The Good Booty
Well, Alicia and Peter presumably are not bad at nooky. He comes to stay with her briefly to try and impress a rich female donor blah blah blah Family Values, and one horny afternoon while they wait for something Alicia just shrugs and is like, "Should we?" And Peter pauses and is like, "Huh. YEAH, right?" So they do. Peter notes later how sexy that was, and Alicia observes that sometimes it's sexier not to care. Agreed. And in this scene, Margulies -- I did not grab this -- gets undressed to her bra and underpants, and that woman has some ABS. I probably should have documented them for her, but I had trouble getting one that wasn't blurry, and NOBODY wants to see their own abs blurry. I think mine are blurry even when they're not blurry, which is horrifying enough.
This shot is of Alicia nonchalantly getting dressed while Eli gawks and gapes at what he's just witnessed the end of, and I do cherish how much Alicia is enjoying making him speechless and flummoxed.
I also TOTALLY TOTALLY buy that she and Peter could have emotionless sex to try and scratch an itch. I don't think they love each other. I think they LIKE each other, and recognize in the other person a being of age-appropriate hotness, and it's risk-free for them to get their jollies with each other. This actually did make sense to me.
The Good Denny
Jeffrey Dean Morgan doesn't know about it, but then again, Jeffrey Dean Morgan can't really have a problem with it because technically Alicia is married and technically nothing has happened between these two. Well, nothing but Looks and some Drinks and a little dinner -- which was Alicia offering to cook him whatever frozen food she had in the house, which was a cute scene. She clearly wants him around but isn't sure what to make of his past, so she does things like make him sign an insurance waiver -- something he clearly would not normally do except that he likes her -- and she asks a few awkward questions here and there and then basically they get a bunch of work done while staring at each other too long.
The Good Denny
Just try to get work done when a dude is gazing at you like you lit the moon and he's in awe of how you did it and he's pretty sure the moon has never looked so good and that you are MAGIC and that he'd like to explore what else about you is magic and/or has illuminating properties.
The Good Look
Then again, JDM might just be that way. See him gazing at Diane here? On Nashville, Oliver Hudson looked at everyone, EVERYONE, like he was ten seconds away from having hate sex with them. And here, JDM looks at everyone like he's ten seconds away from breaking into "Your Body Is A Wonderland."
The Good Smirk
This didn't render as well in a still, but basically, he was listening to Lucca and reacting affectionately to something she said, and it was with a slow smile and a Sex Twinkle. He SEX TWINKLES.
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I have to say, this is him getting pissed at Eli, and he ALSO is getting the sex twinkle here a little. He gets RIGHT UP in Eli's face and says he doesn't appreciate Eli nosing into his life. See, Eli was tipped off by Margo Martindale that Alicia and JDM are touching in public, so Eli dug around and found out that JDM has a file on Alicia. JDM doesn't appreciate this complication and so he advances on Eli and then GRABS HIM BY THE FACE AND THEY MAKE OUT except no, that doesn't happen, but there was a very real moment where it seemed possible. Because of the Sex Twinkles.
The Good Couple
This, by the way, is the offending touch. Alicia is shooting an ad in her kitchen, he comes over with info, and she goes around him and all but rests her chin on his shoulder before pulling away so he can offer her his reading glasses. They laugh. Her hand is on his. SEX TWINKLES. Margo Martindale can feel them. And she thinks, given that it was in the presence of Commoners, that it might hurt the campaign if Alicia doesn't tone down the flirting. YOU TRY IT, MARGO. JUST WAIT UNTIL HE SEX TWINKLES YOU.
The Good Cocktail
I forgot to mention in an earlier recap that since the episode in which she invites him in for a drink -- and she is sipping wine and he says it's not his jam -- Alicia has been drinking VERY homespun margaritas. Usually mixed with her finger. I really enjoy this little detail about her, because it signifies a shift. Even Eli notices. I wonder if it's SEX TEQUILA. IT SHOULD BE. HAVE SEX WITH HIM ALICIA HAVE IT SO HARD PLEASE.
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She clearly WANTS TO, and also, she's wearing a really jazzy jacket in this scene. I wonder if Jeffrey Dean Morgan wants to nail her or just admires her wardrobe for its complexities, especially given that she works from home. I am in a sweater and PJ pants that I changed INTO from the ones in which I slept. So. Alicia. Doing it better.
The Other Confrontation
One more plot note: JDM lets Alicia know that Eli's fears about them having sex, and his probing, is complicating his life in a way he does not like. He makes a very veiled and somewhat incomplete allusion to wanting to jump Alicia's bones, and she clearly wants him to finish that thought, but he doesn't. He then partially threatens Eli while looking dreamy in a jacket. Sigh.
The Good Pout
This is Alicia after Eli ratted out JDM on the file he has (which JDM claims is due diligence on any future employer, but I don't think Eli related that part). Alicia resents everything Eli is telling her to do and slams the door in his face, not knowing that it's all because Eli actually wants to advance HER as a candidate again -- for Senate this time, I think? -- and not because he's just protecting Peter.
We also need to discuss that margarita-drinking Alicia also enjoys large cuffs. What does it MEAN. Is she going through a Maleficent phase?
The Good Lockhart
And then Diane wore this, and it was stupendous.
The Good Chains
Diane also put on this, which is a return to her neck chains -- appropriate, as she is arguing a case for Peter Gallagher during which she feels hamstrung and tricked. By the way, Peter Gallagher's whole shtick is another example of this show retreading its own ideas. Peter is very opposed to Diane's views but respects her immensely and uses her counterpoint to help shore up his own arguments -- a repeat of Oliver Platt, but that's only because he's Oliver's proxy, as I believe Oliver (ACTUAL Oliver) has another job this season. That's not the retread part I mean. What IS irritating is that a) Peter and Diane have chemistry, which, STEP OFF, BECAUSE SHE AND GARY COLE ARE PRECIOUS TO ME, and b) there's a moment at the end of an hour where Peter says to Diane something like, "Imagine, when the person who respects you the most agrees with you the least." And Diane kind of snorts as if this is crazy and far-fetched. EXCEPT FOR YOUR HUSBAND, DIANE. REMEMBER HIM? YOUR HUSBAND GARY COLE? Their whole RELATIONSHIP is founded upon, "I disagree with you intensely but I respect your brain so much that I want to have every inch of sex with it." So don't act like Diane hasn't gone down this road before, SHOW. But also don't take her down it romantically please. I'm gonna have to ask you NOT to have her hook up with Peter Gallagher, okay? Now get back to your TPS reports.
The Good Meh
Also, this grey suit, in full, is uncharacteristically poorly fit on Christine Baranski.
The Good Jazzy
Sparkly!
The Good Floral
No one does I'm Skeptical Of You But Hey At Least I Look Fantastic quite like she does.
The Good Specs
We haven't had her in reading glasses yet, so here you go. This show loves a fox in reading glasses, by the way, and it's appealing to me that ten tons of chemistry came from the simple act of JDM removing his to hand them to Alicia.
The Good Office
That jacket is complicated.
The Good Investigator
These two are hitting the streets to look into something personally here, and I LOVE Diane On The Attack.
The case of the week was whether ChumHum's version of Yelp uses racial profiling and/or any kind of racist anything to direct people to or away from certain areas of town. The attorney who nailed LAL for discriminatory hiring has come to them for help, cleverly pointing out that it'd make them look good. And Diane? LOOKS GOOD.
The Good Lucca
I love about 80 percent of this one...
The Bad Sleeves
... but those sleeves be like WHOA (to borrow from Top Model parlance, specifically Lisa D'Amato; RIP, you glorious show). I wish they were just plain black or brown or ANY of the colors in the dress instead of patterned mesh.
The Good Accessories
LOVE her necklace here. Way to get in that game, Lucca.
The Good Shirt
The directors haven't been as generous with full body shots of what she's wearing, so all I can say is that this LOOKS like I would enjoy it.
The Good Outfit
And THAT is DEFINITELY good. Someone in wardrobe loves you, Cush Jumbo.
The Good Pattern
Less compelling, but still zesty.
The Meh Tee
Not into this shirt. It looks like it cost $6.99.
The Good Florrick
Alicia wins this one. That jacket is as complex as her loin yearnings.
The Good Coat?
WHY CAN I NOT SEE MORE OF THIS COAT ON LUCCA. It looks like it might be DIVINE.
The Good Trio
EVERYONE here looks good. Congratulations. You all win.
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So, for much of this episode, Cary is doing the "We don't get along and yet we're kinda flirting" thing with the female attorney who hates them but brought them the case. Lots of leaning over each other, sassing each other but with knowing smiles, etc. Some decent chemistry there. But then it feels like halfway through the writing of the episode, someone changed their mind. Can they not get this actress for any more hours, or something? Because...
The Good Wuh?
... it switches over to Lucca somewhere in the middle, and at the end, they go dancing to celebrate being done with their case. I... what? I mean, I don't BLAME him, at all, because Lucca is the bomb. But at the moment they have no sexual sparks. We'll see. This show is REPLETE with chemistry in every other avenue and yet they're going down one here that is basically anti-heat. She's even looking at him here like a sister eye-rolling her lame brother Brandon Walsh who won't dance.
The Good Miss America
Speaking of anti-chemistry, Vanessa Williams is the rich female donor who is supporting Peter's campaign, and who also agrees to give Eli $50k to explore whether Alicia is already redeemed enough to make another run at something. Wow, that's fast. This show is cycling back through every plot all the time. We've rebooted Alicia's career a hundred times. Peter is always running for something (which I guess makes sense), and now she might go again? Sigh.
BUT, she and Eli are also starting an affair. And while Alan Cumming can gaze admiringly upon her flawless visage with GREAT skill, the two of them kissing is like watching someone hold a piece of cardboard to a door to see if it sticks.
The Good Face
She does NOT hold back on her skeptical faces, though, which is a joy. Vanessa Williams gives WTF with the best of them.
The Good Twist
These two show up at a dinner for Vanessa at Chez Alicia, and announce they are ENGAGED. Everyone is horrified except Alicia, who laughs out loud with glee and is a little too loudly congratulatory. Jackie is like, "I'm SO HAPPYYYYY," and no one truly appreciates it. I know Howard is hinky, but I think he loves her, and the two of them together make me laugh.
The Good Gilmore
Kelly Bishop guest-stars as the head of a fancy big feminist action group, which just so happens to need a new lawyer because LAL isn't pleasing her sufficiently. And who is she going to hire?
The Good Grace
Why, "The Midwest Offices of Florrick and Associates," or whatever Alicia is calling it. Well, Grace adds the "Midwest Offices" part, and it's hilarious that any of these local bigwigs buys into that, because that all know who Alicia is and there's no WAY they would believe she has her own NATIONAL LAW FIRM when she just got forced out of elected office and was back at square one and in bond court. She is ABSOLUTELY the topic of gossip among the business players in Chicago, no question.
But Grace and Lucca and Alicia and even JDM agree that they can't live on DUI cases alone. They need money clients. So Grace becomes AWESOME and gets them a bunch. How?
The Good Idea
She grabs every computer in the house, cues up some ambient sound, and then cold-calls anyone she can think to ask if they're happy with their representation. She happens upon several LAL clients who are Seriously Displeased -- thanks in part to Peter Gallagher making Diane argue particular cases she ordinarily would not -- and ends up snagging three or four big whales. Way to go, Grace! Maybe you DON'T need high school.
The Good Negotiation
She DOES need better help mixing patterns. But earlier she had a conversation with Alicia about how exactly the profits shake down when they get clients, and smart smart Grace then does the math based on those EXACT percentages and figures that her fee for securing her new clients is something like $34,000. I love it. Frankly, she's right. She SHOULD get a cut. And Alicia can't really argue it, unless she's going to point out that GRACE IS SUPPOSED TO BE IN SCHOOL.
The Good Nora
I remain in love with Eli's assistant, who just wants to hatch plans and spy on people while wearing divine blouses.
The Angry Nora
Well, this one is a bit too Dynasty for me (CAN SUCH A THING BE?). But I love how mad she is. Eli sent her over to spy on Alicia and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, making her just sit there ALL DAY and then pop up at the door, and she is ENRAGED that he would ask her to do something that felt so foolish and they announce that each other is the worst at making/executing plans. They are my new favorite couple on this show. SOMEONE HAVE SEX.