Ah, those blissful lost weekends of a new romance. You spend most of the day in bed breaking only for bad movies, even worse food, and the occasional shower. Hopefully we’ve all had a few.
But most of us aren’t the wife of the Governor, who has already been at the center of quite a few scandals. So maybe Alicia shouldn’t answer the door for the process server looking all disheveled. And maybe Jason shouldn’t pay the pizza delivery guy in a pink silk robe. Does Alicia subconsciously want to get caught? Because all of this has got to come home to roost at some point.
The opening sequence of everyone appearing at Alicia’s doorstep seems to me like the writers having fun with all the critics (myself included) who have harped on how silly it is that people constantly show up at Alicia’s apartment. But the scene worked and had me laughing out loud. It played to the humor that Alicia’s mom and brother always bring to the show.
Alicia’s mom Veronica returns because she’s lost all her money to a sketchy investor. “I’ve been Madoffed” she tells her daughter. Jason catches the guy and that’s pretty much it. The story line seems like more of an excuse to bring back Veronica and Alicia’s brother Owen for one more hurrah. They’re both fan favorite characters, and I was certainly was happy to see them again.
The bigger story is the grand jury being assembled against Peter. Eli is desperate to find out what it’s all about so he’s back to eavesdropping—this time in the handicap bathroom. The show did some nice work with sound during these sequences as both Eli and viewers struggled to hear what was being said. Eli finally is able to decipher that the case against Peter involves a donor named Lloyd Garber, corrupt fundraising practices, and “People v. Locke.” Eli goes to see Cary because he was a prosecutor on that case. Cary says that Locke was accused of killing his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend, and that it was rumored the guy had a parent with big bucks funding his legal team. So did Garber fund Locke’s defense, and did Peter throw the case in exchange for campaign contributions? Maybe. But my first thought was: Does Peter have an illegitimate son that he helped out?
Because what has been really interesting about the show the last few seasons is how it has slowly revealed how corrupt Peter truly is. He has clearly learned nothing from his previous conviction and time in jail. Even Eli doesn’t truly know all that Peter is up to. Alicia asks Jason to investigate so that she and Eli can try to find out exactly what the Grand Jury is being asked to indict Peter on. Frankly it’s just preposterous that Alicia would ask her LOVER to investigate, on behalf of her HUSBAND.
Elsewhere Diane is plotting to form an all-female firm. Well, she says she wants to buy Cary out but the results will be the same. It seems like Diane is only plotting this because she’s suspicious of what Cary and David Lee are up to. Diane asks Alicia to join her throwing Cary under the bus saying he’s “no Will Gardner.” I mean I agree that few men can be Will Gardner (sigh) but Cary doesn’t seem to have engendered any loyalty from any of the people he’s worked with for years. Alicia can’t decide if she should align herself with Diane, or tell Cary what’s going on. Lucca votes for telling Cary.
But mostly Alicia is a woman in love. She even slips and mixes up Jason and Will’s names when telling a story to Lucca. This bubble of a romantic relationship can’t last long especially with a grand jury circling.
This episode was one of the funniest the show has had this season. But I’m just not sure how I feel about the grand jury indictment being at the center of these final episodes. And I would so like to see Cary and Diane back on a big case again.
Other thoughts on “Hearing:”
Fun to see Matthew Morrison as the Assistant U.S. Attorney. I do love how much the show loves the stars of TV musicals.
So I’ve never seen Roar, but it is a real 1981 movie that starred Melanie Griffith and her mother Tippi Hedren.
In general I wish they didn’t always have Julianna Margulies in a wig, but the wig really didn’t work in the sex scenes where her hair looked strategically disheveled instead of just disheveled.
“Is it illegal or unethical?” “I don’t know anymore.”
Amy Amatangelo, the TV Gal ®, is a Boston-based freelance writer, a member of the Television Critics Association and a regular contributor to Paste. She wasn’t allowed to watch much TV as a child and now her parents have to live with this as her career. You can follow her on Twitter or her blog.