S05.E22: A Weird Year

[Sandman]

Grace is totally going to church it up even more now that Zach has hit the road.  

 

If I were Grace I'd be more than a little pissed off that everyone in Alicia's life is warning her about empty nest syndrome when she still has a child at home. "'Empty nest'? Uh, hello? I don't live with Jesus, people!"

 

I agree that the callback to Eli's earlier brainstorm about Alicia as a potential candidate was a nice touch, but she's a lot less viable as a candidate now than she was two years ago or so. (Also, why does Eli continue to make rookie mistakes like insulting their potential State's Attorney candidate, pretty much insuring that she wouldn't take the job? Why is he so stupid now??!)

 

Maybe I'm seeing counter-schemes where there are none, too, but I kept waiting for the reveal that Canning had left that teleconference feed on deliberately, to mess with both Florrick/Agos and LG.

Edited May 20, 2014 by Sandman

[Cattitude]

I felt like it was a mixed bag but overall I like the finale.

 

I guess I'll be lone voice who really got the "empty nest" stuff. It was one of my favorite parts with her and Zack in his room. My older son just finished his first year of college and I TOTALLY related to that scene. Even though I have other children at home losing one child changes the family dynamic and it is difficult to see your child's life packed away in boxes. I also just like the content feeling of having all my chicks sleeping under one roof so it was hard to let even one go, but you must grin and bear it for them to spread their wings.

Part of why Alicia has stayed in her relationship with Peter is "for her children" and as she sees those reasons growing up and moving out I think it will have a big impact on her. I don't really think that is why she stays with Peter but that is what she kids herself with.

 

Eli, Cary and Diane so much awesomeness.

 

I used to like Alicia but since Will's death I have really grown to dislike her quite a bit. Her fighting with Cary was totally not cool. The whole idea of FA was HIS baby and she kind of globbed on at the last minute. She was so disrespectful to him it was a turn off.

Yeah for Cary finally giving Kalinda some of her own medicine. I hope he lets her go. He needs a good love interest not her.

Cary the new Will...please he is 100X better than Will.

 

I just don't see Alicia running for SA. It is so out of character for her and with how overtaxed she has been shown to be these last few weeks I just can't imagine she'd do this. IF she does then I hope she stops with all the gnashing of teeth about how "tired" she is. Girl please you've done ALL this to yourself!

That said I'd love to see Clark/Diane and Cary run FA and Alicia can go bake cookies for all I care at this point.

 

I love Clark and what he brings to the mix. It was so interesting how he is the most level headed and leads things. He really needs a bigger part.

 

Wow they really really went dark with Canning's character this week. I liked it though. I like that the lead villan is handicapped.

 

Finn is just there. He is very ill conceived and the actor changing his hair style mid-introduction is off-putting. I truly wouldn't care if he came back or not.

 

Jackie and Alicia's mom great comedy and wonderful to see in small doses. Glad SC face seems to have thawed.

[ShadowDenizen]

I love Clark and what he brings to the mix. It was so interesting how he is the most level headed and leads things. He really needs a bigger part.

 

The other thing I forgot to mention!

 

Clark has been a great recurring character, and I appreciate that Nathan Lane is terrifically understated in this role. And I like that he seems set to be the "Voice of Reason" role; the bit in the meeting where Clark has to defuse Cary & Alicia? More of that, please.

[CleoCaesar]

I don't see hypocrisy. I see a woman who lost her frantic (and ruthless) little brother, who's hurt deeply and is attacked on all parts, while grieving, defending the cadaver of a company they built from the vultures. L&G was also a firm with a defined spirit and this spirit has left the building two times : when Cary and Alicia quit and when Will died.

 

You're describing the reasoning and emotions behind her defection. But the act of demonizing a firm for doing something (breaking away from a firm because it doesn't match your values/doesn't appreciate you, and taking clients) and then doing the exact same thing yourself is the essence of hypocrisy.

 

Is that a realistic portrayal of a 1st child going off to college?  I get that he has a summer job, but he didn't look like he packed everything he'll need for living in a dorm once college starts.  He looked like he had a backpack.  That's supposed to last until Thanksgiving?  And wouldn't his doting parents be present to help him move in, get settled, etc?  Peter & Alicia are supposed to be great, involved parents.  I don't care how much you trust your kid's independent spirit- every mother of a son shows up on Move In Day to make their "little boy's" bed, albeit probably the only time it gets made.

 

That bugged me too. That little backpack and duffel bag wouldn't last him a month. It reminded me of Dawson's Creek back in the day when a girl ran off last-minute to go sailing with her boyfriend for an entire summer (!) and didn't bring so much as a toothbrush or another outfit. Small details like this bring down the realism aspect.

Edited May 20, 2014 by CleoCaesar

[fastiller]

Clark has been a great recurring character, and I appreciate that Nathan Lane is terrifically understated in this role. And I like that he seems set to be the "Voice of Reason" role; the bit in the meeting where Clark has to defuse Cary & Alicia? More of that, please.

Clark is the Greek Chorus of the show.

[Tara Ariano]

Is that a realistic portrayal of a 1st child going off to college?  I get that he has a summer job, but he didn't look like he packed everything he'll need for living in a dorm once college starts.

 

It looked to me like a bunch of other stuff in his room had been boxed up, so I assumed it was being sent later.

[Sandman]

Did Diane demonize FA, though? She has been very vocal with clients about how LG is the better firm for them, and I think there were some moments where the personal aspect of Alicia's decamping was shown to carry a sting for her, but of any of them, Diane has been one to put the needs of the firm before personal considerations, especially with Cary.

 

I don't see Alicia running for SA, either; if she thinks she's struggling uphill now, or that her life is too much out of her own control, wait 'til she enters the ring as a candidate, wow. 

Edited May 21, 2014 by Sandman

[CleoCaesar]

That's a good point. I remember Will's rage and David Lee's, etc. Maybe I unfairly lumped Diane in with them.

[MamaBird]

When I was watching Eli look at Alicia, with the wheels turning in his head, I was saying, "Don't go there, don't go there."  But he went there.  I can't imagine Alicia running for SA, or for any political office.  Running for office these days involves having every aspect of your life, past and present, scrutinized and flung like a banner for the world to see.  Alicia saw the mudslinging first hand when Peter was running for governor; she's seen how even perfectly innocent situations are made to look bad.  Alicia is a very private person, reticent even with her own family.  I would think that even without the Peter/jail and Will/affair baggage, she would be repulsed by the idea of her private life becoming public.

[Kromm]

The bottom line of this whole State Attorney's plot possibility is that it's probably doable on the show simply because the show has ALREADY been floating the premise of a First Lady of a State being an actively practicing, court appearing, litigator.  In other words, there's already a huge suspension of disbelief necessary.  

[Sandman]

Alicia is a very private person, reticent even with her own family.  I would think that even without the Peter/jail and Will/affair baggage, she would be repulsed by the idea of her private life becoming public.

 

My thoughts exactly.

[AudienceofOne]

Did Diane demonize FA, though?

 

 

 

Will was the one jumping up and down about "they stole our clients, they stole our clients", but Dianne was in her own way too. The thing is, I never believed for a second that Alicia and Carey technically did anything that wrong OR that the client thing was the real reason Will and Dianne were angry. They were personally upset but, since personal issues aren't supposed to be important in business, they latched onto a business reason to be upset and to justify their future actions. Will was worse, of course, because his was the worse emotional hurt. That's why this doesn't smack of hypocrisy to me because everybody involved kind of knew the real reason they were angry.

[gingerella]

How could Alicia even run for SA if her husband is the state's Governor or whatever the hell Peter is right now? I mean, isn't that a huge conflict of interest that would disqualify her from even running?  A husband as Governor and his wife as State's Attorney?  WTF show! That's not remotely feasible.

[fastiller]

How could Alicia even run for SA if her husband is the state's Governor or whatever the hell Peter is right now? I mean, isn't that a huge conflict of interest that would disqualify her from even running?  A husband as Governor and his wife as State's Attorney?  WTF show! That's not remotely feasible.

And a political operative as 'brilliant' as Eli would know this too.

[buckboard]

I believe this might have been discussed previously:

 

The office of State's Attorney is a county office, the Illinois equivalent of District Attorney.  This office prosecutes criminal activity in that county.  Peter was State's Attorney for Cook County, which is the office Alicia would be running for.

 

The office of the Attorney General is a statewide office, part of the Executive Branch.  This would be much more of a conflict, but it isn't the office Alicia is thinking about running for. 

[Guest]

You're describing the reasoning and emotions behind her defection. But the act of demonizing a firm for doing something (breaking away from a firm because it doesn't match your values/doesn't appreciate you, and taking clients) and then doing the exact same thing yourself is the essence of hypocrisy.

I thought there was a subtle distinction. Diane took her clients. The 4th years did not take their clients. They took the partner's clients, because they had built relationships by working with them day to day but they were not clients they, themselves hd brought in.

[CleoCaesar]

That's a really good point.

[Hanahope]

As I was watching the show, for a moment I thought the whole bit of the on camera/mike thing was set up by Canning/Lee to get Alicia  and Cary to fight and that's how they were going to break up the firm.  It looked like it might work too.

 

I also thought that it wasn't so much Cary finding out Kalinda was using him that upset him, I think he had an idea that she did let slip little things here and there to LG, but it was finding out that Kalinda was essentially acting on LG's orders to 'get close to Cary' in order to find out things/exert influence on him.

 

I believe that if Diane did leave LG, she takes her name with her.  But Will's name would remain with the firm because he isn't taking his name, he died.  The firm would just be renamed as Gardner, X, Y, Z or whatever (Gardner, Lee and Canning or some such).  Certainly, the partners could remove his name if they wanted to as well.  It all depends on whether keeping his name, especially without Diane's, adds to the firms prestige or subtracts from it.  I wonder if Diane would take some of the other partners/associates with her, besides probably Kalinda (I don't see K continuing to work for Lee/Canning).

[photo fox]

I also thought that it wasn't so much Cary finding out Kalinda was using him that upset him, I think he had an idea that she did let slip little things here and there to LG, but it was finding out that Kalinda was essentially acting on LG's orders to 'get close to Cary' in order to find out things/exert influence on him.

This, totally. There's a big difference, IMO, between accidentally picking up information when they're together and passing it on, which Cary knows she'll do, and actively seeking him out specifically to fuck him for information at her boss's command. The first is at least somewhat passive, while the second is a deliberate action. Plus, hearing Diane basically say, "Kalinda, use your 'influence' on Cary" in front of Alicia, when Diane and Alicia know full well that Kalinda's 'influence' is her magic vagina... harsh.

If I fault Cary for anything, it's being naive enough to not realize that Kalinda wouldn't see that as a "crossed line" at all.

[webruce]

I did think about the camera being left on that F/A was being set up. Then like Clarke Hayden said that it was like the NSA watching them I kinda agreed. A lot of LG info. was being shared in that conference room. Liked how Carey and Cary were working together. Carey had kinda disappeared. Was surprising how many would want to merge back with LG. But now Diane wants to join F/A. If Kalinda comes to I'm not sure how that will work with having Robyn and Cary. If Kalinda does leave LG, maybe Andrew Wiley will return? Can't see Blake Calamar coming back. Nice to see Julius Cain back at least for a couple episodes.

Diane/Kalinda/Julius Cain vs. Canning/Lee trying to put Howard Lyman on their side of the vote was nice.

The case of the week about the Yulia Gopnick adoption and the payoff and all that was a bit confusing to me.

Was funny and about what I figured would happen when Jackie and Veronica took over setting up Zach's Graduation Party. Eli trying to get Peter to come and control it was kinda funny.

Zach headed off to a job at the College for the Summer has to be harder on Alicia and Peter then it seemed. It was brought up to Alicia about the "empty nest" a couple times. Will Zach's pot story come back now that he is in College? Or mom maybe running for SA?

I would think if Finn had enough baggage to drop out of the SA race that Alicia would definitely have baggage. She maybe interested in it but I bet she backs out later. But who knows she might just get the SA job.

Liked Cary finding out about Kalinda using him to get info. She has now alienated all 3 of her lovers.

Wonder if in the new season the ballot box stuffing scandal will come back?

[AudienceofOne]

I would think if Finn had enough baggage to drop out of the SA race that Alicia would definitely have baggage. She maybe interested in it but I bet she backs out later

 

 

 

To clarify - Finn did NOT have enough baggage to drop out of the SA race. Peter had withdrawn his support for personal reasons (the photo - despite the fact it was totally innocent) and Eli had to come up with a reason to force Finn out of the race so they didn't have to publicly withdraw support from him as a candidate. It was a political move on the Governor's part and it worked. If Finn wanted to, he could have pursued the campaign and probably won. What they had was almost nothing. But 1. he was never that invested in being SA anyway and 2. they chose that piece of "dirt" to make it personal knowing that Finn would choose not to expose his sister to that sort of scrutiny.

[thewhiteowl]

 Canning threatened to use the "Nuclear Option" as in imploding L/G if Diane didn't concede the Managing Partner title to him. I'm trying to recall where I got the idea that she was going to allow him to do that and then go to F/A. I rewatched the episode and she does not say so but I was left with the idea that she would rather see it die then let Canning have it. Perhaps it's because that's what I would do.  It would be better than letting Canning and Lee take over everything that she and Will had built and give them a power base from which to attack F/A&L. They would be forced to do their own start-up company or Canning would move on to try to take over another established firm.

I think Alicia running for SA would be beyond stupid for all the reasons mentioned and can't even believe Eli would suggest it.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I love when Alicia and Cary are on the same page. Seeing them huddle for a second during the conference call just warmed my heart. I mean that in the least-shippy way too. I like them as friends, as a team (nothing romantic). So OF COURSE that lovely camraderie between them went to hell in a hand basket. I hated seeing their partnership hit a wall and explode like that.

 

Nice to see Christian Borle post-Smash, even in a minor role. This show always gets such great guest stars but I feel bad for them when they aren't given much to do.

 

I laughed so hard when Eli saw that someone had put an eyepatch and a mustache on Peter's gubanatorial portrait.

 

After all the nice scenes with Alicia and her mother last week, of course Veronica had to revert to form this week. Why is it so difficult to just honor your daughter's request to pick up lasagna and a cake? Why must you insist on making it yourself? In my experience, if you order something from the caterer and the baker, you have to pay for it so you might as well just pick it up. Even though a tiny part of me felt for Peter when he told Alicia to hurry up and get home because he was stuck listening to Jackie and Veronica drunkenly sniping at each other, 99% of me just rolled my eyes because you know Alicia has been putting up with crap like that a lot more frequently than Peter ever has. How many nights did he have to stay late at work when she was stuck playing referee with those two before they split up? Turnabout is fair play, Peter. I'm sure dinner with Jackie and Veronica is nothing compared to all the times Alicia has had to deal with them on her own.

 

Speaking of turnabout, damn, Cary! I'm glad he finally got the upper hand with Kalinda. Even though I believe that of course what you do in bed should be consensual, I thought Kalinda's reaction was a bit much. Gee, so Cary literally gets on top and you threaten to hurt him? Talk about overreacting. Calm down, you control freak!

 

I laughed SO HARD when the camera initially pulled back and revealed Other Cary watching Louis and David Lee trying to bribe Howard Lyman into voting for Louis like it was a soap opera while he was eating. Even though Clarke was the voice of reason and he had to play dad to Alicia and Cary sniping at each other during their meeting with Diane, I loved that they also showed him wrestling (very loudly!) for the conference call mute button.

 

Is that a realistic portrayal of a 1st child going off to college?  I get that he has a summer job, but he didn't look like he packed everything he'll need for living in a dorm once college starts.  He looked like he had a backpack.  That's supposed to last until Thanksgiving?  And wouldn't his doting parents be present to help him move in, get settled, etc?  Peter & Alicia are supposed to be great, involved parents.  I don't care how much you trust your kid's independent spirit- every mother of a son shows up on Move In Day to make their "little boy's" bed, albeit probably the only time it gets made.

He and his friend were driving (to Boston?) so they could start looking for an apartment, which is why Zach didn't bring all of the boxes in his room with him. They have nowhere to put those boxes yet. I'm guessing that once he and his friend find a place for the summer, Alicia and/or Peter will drive out there with the rest of his stuff to help him get settled in. I think that because Alicia did the same thing (moved out the night of her graduation), she wants to respect Zach's desire to leave without being a clingy mom and smothering him. Plus knowing how busy she has been and how exponenetially crazy things got the day of his graduation, she knows on a practical level that she can't just leave for two days.

 

There were so many possibilities as the episode went on: Diane running for SA! A LG/FA merger! LG being dissolved! Diane joining FA! Alicia running for SA!

[Occasional Hope]

Cary would be a better State's Attorney than Alicia.  At least he's been a prosecutor.

[TVSallyS]

Will was the one jumping up and down about "they stole our clients, they stole our clients", but Dianne was in her own way too. The thing is, I never believed for a second that Alicia and Carey technically did anything that wrong OR that the client thing was the real reason Will and Dianne were angry. They were personally upset but, since personal issues aren't supposed to be important in business, they latched onto a business reason to be upset and to justify their future actions. Will was worse, of course, because his was the worse emotional hurt. That's why this doesn't smack of hypocrisy to me because everybody involved kind of knew the real reason they were angry.

I agree. Will could not believe that with all their intimacy (he loved her) she would have the capacity to make a business move behind his back that would hurt him and just look him in the eye and lie. In reality business and personal issues are never separate - people like to see their friends and lovers do well at work because a person's work impacts their personal happiness, so they call a truce and don't make business moves against them. Kind of like how Kalinda did Cary a favor and didn't share what he was doing. As an LG contractor, she should have, because it was in the interest of LG's business. If he had been David Lee (someone she doesn't care about), she would have. But as Cary's friend, she stayed out. She knew outting him would destroy him - he'd have no chance to get his firm off the ground and he'd also be immediately fired from LG. She didn't want to destroy the life of a friend. It's how people work. If a husband-wife team ran two separate businesses and the wife found out the husband had been engaging in secret business dealings that would bring hers down without telling her, she would divorce him. Business and personal aren't separate - the more intimate you are, the more certain business moves against a person become unacceptable. Will was destroyed because he found out he wasn't at a place with Alicia personally where she would have viewed this behavior as unacceptable. But he couldn't throw their sex and feelings back at her because that was over now, so he had to frame it differently, as if this would have been a horrible professional betrayal no matter who did it. Everyone knew that wasn't why he was really mad. His reaction when he heard the news was the best 10 seconds of acting JC did on the show. We have seen Will when he looks professionally outraged or betrayed - that's not how he looks. That was a man getting his heart broken.