Season 3 of
The Good Fight was all about the sheer insanity of the Trump Presidency and the resistance movements that were formed as a consequence. In the opening episode of the new season, Trump is no more. In fact, he has never even been anywhere near the Oval Office. Apparently, Hillary Clinton has not only won the popular vote but was also able to secure the actual Presidency (does this mean the electoral college was finally abolished?). Diane and the viewers walk into a reality in which the mere thought of Trump being President is entirely absurd. Neither the lawyer nor the audience quite understands what is going on around them. Nothing makes sense. In the beginning, Diane fails to really question the world around her as she is too exhilarated by the fact that Hillary, a woman, is finally the leader of this country. The lawyer almost cries tears of joy when she finds out that Elizabeth Warren is on the supreme court and there is no sight of Brett Kauvenaugh anywhere. And to top it all off, Harriet freaking Tubman, the heroine of the abolitionist movement, was put on the 20 Dollar bill! Seems like an ideal world, doesn’t it? Women kicked a big hole into that glass ceiling and made a huge leap toward equality. Or did they?
Diane believes that everything she remembers of the Trump presidency has come from strangely realistic dreams. But does a dream really make you forget what happened in the last three years? Diane has no idea about anything that is currently happening around her. She doesn’t know who her clients are and fails to remember which cases she is currently working on. This episode gets really crazy, once Diane finds out that one of her clients is, serial-rapist Harvey Weinstein. Apparently, in this reality, the lawyer is a huge fan of his films and is delighted to represent him. Diane can barely believe what she is hearing about herself and about the fact that in this world there were never any accusations of sexual harassment against Harvey Weinstein. There was no #MeToo movement. Women are not speaking up, they are taking the abuse quietly.
Weinstein‘s people approached the firm since they fear the movie producer will be accused of sexual assault and hiring a firm with a black managing partner and two women partners certainly looks good in the public eye. The movie producer's people claim that there is no truth to the allegations of sexual assault. They believe they accusations were all orchestrated by republicans who are infuriated by Weinstein‘s support of Hillary Clinton. Not a single person at the firm seems to even question whether Weinstein is really innocent. They desperately need the movie mogul as a client to keep the firm afloat. Apparently, the so-called “Hillary tax”, a significant rise in corporate taxes, is causing several businesses to go under. According the Boseman, the firm needs Weinstein’s money or they are at risk of going bankrupt. This claim is somewhat hard to believe. Lower the salaries of the partners to a reasonable amount and the firm will be just fine, Adrian.
Just like Boseman, Lucca believes that Weinstein‘s accusers are merely looking for attention and money. They are "bitter actresses who didn’t get the part" and are now seeking revenge by claiming Weinstein assaulted them. Diane is entirely disgusted that no one seems to even consider taking the accusations seriously. Even the judge dismisses the case immediately and then proceeds by asking Diane and Lucca if they could get his daughter an internship with Weinstein.
It was highly enjoyable when Diane called one of Weinstein‘s people his "pimp“ after she asked Lucca to go to Harvey‘s suite to deliver some papers. Diane tells Luca exactly how this encounter with Weinstein will go: she will try to drop off the papers at the reception but they will send her up to his room. He will open the door in his bathrobe and asked her to come in as he has a few quick questions. He then will proceed by asking her to massage him or to watch him take a shower. Lucca is slowly starting to take Diane‘s warnings more seriously but still believes the woman is exaggerating. The older lawyer sends Marisa to Weinstein‘s hotel to keep an eye on Lucca. The encounter happens exactly as Diane described it would: Lucca is send up to his suite and he opens the door dressed in his robe only. The viewers did not get to find out how exactly Luca reacted but one can assume she did not step inside his dungeon of sexual assault.
In the meantime, Diane attends an "Women United for Change" event, an organization which she is a co-founder of. When she gets interviewed by a TV journalist she mentions that there is still a long way to go for women to really be considered equal to men. Women in this reality, however, assume that they have already reached the top. Diane talks about the assault women have to put up with on a regular basis. She tries to launch the #MeToo movement and encourages women to speak up. However her fellow females, especially people working for Hillary, are not very pleased about her "feminist rant“. People do not vote for angry women. Starting a feminist movement that sheds light upon sexual assault might hurt Hillary‘s chances for reelection.
Diane is overwhelmed by the absurdity of the situation. She is trapped in this world that appeared to be perfect at first but is really a nightmare. The lawyer realizes that she hasn‘t seen her husband ever since she found herself in this unfamiliar reality. She finds him in the woods, sitting in the dark all by himself. He informs her that they are separated. So this reality has not only taken away the #MeToo movement but also Diane’s marriage.
When Kurt takes her hand Diane starts to slowly withdraw from this reality to return to the real world. The world where Trump cheated his way into the White House, the world where a SWAT team had stormed into her and Kurt’s bedroom. When one of the SWAT members grabbed her Diane seemed to have hit her head and was knocked out for a few minutes dreaming up an alternate reality.
In the finale of the previous season, the audience saw the lead up to this very scene. Diane and Kurt were lying in bed together when a SWAT team stormed their apartment. Presumably, the resistance group Diane used to be part of swatted her. They placed a fake 911 call and falsely claimed that Diane is a criminal who is currently carrying out a violent felony. This accusation caused the authorities to send out their most heavily armed forces to arrest Diane.
By the end of the season opener, the SWAT team seems to have realized that Diane is not an actual threat. Thankfully, no one was injured seriously. This easily could have ended for her or Kurt in a body bag. Diane better plan an act of revenge cause I am fuming here.
This season premiere is a stand-alone episode, that fully captures why this show is so very excellent. However, I am somewhat confused by the message of the episode. Is it meant to tell us that a Trump Presidency was necessary to move along feminism? That it was necessary to motivate women to start new movements? Did they want to tell us that with Clinton in the White House America would not actually be better off? If that's the case, I strongly disagree with the message but still enjoyed watching the execution and in particular, Christine Baranski's outstanding performance.
Let us know how you liked the season opener! Sound off in the comments below!
