom?

[pookat]

All Grace does on this show is walk around that house looking hot now

That annoys me, too. I think it started around the time they had the hidden spy camera plot or maybe it was when the young male Florrick and Agos associates watched her lick honey off her hand. Either way, I find it revolting. If Zach can be written as an interesting character, so can Grace. She isn't just braindead window dressing.

Because of goddamn football or whatever there's a 5 minute lapse in my taping, and it's where they kicked Alicia out of that office.

Golf. This time, we can blame it on golf :)

Even if Alicia was being naive and idealistic (though I don't buy the latter anymore), she should have seen Arvin Sloane's betrayal from a mile away. The party hired him as her star lawyer. Of course, he's going to protect the party's interests above Alicia's. She's just collateral damage in their game. Part of me thinks Peter may have had some hand in this, but that's just because I find him unbearably slimy.

If Christine Baranski doesn't get an Emmy nom for this episode, award shows are more corrupt than Chicago politics. As much as I felt for Kalinda and Cary, Diane was the one who held my full attention, sympathy and anxiety as her fate hung in the balance. But if they put her in jail Cary-style, I am so out.

[Eugenie]

If Alicia is not going to be SA, then Lemond Bishop won't be able to pressure her. But he still wants to retire from the business, maybe HE will come forward and make a deal with Geneva Pine to save Kalinda & Diane. No? #twist

[TV Anonymous]

Not everyone gets to see the promos.  They have never, ever shown the promos in Canada, from what I've seen.  Can't we just, as a courtesy, not talk about those?

 

Not exactly true. That happened only if you watched on Global. If you watched it on CBS you would see that Alicia made a press conference announcing her resignation. And I am Canadian living in Canada.

[Lnmop]

Mrs. State's Attorney? Since when do they take into account someone's marital status in addressing their political title? What happened to Madame State's Attorney?

I'm glad that they're getting out of the politics and going back to The law. It's what this show was supposed to be about.

[jjj]

How I agree with people who commented last week that PIdad drags his kids around as an intentional distraction tool. It happened again with Diane. With that said, I dont have a clue what that toy was that was making those sounds, but NOTHING will ever top the talking lion phone in PIdad's arsenal...so dont even bother trying show.

I noticed that when PI-dad had his *own* business to conduct, in front of that police panel, he was working solo, with no kids in sight.  He'd never put up with the kid-distraction crap from anyone else. 

[readster]

The problem is, the show keeps spinning in circles. Alicia is thrown under the bus for "the greater good." The loser can't lose so he has to set things up to be an investigation. No one can tell the PI guy to take his kids to daycare or they aren't talking to them. Idiots talk about how smug and super smart they are and then are shocked that someone recorded the conversation on a cell phone. Grace can't realize by now that her dad was a cheater, her mom fell in the same trap due to being lied to. Of course, in Alicia's mind, Grace sniffs glue. Everything with Geneva and the trying to take down Bishop has become a joke. You won't play ball even though I'm sorry you got framed to get Bishop. Yet I'm going to press to another person to either get Bishop for me or they can go to jail. Because no matter what, I'm right. I was with the judge, I need a drink after all of that. 

[HyacinthBucket]

Am I supposed to see Alicia as a victim now?  I don't feel any sympathy over the way she was screwed out of the job at the end, and I'm not convinced that she won't magically get it back in the next episode. 

 

Right now, my sympathies are all with Kalinda and the always classy Diane.  I don't want to see a repeat of the innocent-pawn-in-prison story line from earlier in the season.  Besides, Diane can't go to prison - she couldn't keep up that gorgeous hair!  Would she look more like Sheldon Cooper's mother in prison?

Edited April 13, 2015 by HyacinthBucket

[LadyMustang65]

I don't even know what to think any more except that I'm tired.  I keep watching the show, and I keep getting disappointed because it's getting harder and harder to find someone to root for.  I'm tired of morally ambiguous 'heroes' and slimy bad guys who always win.  I so wanted Alicia to tell her lawyer and the party boss to stick it where the sun don't shine.  Let them do a recount.  I admired Cary for refusing to testify against Bishop to save himself, but now he's thinking about doing it to keep Kalinda from doing it?  It's not any more ethical now than it was when they were pushing you to do it.  I hated that Kalinda faked the meta data in the first place.  She's always been aggressive in doing her job but never faked evidence.  And now she's also not smart because she didn't think to password protect her work computer even after she's just faked evidence?  Prady was an honorable man except he's not because he took a bribe?  When a minor character like Eli's daughter ends up looking like the most decent character on the show, I think you've gone wrong somewhere along the line.  It all seems so pointless.  We wasted so much time on this election, and in the end it truly was a complete waste of time.  Much ado about nothing.  We wasted all that time building up Florrick-Agos, and all for nothing.  We're right back in the old space with almost all of the old lawyers and the same old tiresome in-fighting.  Unless we see some real growth and fundamental changes in Alicia, it will all have been 2 seasons down the drain.  If Will is looking down on this mess, he's probably glad he was spared it all.

[movado23]

It feels like this show just keeps going around in one big circle.  What was wrong with it being a show about lawyers who handle cases each week ? 

[readster]

Like to know myself not to mention the fallout of the scandal of season 1. It has gone to: "You don't want to play by our rules, we will ruin you." Been going on since season 1. So, that hasn't changed. Peter wouldn't do things for the Olympic Commission of Chicago. They let his sex with hookers and favors get out. Season 2: "Either support Peter to be SA again or you are out on the street." Season 3: "You can't divorce Peter, it will ruin your career and family." Season 4: "Either drop out of being governor or we'll ruin your rep." Season 5: "Don't like working here? I'll ruin you." Season 6: "Either drop out for the greater good of the party or we'll ruin you after working to get your position and don't think your former running mate didn't take a bribe!" Also: "You will help us take Bishop down or we'll send you to jail!"

 Remember kids, the moral of the story is, take the fall or you are screwed!

Edited April 13, 2015 by readster

[MakeMeLaugh]

Why does this show have to rewind the two major plots--Cory's arrest, Alicia's running for office--in the past two years? They were overdrawn and exhausting to begin with, but the writers can't go forward and build on them? This show must by very difficult to work on. I'm over it.

Edited April 13, 2015 by MakeMeLaugh

[readster]

Why does this show have to rewind the two major plots--Cory's arrest, Alicia's running for office--in the past two years? They were overdrawn and exhausting to begin with, but the writers can't go forward and build on them? This show must by very difficult to work on. I'm over it.

 

 Because they don't know any better way than to rewind and then keep going because they had no idea where to take the stories until the very end. As Chrstine said: "And here we are.... back at the beginning." The tiredness and anger in her voice said it all.

[MakeMeLaugh]

Because they don't know any better way than to rewind and then keep going because they had no idea where to take the stories until the very end. As Chrstine said: "And here we are.... back at the beginning." The tiredness and anger in her voice said it all.

You said it well. The writers for whatever reason seem to have entered the "make it up as we go along" stage of this show. We don't have to know ahead of time what the end will be but they should (I am thinking especially of Mad Men, where I have yet to question the suredness of the path forward in the writers' craft, even though I as a viewer cannot predict it)

I wonder how many actors on this show wish their characters could get killed off.

[Zaffy]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
The frustration with Good Wife this season is constant.
IMHO this episode is the creator's acceptance that the whole season sucked big time and they are trying to save it before it is too late.

I can't believe that they wrote the season to have this turn from the beginning. 

 

It is so bad that I don't care about anyone right now in this show. I don't care about Alicia, about the ridiculous Lemon Bishop thingy, hell I don't even care about Diane and the threat of her ending up in jail. The stories are so ridiculous I think I am in denial and just dont care till next season starts.  I think I am only watching the show to see how Khalinda will exit, even if I am afraid this will also be some awful plot.

 

I love The Good Wife.  I believe that in season 5 it reached the quality that only a few shows have managed in tv history.

For me this season is hopefully a bad parenthesis in the saga of a great show.

Let's hope next season(s) will go back to good old days of being an amazing show.

Edited April 13, 2015 by Zaffy

[Auntie Anxiety]

Ever since Will got killed off, the show has gone on a downward trajectory.  He really was the heart of this production, not Alicia.

 

Frankly, I used to love her but I was happy that she got screwed out of the S.A. position.  

[readster]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

The frustration with Good Wife this season is constant.

IMHO this episode is the creator's acceptance that the whole season sucked big time and they are trying to save it before it is too late.

I can't believe that they wrote the season to have this turn from the beginning. 

 

It is so bad that I don't care about anyone right now in this show. I don't care about Alicia, about the ridiculous Lemon Bishop thingy, hell I don't even care about Diane and the threat of her ending up in jail. The stories are so ridiculous I think I am in denial and just dont care till next season starts.  I think I am only watching the show to see how Khalinda will exit, even if I am afraid this will also be some awful plot.

 

I love The Good Wife.  I believe that in season 5 it reached the quality that only a few shows have managed in tv history.

For me this season is hopefully a bad parenthesis in the saga of a great show.

Let's hope next season(s) will go back to good old days of being an amazing show.

 

 They should honestly just wrap it up next year. Have Grace finish high school and go off to college. Alicia finally divorces Peter and they both head off with not knowing what the future holds but know they will not be held down by each other anymore. The kick the last of the morons of the SA office out. No more secret hacking, framing or whatever to get the bad guys. Just be lawyers with moral grey areas. That is what it should be about. Some feel bad about the cases and others are: "No, you are trying to mess with an innocent who didn't do anything wrong." It has gone to: "See politics are evil!" "Secrets destroy things and the good guys want to be just as bad as the bad guys to get justice!"

[TVHappy9463]

Holy smokes, that was fantastic.  This episode and the anticipation for the rest of the season made sitting thru the campaign nonsense worth it! I will be disappointed if Kalinda goes all witness protection and turns on Lamonde. Not sure she can now that she has bonded with Dylan, which could have been Bishop's plan all along. Between Bishop and the PI Daddy (Wiley) interesting how they use their children as pawns in their games.  Bishop said it himself, when you want to get out, you end up one of two ways, dead or in jail.  

This really should be Christine Baranski's Emmy year, she has consistently delivered on this show for 6 seasons, and these past few episodes have been top.  

[ethankoo]

I love this episode and am glad Alicia is forced to step down.   People need to look at the big picture.  The election was a snooze but the AFTERMATH, especially with Alicia resigning is a great direction for the show to go into next season.   The election was not a waste because not only was the whole season building up for her fall, it also sets up the rift between Alicia and the other characters.  She was hardly at the firm, her relationship with Cary and Diane definitely suffered (like when they negotiated her exit package).  Now that she lost as SA, what's next for her?  Her professional image has definitely been tarnished, with the email scandal and the voter fraud.  She has always been Saint Alicia and now that she is the one being targeted, it will definitely be interesting to see how she will cope and build her way back up again.   I really think if the election storyline was tighter and less filler, this could have been just as good as last season. 

[pinetastic]

I noticed that when PI-dad had his *own* business to conduct, in front of that police panel, he was working solo, with no kids in sight.  He'd never put up with the kid-distraction crap from anyone else. 

Good call, I didn't notice that.  But the giraffe was brilliant.  Who makes a stuffed giraffe  that announces he's angry?  Andrew Wiley must have hacked his kids toy. 

[pinetastic]

...She was hardly at the firm, her relationship with Cary and Diane definitely suffered (like when they negotiated her exit package).  Now that she lost as SA, what's next for her?  Her professional image has definitely been tarnished, with the email scandal and the voter fraud.  She has always been Saint Alicia and now that she is the one being targeted, it will definitely be interesting to see how she will cope and build her way back up again.   I really think if the election storyline was tighter and less filler, this could have been just as good as last season. 

This is totally right. I also think the show suffered by isolating Alicia from the rest of the cast. She was removed from the banter of the office and the characters who know her so well, and can call her on her crap. 

I love that Alicia is losing her St. Alicia image. The most annoying part of it was that she believed in it.  I find Grace's dissapointment in her mother farfetched, but I think it serves as a way for Alicia to let it go. Maybe once Grace lets this St. Alicia image of her mom go, Alicia can let it go.

I didn't love this episode, but I think it was just because I was sad that none of our favorite badasses did any badassery.  Everyone lost.

Edited April 13, 2015 by pinetastic

[Eugenie]

 Because they don't know any better way than to rewind and then keep going because they had no idea where to take the stories until the very end. As Chrstine said: "And here we are.... back at the beginning." The tiredness and anger in her voice said it all.

 

Not only are they going in circles, Lemond Bishop is no longer scary, remember? He makes threats and nothing happens. Then he talks about retiring from the drug business and wants to make a deal. But here they are, talking about scary Mr. Bishop if they testify against him.

 

Kalinda is supposed to be smart. Bishop told her he wants to retire. Ding, ding, ding…Kalinda! Think! He is not going to murder people if he wants his son to have a normal life! 

 

It drives me crazy that the writers keeps throwing out empty threats, then everyone is all scared. Then the bad guy wants to be nice. Then we are back to being scared again. And will they ever mention the white card again? Remember they did a big deal episode with Bishop/Kalinda/Lana, ending with Kalinda breaking the white card in a cliffhanger? And what happened to Lana?

 

Its Boy Who Cried Wolf story with Bishop over and over again. Are we seriously supposed to be scared of Mr. Bishop? The storyline has turned into a comedy.

[readster]

Not only are they going in circles, Lemond Bishop is no longer scary, remember? He makes threats and nothing happens. Then he talks about retiring from the drug business and wants to make a deal. But here they are, talking about scary Mr. Bishop if they testify against him.

 

Kalinda is supposed to be smart. Bishop told her he wants to retire. Ding, ding, ding…Kalinda! Think! He is not going to murder people if he wants his son to have a normal life! 

 

It drives me crazy that the writers keeps throwing out empty threats, then everyone is all scared. Then the bad guy wants to be nice. Then we are back to being scared again. And will they ever mention the white card again? Remember they did a big deal episode with Bishop/Kalinda/Lana, ending with Kalinda breaking the white card in a cliffhanger? And what happened to Lana?

 

Its Boy Who Cried Wolf story with Bishop over and over again. Are we seriously supposed to be scared of Mr. Bishop? The storyline has turned into a comedy.

 

 That's what I mean. In fact, Alicia's deal with Bishop made plenty of sense, he rolls his main guys and then (secretively gives them a heads up). Then everyone wins but instead its as you said: "Scary Mr. Bishop will kill us." Then SA's office is like: "We don't care we just want him in jail and if you won't do it, you can go to jail." 

[jester]

Decent episode amongst a lot of bad ones of late but still I can't deal with some of this idiocy on even the good episodes.

 

"We will take your phone and get it back to you in 12 hours."

Um, hi, I'm a lawyer so uhhh. the hell you will.

[Artsda]

I didn't feel sorry for Alicia at all, then her crying to Peter. Just made me roll my eyes. Alicia got what she deserved and her none of your business line to Grace, her affair is all over the internet. It IS her business at this point when it affects her life. Grace should give that back when Alicia asks her personal questions. 

[photo fox]

Yeah, I didn't feel sorry for Alicia, either. She's broken ethics codes how many times, and now that someone else is turning those same kind of tactics on her, and Peter can't fix it, she's crying?

Whatever, lady. Lie down with dogs and get up with fleas.

[ktwo]

"We will take your phone and get it back to you in 12 hours."

Um, hi, I'm a lawyer so uhhh. the hell you will.

Agree. See also:

"Diane Lockhart, you need to testify against Lemond Bishop."

Um, hi, I was his lawyer so anything I could possibly tell you would be privileged so uhhh. The hell I will.

I can't decide if I love or hate Eli asking D'Angelo Barksdale whether he was wearing a "wire."

[CaughtOnTape]

Is it weird that I still really like Alicia and Peter? Maybe not as a couple, but I really like their scenes. 

 

No.  I do too.

Mostly because I can't figure it out and it's so totally different from every other married couple on TV.

Do they still love each other?  Hate each other?  They aren't living in the same house and that's not a scandal?  Everyone around them knows this and yet no one seems to find it strange that as far as the masses are concerned, this is a happily married couple.  No paparazzi has ever captured Alicia walking in and out of her house without Peter or vice versa?

Is Peter supporting her?  Did he know this was gonna happen with the party?  Does she still support Peter?  It seems they don't trust each other yet they still have a friendly relationship.

 

I dunno WTF is going on with them and I love it.

[Primetimer]

Alicia is forced to defend her election victory against charges of voting-machine fraud committed on her behalf, with the help of Ron Rifkin's hot shot lawyer Spencer Randolph. Let's hope he's less evil here than he was with another cute TV brunette a few years back.

Read the story

[pennben]

 

Alicia got what she deserved and her none of your business line to Grace, her affair is all over the internet. It IS her business at this point when it affects her life. Grace should give that back when Alicia asks her personal questions.

 

Alicia wasn't telling Grace that it was none of Grace's business; she was saying it was none of the press/public's business.

[Julie23]

Although I never wanted Alicia to be SA, and it seems I'm getting my wish now, it also seems that the reason is so over the top - like the writers read these boards and noticed that NO ONE wanted her to be SA so they changed up the plot at the last minute or something. I can't believe this plot was planned all along. Then again, this entire season seems like it was written with no end game it sight, so...maybe this hot mess was intentional?

[marceline]

It's funny. I never wanted Alicia to win. I hate what she became in the process of running. In fact I haven't watched the last 2-3 eps because I was so bored with the election storyline and yet they really made me feel a white hot hatred for taking this win away from her. The show gave me what I thought I wanted and yet made me want the opposite all in one episode. I'm giving the Kings serious respect for that. Even when they annoy me, they still manage to surprise me.

 

Man Peter is so much better to Alicia than she deserves. From telling him to stop "banging the help" to throwing him under the bus publicly, Alicia has shown him very little reason to be loyal and yet when it all gets taken away, who is standing there waiting to give her a hug? Can he bang the help now, Lish? Or do you still require him to be celibate?

 

Can we please start writing Grace with a slightly more mature perspective? She's not a middle schooler anymore. She knows people lie and why they do. Having her mope around like she saw Santa Claus kick a puppy is ridiculous. That said, I felt a bit of irony at the fact that Grace handles the reality of her mother as a woman just as poorly as Alicia handled the idea that Grace was growing up. The Florrick women are so repressed especially in contrast with hooker lovin' Peter, and abortion buying Zach.

 

At the end, I just wanted Jennifer Garner to show up and say to Alicia, "And that's why you never trust a word that comes out of Arvin Sloane's mouth."

[Thog]

I just want to say that "Tilden Swindle" is a brilliant turn of phrase.