The Good Wife - The Debate - Review: "All The Usual Disasters"

6.12 - "The Debate"

After ending the first half of the season with Cary's return to the firm (even if it was through less than legal means and will probably blow up in Kalinda's face later this season), the direction shifted strongly into the political side of the story. Alicia geared up to debate Frank Prady on live television, and Peter dealt with the impending response to a controversial grand jury ruling that brought out a very timely turn of events in the form of a protest in Chicago. Meanwhile, At Florrick, Agos, & Lockhart, Cary settled back into the controlled chaos of the law firm.

Warning: Longer review than usual, folks!

"The problem is I'm black."

The very first thing that displayed was a disclaimer that this episode was written and filmed before the grand jury decisions were made in the Michael Brown case in Ferguson, Missouri, as well as the Eric Garner decision in New York.

Then, a fuzzy cell phone video shows how a black man, Cole Willis, was accosted by 2 white police officers for no apparent reason. In the midst of the struggle he cries out, and then is killed, in front of his wife, Deirdre, on camera.

That was months ago, and the grand jury decision is being deliberated on the same day that Alicia is prepping for her debate. Surrounded by cacophonous campaign workers changing her outfit, giving her tips on answering questions, and an increasingly peeved Eli Gold, she sees her top client Neil Gross is calling her.

You'll never guess what happened next... Yep, that's right. He was upset because his wife was leaving him and/or suing him for sleeping with the help. Good ol' Neil Gross. He always shows up to spit out some indignant remarks about his lawyers, whilst in the midst of doing something illegal or at the very least immoral. He demanded that she only got $15 million out of him in the settlement/divorce (I don't know, while I am always intrigued on some level by ChumHum's presence, this asshole's schtick has worn thin with me, and I honestly tuned out of this case of the week, as it was boring compared to the rest of what this episode had to offer), but suddenly Evan (who the hell is this guy?) popped up and offered his wife $30+ million, and Gross demanded it be fixed. Alicia then quickly called Diane to notify her, who set Kalinda on her way to dig more into the Gross family's extra-marital affairs.

Another call comes in from Peter, but Eli has Alicia ignore it, expecting that it's regarding the new pictures of Peter and Ramona being intimate just 2 days prior to the event. He was actually calling to say that the Cole Willis case was likely about to hit the fan in the middle of the debate proceedings...

How dare you, sir?

Alicia finally made it up to the stand to start her debate, and fidgeted at the podium as they started introductory arguments. The questions were blatantly loaded and the time to answer was usually absurdly short, as if anyone could ever make a coherent statement in 5 seconds about cops and crimes against racial minorities! Both Alicia and Frank did their best to remain on task and concise in spite of these limitations, until Patrick Mancini decided to ask Alicia about her husband's recent affair with Ramona Lytten. She intercepted his question, and addressed it, admonishing him for continuing to reduce the campaign to a caricature and focus on irrelevant things when there is a very important position and outcome at stake for the state of Illinois. Frank then backed her up and called for Mancini to apologize for the personal and rude question. When he tried to complete the question, he was booed until he shut up. Well done, Alicia! (And Frank as well! They admire each other so much)

"Supply the backbone..."

At FAL, Cary was all smiles as he greeted his subordinates as name partner and ex-felon in a nice suit. Diane immediately put him to task when Alicia had called her about Neil Gross being unhappy with their representation. They sat in on the session and tried to figure out why the hell Evan, their lead on the case, had gone so soft against David Lee (yay, I missed seeing that smug, frog-like face!) on a case that was all but wrapped up. David Lee, with great relish, laid out a bunch of pictures of Neil having sex with one of his underlings, and insisted on a number much higher than $15 million. Neil Gross said what he usually said "blah blah I hate lawyers" and stormed out of the room like a 5-year-old.

They spent time trying to figure out Evan's motive for messing up the settlement, but eventually Kalinda came up with evidence that he was just becoming "nicer" and was more sympathetic or something like that... Either way, he screwed the pooch, and their top client was on the line. (Sidebar: Who the hell lets a character we haven't even really ever seen before sit as top chair on a ChumHum case? Honestly!?) What were they to do about Neil's infidelities and Evan's screw-up?

"They've gone full Ferguson here, sir."

Peter was in full pacifying governor mode, as he met with Pastor (and local celebrity personality)  Jeremiah in a show of solidarity for the impending outcome of the Cole Willis trial. However, the mayor was nowhere to be found, and this was a city matter, not just something the governor of the state shows up for. Eli tried to get the Mayor, but got his assistant instead. Lots of verbal dagger-throwing ensued, and Eli made it clear that Peter having to handle the situation alone was going to be bad for the mayor. Frannie, the mayor's assistant then shows up to the gathering with her own Pastor in tow. It turns out that it's Pastor Isaiah, who used to be Peter's personal faith consultant in season 1. Last time we saw him, his father had used politicking to push Isaiah out of their church, during Peter's election for State's Attorney. It was really great to see this story picked back up after so many years. Isaiah was always a great character to see in a show full of cynics.

The verdict came in: "Not Guilty."

The Mayor had hundreds of cops on the streets that were going to be suited up with riot gear. Peter and Eli both strongly opposed it, and stated that when they go out armed for a riot, that's when there will be a riot. Peter asked Jeremiah and Isaiah what to do in the wake of the decision, and their response was to go to the streets, go to the courthouse and address the situation in person. They needed to make sure to keep it from turning into a violent situation as well as they could.

On the way there, Peter spoke to Isaiah again for the first time about who he is as a man, and whether or not he kept the faith after cutting Isaiah out of the picture so long ago. Peter summarized himself fairly well: he was not a good man, and wasn't going to act like he was one. But he wanted at the very least to be an effective man, in his position as governor, and as a husband and father. As they drove up to the protesting crowd, Eli was asked about Ramona and Peter's relationship.

He distracted the journalist, and saw that Ramona was actually there, and furiously demanded that she leave before the story had more going on for it, as the only reason it hadn't hit primetime news was the grand jury decision and Eli's careful handling of the press in the circumstances. But she claimed Peter called for her. She gets in the car with Peter, only to emerge a few moments later in tears.

Peter had finally called off the affair. Ramona get out of here, nobody cares about your boo hoo tears from sleeping with your boss as a legal consultant to a governor, literally in the middle of a social shitstorm where hundreds of people dealing with unrest and anger at the justice system of the city!

"God, you guys are terrible."

Here's the thing: You're fired.

Ultimately, David Lee's plan worked, and his client was going to get $75 million out of Neil Gross, even after Kalinda had dug up plenty of information on Neil's wife's affair. It didn't matter, she wasn't the famous individual in the room, and FAL did not provide a decent alternative to paying up that amount. Furthermore, she made a move and implicated him in allowing the phenomenon known as the "fappening" to occur through ChumHum's search engine capabilities. He was effectively at a point where there was no alternative but to pay through the nose.

Angered by his counsel's inability, Neil takes ChumHum's business out the door. Well, there goes the client that kept the doors open in FAL... How can they sustain themselves now? As for Neil Gross, I get the feeling that he's in some form a ne'er do well -- he may be a genius who started a huge corporation, but he hardly acts anything like an adult in all the time he's dropped in to bitch about lawyers and the law who are usually doing their best to deal with his business' many shady dealings... It's not that lawyers aren't exactly what he's accusing them to be -- they are, after all, professionals who deal with lots of money and lots of information (a pretty way of saying liars that gouge for money) -- but he's preaching from a pedestal that he's thrown himself upon, and out of all the great characters this show has balancing around, the less we see of Neil Gross, the better, in my opinion. (Which is a shame, because I really do like the actor that plays him)

I hope that part of this "reinvigoration" process of the show is having them not rely on the same problems and clients that were no good for them at L/G, and continue to do no good for them now. It seems that could be the case, as they've effectively severed ties with both Lemond Bishop and ChumHum now...I wonder how the bills will be paid around that shiny office? The glass cleaning bill alone seems like a huge expense...

"And you call me cynical..."

Bridging the gap between office politics and city-wide outrage, Alicia and Frank Prady, whilst eating sandwiches, decide it's the time to finally figure out each other's stances on the pertinent issues that Illinois is facing as of late. They immediately start to argue about racism and hiring in the State's Attorney's office. They find themselves interrupted by a black kitchen worker, who flat out calls them out on being 2 white people arguing about racism and diversity -- As if more white people in office would help minorities have a better voice in things in the first place. They involve him in the debate as it continues to bring up points on either side's argument: that even what Cary went through wasn't indicative of what a person of color could have gone through in that situation, that no one is going to magically make racists not racist anymore, and that the prison system is out of control given how they're being flooded by lower-spectrum criminals picked up on non-violent drug charges. More and more people fill the room as Alicia and Frank both step up on their soapbox.

My reaction to the scene is mixed: I appreciated that they were making a point about televised debates with loaded questions where nothing seems to be genuine, compared to open and thoughtful discourse without the expectation of a tv audience over a cheese sandwich. I also appreciated both Alicia's and Frank's stances on the issue: they may have differed, but they were bringing up good points both about racism and the way it's handled in Cook County.

Alicia was all about the reality that all she can do in her position as State's Attorney is clean crime up, and work on meritocracy: You won't get anywhere by pandering to anyone in particular, you must  look at who deserves to be where they are in their occupation in a public servant's office. Frank stated that the system itself was rigged so that those without the same privileges wouldn't even be in the running for some jobs given which family they were born into, and there should be measures in place to cultivate other races' potential, and help spread the diversity in public office.

- cringe -

Either way, the end of the scene was what I didn't enjoy particularly. Alicia makes her point and has Frank "lose" the argument while the crowd gathered in the room start to cheer her on. I started seeing faint flashbacks to the end of season 3 of Game of Thrones, where a mass of people of color celebrate Dany's arrival -- it was odd, and had vibes that put me off. I think there should've been a different outcome from that scene. Cringe.

Later, as the debate was finally going to pick back up on tv coverage, Alicia took Johnny aside to say that their little kiss was just a spur of the moment celebratory kiss, and he shouldn't read too much into it. He totally responded to that news with a sad puppy face, and couldn't bear to look at her. He was apparently smitten by her, and he tried to start a spiel about relations during campaigns, but she stopped him short, and asked him to not try to analyze what happened. He seemed to be upset by her telling him that it meant nothing. Marissa took notice of the conversation the two were having. Chris Matthews then pops up again and says that Frank Prady has decided to not continue the debate. Alicia capitalizes on his mistake by remaining at the podium, unchallenged.

"Now is not the time to break things... Now is the time to fix them!"

After Ramona was out of the picture, (another case of 'love the actor/actress, can't stand the useless character) Peter met up with the wife of Cole Willis, and asked her to please address the protestors and ask them to please remain non-violent in the uncertain times the country was experiencing. She spoke before the group, next to Isaiah and Peter, and said that it was not their duty to make things worse, but to seek to fix what is wrong with the system that caused the issue in the first place. And then, Peter took the microphone and started on with some tone-deaf crap about not being "white" or "black" that night -- thankfully we aren't dragged through the entire thing... (He can be such a good politician sometimes, and sometimes he can just sound as dumb as he acts, I swear.)

Seeing as this has been a very hot topic lately, it was interesting to see The Good Wife take the happenings and bring them into the show. I have read many comments and a few reviews and it seems this episode was pretty polarizing on that front. Some people were glad to see such honesty shown from a predominantly white cast of characters (everything from Eli's lack of tact in referencing the situation to Frank Prady's opinions of racism), while others thought it was out of the depth of a show about a bunch of wealthy white people to try and bring race into the mix. My view (as a white male, for full disclosure): It was a mixed bag, but I found it mostly apt for what The Good Wife is known for. The only real egregious part of the episode for me was the weird crowd cheering for Alicia when likely they would have only been somewhat impressed by her logical opinion on things...

There's more to my opinion here, though. This is not the first time The Good Wife has dealt with racism. It is something that has popped up in many cases, and oftentimes in the State's Attorney's office itself! Peter was well-known for his moronic handling of his employees as S.A., where he systematically (if unintentionally) punished people of color for the same things he let white characters (namely none other than Cary Agos) get away with, no worse for wear. I don't know if it's always properly depicted in a perfect light, but this is hardly the first time we've had the main characters called out for their obvious lack of perspective when it comes to racist situations... So, on some level I would have expected the writers to do their best to bring up what the situation would mean for each character in the show.

Upon hearing the news of the verdict, David Lee merely says something about how hard it will be to get home that evening. Classic David Lee -- completely apathetic to anyone else's plight. It was a very crass statement to behold. But what about Diane and Cary!? why didn't they react to the verdict!? you might ask. Well, while I would have preferred a scene between the two about the shortcomings of the government these days (you know, given that Cary JUST got railroaded by the same system), I think that Neil Gross, the biggest client they have keeping them afloat, currently throwing a temper tantrum in their office would have them compartmentalize the outrage at a court ruling...

Throughout the episode, we're given glimpses into how the verdict, and an impending protest is perceived by all these relatively well-off individuals, and as a disembodied voice on a tv said near the end of the episode, it's so easy for the characters (as well as people who are viewing the show, far away from the anger and the frustration and the violence) to just go about their days without realizing the difference between them and so many others who simply just don't have the same chances in life that they did. (Sidebar: Be thankful for life! You didn't always exist and you will one day cease to be, unlike every non-living entity, you have your chance to do as you will, so go and do!)

"You got a problem with that?"

In the final scene of the episode, Alicia returns to the FAL office. Immediately she finds David Lee waiting for her in her office (How did he know she was going to be there? Did he wait for her hours on end? Did he have someone tell him when she was coming up the elevator? What a weirdo) and confirmed with her that he was a partner at FAL, joining the group once more.

The next part seems to be another polarizing moment in this episode. Alicia storms into Diane's office and berates Diane and Cary for making such a decision without her. She stated at the very least she deserved a phone call about it. Diane and Cary state that the decision had to be made, and quickly. (sidebar: Why did it have to be decided right then? Doesn't make a lick of sense to me at all...I don't even know if David Lee made it known that there was some form of a time limit on them bringing him back into the fold) They tried to call Alicia but she wouldn't answer her phone. Diane fires back that Alicia went on to decide to run for office without consulting anyone at all. It may have been implied that she forfeited her claim to be in every decision when she isolated herself from her partners during the campaign while one of them managed everything and the other was stuck in a fucked up trial that could have ended his career. James Castro was out of the race, Cary was off the hook-- these were the reasons Alicia had to start with, so why was she still going?

She hesitates, and almost walks away, but then comes back and unloads on Diane, claiming that no one would have a problem with her running for office if she were a man. It would be a foregone conclusion that if she were a man, she would do it, and no one would read into it more than that she wanted to do it, and that she had people backing her, she had infrastructure, and she had the will to try to be a better State's Attorney than her would-be predecessors, and that should be enough for her to want to run.

It's been a recurring question all season: "Why do you want to run, Alicia?" Every time someone has asked her that loaded question, she's lost her calm demeanor, seemingly unable to answer it directly. But at this point, I think we finally understand to some extent what her reason is. It's not a straightforward reason so much as it is a combination of many factors...In my opinion. I think part of it is about proving something for her, maybe that a woman could handle the job, or maybe just that she could handle the job, where her husband blatantly failed in the position. She's an incredibly ambitious person, and given something Robert King said earlier this season, she seems to crave power, even if just a means to an end.

I want to win.

On some other level there's Will's death. I am not sure she's shaken that off yet. She was supposed to be Jeffrey's lawyer... She tormented herself with many possible outcomes from that tragedy and the entire situation boiled down to a person who had his life ruined by the S.A.'s office for railroading his case to the point that he didn't want to live anymore, and he took Will's life in the process of trying to end his own life. Continuing that path was Cary's case. This was the breaking point: She'd seen what the S.A. had done to falsely frame her husband, and socially butcher the Florrick family name, later they went after Peter again as well as Will even though they were way out of their jurisdiction, then Jeffrey Grant's case and now Cary's... I would be utterly sick of this if I were Alicia, and given the momentum behind her, I could see how she would begin to want the position of Cook County S.A.

On the other hand, she's being completely hypocritical here. Diane is only a partner at FAL because Alicia did the very same thing Cary did in the first episode of the season. While he was being incarcerated on bogus charges, she and Diane met up and decided without Cary that she was going to be a name partner. Throughout the season, Cary was unable to keep up with Alicia and Diane's moves as he was in and out of jail, and they worked around the partner voting to get what they thought was best for the firm. They even took back the L/G offices, and ended up in almost the exact same situation as before the shakeup. This is all while Alicia wants to suddenly run for a position that would take her away from the firm she and Cary built from the ground up. How could she fault them for diving back into it when she's obviously got a chance at winning the race and losing her partnership at FAL? It was a bit cold to see them oppose Alicia, but both sides here have their perspectives. It's been a rocky year for this firm, I wonder how they'll survive it.

Sidenotes:

- Eli and his assistant, Nora, are often great for some fantastic moments, but there were a lot in this episode, and most hinged on his unintentional bigotry that she set straight on more than one occasion. "You're more............suburban." Gosh, Eli...how forward-thinking of you!

- One of the criticisms of this episode was how more than once they referred to "Ferguson" as simply a riot, as if there was no form of proper protesting, just rioting. Wording can make all the difference in perception, so given how Eli used it multiple times as a buzzword, it was a bit much, even for a usually crass character like Eli.

- "More like stuck it in and broke it off..." - Marissa in response to "I thought [Ramona and Peter] broke it off!" AND QUOTE OF THE WEEK GOES TO...

- There is something incredibly off-putting about having the legal counsel to the Governor get all weepy because he breaks off the affair between them while in the background people are chanting "#BlackLivesMatter" -- I don't know if this was incidental or on purpose, but there's a lot of irony going on with the non-issue that was Ramona getting her feelings hurt while people were protesting an actual issue of a crime going unpunished...

- Another episode where we have yet to see an inkling of Robyn and Dean... I am not happy about that. :(

- Is Pastor Isaiah going to get Eli to leave Peter's side? He seems to feel as if nobody appreciates him in his position, and Isaiah talked to him about it off screen...

- I decided to add gifs to this review, because...why not!? Let me know if that adds to the review or not.

What did you think of this week's episode? Start a discussion below in the comments!

About the Author - Wilson Crawford

Wilson is an avid fan of television, music, and the occasional video game. He enjoys well-written, thought-provoking characters and series that get better with age. Current favorites include The Good Wife and Mad Men. Past favorites include Damages, Fringe, Breaking Bad, 30 Rock, and Veronica Mars.

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