#sorry about the random possibly illogical poorly explained hypothetical tangents in there

[florrickandassociates]

TGW Thoughts: 7x15-- Targets

Thoughts on 7x15 under the cut...

As far as opening images for TGW go, a car pulling up to pick up Alicia is not one of the more engaging ones. Alicia looks lovely, though, and it is a bit disorienting to see a military officer picking her up. It’s clear she’s not in trouble (“Would you mind getting in the back seat, please?”), but it’s not clear what’s happening.

Alicia has to hold up her ID, which is, to me, the most interesting thing about this scene. It’d be even more interesting if she held it up close enough to the camera for me to read her middle name and her birthday. Actually, because I’m now comparing it to a real IL driver’s license, I can see that Alicia does NOT appear to have a middle name. Birthday is anyone’s guess.

Eli phones Alicia to inform her of the FBI investigation that she already knows about. And that he’s hiring a lawyer.

Specifically, he is hiring Elsbeth Tascioni. Hi, Elsbeth. I’m very sorry I’m not more excited to see you, but I simply don’t trust the writers with you after 6x05 and 6x06. I know you don’t have Josh Perotti in tow, thank God, but I’m not convinced the writers know how to write for you without harming the rest of the show anymore. Know that I still love you and your magical ways and your impressive Vera Bradley collection that goes above and beyond everything my 13-year-old self could’ve ever dreamed of.

Elsbeth is quirky, etc.

The partners at LAL are being photographed for a magazine for the ABA. Who knows who the hell these people are? They’re definitely not former Florrick/Agos partners. I give up trying to understand the firm history. It’s only fair that I give up now; the writers gave up a long time ago. Anyway, for those curious: 6 women (including Diane) (2 are women of color) and 6 men (including Cary and David Lee) (1 is a man of color). Diane gets to be in the center.

The photographer calls Cary “Cory” and we’re back to this no-one-knows-who-Cary-is game.

Then the photographer wants a picture of just the women. David Lee is not pleased! Shocking, right? Cary doesn’t care at first, but David Lee plants the seed. Are they about to be written about as a female-run firm? Which would push the poor, underappreciated, oft-discriminated against white men out of the spotlight? I feel such intense pity now. Really. I’m thinking of starting a fund.

Somehow, publicity for the firm that spotlights women is not good publicity. Apparently, noting that it’s impressive to have half of the partners be female is a threat to David Lee. When the photographer tells David and Cary they’re no longer needed for the photo, David quips, “we’ll just go back to the cleaning and cooking,” implying that the world has been turned upside-down and now men are oppressed or something idk it’d be more funny if it didn’t feel so much like something an entitled dude would say without really meaning it as a joke.

Cary then asks Diane if the article is about women at the firm. As we all know, women getting any power in a business setting means women are then going to take over the world and fire all the men.

The photographer is coming back the next day to get a photo that includes Alicia. Ah, so now Alicia is an asset again? I can’t keep track. The writers need to revive Snarkisthenewblack so I can monitor Alicia’s approval ratings. (Also, if there was any question as to whether or not Alicia’s status at the firm was going to be tricky to pin down… it’s going to be tricky to pin down.)

And now Cary, too, is paranoid. All season long, I’ve understood (from a character place) why Cary would do the things he does/believe the things he does (not quite understanding why reverse racism isn’t a thing, hiring based on people that he likes, thinking Monica and Lucca would like each other without really understanding why he thought so/how offensive it is to say, “You will like her, she’s also black.”). This I’m not so sure on. Paranoia takes hold quickly, but does Cary really think Diane is concocting a scheme to banish all the men? Is he really that threatened by the idea of an article that praises women in the workplace?

Cary goes to find Alicia, but she’s out, so he talks to Lucca instead. He winds up asking Lucca to lunch. She says yes, but she’s suspicious and immediately phones Alicia.

But Alicia can’t pick up—she and her head of super shiny and stiff fake hair have to go into a meeting.

Inside the secret meeting room, a table of men wait for Alicia to sit down. It’s like Blue Ribbon Panel, but with the military!

Among the men at the table: Captain Hicks!!!!! I don’t know when I developed such affection for Captain Hicks, but it seems that I did. (It’s possible that I just develop affection for characters that gain Alicia’s trust and respect, and the very by-the-book but open-minded, reliable, trustworthy Captain Hicks meets these criteria easily.)

They go around the table and introduce themselves. Well, the men introduce themselves—both the men introduced before Alicia and the men introduced after her—while another man introduces Alicia. But by all means, it must be a nefarious scheme to want to spotlight women in the workplace over at LAL. Sexism is gone! (I know this has nothing to do with LAL, but I feel like this illustrates well why even though it’s easy to think sexism isn’t a problem, it is.)

A nice thing about this introduction is that it lets us know that Judge Kuhn (miss you, love you, sad you’re not in this episode) recommended Alicia for the panel. Awwww.

All the members of the panel are instructed to break the seals on the confidential evidence. The men do it easily, and Alicia struggles. She’s immediately offered help. (The writing feels very reminiscent, again, of Blue Ribbon Panel, where Alicia takes her time reviewing evidence—as she should—and the men (Kresteva, in particular) ask if she’s alright. She insists on ripping the seal herself.

The case is about a terrorist… born in 1997. So, a terrorist that’s approximately Zach’s age. (Something I wish the show/Alicia would’ve commented on.) It’s a pretty interesting case: can you hold someone who neither directly encourages in nor engages in violence accountable (read: can you kill this person), under the law, for violence committed by people with direct ties to him? Actually, it’s not a question of can you, it’s more a question of finding a legal justification for a killing that is already set to take place.

David Lee calls Jason in for a meeting and OH MY GOD I HAVE THAT SKIRT I HAVE THAT SKIRT THAT THAT EXTRA IN THE BACKGROUND IS WEARING I GOT IT YEARS AGO AT AN ANN TAYLOR LOFT OUTLET WHY IS IT ON TGW

Sorry about that. David Lee tasks Jason with finding out if the All-Female Firm conspiracy has any truth to it. Must be nice to have enough money to pay out of pocket to have such a silly thing investigated. (I’m not just saying it’s silly because it involves entitled men thinking women are trying to take their power. I’m also saying it’s silly because the evidence is incredibly flimsy.)

Diane watches Jason leave David Lee’s office, and now she’s paranoid.

Also paranoid: Peter and Eli, trying to figure out why Peter’s being investigated. (Should be paranoid: Alicia, whose every move is being listened to by the NSA.)

I love that each person Elsbeth mentions gets their own motion, like it’s charades. Schakowsky is a gavel, Ruth is someone walking (possibly a larger woman, but I’m not sure that’s quite what Carrie was going for), and Marissa gets a gesture like a little kid being patted on the head.

Eli knows why Peter’s being investigated! Or, at least, he thinks he does, so he asks Elsbeth to leave to confront Peter about the Bad Thing. The Bad Thing is the nonsensical retcon that Peter rigged the election for Alicia. It makes no sense on a character level (Peter was furious with Alicia for most of season 6; even if he wanted her in office or not to be embarrassed by her loss, why would he take such a big risk like rigging an election, especially after the close call in season 4/5?) and no sense on a plot level (we already know that the rigging was done to get the Democratic supermajority). At least it’s not as convoluted as the “Peter rigged the vote for Alicia so he could then publicly humiliate her��� theory from last year, but it still makes much more sense that either a) Peter didn’t rig any elections or b) Peter wanted the supermajority and Alicia happened to be in the same race, so people presume it was for Alicia/just for Alicia.

The FBI wants to talk to Nora now, so shit’s getting serious.

Case stuff happens. Sleuthway gets a mention, but not ChumHum. I find this case really fascinating, but I have nothing to say about it, except that I’m glad I don’t have to be the one making the call.

Alicia votes in favor of killing the terrorist; Hicks votes against it. Alicia apologizes to him for not agreeing; Hicks says it’s okay that she has differing opinions. Have I mentioned yet that I love Captain Hicks?

Case closed. But wait! The terrorist is an American citizen! Does the decision still stand?! Title credits.

Now Alicia needs more information, and the case continues.

Diane is eating a salad when she calls Jason in. She wants to know if he’s on David Lee’s current case, and he says he’s not, so Diane concludes that something shady must be going on. Jason doesn’t lie to Diane. He just sparks at her mysteriously, and says he wouldn’t be able to tell her if he was doing freelance work for David Lee.

“David Lee loves to create paranoia and dissention. Don’t help him,” Diane warns. Yes. This is true.

In the next office over, Cary and Lucca are eating. This is not a date—it’s more of an interrogation. Cary makes “pleasant” conversation about whether or not Alicia and Diane are working together against him. He does have some reason to worry, since he apparently found out about the attempt to make F/A a “female run firm” last year. Much as I’d like to say “WTF are you talking about?”, Diane did expressly state this goal on at least two occasions in early season six (6x01 with Alicia; 6x02 with Dean—though it’s “women and people of color” there). Lucca has no information on this subject (almost certainly because no information on this subject exists) and says she’ll check with Alicia.

Lucca and Jason run into each other at the elevators. Jason’s headed out for some air, and Lucca is just headed out. “This place is insane,” Jason comments. I bet Jason and Lucca both understand Alicia a lot better now. Also, yes, LAL is insane, to the point where I wouldn’t even think twice before accepting “this place is insane” as a reason for the total lack of non-Cary/Alicia F/A people.

Alicia gets a chance to check her messages. She finds one from Cary saying he needs her to phone, one from Lucca that says, “Hey. So this is a weird firm. I need some advice,” a “We need to talk” from Diane, a message from Peter, and a message from Jason. She chooses to listen to Jason’s first. It just says, “Yeah… so… I’ll talk to you,” and Alicia smiles. She’s interrupted before she can listen to the message from Peter.

Case stuff happens. Alicia in glasses alert!

This decision can wait, apparently, so the panel will take the night before voting again. That’s a little suspicious.

Oh dear God, Elsbeth is now in Eli’s closet office, and we must be subjected to more tiny desk jokes. Why. Why. WHY.

Elsbeth and Eli are just totally confused as to why Marissa might be involved in this potential voter fraud investigation about Alicia’s run for SA. SHE WAS ALICIA’S BODY WOMAN. WHY IS THIS CONFUSING OR SURPRISING!?

Alicia heads to the office at night and tries to open a bottle of tequila. The cork breaks. “Oh, come on,” Alicia says to the bottle. It’s amazing I don’t say, “Oh, come on,” more, considering how often it’s said on this show. Maybe I should start.

Alicia struggles with the cork for a while, stopping only to acknowledge Jason’s presence when he walks up to her door. Alicia’s just seeing what piled up on her desk while she was out. It’s hard for me to imagine Alicia doing this voluntarily in any of the earlier seasons, where working late happened only when it absolutely had to. In an early season of this show, Alicia might’ve gone to the office late at night because someone wanted her there, or because she felt pressure to keep pace so that she wouldn’t lose her job, but she wouldn’t voluntarily head to the office when she could head home. I’m toying with the idea here that Alicia’s circumstances have changed.  Two tween-age children need supervision. One eighteen year old with her own busy life doesn’t demand nearly as much attention. There’s no family unit at immediate risk of falling apart, no Jackie-monster damaging (Grace’s words!) her children on a daily basis, and no pressing needs for Alicia at home.

Somewhere around season four or five, Alicia’s kids grew up. Zach gets his driver’s license in season three. Grace (presumably) gets hers in season five. Suddenly, Alicia’s home life is very different than it used to be. The things that used to weigh on her no longer weigh on her; many of the responsibilities she had no longer exist. She and Peter understand where they stand in relation to each other; her job is secure as it can be at a firm like LAL. She’s also grown as a person, become more in touch with her own desires (especially her sexual desires), let emotions fester for years, and been upset by scandals and tragedies and deleted voicemails.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Alicia offers Jason a drink; he turns her down. So then she has to ask if he’ll remove the cork for her. He sits down on the couch next to Alicia, and starts to make conversation. “So, people really don’t trust each other around here, do they?” Alicia laughs. “Not much.” Jason asks Alicia about the all-female firm thing; Alicia has no idea.

And Jason removes the cork!

Alicia recalls that “maybe a year or so ago” Diane mentioned something about an all-female firm, but “a lot’s happened.” (Cary being arrested; Diane actually joining the firm; Alicia’s SA campaign, win, and loss; David Lee returning to the firm; Alicia being kicked out; Alicia returning…)

Done with this subject, Alicia asks, “Do you think I drink too much?” “I don’t know. Do you?” “I was gonna break this bottle if I couldn’t get the cork out. That might be a problem,” Alicia replies. Yeah. I would say that is a clear sign you might like alcohol a bit too much.

Jason takes her up on that and moves the bottle away from her. Already comfortable with Jason, Alicia reaches over him playfully (and a bit desperately) to get to the booze. “Let’s just talk,” he insists. But she really wants that tequila. “You don’t need it, seriously,” he tells her.

“Okay, yes, but I want it,” Alicia says. Ouch. That has me reevaluating the 2x15 scene where Grace asks Alicia why she needs wine. This scene seems more desperate, though both times, it weighs on her (“My daughter thinks I drink too much.” “You know what your problem is?” “I don’t drink enough?” “You didn’t get your tubes tied.”) Is there much of a difference between these two scenes, or is the want/need distinction just a strategy to make Alicia feel in control? I’m starting to think it’s the latter.

I don’t think Alicia is an alcoholic, at least not in the television sense (think: season 2 Bree Van de Kamp on Desperate Housewives passing out in department store dressing rooms) (and alcoholism in the television sense is a very real problem, but it’s also often the most dramatic representation of alcohol abuse possible), but she’s gone from a routine where alcohol helps her relax and is always consumed in moderation (a glass of wine at 3, a glass of wine after work) to hard liquor, daily, whenever she feels like it, and probably too much of it. (One thing I wish the show would depict is a consequence of Alicia’s drinking. If Alicia can hold the tequila in her nightly margaritas, why are they any more harmful than a nightly glass of wine? If Alicia constantly wants another drink, like she says in 7x13 (but we’ve never seen Alicia binge drink), that suggests that she’s no longer controlling herself around alcohol/that she’s craving a way to numb the pain. I think I get what the writers want us to see, which is an Alicia who is increasingly relying on increasingly stronger alcohol to get through the day. And that would be a warning sign of some deeper psychological problem and the beginning of a more serious problem with alcohol. But I still wish they’d shown a bit more how/when/why Alicia is becoming on alcohol and constantly craving more. (7x06 is an interesting starting point—whichever episode it is where Eli tells Alicia that Peter actually wants to be president is the one where the margaritas start—for this, because in 7x13 Alicia makes it sound like it’s about the voicemail, but it goes back further, and I don’t yet know why. Is it the marriage that kicks this off?)

Jason, to his credit, reads this situation (in which Alicia’s behavior is very worrisome) very well.  He asks her to try a breathing exercise. “If this doesn’t work, do I get the glass?” she asks. She seems quite fixated on that glass for someone who doesn’t need alcohol! (It’s very safe to say that Alicia is not over the breakdown from a few weeks ago. She’s made some progress and gotten out of the worst of it, at least for now, but this is a clear indicator that she’s still not in a good place.)

Alicia finds the breathing exercise ridiculous: “I don’t meditate, Jason.” (I’ve tried breathing exercises like this, and for me, personally, if I don’t believe that what I’m doing will work, that’s the quickest way to ensure that it won’t.) He gets her to calm down and relax, and then he leans in for a kiss (first touching her face so she knows what’s about to happen) and they start making out until…

The lights go off! Alicia explains that the lights go off automatically after 11, not thrown by the darkness, and the making out continues. And then it escalates. Right there on the couch where clients sit and Eli sleeps.

Elsbeth asks Marissa why she knew about the vote rigging. This is an excellent question. Why did Marissa know about something Alicia and Eli knew nothing of? She knew because she was Alicia’s body woman, she says, which makes her keeper of confidences. BUT WHO WOULD’VE TOLD HER? PETER????? It certainly wasn’t Alicia, who didn’t know, or Eli, who didn’t know. Who would’ve told her?!?! Why are we here?!?!?! THIS MAKES NO SENSE!!!!!

Fun fact: Marissa makes purses. They’re quirky and Elsbeth wants one. But then she realizes something and excuses herself. She can’t be Peter’s lawyer, and she can’t say why. But she still wants a purse from Marissa.

“So, you don’t want to hire me for anything, but THAT’S your lawyer?” Marissa remarks after Elsbeth leaves. Oh, Marissa. If only you knew.

Day two of the secret panel, and Alicia knows how things work. Until…

… she notices Captain Hicks isn’t there. Odd, right? He’s the one that’s resisting the most, and then they suddenly take a break and the next day, he’s been removed? (This case was more interesting to me when it was about the case, and not the politics behind the decision-making process. The NSA boys will get involved in a few minutes and… can we go back to debating interesting ethical/legal issues? And not deal with them?)

Hicks is being questioned about leaking confidential information, the head of the panel (is this a panel? Idk what else to call it) explains after Alicia presses the issue.

Alicia’s now voting against the strike, along with some others, but the head of the panel decides against her.

Why can’t Elsbeth be Peter’s lawyer? We still don’t know, but now she’s given Eli a business card for her ex-husband, Michael.

Mike Tascioni carries around a small dog with him wherever he goes. The quirk on this show can be insufferable at times. I don’t mind Mike—he’s preferable to Josh Perotti!!!!—but Elsbeth-adjacent quirk has a tendency to devour TGW whole (or to feel wholly separate from the rest of the show to the point where it feels like a time suck), and with 8 episodes of the series left (including 715), that’s something I have little patience for.

Sorry, Tom the Dog. You’re adorable.

Mike is confident this isn’t about vote rigging. Please tell me Mike is right!!!!! If Mike is right, then I don’t have to wonder about all the retconning in a serious way!!!!!!!!!!

I feel like someone talked about their emotional support service animal on a recent episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine too. Trendpiece?

The scene where Mike and Elsbeth have whatever sort of tension this is supposed to be makes me cringe. Poor Eli, caught in the middle. I feel your horror.

Task: Make Elsbeth paranoid.

David Lee and Cary are already paranoid. Jason tells them there’s nothing to be suspicious of with Diane, so… they continue to be suspicious. David Lee can’t imagine why, if she had a deal with Alicia a year ago to make an all-female firm, she isn’t still plotting. MAYBE BECAUSE A LOT HAS CHANGED IN THAT TIME, AND ALSO MAYBE BECAUSE SHE NEVER HAD AN ACTUAL DEAL WITH ALICIA.

Jason repeats that there is no evidence, which is all he can provide. Cary and David Lee become suspicious that Diane has now buried the evidence—how does Jason know Diane didn’t bury evidence?! “I can’t answer that,” Jason says, reasonably. “Why not?” Cary and David demand. “Because I deal in evidence. I don’t deal in states of mind,” Jason answers. Thank you, Jason! “You think we’re being paranoid?” Cary asks. (YES!!!!!) “I haven’t been here long enough to answer that conclusively,” Jason responds.

Alicia tries to phone Jason; he hits ignore. This will matter later.  

Alicia tries to defend Captain Hicks. Awwww. Yay! But now they think Alicia’s the leak, so maybe there really is a leak, so maybe there was no conspiracy to get Hicks off the panel and I’m being paranoid.

Speaking of paranoia and surveillance (do you sense a theme yet? Do you? Do you?), the NSA is listening to Alicia’s conversations—all of them, regardless of whether she’s on the phone or not. Uh oh!

Good to know these boys are listening in on Alicia having sex with Jason. I’m really glad they kept them part of the show. I really wouldn’t know that Alicia and Jason were having sex if I didn’t get to hear sex noises playing through computer speakers at the NSA. Whatever point about privacy (and lack of privacy) the writers wanted to make here I’m 99% sure they already made in season five.

Now the NSA has to hold off on listening to Alicia. Well, boys, if you tune in to CBS on Sundays at nine, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with what you find…

Stuff happens with Elsbeth and the FBI investigation. Jason is now on the case. And now Ei (and Marissa!) know exactly who the potential problem for Peter is.

Remember that interesting case from earlier in the episode? It’s resolved with a news report confirming the panel decided to strike the terrorist. Why this case couldn’t have been explored more is beyond me. It’s not that I needed more from the case, exactly, but I definitely didn’t need the case to suddenly become this thing about the NSA tapping Alicia’s phone.

Alicia isn’t happy, is morally conflicted, etc., so she closes her laptop and then gazes at her bottle of tequila. But before her desires can be fulfilled, Lucca interrupts: “You’re back from your secret mission!”

“Yup,” Alicia replies. “I heard things here are getting a little bit crazy.” “I thought bond court was a jungle, but wow,” Lucca comments.

“Best thing to do, stay on the sidelines,” Alicia advises. Excellent advice.

“We could just leave,” Lucca proposes. “We could. But money,” Alicia responds. “Money,” Lucca repeats. Then Alicia asks where Jason is. Lucca wants to know why (she has to suspect they’re hooking up, right?), and Alicia says something about “the three of us against the world.”

“So, it’s been fun here, huh?” Alicia says when Jason arrives at her office. I like the idea of the Alicia/Lucca/Jason unit within LAL. If Alicia has to be back at LAL (my personal conspiracy theory, because I too am susceptible to paranoia: Alicia et al had to be moved back to LAL by the end of the season in case CBS wanted a season 8), at least there’s this. She’s back at LAL, but still removed from it. Alicia’s already familiar with the world of LAL and knows how to navigate it; Lucca’s learning quickly and shares Alicia’s hesitations; Jason knows LAL’s culture doesn’t mesh with his attitude (but hey, the money’s good, and Alicia and Lucca are there). I think it’s a nice compromise, sort of, to look at Alicia’s new #squad in her old environment. The Alicia that Jason and Lucca know is not the Alicia that Diane and Cary watched develop, and that’s kinda awesome. Diane and Cary’s first impression of her was “disgraced spouse.” Lucca’s first impression was, “candidate I’m voting for.”

Lucca leaves Jason and Alicia alone, and Jason closes the doors. (“Glass walls. You have to get used to them,” Alicia remarks.) (Oh, who am I kidding? The writers probably moved Alicia and company back to LAL so they could use glass walls to create more tension. These writers have never met a device they didn’t like to exhaust.)

“So. Things are complicated between us now?” Alicia starts. “What do you mean?” “I remember high school. I remember my phone calls being ignored,” Alicia explains. (It was one phone call that we saw! How can she possibly figure out he was avoiding her?) “I am not ignoring anything. I just… I don’t like not knowing what the situation is,” Jason insists.

“What situation?” Alicia asks. ALICIA. I know that ring’s been on your finger so long it feels like a part of you but, really? What situation? You’re married to the governor.

“Look, it’s not like you’re married to the corner grocer, alright? It’s the governor,” Jason explains.

“And that’s my problem,” Alicia says, because after all this time she still somehow has not learned that the different areas of her life intersect. (Isn’t this supposed to be the education of Alicia Florrick? This seems like a rookie mistake.) (I don’t mean that as a joke—I honestly wonder if it’s in character for Alicia to continue to insist she can section off parts of her life. Of course it’s Jason’s problem—Alicia didn’t like it much when Peter was sleeping with Ramona (and she found out about it, because these things have a way of being unmasked when you’re in the spotlight) and they had an agreement that it was okay; why would Peter just accept this? And what if the media found out? Then Jason has cameras in his face and his name attached to scandal. What in Alicia’s experience/past with things blowing up in her face—leaked emails about an affair, near-misses, scandals, being caught up in the scandals of others—would possibly lead her to believe, still, that it’s easy to separate? Years of being promoted based on who she knows politically. Years of being given special treatment because of who she knows personally. Years of Peter and Will comparing dick size and affecting her work life. Years of the kids being dragged into things they shouldn’t be dragged into. Years of Eli showing up at her office. Years of her clients posing political problems for Peter. Years of all of this, and more, and Alicia still believes her problems only affect her, and the different areas of her life are totally distinct? This better be Alicia rationalizing because she wants Jason in her bed and will stop at nothing to achieve that goal, because otherwise, she’s failing her final exam.)

Let me just riff on that for a moment while I’m here. Season seven should be, but does not seem to be, the synthesis of all the lessons Alicia’s learned. If this is the final chapter in the story of her education, then this season should be comparable to a final exam. Maybe it’s different for the Kings, but when I sit for my final exams, they’re cumulative, and they ask me to draw connections between different units. Final exams aren’t about what I’ve learned in the past two weeks; they’re about how what I learned the very first week of class relates to what I learned in the very last week of class and everything in between. Why is season seven not the television equivalent of that? Why are there new plots upsetting everything? Why is Alicia being backed into a corner by an FBI arc poised to run until the end of the entire series? Why wasn’t it enough to watch Alicia put what she’s learned on its feet (these are her words from 514!) after, say, 6x18 or 6x20? Why did Peter have to run for President? That arc wasn’t consistently written, barely involved Peter as a character (he fires Eli! Then rehires Eli off screen as though nothing ever happened!), rushed through any thread created for Eli (it’s a revenge arc! No wait, it’s about love! No wait, it’s a revenge arc again! No wait, love story! Now it’s over!), didn’t explore the national spotlight on Alicia in any substantial way (she’s a liar and a cheater! Now she’s the Good Wife again! How did we get here? Who knows! Let’s all give Eli a round of applause for running a successful rehabilitation campaign for Alicia!), and didn’t explore Alicia and Peter’s marriage. Why was the voicemail revealed? Why was it followed up with plate-throwing instead of a look inside of Alicia’s mind? Why has the progress been so inconsistent? Why does it have to be one thing after another after another after another? I used to praise this show for its lack of “drama.” Conflicts used to come from interpersonal relationships and squabbles years in the making, with the occasional melodramatic explosion, then followed by a return to more everyday occurrences. I can no longer say that pattern characterizes the show, and that troubles me.

Just imagine if s6/s7 had gone this way: After 6x18/6x19/6x20, when Alicia and Peter finally become friendly and comfortable with each other’s presence, Alicia slowly starts to realize she wants to leave Peter (or she wants to be with him, but I think that’s pretty damn unlikely at this point). But now it’s difficult. They’re on good terms again. They make a damn good team. This friendship thing is kind of nice. She remembers how well he can complement her, how supportive he can be. The kids are leaving the nest (I’m really big on this “Alicia’s circumstances have changed in subtle ways as her kids have grown up and she’s acclimated to the professional world” idea right now, if you couldn’t tell). She realizes she has no pressing reason to stay with Peter now, other than how difficult it would be to rip off the band-aid and divorce. She finds herself attracted to Jason. But she still doesn’t want to divorce. She likes the power Peter brings her; it’s been twenty-plus years and she’s gotten used to this; she’s forgotten what it’s like not to be a Good Wife; she likes the idea of being married; she abhors the idea of having to say she’s divorced (it’s a failure in her eyes, maybe, even if she’d never say that). Yet she knows, or slowly comes to realize, that even though her marriage is in a better place than it’s been in ages, she wants a divorce. The same stuff we’re seeing in s7 happens: she puts that decision off to dedicate more time to her career. She tells herself that she’s happy because of her new firm, and because she’s on good terms with Peter, but this sadness just won’t stop creeping back in. Maybe she even learns about the voicemail, gets angry, gets pushed to the edge, has this breakdown. I don’t know. It doesn’t particularly matter; the writers could’ve spiced up the story however they wanted, because I know I’d happily watch Alicia Florrick Has Mundane Thoughts for twenty seasons but that’s not really something with broad appeal. What matters is that there should’ve been a consistent effort to show how Alicia feels about her marriage and her personal life, one focused more on Alicia seeing things through to their conclusions and making choices than on new obstacles being thrown at Alicia every time she’s in a position to make a step.

I don’t know how this show will end, and I’m getting less optimistic about its ending by the day. I’m still hopeful, however, that the remaining seven episodes will explore Alicia with the depth that I want from the show. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from following the education of Alicia Florrick, it’s that it’s never a good idea to form opinions about plots before they happen. I thought it would be a jump-the-shark moment if they ever killed off a character right up until the moment I saw Will’s shoeless foot. I thought it would be a terrible idea for Alicia to run for State’s Attorney, but wound up being one of the few ardent defenders of that arc. I detested the idea of suggesting that Peter was the father of Marilyn’s baby… until I laughed for five minutes straight at Eli’s spit-take at the end of 5x10. I hated the idea of bringing back the voicemail, and now my only problem with it is in the follow-up. So I’ll be patient.

Much as I wish I could end my recap on that semi-positive note, the Alicia/Jason scene I’m in the middle of writing about continues.

“No, my problem too,” Jason says. “He accepts it,” Alicia says as though that makes all potential complications disappear. “No, he doesn’t. He may say it, but no one accepts it,” Jason sees through the bullshit.

“Okay. I accept it,” Alicia replies, STILL NOT SOLVING ANYTHING. What do you accept? You can’t accept it on Peter’s behalf. And you didn’t accept it very well when Peter had a relationship.

I should stop being so hard on Alicia, because something’s seriously wrong here. She’s desperate. She’s trying to rationalize—she’s not being rational. She wants to drink (remember that longing look at the tequila a few seconds ago?) but sex is an acceptable, or even preferable substitute, so, her mission becomes to get Jason in bed with her. Did I already say that a very reasonable answer to one of the questions I posed above, about whether or not it’s in character for Alicia to continue to partition off parts of her life, is that she’s… not really trying to do that at all because she’s just trying to get what she wants in the moment? I think I did, but I want to underline that point, because I think I just linked a line that’s really not that troublesome to a larger anxiety I have about how this show will come to a close in seven episodes.)

As evidence, I present what Alicia says next: “And… you kept me from drinking. If you don’t come to me tonight, who knows? Maybe I’ll start drinking again.” Are alarm bells going off in anyone else’s mind!? At first, when I watched the sneak peek, I thought Alicia was making a bizarre joke at the expense of alcoholics. In context, it plays differently. It’s not so funny (not that it ever really was). It’s Alicia trying to hide her addiction in flirtation. She says it as a joke, but she means it more than she’d like to. Jason(‘s dick) won’t save her from alcoholism. He won’t make her feel better in the long-term (if the relationship proceeds like this). But he’ll help her get by from day to day without sliding back into a dark place, and Alicia’s flailing and reaching out for anything to keep her occupied as she tries not to fall back down that hole.  

Jason is receptive to this line: “Way to make me feel guilty.” “You want thinks simple, I want things simple, too. So here it is: I want you again. Don’t you want it?” Alicia flirts. Problem not solved, but mission accomplished, because Jason responds with “I want it.”

I don’t know what Jason’s motivations are. I don’t know if he’s being manipulative, if he’s just horny, if he’s really interested in a relationship with Alicia, or if he genuinely wants to help her and has realized that if he wants to help her, he’s going to need to get her to start opening up to him, which will only happen if he’s receptive to her advances. (That last one is a little too charitable on my behalf. He can only help her as a friend by getting her to open her legs? Uh huh, right, absolutely nothing at play there other than concern for a friend…)

And now we’re back in the NSA offices as the boys listen in on Alicia and Jason’s sexy banter. Doesn’t look like things are good for the Florrick wiretap. I can’t tell whether this scene means it’s going to be shut down or not, but I would prefer not to see it again, even if that means this episode and 7x06 are even more of a waste than I initially thought.

The episode ends with an avalanche and a big splash of water in a video the NSA guys are sharing with each other. At least it wasn’t a goat?