The Good Wife: Hail Mary
January 4, 2015 8:20 PM - Season 6, Episode 11 - Subscribe
With only 6 hours remaining until his sentencing, Cary meets with a prison consultant to prepare for his time inside; meanwhile, the rest of Florrick, Agos, and Lockhart try every last minute tactic they can to keep him from having to serve it.
Everyone, that is, except Alicia, who is forced to continue with debate prep with all the other men in her life, who help with varying degrees of success.
Everyone, that is, except Alicia, who is forced to continue with debate prep with all the other men in her life, who help with varying degrees of success.
i hope they don't kill off Kalinda, but I am annoyed by the Judge being so negative, but I am so glad that Diane is back on her authority.
posted by PinkMoose at 9:17 PM on January 4, 2015
posted by PinkMoose at 9:17 PM on January 4, 2015
So while the courtroom dramatics, even if they did give me the result I wanted, in the end, felt a little unrealistic, it's much more unbelievable that the white dude lawyer with super-powerful friends would end up in prison anyway, so it balances out to me. (As David Sims said on Twitter tonight, "cary agos is the patron saint of white privilege but i love him")
I'm also not sure that Alicia would have really kissed her campaign manager (whose name, after I looked it up, is Johnny Elfman, which does not sound familiar to me at all but this is one of those things I actually do trust the Internet on), but I don't know if it will mean anything other than "stuffy Alicia was so wrapped up in the moment that she just went ahead and kissed the incredibly handsome face that's been near hers quite a bit lately." At least I'm hoping that's what it will mean. (I made a big deal of saying "I don't watch The Good Wife for 'shipping reasons when Will died", but FINN + ALICIA 4 EVA.)
I'm really hoping that Kalinda is going to disappear to avoid jail time/Bishop's wrath?* than die. As much as I sort of roll my eyes at characters on TV being able to just 'go off the grid' when the writers need to write them out (I've watched a lot of good and bad soap operas in my day), Kalinda is one of the few characters on TV where the ability to disappear if needed this has pretty much been part of the character from Day 1.
(* I'm a little confused about why Bishop calling her is so terrifying; the information that started them down this path is something she got when she reached out to Bishop for help, but it didn't really betray anything that the police didn't already know.)
Something that got lost in all the Kalinda worry and Alicia kissing was Diane's reaction (near sobbing) to Cary's release, though I guess "Christine Baranski is amazing" is a comment we could almost always just append to any thread about her.
The debate prep with Chris Elliott and Finn and Peter was both funny and hit all the emotional beats I wanted (flirting with Finn, pissed off at Peter). I do hate that Alicia couldn't be a part of freeing Cary, but at least they made it seem like it bothered her, which I felt like they haven't always done as well.
Marissa Gold getting caught between her father and Johnny when they were fighting was the best part except for the part where Marissa offered Alicia milk again and the part where Marissa said she wasn't a fluffer. Basically, everything with Marissa was the best.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:25 PM on January 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'm also not sure that Alicia would have really kissed her campaign manager (whose name, after I looked it up, is Johnny Elfman, which does not sound familiar to me at all but this is one of those things I actually do trust the Internet on), but I don't know if it will mean anything other than "stuffy Alicia was so wrapped up in the moment that she just went ahead and kissed the incredibly handsome face that's been near hers quite a bit lately." At least I'm hoping that's what it will mean. (I made a big deal of saying "I don't watch The Good Wife for 'shipping reasons when Will died", but FINN + ALICIA 4 EVA.)
I'm really hoping that Kalinda is going to disappear to avoid jail time/Bishop's wrath?* than die. As much as I sort of roll my eyes at characters on TV being able to just 'go off the grid' when the writers need to write them out (I've watched a lot of good and bad soap operas in my day), Kalinda is one of the few characters on TV where the ability to disappear if needed this has pretty much been part of the character from Day 1.
(* I'm a little confused about why Bishop calling her is so terrifying; the information that started them down this path is something she got when she reached out to Bishop for help, but it didn't really betray anything that the police didn't already know.)
Something that got lost in all the Kalinda worry and Alicia kissing was Diane's reaction (near sobbing) to Cary's release, though I guess "Christine Baranski is amazing" is a comment we could almost always just append to any thread about her.
The debate prep with Chris Elliott and Finn and Peter was both funny and hit all the emotional beats I wanted (flirting with Finn, pissed off at Peter). I do hate that Alicia couldn't be a part of freeing Cary, but at least they made it seem like it bothered her, which I felt like they haven't always done as well.
Marissa Gold getting caught between her father and Johnny when they were fighting was the best part except for the part where Marissa offered Alicia milk again and the part where Marissa said she wasn't a fluffer. Basically, everything with Marissa was the best.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:25 PM on January 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
I really don't know what the end game of Kalinda is, she seemed to have a genuine turn--and she seems genuinely worried--b/w Bishop and the Judge, I am wondering what is going to happen there.
posted by PinkMoose at 11:59 PM on January 4, 2015
posted by PinkMoose at 11:59 PM on January 4, 2015
Aw, Peter turned Alicia down when she asked for help for Cary but he sent one of his lackeys to delay the judge. He's done something similar before. I wonder if Alicia will figure this out when she hears the whole story.
Will Kalinda's tampered evidence come to light? I didn't quite follow what the deal was with the other detective. At first I thought he had been cc'd on the email and they should've checked his metadata too. But there was some other skullduggery going on with Detective Artie Busco? and that would've been enough to get Cary off? So why was he so upset about a read/unread email if he already conspired to alter the transcript of the interrogation-- that has to be a bigger crime.
Maybe Kalinda blows off LeMond Bishop's friend and Cary's bank account funds her disappearance.
I was just so relieved that it's over for Cary. I hope Alicia loses gracefully but it will be quite the letdown after these past two years of high drama (leaving Lockhart/Gardner > Will > running for SA) to go back to everyday court cases.
Also Finn...dude's got a busy year coming up.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 1:38 AM on January 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Will Kalinda's tampered evidence come to light? I didn't quite follow what the deal was with the other detective. At first I thought he had been cc'd on the email and they should've checked his metadata too. But there was some other skullduggery going on with Detective Artie Busco? and that would've been enough to get Cary off? So why was he so upset about a read/unread email if he already conspired to alter the transcript of the interrogation-- that has to be a bigger crime.
Maybe Kalinda blows off LeMond Bishop's friend and Cary's bank account funds her disappearance.
I was just so relieved that it's over for Cary. I hope Alicia loses gracefully but it will be quite the letdown after these past two years of high drama (leaving Lockhart/Gardner > Will > running for SA) to go back to everyday court cases.
Also Finn...dude's got a busy year coming up.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 1:38 AM on January 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm glad that Cary is free, poor little guy. But I wish it didn't have to happen with Kalinda being sucked into a black hole of her own problems at the same time. There is no way it ends well for her. I loved Alicia going from smiling and giggling to the loud WHOOOP! because that was the appropriate reaction. I probably would have gone with a high five with the campaign manager but I guess the kiss worked too.
Line of the episode was Eli wondering how his daughter became so crass. I can't imagine how this occurred.
posted by Drinky Die at 6:48 AM on January 5, 2015
Line of the episode was Eli wondering how his daughter became so crass. I can't imagine how this occurred.
posted by Drinky Die at 6:48 AM on January 5, 2015
Kalinda is one of the few characters on TV where the ability to disappear if needed this has pretty much been part of the character from Day 1.
Yeah, when the prison consultant said Cary wasn't built to be an outlaw I felt it may have had a secondary message to the audience of, "But Kalinda is." Might be the only way out for her. Do whatever Bishop wants, take an offer from him to get the hell out or do it on her own so she isn't on his leash.
Will Kalinda's tampered evidence come to light?
In real life, it seems like it absolutely would or more likely wouldn't even be realistically possible. In TV land, this sort of hack happens all the time. However, this doesn't seem to be the sort of show to set this up deliberately as something that is likely to blow back on her without it blowing back on her.
posted by Drinky Die at 6:54 AM on January 5, 2015
Yeah, when the prison consultant said Cary wasn't built to be an outlaw I felt it may have had a secondary message to the audience of, "But Kalinda is." Might be the only way out for her. Do whatever Bishop wants, take an offer from him to get the hell out or do it on her own so she isn't on his leash.
Will Kalinda's tampered evidence come to light?
In real life, it seems like it absolutely would or more likely wouldn't even be realistically possible. In TV land, this sort of hack happens all the time. However, this doesn't seem to be the sort of show to set this up deliberately as something that is likely to blow back on her without it blowing back on her.
posted by Drinky Die at 6:54 AM on January 5, 2015
I'm a little confused about why Bishop calling her is so terrifying
Because he asked her for a favor in return for protecting Cary, and we don't know what that favor is. I do wonder why he didn't call her on the burner phone he gave her specifically for this purpose.
I didn't quite follow what the deal was with the other detective.
I'm not quite sure either, but isn't he the one that is or was sleeping with Geneva (the ASA)?
posted by desjardins at 8:55 AM on January 5, 2015
Because he asked her for a favor in return for protecting Cary, and we don't know what that favor is. I do wonder why he didn't call her on the burner phone he gave her specifically for this purpose.
I didn't quite follow what the deal was with the other detective.
I'm not quite sure either, but isn't he the one that is or was sleeping with Geneva (the ASA)?
posted by desjardins at 8:55 AM on January 5, 2015
What is with Marissa and the milk? I can't think Eli would want anyone getting extra phlegmy before a speaking engagement. Otherwise, more Golds.
Cary has been done with some exquisite acting with just his expressions.
posted by provoliminal at 5:00 PM on January 5, 2015
Cary has been done with some exquisite acting with just his expressions.
posted by provoliminal at 5:00 PM on January 5, 2015
So while the courtroom dramatics, even if they did give me the result I wanted, in the end, felt a little unrealistic,
The courtroom dramatics on the show tend to be, if nothing else, unrealistically compressed in terms of time (litigation that would take a year happening in a week), but this took that really beyond the pale. What did feel realistic was the character of the judge, angry at Diane for wasting the court's time then suddenly turning on the prosecution with all that anger and then some; I had some uncomfortable courtroom flashbacks during that.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 6:40 AM on January 6, 2015
The courtroom dramatics on the show tend to be, if nothing else, unrealistically compressed in terms of time (litigation that would take a year happening in a week), but this took that really beyond the pale. What did feel realistic was the character of the judge, angry at Diane for wasting the court's time then suddenly turning on the prosecution with all that anger and then some; I had some uncomfortable courtroom flashbacks during that.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 6:40 AM on January 6, 2015
Line of the episode was Eli wondering how his daughter became so crass. I can't imagine how this occurred.
Right, with two parents who are both swordsmiths who can cut anyone off at the knees, how could that possibly have happened!
Had to laugh when the "prison consultant" (good grief, how privileged is the use of that kind of service?) told Kalinda to "wear something sexy". Dude, you plainly have not met Kalinda. She never wears anything that isn't sexy. It'd be like telling Alicia to look elegant, or a tree to have green leaves. Kalinda just shows up in what she wore to work, and the prison consultant clearly considers that it qualifies as sexy attire.
Kalinda is SO SCREWED. And she did it for nothing as Cary would have gotten his case dismissed without her either faking evidence or agreeing to work with Bishop.
There's something odd going on with Cary's finances. I've been doing a rewatch of the show since the beginning (am currently mid-way through season 3), and here are some things I've noted that don't add up:
- Cary mentions having student loans at least twice during the first few seasons. He went to Harvard and his family seems to be wealthy but not supportive, so it's possible his student loans are sizable.
- When on trial, he is asked how much he made while at Lockhart Gardner. He answers that he made 80K.
- He is then asked how much he made working at the state's attorney's office. He replies that he made 35K.
- Then he is asked how he was able to continue paying rent on his 4K/month apartment after such a pay cut. He says he used his savings.
- Four thousand a month works out to 48K a year, which is a crazy amount of rent for someone to pay even out of a decent income like 80K a year (let alone 35K!). Out of Cary's remaining 32K (or $2666/month), he would have had to pay income tax and other deductions, pay all his other living expenses (car, groceries, clothing including all those nice suits he wore to work, some spending money), and make payments on these student loans. Also, he only had that income for six months. How much could he possibly have saved in six months?
- Perhaps Cary had savings before starting work at Lockhart Gardner in his late twenties, but it doesn't make much sense that he would have so much saved when he had student loans. The smart thing to do is to pay down debt first, to save money on interest charges. Then, too, we hear no mention of lucrative past jobs that I can recall. We hear he was in the Peace Corp and worked on The Innocence Project.
- When Cary loses his 80K LG job and gets the 35K job, at the state's attorney's office, he doesn't move to a less expensive apartment although he's making significantly less than rent money and has student loans to pay. Who the hell would do that? And how could he possibly have the 40K/year or so in savings he would need, at a minimum, to pay his rent and other living expenses, and to make student loan payments? And again, it makes no sense to use one's savings on basic living expenses unless it's a short-term emergency situation. He was promoted to Deputy State's Attorney, which probably means a corresponding raise, but then demoted to ASA again not so long after.
- In this episode, we see Cary has over 200K in his bank account. This makes a little more sense given that he is now a partner making 300K a year... but then he has only been a partner for a year and a half.... so maybe this is a little too soon for him to have quite that much money, especially given that he does have high living expenses. Also... who leaves an amount that size in a savings account where it won't earn much interest?
What are the options here? I'm thinking either the Good Wife writers aren't paying attention and/or can't do math, or Cary manages money in the weirdest way ever, or there's something we don't know.
posted by orange swan at 2:23 PM on January 6, 2015 [3 favorites]
Right, with two parents who are both swordsmiths who can cut anyone off at the knees, how could that possibly have happened!
Had to laugh when the "prison consultant" (good grief, how privileged is the use of that kind of service?) told Kalinda to "wear something sexy". Dude, you plainly have not met Kalinda. She never wears anything that isn't sexy. It'd be like telling Alicia to look elegant, or a tree to have green leaves. Kalinda just shows up in what she wore to work, and the prison consultant clearly considers that it qualifies as sexy attire.
Kalinda is SO SCREWED. And she did it for nothing as Cary would have gotten his case dismissed without her either faking evidence or agreeing to work with Bishop.
There's something odd going on with Cary's finances. I've been doing a rewatch of the show since the beginning (am currently mid-way through season 3), and here are some things I've noted that don't add up:
- Cary mentions having student loans at least twice during the first few seasons. He went to Harvard and his family seems to be wealthy but not supportive, so it's possible his student loans are sizable.
- When on trial, he is asked how much he made while at Lockhart Gardner. He answers that he made 80K.
- He is then asked how much he made working at the state's attorney's office. He replies that he made 35K.
- Then he is asked how he was able to continue paying rent on his 4K/month apartment after such a pay cut. He says he used his savings.
- Four thousand a month works out to 48K a year, which is a crazy amount of rent for someone to pay even out of a decent income like 80K a year (let alone 35K!). Out of Cary's remaining 32K (or $2666/month), he would have had to pay income tax and other deductions, pay all his other living expenses (car, groceries, clothing including all those nice suits he wore to work, some spending money), and make payments on these student loans. Also, he only had that income for six months. How much could he possibly have saved in six months?
- Perhaps Cary had savings before starting work at Lockhart Gardner in his late twenties, but it doesn't make much sense that he would have so much saved when he had student loans. The smart thing to do is to pay down debt first, to save money on interest charges. Then, too, we hear no mention of lucrative past jobs that I can recall. We hear he was in the Peace Corp and worked on The Innocence Project.
- When Cary loses his 80K LG job and gets the 35K job, at the state's attorney's office, he doesn't move to a less expensive apartment although he's making significantly less than rent money and has student loans to pay. Who the hell would do that? And how could he possibly have the 40K/year or so in savings he would need, at a minimum, to pay his rent and other living expenses, and to make student loan payments? And again, it makes no sense to use one's savings on basic living expenses unless it's a short-term emergency situation. He was promoted to Deputy State's Attorney, which probably means a corresponding raise, but then demoted to ASA again not so long after.
- In this episode, we see Cary has over 200K in his bank account. This makes a little more sense given that he is now a partner making 300K a year... but then he has only been a partner for a year and a half.... so maybe this is a little too soon for him to have quite that much money, especially given that he does have high living expenses. Also... who leaves an amount that size in a savings account where it won't earn much interest?
What are the options here? I'm thinking either the Good Wife writers aren't paying attention and/or can't do math, or Cary manages money in the weirdest way ever, or there's something we don't know.
posted by orange swan at 2:23 PM on January 6, 2015 [3 favorites]
Also that info implies that Kalinda, with a high school diploma, made more than Cary in season 1.
posted by Monochrome at 2:47 PM on January 6, 2015
posted by Monochrome at 2:47 PM on January 6, 2015
I assumed that Bishop ah, provided Cary with a lot of financial incentive not to squeal and that's where the stash came from.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:54 PM on January 6, 2015
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:54 PM on January 6, 2015
I totally believe that Kalinda made more than Cary in season 1.
The plot is interesting because I've been wondering what's going to happen with Kalinda -- odd that they are advertising that she is leaving because they kept Will under wraps. I figured it would be a problem with Bishop, but maybe it will be a problem with Bishop on top of a problem with faking evidence.
As usual, I want more Diane and more Eli Jr.
I also want it to turn out that actually they do want cantankerous but awesome judge for whatever position he thought they were faking him for.
posted by jeather at 8:12 PM on January 6, 2015
The plot is interesting because I've been wondering what's going to happen with Kalinda -- odd that they are advertising that she is leaving because they kept Will under wraps. I figured it would be a problem with Bishop, but maybe it will be a problem with Bishop on top of a problem with faking evidence.
As usual, I want more Diane and more Eli Jr.
I also want it to turn out that actually they do want cantankerous but awesome judge for whatever position he thought they were faking him for.
posted by jeather at 8:12 PM on January 6, 2015
I totally believe that Kalinda made more than Cary in season 1.
I found that credible as well. Kalinda was a far more valuable employee to Lockhart Gardner than any untried first year associate.
posted by orange swan at 11:22 AM on January 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
I found that credible as well. Kalinda was a far more valuable employee to Lockhart Gardner than any untried first year associate.
posted by orange swan at 11:22 AM on January 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
odd that they are advertising that she is leaving because they kept Will under wraps
Archie Panjabi got a deal for a show on another network (Fox), which had no incentive to remain quiet about it. On the other hand, Josh Charles wasn't leaving specifically to do anything else, making it somewhat easier to keep the secret (but still impressive that they did).
Plus, Julianna Margulies persuaded Charles to stay long enough to enable a creative exit for his character ... whereas rumor has it that she and Panjabi have not gotten along. I don't know if that's true, but if it is, that could be a contributing factor as well.
posted by pmurray63 at 12:14 PM on January 10, 2015
Archie Panjabi got a deal for a show on another network (Fox), which had no incentive to remain quiet about it. On the other hand, Josh Charles wasn't leaving specifically to do anything else, making it somewhat easier to keep the secret (but still impressive that they did).
Plus, Julianna Margulies persuaded Charles to stay long enough to enable a creative exit for his character ... whereas rumor has it that she and Panjabi have not gotten along. I don't know if that's true, but if it is, that could be a contributing factor as well.
posted by pmurray63 at 12:14 PM on January 10, 2015
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I think Kalinda has royally fucked herself this time. I think they really are going to kill her off, as some of you speculated earlier.
posted by desjardins at 8:40 PM on January 4, 2015 [1 favorite]