I’ve got some news for you, friends: there was a huge error in last night’s episode!
That wasn’t a xylophone piece that Elsbeth was listening to in the very beginning of the episode. (What can I say? Get a musician to write the recaps, and this is what you get.) The piece is actually “Gassenhauer,” or “Street Song,” by Carl Orff, the same guy who wrote Carmina Burana. Those aren’t xylophones, they are marimbas. The xylophones don’t turn up until the end of the piece, and the marimbas are still the dominant instruments.
Aside from that huge, overwhelming error, the episode was sure to be exciting from the start with one of our favorite recurring characters, Elsbeth Tascioni. She seemed to be hallucinating or having some sort of manic episode, and yet she still managed to outsmart Alicia and Dean in court, making the sexism case about whether or not their client has a “harsh management style.”
Diane clicked on ransomware which requires $50,000 to release their files. I for one want to know why a LAW FIRM doesn’t have their files backed up on external hard drives or a cloud drive. What kind of operation is this, anyway?
“There’s a help line for ransomware?”
The email was sent to her old email address, and Diane was forced to call Lockhart Gardiner and beg David Lee to help her out. Perhaps understandably, David was less than sympathetic to her situation.
“What’s the matter, Diane? You forget the silverware on your way out?”
Alicia got Finn to endorse her campaign and introduce her at the rally, but Eli informs her that Peter won’t endorse her unless she gets rid of Finn. Eli still isn’t a big fan of Alicia’s office, and when he sees the computers, he asks:
"Why are all the computers in here counting down? I feel like I'm in a Bruckheimer movie." #TheGoodWife
— Lady Casey Moeckel 😷 (@CMoecks) October 20, 2014
Back in court on the sexism case, and unfortunately Elsbeth had some sort of breakdown.
“I don’t even like penguins!”
After a meeting to discuss settlement, Elsbeth assured her co-council that she wont get distracted again, and they ended up back in the court room where Elsbeth hit it out of the park by contextualizing the sexism with referencing the misogynist ideas of a foreign company. It looked like she might be winning the case, when an AUSA stood up in court with a federal order to stop proceedings, as the company was charged with stealing trade secrets. Oops.
https://twitter.com/emilyfayeoakley/status/524103862475444224
Kalinda’s on again, off again FBI fling, Lana, helped out the firm and tracked the IP address to an old m who was being used as a money mule to launder the money from the ransomware and deposit it into an account in Russia. Kalinda and Lana took the computer and headed back to Lana’s place to work. No really, they were working – even as Lana tried to bond with Kalinda over some heavy emotional baggage, Kalinda stonewalled her. This could have been a great opportunity for the show to discuss bisexuality, but they dodged that hurdle.
Kalinda hacked into the hacker’s computer and threatened to delete his hard drive. When he was unconvinced that she could cause him any threat, she filled his computer with Pussy Riot music and anti-Putin propaganda. Game, set, match.
Alicia and Peter had a shouting match regarding her endorsement rally, and Peter refused to be there unless Finn wasn’t. When Alicia pointed out that she’s always stood by him for campaigns and events, even after he humiliated her with the sex scandal, Peter replied that she was just a candidate asking the governor for a favor. Alicia stormed out, telling Eli and her campaign manager to “Do what you want.”
It looks like Alicia got her way, because Finn introduced her and Peter showed up at the last minute — to swoop in and steal the limelight.
https://twitter.com/JohnTheJahn/status/524088979797209089
https://twitter.com/IsThis_My_Life/status/524052561477648384
(I’m about 95% sure that the music for the ending credits was Bach’s Magnificat, BWV 243.)
6 replies on “New Show Recap: The Good Wife 6×05, “Shiny Things””
THIS SHOW.
Oppo Research may have been one of the best hours of television I’ve ever seen, I typed out this huge comment last week and my computer ate it, then I had to go back to work.
I think the theme of this season is “there is no St. Alicia, and there never was.” I believe we’ve all be led (by our own choosing, I’ll get to that) to believe she’s this perfect person who has everything together, always knows what to say, is the smartest person in the room, a perfect mom, a top-tier lawyer, a good wife. I think this season is teaching me that Alicia has always been the woman we met last week, we’ve just chosen to view her through this lens of perfection and ideal.
This week, while not as OMFG as last, was fantastic, too. I am a little worried about the direction Elspeth is heading. I suppose she’s too quirky to be real, unless there’s a darker underlying reason for who she is, but I am filled with dread.
I would very much like to be Diane when I grow up, too.
Kalinda is coooold. The Kings have never been afraid to give that character qualities we’d typically only see in a male. While I think she could definitely benefit from more character development, I like that they’ve never completely softened her up, minus a few moments here and there.
Oh, go home, Peter. We only tolerate you so we can have access to Eli.
Kalinda is just an awful person sometimes. The way she used the FBI agent was cold to the point of cruelty.
His big blue eyes aside, they are making it hard for me to trust Finn. Maybe it’s his flirtatiousness, which seems out of character for the person we met last year.
1- I thought FA lawyers were playing dirty pool with the distracting images. And I was hoping they’d win their arguments. Eventually the defense acknowledges that the CEO was fired because of sexism, but then tries to make it a cultural thing. (And for what it’s worth, although large businesses are increasingly global, it doesn’t negate US employment law.)
2- Diane was fantastic in this episode. I could totally believe her being distracted enough to click “ok” on a phishing scam AND being smart enough to remind David he’s only holding a *copy* of an email. Plus, “cockroaches are not romantic.”
3- I didn’t realize stealing the podium from Alicia was a calculated move until I read this recap, but that was a pretty brilliant way for Peter to get the last word in.
Diane is pretty much always my everything. Can I be her when I grow up (without going to law school, starting my own firm, or marrying a republican guy)?
To be honest I didn’t pick up on Peter’s deviousness until I read the above tweet – but it was definitely calculated. Dude loves the limelight, as long as he’s the one holding the reins. I get the feeling that if Alicia wins, their marriage wont survive.
If Alicia wins and they actually get divorced, I think it would be pretty damaging for her career. Imagine if Clinton because president and then divorced Bill. People would say she used him (and for some reason people feel *really* strongly when a woman uses a man).
I’m glad Diane left LG, just because I doubt her character would get as much screen time if she didn’t. I do think it’s weird they stuck with the name Lockhart Gardner without either partner.
Hmm, I think you have a point. But just because they don’t get divorced doesn’t mean they are together…though that’s a pretty lateral move from where they’re at now. I just hope Alicia puts Peter in his place.
I’m glad Diane left too – she’s definitely one of my characters on the show, and since Archie Panjabi is leaving at the end of the season, they’ll have a hole to fill anyway.