S07.E22: End

[Kathyk1024]

Too much Jason period.

[Tdoc72]

4 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

Spin off? I'd watch.

I guess this latest falling out with Diane and Alicia means that their law firm will be changing partners again.

Their sign maker probably loved every time they called & started counting his $!  

[cardigirl]

I just remember Diane masterminding the entire 'partner' scheme to keep the company afloat, where they offered partnerships to numerous employees, and then rescinded the offers when they thought they'd have to share too much profit with them. I've held a grudge since that storyline. 

Edited May 9, 2016 by cardigirl

[vb68]

Quote

This ending just blew, there's no conclusion, no neatly tied bows, just Alicia back at the beginning. Yawn!

This way makes any or all of it easily revived in the future, especially I  guess if JM  needs/wants work down the line.

Anyone else  semi-halfway expecting a Clooney cameo at the end  with her saying something like Oh God, get me out of here?  Just me?  Ok, then. :)  But it did cross my mind.

Edited May 9, 2016 by vb68

[candle96]

40 minutes ago, ichbin said:

Was anyone else wondering if Alicia was going to fall through the floor at the office?  

Under other circumstances that slap was deserved, but in this case Diane would have done the same thing to Alicia had the situation been reversed.  Diane turned on Alicia countless times, and for that matter, didn't even want her to work there in the beginning.  That character was as big a user as any on the show.  

I think loyal viewers deserved better than this ending...

Is someone in casting a Broadway musical fan?

Haha! Yes! I did. I thought, "would they make her have some terrible accident?" And then I realized I sort of wanted that to happen. I was glad Diane slapped her.

Also, I was thinking the same thing about Broadway. Was that Sutton Foster who showed up for 2 seconds to be the friend with the phone? Why use a relatively famous actress on such a small non-part? (confession: I was only half paying attention, so maybe it just looked like her)

[Sandman]

48 minutes ago, ChuckWagon said:

What was the point of doing that to Kurt and Diane? Why go there?

Indeed. What was the point of doing that to Diane and Alicia? I liked their relationship -- at least I used to. I came back to see how the show would end, and, whether or not Alicia got what she deserved, the show ended as the last season (or two) should have told me it would: in lazy, contrived nonsense.

[Noreaster]

I really liked the episode but don't know how I feel about the ending.  Diane is sort of a hypocrite, no?  The lawyers are supposed to go after Kurt's testimony and point out the inconsistency since this was hurting their case.  Her smack of Alicia was not really warranted and actually makes me think a little less of her.  I understand Diane's emotions but still, she's usually smart enough to realize when her emotions are getting in the way and that the lawyers are supposed to be doing their job. 

I also didn't care for the fact that Alicia only left Peter's side because she thought she saw Jason.  Damn, the show really did make the ending about a guy.  I really wish they just had Alicia not take Peter's hand and start walking away on her own.  

But there was a lot to like about this episode.  So good to see Josh Charles and I really liked how the show wrote him into the finale.  Chris Noth was great as always.  Appropriate to see Eli continuing to scheme and think politically.  I liked Diane for the most part (except for the ending).  I think we could have done without Lucca and Jason.  They detracted from the episode.  Good to see Cary as someone who was actually interested in finding out the truth.  And except for the Jason part in the final scene, I like how they ended Alicia's story.  

Good show.  I'll miss it.  

[preeya]

AMEN!

[candle96]

This episode just didn't make much sense to me. There seemed to be competing ideas. Alicia has her vision of 3 men in her apartment. I thought her visions of Will were proof to her that she wasn't really so into Jason, as much as using him as a substitute. That made sense to me. But then she's asking him to wait and having Ghost Will tell her to go after him. What? Then she seems to be ready to divorce Peter, but turns around at the end to walk back to him. I guess? I don't mind ambivalent or open endings, but I just couldn't quite figure out Alicia's motivations this episode. Actually that goes for the whole season, and probably last season, when she seemed to hate running for office. Are you standing by your man or what? For all her growth, it seemed to me the ending showed Alicia as STILL the victim of her circumstances. Jason was gone because he chose to be gone. She's going back to Peter. Diane is probably done with her and their partnership.

The slap from Diane, while satisfying to someone who has grown to hate Alicia, just seemed to be for shock value more than anything else.

Edited May 9, 2016 by candle96

[FlyingDuchess]

It certainly looked like Sutton Foster to me.

After all the scenes with Will, and the scary warnings on the office staircase, I began to suspect they were foreshadowing Alicia's death. 

Honest question: other than using prostitutes (which is a crime), do we (as the audience) have confirmed knowledge of Peter engaging in any illegal activity? I've always been under the impression that was left intentionally ambiguous, and I've always kind of rooted for him as a result.

Edited May 9, 2016 by FlyingDuchess

[vibeology]

And I'd point out that files from Alicia's second year couldn't possibly be in their offices because whatever remains of Lockhart Gardner belongs to Canning but that's like banging my head against a brick wall. At least that nonsense gave us Will. 

[TimWil]

It was definitely Sutton Foster-she got the next-to-last onscreen billing at the top of the show. Talk about a thankless role.

Edited May 9, 2016 by TimWil

[SuzE]

After Alicia imagines coming home to Jason, Will, and Peter, I wanted one more scene of her imagining coming home to a bottle of wine and a pet cat.

I do wish they had wrapped things up a little more neatly. It made sense that Jason left, it wasn't fair to ask him to wait. I wanted Diane and Kurt to get their happy ending but I guess that's over. So Alicia is out at Diane's firm and divorcing Peter, so that means starting over I guess. Meh is right.

And that wig in the final scenes...I swear they were teasing us with how awful it looked.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, ichbin said:

Was anyone else wondering if Alicia was going to fall through the floor at the office?

Yes.

 

1 hour ago, sarkygal said:

...and thank Gilmore that Cary is finally free...

Heh.

Quote

Honest question: other than using prostitutes (which is a crime), do we (as the audience) have confirmed knowledge of Peter engaging in any illegal activity? I've always been under the impression that was left intentionally ambiguous, and I've always kind of rooted for him as a result.

I thought Peter's telling Alicia (during the plea deal discussions) that he didn't do it was supposed to answer this, but I'm not 100% sure

Edited May 9, 2016 by shapeshifter

[Miss Slay]

Hated it. I haven't watched in years and it's clear that the spark has long gone. The best part was the last 2 minutes but the rest of the episode didn't live up to it.

It was too bad they killed Will. It wasn't the same show without him, kalinda, and even all the people who work in the office.

[Wouldofshouldof]

Did I miss some bit of exposition?  How on earth would they have dug up the owner of that ringtone?

[Ms Blue Jay]

I wish I had taken a year off before college.  I think it's a really smart idea.  Obviously, not for the reasons that Grace was doing it.

Thanks to the person who pointed out the slap in the pilot.  Do not remember that at all but at least it gives more reasoning and symmetry and meaning to this finale.  

It was so whatever.  Jason left Alicia?  I assume Diane will leave Alicia?  Cary is already gone, Kalinda is gone, Lucca is not gone.  Zach left Alicia.  Alicia left Peter?  Ok...

What happened to Robin?  LOL I'm just kidding obviously, I know the writers don't give a shit. 

Edited May 9, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[candle96]

1 hour ago, TimWil said:

It was definitely Sutton Foster-she got the next-to-last onscreen billing at the top of the show. Talk about a thankless role.

When she showed up, I assumed that meant she was going to play some pivotal role in the case. Perhaps her appearance was a purposefully placed red herring. 

Not that anyone really cares, but her testimony made no sense. Her friend is actively on the phone with 911 and she's leaving? Literally seconds before her friend is shot? 

[kdm07]

2 hours ago, Mama No Life said:

Loved this show fiercely until Will died, and then stopped watching.  Heard tonight was the finale so I turned it on.....what dreck! The only thing worth seeing was my sweet Will.....I take it he hasn't been doing this often, lol? 

What a waste of chemistry letting those two fall by the wayside. Willalicia forever!

I carried on a little bit longer but stopped somewhere in Season 6? (When the whole Kalinda/Lemond Bishop stuff started up again) I wanted closure so I came back for the finale and...

2 hours ago, Inquisitionist said:

Meh.

...is the perfect response to it all.

Edited May 9, 2016 by kdm07

[LotusFlower]

1 hour ago, candle96 said:

The slap from Diane, while satisfying to someone who has grown to hate Alicia, just seemed to be for shock value more than anything else.

It was a callback to the pilot, when Alicia stood next to her husband at the podium as The Good Wife, and then slapped him in the corridor.  In fact, I think the whole subplot about Kurt and the affair was only concocted for this reason alone.  It was simply for the sake of a bookend to the pilot.  

[Gregg247]

I loved the first 5 seasons of this show, thought S6 was shaky at best, and gave up entirely earlier this season.  I came back tonight to see the ending, and saw that everything that turned me off from this show was still in full force.  They have a habit of having so many twists and turns that inevitably, they twist one time too many, making the entire story a muddled mess. 

Did anyone else follow what was actually going on with the case at hand?

I used to really like Alicia, but she became too brittle and mean for my taste.  Remember how, in the early seasons, she was always trying to help people by doing the right thing?  What happened to that?

I read that Lockhart/Gardner went through 10 different management shake-ups/name changes in the 7 seasons.  How could they ever expect to maintain any clients like that?

[TVForever]

 Party of one here: I never really liked Kalinda. It seemed like all she did was slink about in leather and thigh-high boots (no matter the season) , speaking quietly and acting all mysterious. It was kind of cool for ten minutes in the beginning, then it just became tiresome.

That said- how exactly did she leave the show? I thought it had something to do with Lemond Bishop, but I can't really remember. Now there's someone I wouldn't have minded seeing in the finale, or at least the lead-up to the last show.

[Tetraneutron]

14 minutes ago, candle96 said:

When she showed up, I assumed that meant she was going to play some pivotal role in the case. Perhaps her appearance was a purposefully placed red herring. 

Not that anyone really cares, but her testimony made no sense. Her friend is actively on the phone with 911 and she's leaving? Literally seconds before her friend is shot? 

Sutton Foster playing a nothing character was like Leslie Odom playing a nothing character a few weeks ago. Famous theatre people want to be on this show and the Kings wanted to have them. They said they tried to get Lin-Manuel Miranda but he was too busy. 

I get that they deliberately introduced a bunch of new plot threads so it wouldn't feel finale-y. But it just made the show feel cluttered. There is no reason Eli would ever speak to donors about supporting Alicia without making sure Alicia actually wanted to run for office. 

For the people confused about Grace, the show wasn't suggesting it was a good idea that she take a year off school. It was just a character beat that Grace is sensitive and wouldn't want to be in California while her dad was in prison. 

Diane spalling Alicia made absolutely no sense. Can someone explain it to me? Is it just purely to have a visual bookend? Because I can think of no other reason. It just made the character of Diane look stupid. 

[LotusFlower]

2 minutes ago, Tetraneutron said:

Diane spalling Alicia made absolutely no sense. Can someone explain it to me? Is it just purely to have a visual bookend? Because I can think of no other reason. It just made the character of Diane look stupid. 

Even though I called the slap a symmetrical bookend to the pilot, I can still defend it as it fit into the story/court case - Alicia went behind Diane's back (via Lucca) and forced Kurt to admit to an affair with the student, which I'm sure humiliated her, and will maybe even hurt and damage their marriage.  That was a pretty crappy thing to do to a friend and law partner.

[Tetraneutron]

Well, yes, but it was the right thing to do as a lawyer. And it's not like Diane's ever pit her career above her friends. And it wasn't only Alicia calling the shots. And the marriage would have been damaged anyway. If Kurt was cheating then Kurt was cheating. Law partners and friends have disagreements, but adults who don't live Real Housewives franchises don't go around slapping their colleagues. 

The whole thing was just so unnecessary. None of the stuff with the bullets or Kurt or Holly or the cell phone had anything to do with the court case - whether Peter covered up evidence. AUSA Fox was absolutely right when he wasn't being a sexist straw man. 

[schroeder]

I was surprised that I actually liked the ending. I knew it would be ambiguous and I'm glad they didn't go with Alicia living happily ever after with Jason.
It was the bookend to the first scene from the series where Alicia stands by Peter and then slaps him. JM (or was it the Kings?) has always said that the slap represents her getting a reality check. Now seven years have gone by of Alicia making all these small decisions, inching away from her "good" core, leading to her having destroyed all her relationships. She was willing to choose Jason ("the boy", non responsible life), but he leaves before she can. When she turns around to return to her life, the work relationship with Diane has been destroyed, so she can't go back to her work life. So what she does have now? Maybe her only choice will be to go into politics, the domain of her husband, which she has been the bane of her existence for the past seven years.

I think Diane slapped her because Alicia made the choice to destroy Diane's marriage (or at least publicly embarrass her). I think we can figure out that Diane is not going to live happily ever after with Kurt after this, nor is she going to work with Alicia. Diane slapping her represents the final long-term work relationship Alicia has coming to an end.

Edited May 9, 2016 by schroeder

[jjj]

Yes, I think Kurt and Diane were on shaky ground from his previous (last week) appearance on the stand; not clear if Kurt knew who had called him back to the trial, and certainly he did not know he would be answering personal questions.  I don't really get the point of whether or not he had an affair with the blonde -- they both agreed about the ballistics test.

The judge, whom I have always liked, started to act like he was playing a game of "Clue!" in this episode -- like they had all the time in the world to open up new avenues of inquiry.

But -- at the end of last week, they ended with Alicia saying "The Verdict Is In" -- and the episode was called "Verdict".  You don't go back to the courtroom for a jury question after the jury has announced it has a verdict!  And WHY did the prosecutor keep saying to Alician that Peter was her "client"???  Same complaint from me as last week -- she was not representing him, and never should have been taking those plea offers.  That is Diane's job! 

Edited May 9, 2016 by jjj

[juliet73]

2 hours ago, ichbin said:

Was anyone else wondering if Alicia was going to fall through the floor at the office?  

 

I was hoping!!

This finale was pretty lame. I never cared if Peter went to jail or not. I never cared about Alicia and Smirkey's relationship.  I'd like to thank Diane though for slapping Alicia. Well deserved...both on screen and off. I wish Diane did it again and said "This is for treating your co workers like crap for the last few years!" Again, both on screen and off. I'm so glad this horrid show is over!!!

[Dowel Jones]

Quote

This way makes any or all of it easily revived in the future, especially I  guess if JM  needs/wants work down the line.

The Good Wife - A Hallmark Hall of Fame Movie of the Week.....

 

After Diane specifically denied the use of Kurt's testimony, for Alicia to go behind her and use Lucca to discredit Kurt was pure betrayal on both their parts, even if it was good lawyering.  Thus the slapdown, and, off camera, I think Lucca would be getting the pink slip also.  Diane better take a week before she considers expanding the firm and hiring new partners.

As soon as they referred to the ballistics tech (forgot her name) as "his favorite" last episode, I thought there was something coming down the railroad tracks.

Was the 9-1-1 call part of the evidence introduced into the bribery trial?  If not, it had no business being played for the jury.  They're supposed to consider only the evidence presented to them at trial.  It's not their business whether the original defendant was guilty or innocent.  But, as in all things TGW, it goes toward the state of Peter's mind.

ETA:  Just noticed the blurbs at the bottom of the page here.  One is "10 TV Shows With the Worst Series Finale."

Edited May 9, 2016 by Dowel Jones

[vb68]

Boy  Alicia practically made it a game glaring and showing off to anyone available that she could fake (and getting hammier each time) her emotions for public display.   She absolutely loved that. She looked a gloating Cheshire Cat.

Why was Lucca so heavily invested in Alicia's and Jason's relationship?    I can understand she wants them to be happy, but she was acting like she had a heavy stake in it.     

[bobbyjoe]

Quote

Without Lucca to tell Alicia and Jason how they feel, how would they ever know what to do?

Of all TGW's many sins of the past season, turning the incredibly promising Lucca character into Alicia and Jason's personal "magic black person" is one of the worst.  Lucca could have had her own storylines, romances, etc.  But, nope.   These days, she's mostly there apparently to help Alicia and Jason figure out their love life.  I'm surprised she didn't have a scene tonight helping Alicia lace up the tight stays on her corset.

Quote

Not that anyone really cares, but her testimony made no sense. Her friend is actively on the phone with 911 and she's leaving? Literally seconds before her friend is shot? 

So we have all these scenes trying to figure out the significance of a sound on the recording; we have scenes where it turns out to be a ringtone; we have a courtroom scene where we learn the ringtone belongs to Sutton Foster's character, who was there seconds before the murder... and... and...

...Chekov's gun, dammit.  WTF was any of this doing there if it had no real significance?  Like you, I'm still confused, particularly, about somebody somehow being there seconds before a murder and this is just accepted as "oh, okay."  Why was any of this in there?  I've been more patient with the Kings than some, but they've really turned into Shonda Rimes, haven't they?  'cause this is some Scandal-level sloppiness.

Edited May 9, 2016 by bobbyjoe

[AudienceofOne]

Really loved this episode right up until that final scene. It's like they're secretly hoping for another season and just couldn't help setting it up.

With all the Will stuff (I love you, Will) I finally thought Alicia was going to realise she'd be compromising with Jason and she should divorce Peter and be single for a while. I thought the whole "do you want to live in this apartment alone?" thing, was going to make her realise she's scared of the future and was only going after Jason because she wanted someone.

Diane slapping her annoyed me because Diane has been the number one driver of Alicia's 'the client is all that matters, ethics is irrelevant, only the law matters' side. So Diane created a monster that then hurt her too. And then had the gall to be pissed at her for becoming what she'd made her.

I think of all the endings I expected for this show, I wasn't expecting it to be sad. I think Alicia used that word in her imagination deliberately. It was a sad ending. I think I would have preferred frustrating to sad.

[meisje]

Re: The Slap... What Alicia did was cross a serious boundary of a "friend" and partner in the most heinous way possible (and frankly, for a case for which she'd already accepted a plea - though not super-duper officially), where there was no chance of Peter coming out unscathed/innocent. There was no benefit to be gained from the choice she made, unless we're supposed to believe that Matthew Morrison was going to change his offer due to the bullet testimony (that still had not made it to the jury, right? I can barely remember.). So little sense...

I disagree that Alicia had no choice or that it was some sort of deserved quid pro quo with Diane. Diane clearly stated that Peter needed to fire her if Alicia wanted to go after Kurt, and instead of doing that, they blindsided her in court with zero warning in the most public and unprofessional way. Over the years there were countless episodes devoted to Alicia dressing down, completely freaking out on, or finding ways to punish people (strangers, reporters, friends, etc.) who dared to mention Peter and other women to her, though there should not have been any expectation of privacy since it was state/national news, involved public funds, and Peter & Alicia are both public figures who chose the gains of political infamy over everything else. If the shoe had somehow been on the other foot and someone openly had asked Kalinda, for example, if she'd had an affair with Peter, on the stand with Alicia as council, it would have been epic, even though it would not have been news. But, if you just recall how Alicia felt entitled to treat Kalinda after finding out about the affair, and the animosity she carried until the day Kalinda left town, it's almost unfathomable to imagine how badly Alicia would have taken such news if the situation had been reversed.

It was wholly unbelievable that Diane would have driven over to the press conference just to confront Alicia in a random hallway, that was some real sloppy stuff. Clearly it was not much more than a bookend because it either would have happened with Diane showing up at Alicia's front door or when Alicia entered Diane's office after the trial, which she apparently would have done with no expectation that anything was wrong. A new partner deserves honestly and a discussion, but based on the song and the various shoutouts to psychopaths this season, I assume I was supposed to put the hope that Alicia was anything other than one to bed finally. Had this been Grace facing a jail sentence or something, maybe..., but this is the man Alicia has almost no respect for, and whom she fundamentally doesn't believe in, so why go nuclear on your friend/partner for this person for an jury-less round of questioning?

As soon as the episode began and Will was all over it, my first thought was, "oh, this is a really basic way to do the finale..." because, as much as it was great to see Josh on screen again, it was like throwing a diamond onto a heap of manure and exclaiming "Look at that shine!" when we've been staring at and smelling the manure for years. Josh was used like a baby rattle to distract and the writers really didn't have much else.

Shoutout to the total confusion over why Sutton Foster's phone going off 23 seconds before the murder but she was not a witness. What a mess!

Interestingly, Diane's story and acting in this episode is what really stuck out as moving and exceptional, so for that, I thank the TPTB gods.

[renatae]

Seriously? This is the scummiest ending to a series that I have had the misfortune to view! It's a Shondaland ending. I seriously hated it. Especially when Diane slapped Alicia. Cary is mad at her. And all for the sake of her unfaithful husband. Phhtt. The Josh parts were silly. I suppose I'm supposed to be able to reasonably assume that at some point, Jason reappears. 

 

Well, I already was not that happy that she was once again standing by the Gov's side, especially as the writers seem to have conveniently forgotten that she was going to divorce him, and I also seem to remember she said she wasn't going to be doing any more handholding after he tried to  sabotage her relationship with Jason.

Missed Kalinda this season, and definitely going to miss Eli and his quirky expressions.

Edited May 9, 2016 by renatae
Addendum

[albaniantv]

I did enjoy seeing Alicia get slapped and am pretending that Diane delivered it, not just in her own right but also on behalf of Cary, Will and  Kalinda, the main characters Alicia screwed over for no apparent reason. 

At the end, it did seem sad that she had no long term friends left, and few colleagues still willing to work with her. Yes, Caning applauded her new-found hard edge but then, slash and burn was his speciality. And, Lucca was still marginally respectful but the early partners-in-cahoots energy had already dissipated.

Not the worst finale (for me, that will always be Lost), but not half as good as it could have been.

[tomsmom]

Ugh.

Bye FAlicia.

Feels like we're the ones who got slapped. What a waste of 7 years.

Edited May 9, 2016 by tomsmom

[candall]

5 hours ago, kaygeeret said:

 

I actually liked the ending.  I think that Alicia for all the 'drama' in the past is the toughest cookie in the box.  Even tougher than Diane - and she is one tough nut, with one human weakness and that is Kurt, found late in life, but reminded her of a softer version of her self and therefore valued and loved.

Alicia, just got tougher and this epi accelerated it - a bit quickly, but still it is the end -

She will be the toughest person in any room and I think the last bit of softness is gone and I am a bit sad, but I do think her character arc ( as much as I could tell after season 3) has been leading to this.

She almost certainly will go on to the governor's mansion and then who knows.

She deserved the slap for sure and absolutely didn't care - or at least buried whatever emotion it meant to her so she could just go on.

Humbly, I think it was a good ending and consistent with the arc - wandering tho' it certainly was at times.

Well!  I like how you think, @Kaygeeret, and I'm going to embrace your vision. Every connection she has is gone, missing or damaged.  Alicia straightens her shoulders, tugs down her jacket, ditches the last vestiges of emotional limitation and marches off into whatever political future Eli wants to rig up for her. 

[shapeshifter]

Quote

Well!  I like how you think, @Kaygeeret, and I'm going to embrace your vision. Every connection she has is gone, missing or damaged.  Alicia straightens her shoulders, tugs down her jacket, ditches the last vestiges of emotional limitation and marches off into whatever political future Eli wants to rig up for her. 

Ugh. I hope not. That was when I stopped watching until a few weeks ago.

 

As one who was worried Alicia would fall through the floor when she breezed past the warning signs at the office, I found this post from IMDb to be an interesting take:

Quote

Maybe she did die and the next 30 minutes were her imagination while being resurrected after 5 years in a coma, then we erase 2 crappy seasons and go back to where Will was still alive.

Edited May 9, 2016 by shapeshifter

[vixenbynight]

8 hours ago, betha said:

So Alicia stood by her husband ultimately to the destruction of every relationship that meant anything to her... Will, Jason, Diane, Cary, even Kalinda, and she ends up alone. It is fitting.

the will scenes made me cry, though. Hard. 

That's what I feel at the end of this series. Alicia and her support towards her good for nothing husband, helped her destroy every outside relationship she gained, during these past years. She only finally saw how her (and Peter's behavior and actions) have messed up their kids. Her oldest son, has gone off to Paris, to marry someone that he met during his still unfinished freshman year in college. Her daughter was willing to put starting her freshman year on hold, in order to be around if her father was convicted.

Alicia has lost friend after friend for years. Hopefully Lucca may stick by her side, because of what they willingly chose to do to Diane, there's absolutely no way that those two will become partners in Diane's firm.

Edited May 9, 2016 by vixenbynight

[vixenbynight]

5 hours ago, schroeder said:

I think Diane slapped her because Alicia made the choice to destroy Diane's marriage (or at least publicly embarrass her). I think we can figure out that Diane is not going to live happily ever after with Kurt after this, nor is she going to work with Alicia. Diane slapping her represents the final long-term work relationship Alicia has coming to an end.

Agreed.

There's no way that Diane will chose to stand by Kurt's side, after being humiliated like that in the courtroom. Kurt couldn't even look Diane in the eyes during those moments. He knew that something was going to be revealed and in such a public way.

Nor will Diane ever come to terms with Alicia to build another law firm with her.

That was a horrible thing for Alicia and Lucca to have done to Diane.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

On the plus side, it was nice to see Will again! But then I got annoyed that they used him to encourage Alicia to go run after Jason. Ugh.

Quote

Grace has been spectacularly stupid at times over the years.

Which is why I'm even more baffled as to how she got into Berkeley. Like seriously. Her grades were dropping noticeably earlier but she managed to get accepted at a really competitive school? Okay then.

Quote

a shame that Kalinda couldn't have had a cameo.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! We all knew that wasn't going to happen!

Quote

Was that Sutton Foster who showed up for 2 seconds to be the friend with the phone? Why use a relatively famous actress on such a small non-part?

The same reason that they cast Megan Hilty in a previous episode where she had all of two lines and then they brought her back for this one and gave her maybe three lines while she was testifying. Being on The Good Wife is practically a rite of passage for Broadway actors now.

Quote

Is someone in casting a Broadway musical fan?

I will let you take a look at some (not all) of the actors who have appeared on The Good Wife over the years and let you be the judge:

Christine Baranski - 2 Tonys
Alan Cumming - 1 Tony, 1 Olivier
Mary Beth Peil - 1 Tony nomination
Stockard Channing - 1 Tony (out of SEVEN nominations!)
Zach Grenier - 1 Tony nomination
Renée Elise Goldsberry - 1 Tony nomination
Anika Noni Rose - 1 Tony
Nathan Lane - 2 Tonys
Michael Cerveris - 2 Tonys (with four additional nominations)
Steven Pasquale - no Tonys (yet!) but has starred in The Light in the Piazza, Miss Saigon, The Spitfire Grill, The Secret Garden
Denis O'Hare - 1 Tony
David Hyde Pierce - 1 Tony
John Benjamin Hickey - 1 Tony
Miriam Shor - no Tonys but starred in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Merrily We Roll Along, The Wild party
Nikki M. James - 1 Tony
Matthew Morrison - 1 Tony nomination
James Carpinello - no Tonys but starred in Saturday Night Fever, Hairspray, Xanadu, and Rock of Ages
Cady Huffman - 2 Tonys
Christian Borle - 2 Tonys
Kia Goodwin - no Tonys but starred in Annie as a kid so that totally counts, right?
Vanessa Williams - 1 Tony nomination
Michael Urie - no Tonys but starred in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Susan Misner - no Tonys but danced on Broadway in Guys and Dolls, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To A Forum, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Michael Kostroff - no Tonys but starred in Les Miserables, The Producers, The Wild Party
Hunter Parrish - no Tonys but starred in Spring Awakening and Godspell
Taye Diggs - no Tonys but starred in Rent, Wicked, The Wild Party, Chicago, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Kate Burton - 3 Tony nominations
Lily Rabe - 1 Tony nomination
Karen Olivo - 1 Tony
Peter Gallagher - 1 Tony nomination
Bebe Neuwirth - 2 Tonys
Kelly Bishop - 1 Tony
Laura Benanti - 1 Tony (and possibly two after this year!)
Kristin Chenoweth - 1 Tony
Megan Hilty - 1 Tony nomination
Will Chase - 1 Tony nomination
Erin Dilly - 1 Tony (and the actress who Sutton Foster replaced just before Thoroughly Modern Millie opened)
Santino Fontana - 1 Tony nomination
Norbert Leo Butz - 2 Tonys
Tracie Thoms - no Tonys but starred in Rent
Julie White - 1 Tony
Brian D'Arcy James - 1 Tony (and three more nominations)
Anne L. Nathan - no Tonys but starred in Chicago, Ragtime, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Assassins, Once, Sunday in the Park with George
Tovah Feldshuh - 4 Tony nominations
Tammy Blanchard - 2 Tony nominations
Aaron Tveit - no Tonys but starred in Catch Me If You Can, Next to Normal, Wicked, Hairspray
Jonathan Groff - 2 Tony nominations
Audra McDonald - 6 Tonys
Donna Lynne Champlin - no Tonys but starred in Billy Elliott and Sweeney Todd
Brian Reddy - no Tonys but starred in Finnian's Rainbow and Gypsy
Sharon Leal - no Tonys but appeared in Rent
Leslie Odom, Jr. - 1 Tony nomination
Cristin Milioti - 1 Tony nomination
Ernie Sabella - no Tonys but starred in Curtains, Sweet Charity, Man of La Mancha, Chicago, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Guys and Dolls
Leslie Uggams - 1 Tony
Sutton Foster - 3 Tonys (and four additional nominations)
 

Edited May 9, 2016 by ElectricBoogaloo

[FlyingDuchess]

Has anyone seen the video of the Kings discussing the finale in detail? They talk about Peter representing weight and Jason representing light and Will representing whatever Alicia wants him to be, because he isn't real. They didn't mention it by name, but that seems inspired by Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I also see a lot of Neitzche's theory of eternal return in, well, the whole freakin' series, but especially in the symmetry between the pilot and the finale. (And I'm pretty sure Kundera references eternal return in Unbearable Lightness.)

i get being disappointed by hanging plot threads, a lack of clear resolution, or things not being resolved in a satisfactory way. But no one will ever be able to convince me that this show was not a philosophical and psychological work of art.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I, too, thought that the big sign at the office meant that Alicia would be crushed under a load bearing wall but then I realized that we weren't close enough to the end of the episode for that to happen.

When Grace said that she was deferring school for a year because Peter needed her while he was in prison, I was hoping Alicia would see that her daughter was following her example of making the "stand by your man" idea the number one priority in her life and realize that she needed to do her own thing. Nope!

[nara]

I stopped watching mid season and came back for the finale. How did Alicia know about Kurt cheating? Did Diane confide in her? If so, that's a serious breach of trust.

[Inquisitionist]

1 hour ago, vixenbynight said:

Alicia and her support towards her good for nothing husband, helped her destroy every outside relationship she gained, during these past years. She only finally saw how her (and Peter's behavior and actions) have messed up their kids. Her oldest son, has gone off to Paris, to marry someone that he met during his still unfinished freshman year in college. Her daughter was willing to put starting her freshman year on hold, in order to be around if her father was convicted.

I don't see a link between those outcomes and Alicia's "support" for Peter over the years.  Alicia's absenteeism as a mother, her dithering with Will, and all the rest seem to come (IMO) from some fundamental issues in her personality -- issues that the show has only skirted around over the years rather than confronting head-on, much as Alicia herself does.  For example, itwas never clear to me why she stayed married to Peter pretty much "in name only" other than to keep the show going.

[Strawberryfields]

The end was quite logical imho even though many of you did not like it. I was not expecting something that would change the plot radically.

Alicia has not outstanding personality and viewers should not have expected more from her, because most of the people are like her. Actually she is smarter then most of her colleagues, good in her job, she could keep up her career after 12 years of break but the whole idea of this series was to show how her usual emotional side of person ruined it for her to be happy even though she had everything for that. 

Diane is the good example of a strong person who became like Alicia, who started being less professional and adequate because of her emotional dependence on her husband. Of course she knew about the affair, she even replied Alicia once about that girl that she was "his best whatever that meant". The method Alicia used against Kurt in court was quite relevant to the case. The slap from Diane was something both of them got humiliated from. Diane showed her weakness and anger, she could not keep anymore her perfect world with Kurt since the truth got revealed.

Though Alicia did deserve that slap for being at the same place after 7 years of Peter's first scandal. It was the symbol of how the life showed her a lesson again with loosing the love and being embarrassed by standing with her husband repeatedly. 

Eli was the great character and it should be mentioned that he handled all this Peter situation with dignity.  When Peter replaced him unfairly Eli did not turn his back but now he made the right decision to concentrate on the better candidate. I think the finale meant that Alicia would still decide to have a political career and at least benefit from Peter in this way. Probably she would not be that happy in her personal life anymore but the slap hopefully would teach her a lesson to become independent and more realistic about the life.

[renatae]

Although I've always liked Cary, I never forgot how he gloated over Alicia in the beginning when it first appeared that he was the one to "win" the position at the firm. He had acted like he was her best friend and they were in it all together. Then it came down to the wire, and he figured he got the position and started gloating, and then when it turned out Alicia had gotten the position, he got all nasty as if she had done him wrong. So I'm not thinking of him as a victim in all this. He had his moments of dastardliness, also with Kalinda before the storyline became that he was hopelessly in love with her.

 

Same for Diane. As someone upthread said, if the tables were turned, she would probably have done the same thing. She has definitely been very ruthless and the only difference now is that she has a gigantic soft spot for Kurt. I felt it was not totally clear that Alicia knew Lucca was going to expose this affair we knew nothing about. The moment for me that would have made slapping sense was when Alicia sarcastically said, "You do what is necessary for your client."

[marny]

*gleefully deletes Season Pass for this show from Tivo*

[CookieChica]

10 hours ago, betha said:

So Alicia stood by her husband ultimately to the destruction of every relationship that meant anything to her... Will, Jason, Diane, Cary, even Kalinda, and she ends up alone. It is fitting.

the will scenes made me cry, though. Hard. 

It was fitting. I also thought that it was interesting that this was the breaking point for her (an assumption based off her leaving the press conference to chase faux Jason) - when Peter is 100% liability to her and there's nothing else she will gain from him. 

It's interesting that this show started at the height of the anti-hero trend - the "bad" guys you rooted for. And this show ends with a "good" guy that you can't root for. 

[Sarah D. Bunting]

You have to wonder about Julianna Margulies's relationships on the show/set when 1) this is the ending for the so-called protagonist, alienated from everyone by her own doing; 2) there are many many ways to stage a slap but it looked at least to me like Baranski actually cracked her one (and that particularly blotchy contact mark is distinctive); and 3) The Wig, which had looked aggressively budge all season (and I simply do not understand how executive producer JM was not able to address that sitch), was literally not even combed out for the final scene at the press conference. Like, she turns to the side and it is lumped up and flyawayed like it came out of the bottom of someone's backpack. (I guess 3b) is the repeated close-ups on JM's ass of late, which...were not advised IMO.)

I'm fine with her not ending up with Jason, not least because it's really not realistic that he would be into it with The Wig, because come on, but also because that whole relationship was so adolescent and annoying. But I do wonder how much of the finale was about punishing the character, and JM via the character, because it just seemed kind of extreme.