S07.E11: Iowa

[Readalot]

I don't have to much to add, I agree with all your points as to how bad this episode was. My husband and I actually watched this live because we want to see Alicia's response to Eli, although it seemed like a non issue to me since she had her chance with Will. Disappointed to say the least, but that's been my constant state with this show for the last few years. I'm still amazed the power JM has over the producers of this show. Just give it up JM if you hate your cast so much! Put me out of my misery because I can't seem to do it myself.

Edited January 12, 2016 by Readalot

[Inquisitionist]

Florrick Agos may be a partnership, but it should still have a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and accounting systems with internal controls, like more than one person having to sign checks or contracts involving large sums of money.  No way David Lee could have just set up the shell corporation he described and parked $2M there without anyone knowing.  He's committed out-and-out fraud, which I can only assume will eventually get back to Alicia via Jackie.

[j5cochran]

I agree with just about everything said by everyone about this episode.  I sincerely hope that the election story-line is over, dead, and buried with a stake in its heart.

 

However . . . I actually liked Neil Howard Sloan-Jacobs (played by Christopher Seiber), the Florrick Fanatic.  He was a sort of low-rent Hamilton, with his Revolutionary War uniform and election rap.  According to IMDB, the character also appeared in a season two episode - Real Deal.  Does anyone remember him?

 

 

 

[Noirprncess]

At this rate of the decline for this show, the KINDEST thing they can do is put it out of its misery. Seriously.

I am tired of mopey, gloomy, witchy (with the dreaded B) Alicia. Honestly, I guess her fantasy of life would be better with Will is a fantasy that she actively avoids deeply scrutinizing. Let's say she went back to her seat in Criminal Law 101 and said yes to the young man in love. Wasn't Will a gambler who avoided a fraud charge and jail by paying back the funds and agreeing to a suspension period of his legal license?

So, life with Peter the cheater or Will the fraud?. Maybe she needs to re-eval her taste in men. But please do it quickly because this storyline is worn thin.

I cracked up over them rolling into the same town over and over. Glad the election storyline is dead. I LOVE Margo Martindale but Ruth was not a well written character.

[lidarose9]

ITA about the sudden coziness between Lucca and JDM.... And that's another thing I could not buy! That little heart-to-heart between Alicia and Ruth. Like they are best pals from way back. Why would Alicia listen to what Ruth has to say about relationships? What does Ruth know about it? What does Ruth know about Alicia? ZILCH. There's Alicia isolating herself behind her dark glasses and earbuds, but sure, she'll sit down and open up to this woman who is paid to spin situations and manipulate people. Of course Ruth will try to befriend Alicia because Ruth's job is to convince Alicia to continue being a "good wife." But why oh why would Alicia waste one minute listening to what Ruth has to say? This show makes me want to slap myself for watching it. 

Edited January 12, 2016 by lidarose9

[whatsatool]

I am starting to miss the drug lord.

[buckboard]

I'd be really po'd if I were an Iowan from the portrayal of the state as nothing more than small town after small town, populated by hicks who vote based entirely on a candidate's eating habits and who switch candidates at the last second, inspired by a guy in costume singing a campaign song.

Plus, for an experienced politician like the governor - from a neighboring state, much of it also rural - to find rural Iowa so foreign to his experience and the oddity (to him) of having to eat local food at all stops (and there are 3200 stops on the Full Grassley) is ridiculous. Hasn't he already spent months in the state? Also, Ruth is supposedly a successful, long-time campaign manager and she ran a piss poor campaign.

It's the Full Grassley, not Full Greensleaves. He was a well known senator. http://www.msnbc.com/hardball/the-full-grassley-upon-us

[vibeology]

Wow. I wasn't in any rush to watch this episode and now that I did, I wish I hadn't bothered. How dare Alicia throw things at Eli? How on Earth is that okay? Also, while Alicia was destroying the house, where was Grace? Was she already on the bus?

 

I also hated both LAL plots. My one hope is that Howard, being pushed out of the firm, takes all the money and goes off with Jackie to be happy until the end of their days. David Lee committed fraud and no one seems to think its a big deal? The firm is being seriously investigated and it all goes away because someone at the top promises to fire someone beneath them? Awful.

 

I don't understand why Eli is so devoted to Alicia still. She's horrible and bad at being a politician. We've seen her suck at it when she was running on a small scale and we've seen her suck at it on a larger stage as the wife. Why would Eli think she'd do any better as the candidate on a big stage? I do think Eli is a lonely person and misses his strange friendship with Alicia, but she's awful.

 

I like that Grace called out Zack's stupid comment and was useful at the caucus. I liked Jackie caring more about Howard's well-being than the money. I liked Luca besting David. 

[lidarose9]

I think I just realized what is so wrong with this show now: it assumes we like Alicia. 

[candle96]

I think I just realized what is so wrong with this show now: it assumes we like Alicia. 

This. So much. As I watching the utterly ridiculous plate-throwing scene I said, "God, I hate Alicia!"  Who acts like that? This show has really lost its way. I can't figure out if the whole "losing her chance with Will," is her revisionist history or the show's revisionist history, but I hate it. She repeatedly walked away from him and kept him at arm's length.

 

As a Midwesterner, I just rolled my eyes at the depictions of Iowa - typical Hollywood contempt and stereotypes of "flyover country." They never get it right, although I was kind of hoping Zach was going to get put in his place by meeting a cool, interesting Iowan. Doesn't think they have X-boxes?? Seriously?

 

I've not been a fan of Ruth, although I do love Margo Martindale. That scene where she spoke to Alicia about the path not chosen made absolutely no sense, other than a chance to show off MM's acting skills. It almost felt like the writers took pieces of other characters she's portrayed and crammed it into this scene where she's suddenly a wise sage. Entertaining, but it did not fit the history of their relationship, which was scant at best.

 

The only thing I was encouraged by was the possibility of both Howard being shuffled out the door AND David Lee getting in trouble. Dianne and Cary deserve much better!

[Winston Wolfe]

 

I do think Eli is a lonely person and misses his strange friendship with Alicia, but she's awful.

I'm reminded of Will's admonishment to Alicia when she left his firm: "you're awful and you don't even know it."  Pretty much sums it up.

Edited January 12, 2016 by Winston Wolfe

[roomtorome]

I also think they are just trying too hard - for some unfathomable reason, to be uber relevant - with both the election (using real time, real candidates names who are running, given Iowa happening this every week and yes, there is a lot of utter ridiculous nonsense that goes along with it but it has to do with our state of politics, not Iowa specifically) and the racism storyline, which has been told embarrassingly badly.

 

They lost their way a few years ago (IMO) from telling the story of a woman who was in her position of being expected to stand by her man even if he is a cheating hound, to maintain political office, etc and how that woman evolves, finds her way in her personal and work life, while said hound is behind bars and when he is released.  But, they just couldn't maintain it for some reason - 

 

I agree - put it out of its misery.  

[swimmyfish]

 Why would Alicia listen to what Ruth has to say about relationships? What does Ruth know about it? What does Ruth know about Alicia? ZILCH.

 

I also thought the scenes between Alicia and Ruth were very strained, but - Ruth is a successful woman who is happy with the choices she's made and where she is in life. While Alicia's level of success is debatable, the show has taken great pains to make it clear she's not happy, at all, about anything, ever. And, in the absence of any real friends who might offer some perspective, Ruth is maybe not the best person she could turn to, but she may be the only person Alicia could turn to.

[grannygeek]

Re: Good Wife, the State of The Show.

"This is the way the world ends.

This is the way the world ends.

This is the way the world ends.

Not with a bang, but a whimper" (- T.S. Eliot) What a shame. What a waste of a formerly great, appointment TV, show.

[Shellie]

Plus, for an experienced politician like the governor - from a neighboring state, much of it also rural - to find rural Iowa so foreign to his experience and the oddity (to him) of having to eat local food at all stops (and there are 3200 stops on the Full Grassley) is ridiculous. 

 

This is truly baffling.  Zach's reaction too.  He was looking out the window, marveling at the empty countryside as though they were on Mars . . . when MOST of northern and central Illinois looks like that.  If somebody traveled across Illinois to Iowa and didn't ever see a 'Welcome to Iowa' sign, they'd never know they had left Illinois.  Surely this family has been outside of Chicago once or twice?

[CaptainCranky]

Hated it.

Could be the worst show since the beginning. Only good part was having the son back on the show.

[Risky Librarian]

This is truly baffling.  Zach's reaction too.  He was looking out the window, marveling at the empty countryside as though they were on Mars . . . when MOST of northern and central Illinois looks like that.  If somebody traveled across Illinois to Iowa and didn't ever see a 'Welcome to Iowa' sign, they'd never know they had left Illinois.  Surely this family has been outside of Chicago once or twice?

 

Particularly considering his father is the GOVERNOR. Surely he was on that campaign bus once or twice? He didn't just campaign in Chicago for that. Zach is weird, but not ridiculously detached and out of it. (Frankly, if anyone in the family was going to make that statement, I would have assumed Grace.)

 

And didn't Zach get pulled over driving outside of Chicago in "I Fought the Law..."? The whole flailing business about that episode was that it was a different county and they didn't go in for the "big city politics" or whatever, unless I've lost my mind. He's been outside the city limits a few times.

[kwnyc]

 

When did Zach become such a little shit?

Either a combo of bad writing (because Zach was usually portrayed as fairly thoughtful for a teenager) or feeling his privilege after just over a semester at a top-tier college. If he's remotely thinking of going into his father's business, he'll need to turn down the entitlement a notch or ten.

[orza]

Meh, it's just the age. Zach was acting like a typical college freshman who is out his own for the first time a for him exciting cosmopolitan environment and finds everything so provincial and boring when he comes home. He'll outgrow it in time.

[Driad]

Just piling on … Are they running out of money?  When Alicia was sorting out which plates to throw (instead of grabbing the nearest object as many people would) the plates she chose to throw were the thick kind used in diners and cheap restaurants. I do not think Alicia would have plates like those.

 

Apparently there is such a thing as a loose meat sandwich. 

[lovinbob]

I am starting to miss the drug lord.

Funny, I thought I saw him when they did a wide shot of the small crowd at one of the campaign stops.

[Athena5217]

I am starting to miss the drug lord.

I miss Robyn Burdine, and she was the Scrappy-Doo of private investigators.

Hopefully, Margo Martindale's role is over with this episode and she is free to take better roles.

Its a toss up whether I hated the discrimination plot line or the Iowa plot line more.

Edited January 12, 2016 by Athena5217

[kwnyc]

 

Apparently there is such a thing as a loose meat sandwich.

 

Remember Roseanne and Jackie used to run a loose meat sandwich restaurant in Lanford, Illinois on "Roseanne." :-) (So Governor Florrick might have downed a few of them on his own statewide campaign trail).

[AriAu]

He was looking out the window, marveling at the empty countryside as though they were on Mars . . . when MOST of northern and central Illinois looks like that.  If somebody traveled across Illinois to Iowa and didn't ever see a 'Welcome to Iowa' sign, they'd never know they had left Illinois.

 

Actually, at this point there is very little farmland north of Chicago, but there is a whole lot of it south and west, making the whole reaction as ridiculous as everyone has said.

 

Big question for me, was whether the hair in Alicia's eyes was from her wig moving around or was supposed to be stylish.

 

Yes, Loose Meat sandwiches are a thing and they are basically like sloppy joes. And, yes, Roseanne had a restaurant specializing in them!

Yes, setting up a shell to park legal fees like that is illegal and probably grounds for disbarment and, under a bizarre Illinois case, lawyers who know about fraud and don't turn a David Lee into the bar can be disbarred them selves!

 

According to IMDB, the character also appeared in a season two episode - Real Deal.  Does anyone remember him?

 

I do remember him and he was just as goofy back then and Eli rolled his eyes the whole way, even as it turned up on youtube

[backgroundnoise]

I think the above poster is right in that the show writers think we like Alicia.  I don't, and haven't for a long time.  She's smug and morose. That said, I don't think it's incompatible for Alicia to both be personally regretting her own choices and be furious with Eli.  Even if it didn't ultimately change the course of Alicia's life (her own wishy-washiness did that), it was an incredibly bad thing to do someone.  I would never be able to trust Eli again, nor want his friendship if I were her.

 

What I can't get behind is Eli thinking Alicia would make a good Presidential candidate.  The Florrick's are tainted.

[lidarose9]

Remember Roseanne and Jackie used to run a loose meat sandwich restaurant in Lanford, Illinois on "Roseanne." :-) (So Governor Florrick might have downed a few of them on his own statewide campaign trail).

 

There is a beloved chain of diners called The Maid Rite across the Midwest. It's mostly just ground beef (hamburger) with some secret seasoning, heaped on a bun. They are no different from a regular hamburger except the meat is crumbled up and not in a patty. Anyone who has ever enjoyed a hamburger but would turn their nose up at a Maid Rite is a hypocrite. It was a juvenile attempt at humor. You can hear Beavis (or was it Butthead) snickering, "Huh huh Loose Meat huh huh."

 

Also: there was subtext about age in the campaign plotline this season too -- Ruth is the old timer, the younger people on the campaign are telling her she's out of touch, etc. -- paralleling the plot with Howard at LAL. But again it feels badly off-target and heavy-handed. One of the show's strengths in the past has been the way they weave current events into their plotlines. There have to be a million ways to reference current events in Chicago right now as regards race discrimination. Instead it's all just a big joke (Howard) or misunderstanding (the new hire). 

[kwnyc]

 

Also: there was subtext about age in the campaign plotline this season too -- Ruth is the old timer, the younger people on the campaign are telling her she's out of touch, etc. -- paralleling the plot with Howard at LAL.

I think perhaps you give the writers too much credit.

[Shellie]

Actually, at this point there is very little farmland north of Chicago, but there is a whole lot of it south and west, making the whole reaction as ridiculous as everyone has said.

 

I'm considering northern Illinois as more than what's due north of Chicagoland.  Most of the land west of DeKalb and over to Clinton and up to Galena and back east to Rockford and over to Harvard is farms.  You only have to drive 20 or 30 miles west or northwest out of Lake Zurich and it's farms everywhere. 

 

Yes, Loose Meat sandwiches are a thing and they are basically like sloppy joes.

 

I sure wish someone on the episode would have explained that. One little comment would have sufficed.  Last night, three of us were sitting around wondering what in the world loose meat sandwiches are.  I envisioned a pile of shaved ham. 

Edited January 12, 2016 by Shellie

[Tara Ariano]

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

 

The Good Wife Pretends Iowa Doesn't Make Her Want To Barf
Peter is less successful on this score. Elsewhere, a David Lee maneuver might screw Howard over, and the partners' racism goes under the state's microscope.

[roomtorome]

The writers are leaving after this season: http://previously.tv/the-good-wife/series-creators-michelle-and-robert-king-wont-return-to-the-good-wife-past-this-season/

[MakeMeLaugh]

I think the writers left a couple of seasons ago....

[KaveDweller]

But she'd never met Grace. Even someone obsessed with politics probably couldn't identify the teenage daughter of a long-shot candidate who's a governor in another state. It would be like if she had a crush on Martin O'Malley's daughter. I just don't buy anybody would see the politicians' kids like that, when usually the minor children of political figures are kept away from the cameras. 

 

Remember that Grace was listed on that website about "Hot Children of Politicians" or something.  So, someone who'd seen that site may have known/liked Grace from that, and then maybe stalked her on social media or something.

 

Did Zach say he was a freshman in college? He started at the beginning of S6, so does that mean the past two seasons have been one year?

[Ms Blue Jay]

When did Alicia abandon Zach to be homeless?  ( I know that was just her fantasy).  Was that conflict ever addressed?  Is she still ignoring him for daring to have consensual sexual relations with someone of the same age?

[picklesprite]

 I would never be able to trust Eli again, nor want his friendship if I were her.

 

No kidding.

 

I thought Eli was made to look ridiculous, and sad, and not very bright all season. Still love the actor, though.

[Readalot]

Was Luca wearing the "is it gold? Is it blue?" dress?

[TV Diva Queen]

I think the above poster is right in that the show writers think we like Alicia.  I don't, and haven't for a long time.  She's smug and morose. That said, I don't think it's incompatible for Alicia to both be personally regretting her own choices and be furious with Eli.  Even if it didn't ultimately change the course of Alicia's life (her own wishy-washiness did that), it was an incredibly bad thing to do someone.  I would never be able to trust Eli again, nor want his friendship if I were her.

 

What I can't get behind is Eli thinking Alicia would make a good Presidential candidate.  The Florrick's are tainted.

I don't think that Eli was saying that Alicia would be a good candidate.  I think what he was saying was to get Alicia out there with the people more and let he campaign.  YMMV.

[Tetraneutron]

No, TV Diva Queen, I agree with you. I think Eli was saying that Peter's strategy should have heavily relied on shoving Alicia in front of TV cameras because the voters really connect with her. Of course, that's stupid, because even if it's true, Alicia hated campaigning and bitched about even the small role she was asked to play.

[MrWhyt]

 Is she still ignoring him for daring to have consensual sexual relations with someone of the same age?

His girlfriend got pregnant, and then there was an abortion, two major events, all without telling her. it was more than just him having sex.

[CleoCaesar]

This was the first episode in 6+ seasons that I mostly had on fast-forward. It was that excruciatingly bad.

 

Take this show out back and shoot it.

[beeble]

His girlfriend got pregnant, and then there was an abortion, two major events, all without telling her. it was more than just him having sex.

 

Because everyone must think of Alicia first when encountering stressful situations. That storyline made me freaking hate her. He told his dad. And Alicia was upset that news of it would hurt her campaign.  I have politicians in my family (small potatoes, comparatively) and they are seriously self-centered enough to do the same thing.

 

This week, the way everyone was confused and trying to figure shit out made me miss Kalinda. She would have found dirt on the whole state of Iowa and gotten 99% of the counties for Peter. Seriously. She she may have become a cartoon but she got shit done.

[pennben]

I thought the opening scene with Alica and Eli was chilling and well done.  I also initially thought how much more effective it would have been a couple of years ago. But then, thinking a bit more, I can understand the explosion of rage at Eli after all of this time. She's clearly not happy any more, a tequila-drinking mess, if you will.  And then Eli brings up that Will wanted to be with her and loved her back oh so many years ago, and that became her focus for rage.....if only I had known, I wouldn't be where I am; if only I had known, everything would be good.  None of where she is at is her fault (in her mind), it's someone else's fault.  Easier to throw plates at someone than smash a plate against your own face and recognize that you have led yourself to where you are.

 

And I think that ties into the scenes with Ruth.  I wish we had seen more of her prior to this, but I think she was intended to show us one road that could be Alicia's, what will be will be.  When Ruth is telling Alicia about the love of her life and it ended with her never seeing him again, and there was no stirring chorus, strong symphony, beautiful lovestory fulfilled/denied, etc., and Alicia said "I thought this was going somewhere"....no darling, it's just life. I also got that tie in, when at some point in the episode after Peter lost, we just saw a bottle being poured into a shaker, and then more poured in, and I fully expected to see Alicia sipping her tequila, but it was Ruth.  Fatalistic Ruth. There could have been a much more fleshed out story here between the two, but it was just, "okay, time to tell how Alicia might end up like Ruth" episode, no need for plot development prior. 

 

I can't even begin to speak about the Iowa stuff. For the record, I don't live there, but I've driven in Iowa lots, and if they had shown that bus on the left side of the road one more time, I was going to throw something at the screen!  I understand that there are questions as to whether it is prudent to let Iowa have such influence in the selection of presidential candidates, but I am infuriated that the way the show tried to present it was to mock the people.  It is profoundly insulting....seriously, the "tinkly, this is a joke" music in all scenes about Iowa started my blood boiling.  Let's just say the rest of the nonsense only added anger.

 

As for being happy the campaign is over, I'll just say be happy this one is over....we still have Alicia's future, as Eli forewarned. Sigh.

 

Finally, I can't believe it has possibly happened, but I liked Howard Lyman this episode.  Granted, they've had to basically assassinate Diane and Cary for me to get there, but we are where we are.  I'm not going to comment further on Cary or Diane, as those characters don't exist on this show anymore.  What a pity what they have done to these two.

Edited January 14, 2016 by pennben

[MissLucas]

I thought there were something interesting points about what Ruth had to say about the road not taken. First that somewhat fatalistic view could be seen as a secularized version of Calvinist predestination which would tie in with all her talk about the 'good Lord'. But more intriguing was the idea that had Alicia said 'yes' to Will instead of 'Peter' back at university she would find herself in a similar (not the same) spot: disillusioned staring at a marriage that had become a sham. I always thought Will was from the same mold as Peter (alpha-male with a tendency to break rules) so I don't find that scenario unrealistic at all. Peter or Will - in the end it would not have mattered.

 

It's a rather bleak perspective and I wonder why the Kings brought it up here. It's not as if Ruth could have had all those insights all of a sudden after a season of not being able to 'read' Alicia. Otherwise she would have caught on on the tension between Alicia and Eli. Martindale did a great job with those scenes but they still felt OOC.

[TigerLynx]

I didn't think Ruth had any real insight into Alicia.  I thought Ruth believed she could get Peter to come in second in Iowa, and she didn't want Alicia to ruin that.  So she played the old, "wherever or whoever you run to, you still have to deal with yourself and your problems" which was actually good advice by accident.  Ruth doesn't care about Alicia, she cares about Peter winning.

[kwnyc]

 

I always thought Will was from the same mold as Peter (alpha-male with a tendency to break rules) so I don't find that scenario unrealistic at all. Peter or Will - in the end it would not have mattered.

 

Spot-on analysis, I think. Well said.

[Tetraneutron]

But "alpha male with a tendency to break rules" describes every main male character on the show. Come to think of it, it describes all the women, too. Peter, Will, Eli, Cary, David Lee, Jason. Even Bishop, Sweeney, and Canning. Even Howard, in his gross senile way. And I'd say that's a fair description of Diane and Kalinda. 

[needschocolate]

The closest I have been to Iowa was a trip to Yellowstone when I was 12.  One thing this episode taught me about people from Iowa is that they spend way too much time on the internet (or maybe it is that news that really isn't news travels really fast there).  Alicia says she hates being there and within hours everyone is against Peter, even had time to make signs with their views.  Then Alicia has one interview where she says that she meant she hated being there because her daughter was sick, and everyone suddenly loves the Florricks again.  How are they all keeping track of everything the Florricks say and do on a real time basis?  It is weekday- don't they have jobs? 
 
Then again, this show has always had a very unreal view of viral videos.
 

Awful.
Maybe now that this stupid election attempt is toast, they can finally get a divorce.  At least that would move things along - in some way.

 
Alicia will ask David Lee to represent her in the divorce, but halfway through, he will go to jail for hiding funds, and Alicia will have to stay married to Peter because David was the only divorce lawyer in Chicago (Peter was being represented by Canning, who specializes in everything).
 
But since the sham corp was set up to hide money from Alicia (and others, but the others never really matter on this show) they will settle the situation be having Alicia and Lucca join with Diane and Cary.  
 
Meanwhile, David and Peter will be cell mates and come up with a scheme to collect and hide cigarettes (and whatever else they barter with in prison nowadays) to use to pay for hookers for conjugal visits for other inmates, thus making them the leaders of the entire prison system of Illinois.
 

Alicia will be hurt again. Somehow Jason will protect her from further prosecutorial hell. She'll divorce Peter, go on a tropical vacation with Jason and all will be right with the world.

 
I can see the writers ending this series at a bar on a tropical beach, Alicia is downing tequila shots.  She talks about having the best sex of her life, better than she ever had with Peter, even better than with Will, and how she finally feels free now - no more campaigning, no more wacky judges, no more shady co-workers, no more last minute court stuff, no more controlling mother-in-law, no more whiny, clueless children. All there is to her life now is sun, sand, and sex. The camera pans back and, instead of Jason sitting next to her, it's Kalinda (Archie would be inserted digitally, of course).

Edited January 19, 2016 by needschocolate

[AudienceofOne]

I get this show is the Good Wife (and I get I've said that before) but I honestly thought this was the moment when they were going to have the guts to have her say, "you know what, you don't need me to be your campaign handbag anymore and I've just realised I'm massively unhappy and am out of here".

But then they had this moment at the end where she hugged him. I thought she was going to ask for a divorce.

Edited January 15, 2016 by AudienceofOne

[dr pepper]

Campaign over, thank goodness. Now Ruth can go back to being the KGB den mother.

Also, i'd like to see Eli leave too. He and his daughter can form a an image management firm, like what Scandal started out with, and get their own show.

I wish i cared what Alicia, Diane, and Cary do next. But i don't.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I'm not from Iowa and even I found the depiction of Iowa (and Zack's utter disdain for the entire state) to be ridiculously gross. First of all, it's 2016. People in Iowa have Xboxes and the internet and all kinds of fancy things like running water and flushing toilets! Yes, even in the small towns with tiny populations. Sheesh. And not to get all philosophical about the stork and the luck of the draw, but I find it really annoying when people like Zach think that they are better than others just because they happened to be born to parents who lived somewhere else.

On a related note, I hate the way they have been writing/showing San Francisco since the previous episode. Most people who work in SF would not be driving anywhere near where the trolleys run. I mean, seriously, was he driving to Fisherman's Wharf? Secondly, having the Golden Gate Bridge reflected on his car window was equally ridiculous for the same reason. Third, this remark about how his cell reception was great because he was in SF is not totally true. Like any other city, there are still spots that suck. Fourt of all, when he said he was full on antioxidants, I just rolled my eyes. Yes, there are raw vegan organic places in the Bay Area, but it's not unique to the area. There are places like that in Chicago too. And just like Chicago, SF has other food. There's a place known for having a hamburger served on donuts. There are fast food restaurants like Jack in the Box (one is right around the corner from some of the fancy theaters). But no one is forcing you to have anything filled with antioxidants, Jason. You can eat fat filled garbage to your heart's content in San Francisco! If you don't want a kale smoothie, don't have one. You can get a soda full of high fructose corn syrup on any corner.

I don't understand why Peter didn't have that reporter do an interview with him after he spit out the loose meat sandwich. They'd already established that Grace was sick in Alicia's interview with him so they could have just had Peter say that he must have caught Grace's stomach bug and was feeling a little queasy. Problem solved.

I really thought that Alicia and the kids would be trotted out a lot more at each stop. Not that I am in favor of that kind of crap, but it seems like if they weren't front and center, right next to Peter at every stop, then what was the point of forcing them to drive around Iowa this whole time?

Ruth's whole "you can't escape fate" attitude really annoyed me. If that's true, then what's the point in doing anything? We always have choices and there are consequences for those choices. If she wants to rationalize choosing not to be with someone she loved just because he later went to jail, then fine, but that doesn't mean we should all sit passively and let fate decide everything for us. It's called free will, Ruth.

Oh, David Lee. Always up to no good.

[aguabella]

I don't think that Eli was saying that Alicia would be a good candidate.  I think what he was saying was to get Alicia out there with the people more and let he campaign.  YMMV.

 

 

No, TV Diva Queen, I agree with you. I think Eli was saying that Peter's strategy should have heavily relied on shoving Alicia in front of TV cameras because the voters really connect with her. Of course, that's stupid, because even if it's true, Alicia hated campaigning and bitched about even the small role she was asked to play.

 

Agree, I didn't take Eli's comment to mean that Alicia s/b either running herself or used more prominently in Peter's campaign.  She came off as a lousy, disinterested campaigner, to me.

 

I did believe Eli meant that Alicia was the power behind Peter, i.e. that she was in-charge / holding the most power of the two spouses.  (IMHO, at any given time within a marriage, one spouse or another may have or wield more power than the other.) 

 

Thought they demonstrated it or dropped the proverbial anvil when Peter asked Alicia's opinion about pursuing the Full Grassley.  What would Alicia know about Iowa caucus, campaign strategy?  Talk to your professionals, Peter!  That's what they're paid to do!  And, bottom line, everything Florrick starts and ends with Saint Alicia. 

 

On another note, I certainly agree that Alicia had her chances with Will.  To me, the plate-throwing fury seemed like general frustration with puppet master Eli pulling the strings of their lives for so many years, behind the scenes - for the benefit of Peter's career, increasing his power base, stroking that giant (Peter) ego, playing the political games ...  and yes, Eli's career, too! 

 

When are they putting the GW out of its misery???  Feels like Eli's on his way out and David Lee and a few others.  Please, for the love of G**, do they have to rehash the firm plotline and have Alicia return to the firm's fold yet again??? 

 

Just take it out and shoot it!

Edited January 16, 2016 by aguabella