Diane Lockhart
Let's begin with Diane, who doesn't do much except lose in court. At least she gets to look skeptical and wear awesome striped blazers -- and a BROOCH. Again. There's a necklace under there, sure, but the focus point is the brooch. What are you trying to tell me, Diane? I WANT TO LISTEN.
Diane Lockhart
This coat is both crazy, and perfect. Diane can do anything.
Alicia and Diane
Even Alicia can't help but stare. Her red blazer is good, but it's remedial level. Diane's coat -- texture, pattern, dipped in marigold -- is graduate-level fashion science.
Marty McFly
Louis Canning still wants to work with Alicia, but she informs him that he's the devil. And we know this is true, because a) we have eyes and ears and we've been using them on him for some time; and b) he is picking up the Lemond Bishop mantle of Sharp-Dressed Shark.
Alicia Florrick
I do not care for Wig this season. It's looking especially Wiggy.
Lucca Quinn
Cush Jumbo here is a British theatre actress and a relative newcomer to American TV. I didn't know she is British when I watched this, but nothing rang any alarm bells with her American accent, so good on her. And she gets VERY cute dresses, such as this plaid one. Alicia meets Lucca in bond court, because the show doesn't know what to do with Alicia and so it just knocks her back down the ladder over and over again. So here she is, totally unaware how bond court works and how to represent people in it, and we have to watch other people lend her a hand while she bumbles through. Been there, done it. Lucca helps her kind of in spite of herself, but obviously turns out to be awesome.
Lucca Quinn
This dress's pattern might be made of space invaders, but I'm not mad at it on her. The booties, though, I veto.
Lucca Quinn
Alicia fills in for Lucca in bond court, then gets told she can't leave to make her probate hearing opposite Diane, so Lucca swans in wearing this bananas but somehow also fantastic outfit. The polka-dot collar wins it for me.
Lucca Quinn
The case is kind of annoying -- basically, it's an inheritance squabble over a painting, and at this point it appears the housekeeper might get it. Lucca wins it for Alicia's client on the fly, though, by dint of being THE ONLY PERSON IN THE ROOM who knows anything about anything. Essentially, a housekeeper can't inherit more than $20,000 from a wheelchair-bound boss, and the Chagall is with millions. Lucca realizes this as they are about to lose, stands up and saves the day, and ... listen, I know they had to give her a hero moment so that she can be Alicia's new best friend and law partner, but this whole thing is predicated on DIANE FREAKING LOCKHART -- or Alicia Florrick, frankly -- not bothering to do any research into Illinois inheritance laws. I call bullshit. (Maybe Diane counted on Alicia not doing the homework, but knew it herself. Let's assume that please.)
This dude
Carey Zepps appears to be out, and This Dude is in: He misinterprets Cary Agos's interest in being a good mentor as a romantic thing, and makes a minor pass at Cary. Oops. You're going to need saucier ties than that to turn Cary.
Grace
Grace has been hanging around at home, and ends up pretending to be -- and then ACTUALLY being -- Alicia's assistant. This calls for colorful cardigans, apparently, so Grace got a wardrobe upgrade this season. Hopefully that comes with an Annoyance Level downgrade. So far, she's been fine.
Eli
Eli is depressed because he and Peter have broken up. Peter, running for president, has decided he needs a campaign manager with more national experience. The choice: Margo Martindale, who will be Eli's nemesis this season, to my delight (these two will chew on each other in the most WONDERFUL way). Eli is FURIOUS and really lets Peter have it -- he's BETRAYED, he's VENGEFUL, he even tells Alicia to leave him alone because he's tired of being treated like The Help -- and he sulks at home. Not even this extremely delicious assistant can rouse him from his funk. What does? A movie about Nazi zombies.
Eli
So he peels off the long wig the show gave him -- er, "gets a sassy haircut" -- and puts on his suit, apologizes to Alicia, and convinces her to hire him as HER chief of staff for the campaign. This is a move he knows will piss off Margo and put him in position either to ruin Peter entirely, or get his job back. Or both. I can't wait. Make this The Season of Fanged Eli Gold, please.
Marty McFly
Oh, and it turns out the inheritance client who randomly showed up at Alicia's house was sent there by Louis Canning. Alicia hates this... but you know what, not that much, so they clink glasses and drink to a potentially unholy but lucrative alliance. This does seem like a natural segue from Alicia's wonky moral compass last season during the election. But this show has paid so much attention to the nuts and bolts of money -- funds she's sunk into creating the roughly ten thousand new firms she's started, funds she's tried to pull OUT of them, funds she's lost in the process -- that it does also make sense that she's going to try and ride the Canning train for as long as it pays. DRINK, Alicia. You're going to need it.