S07.E03: Cooked

[bistor]

As a synthetic chemist I was very annoyed with the case this week. The guy didn't do anything particularly difficult or innovative.

 

The Diane arc was annoying as well, I hope to see more interesting stories for Cary and her. 

 

I am loving Grace though, and I used to hate her in the previous seasons.

Edited October 21, 2015 by bistor

[izabella]

I much prefer unrealistically clever and tech savvy Grace to unrealistically stupid Grace.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

The Good Wife Cooks Up Another Opportunity For Campaign Managers To Spar Behind The Scenes
Alicia takes a break from a case involving designer GHB to go on a cooking show and yell at her mother. How's that rehabilitation strategy going, Ruth?

[Dowel Jones]

Out of curiosity, what happens to the defendants now?  Pretty obvious that the dealer would go on to trial, but they can't really put the FBI agent through it.  Yet, they can't just dismiss his case because the dealer's attorney would likely get wind of it and start asking questions. 

 

Howard Lyman is going to leave L/A and form up with Alicia, and maybe even Lucca and  Louis Canning.

[Inquisitionist]

- I didn't get the sense the intern was entitled, just, like Caitlin, making different choices than older feminists did. And I rather like the Kings pointing that out, because the varying expectations are a real issue that comes up in real life.

 

But she babbled like a 12-year-old.  I'd be looking for a way to let her go.

[MakeMeLaugh]

So the FBI has the judge under the tightest surveillance but Eli's communication with him re the sting goes undetected? And what if the case really deserved to be dismissed or not? And did the judge already turn down the bribe based on Eli's tip but no one told the undercover guy--was the judge going to be taken into custody if he dismissed the charges?

Before he was Shooter, Christopher Macdonald was Cybill Shepherd's husband Louie in my favorite cheesy movie Chances Are.

Apologies in advance but I am absolutely loving Howard now--he is really good and more believable than the senile leering partner that for some reason could get away harassing ypung women. And I like Jackie so much more now in this episode. I thought the two of them made a most believable couple.

Edited October 22, 2015 by MakeMeLaugh

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Before he was Shooter, Christopher Macdonald was Cybill Shepherd's husband Louie in my favorite cheesy movie Chances Are.

And before that, he was James, Kelly's well intentioned dance agent in Breakin', which is one of my favorite cheesy dance movies!

[Inquisitionist]

Not to mention Thelma's buffoonish husband in Thelma and Louise. My earliest CM sighting, however, was as a slumping pitcher in season 1 of Cheers, 1982.

[MakeMeLaugh]

Uhoh, what if JM reads this thread haha--she is going to be jealous of Christopher Mcdonald's PreviouslyTV fan club--no more scenes with him!

[kwnyc]

We just caught up with the episode today...and my favorite moment was the judge's growling stomach. They certainly didn't have to take the long way round and make him Muslim and observing Ramadan (vaguely racist), but the growling throwing everyone off their timing was perfect.

[CleoCaesar]

Someone converting to Islam and observing Ramadan is racist?

[kwnyc]

No, it was used as a setup for the stomach-growling scene. There was no reference to his conversion, or why other than the "had a heart attack/became a Muslim." Using a religious practice to be a setup for a comic payoff. There were a lot of ways they could have gone with that: either ground it in the reality of an actual religious conversion (which could feed future plotlines this season), or have another reason for the judge fasting during the day. It was cheap.

[paramitch]

I enjoyed this episode. I like seeing Alicia practice law again, and hope we continue to see more of Cary and Diane.

 

I also thought the cooking show appearance was freaking hilarious (as was Margot Martindale's perfect spit-take), as were Stockard Channing's scenes scenes with Alan Cumming.

 

As far as Channing's obvious plastic surgery, I have a lot of sympathy for actresses in Hollywood, especially those over 50. To me, far too often they're kind of damned either way -- either they age naturally and are criticized for that, or they get plastic surgery and are criticized for that too. I'm kind of on the fence -- I think Stockard definitely does look a little odd and plastic, but on the other hand I think she looks very pretty at 71 in spite of that. And she's so much fun as Alicia's mother (loved the "drinking" conversation).

 

I rolled my eyes at a few plot contrivances, including the "facial recognition" discovery of the FBI guy (seriously?!), and most especially involving Diane's misunderstanding Alicia's involvement with Howard. I wish that scene had been written differently. I hate seeing them at odds, and especially at such manufactured odds. 

 

But honestly I'm enjoying the season a lot. I love the characters on this show, and it's great fun to watch Eli and Ruth battle it out, for instance. 

[cheyz]

Way to go, Alicia, blurting out to Eli that the FBI were after the judge and thus blowing attorney-client privilege that you supposedly care so much about.

 

 

Eli works for her, so he is covered under attorney-client privilege. Now granted he doesn't work for the law firm itself, but she had already talked to him about the setup, and if she hadn't convinced him he would have blown the FBI's sting anyway when he continued making phone calls.

[needschocolate]

I am enjoying this show more this season - probably because they are actually having cases.  Although it could be because this show is becoming the show to watch just so your can find the idiocy and make fun of it (RIP Under the Dome).

 

Am I the only one who thinks that will come back to bite Eli and/or Alicia in the future? Judge will be caught up in something and to get out, mentions that he was warned about a trap by the chief of staff of the governor's wife, who just happened to be the attorney for the FBI agent trying to bribe him. Heck, maybe it will take down Peter, too.

 

I can see it coming back, but then Peter will make a phone call or the new investigator will discover something, or the new lawyer comes up with some law none of the long-time lawyers have ever heard and no one gets in any real trouble and the voters will completely forgive an forget.    

 

What is wrong with the Kings? What is wrong with their brains that they think Howard Lyman is someone viewers want to watch? Why do they keep forcing him into episodes? Does the actor have some kind of blackmail on them? So many questions.

 

My theory is that the Kings really want to be comedy writers - the too small office, Howard, Alicia's mother's drinking, the Three's Company sort of misunderstandings, etc.  They have been trying to make this show a comedy for years - Remember the previously unheard of lawyer who telecommuted by being on a computer screen rolling around the office?  Purely for comic effect.  
And then there was the comedy banter between the two government computer guys that were spying on Alicia and the firm a couple of seasons ago.    

 

The problem is they seem to take most of the comedy lessons from old Marx Brothers movies and I Love Lucy episodes, and, while both of those are classics that were performed by very talented people, that sort of comedy has been done and re-done many times and is not the laugh riot the Kings seem to think it is.  

[CleoCaesar]

My theory is that the Kings really want to be comedy writers

I agree. And I agree that they're so painfully bad at it. All their "quirky" characters and painful sight gags. It's really cringey 99% of the time.

[millennium]

I can't believe I watched a serious, prestige, Emmy-winning drama that tried to wring dramatic tension out of a hack Three's Company plot. I was so embarrassed for Julianna Margulies and Christine Baranski. Yes, have the characters get mad at each other because of a silly misunderstanding that could have been cleared up if anyone acted remotely like a real person.

 

It's feeling like Groundhog Day.   Didn't we just do the Diane-offers-Alicia-an-olive-branch-but-snatches-it-back-because-of-a-misunderstanding storyline last season?

 

And good grief, will Jackie Florick never die?