Hmmm… if the show wasn’t committed to one word titles this season, the title of this episode could have been “Alicia is going to Alicia and Eli is going to Eli.”
Both characters were in peak Alicia and Eli form. Eli commandeers all the women in Peter’s life (sans Alicia)—Jackie, Grace and Veronica (who was only on the phone since Stockard Channing probably wasn’t available)—to lobby the Governor about the upcoming right to die bill. He mostly does this so Jackie will feel slighted by Ruth, which she does immediately. Jackie will not be disrespected by someone in “a pant suit and cheap shoes.” Ruth knows something is up, noting that when two family members show up it’s a coincidence, but when three do it’s Eli. Peter doesn’t want to hear Ruth’s complaints. “I need you to fix this and I need you to fix this right now,” he tells her. Ruth does so, and cattily tells Eli “just remember I’m good at what I do.” I really hope Eli has a bigger strategy at play here. I mean, he was peak Eli, but all this is still small potatoes. I am ready for Eli to make a big move.
Diane thinks she’s merely observing a right to die case for R.D. (the conservative character played by Oliver Platt who we met last season), but suddenly R.D.’s representative Ethan Carver (played by the always lovely Peter Gallagher) tells her she needs to take the case. For Diane, this is a problem, as she believes in the right to die and has no interest in arguing the case against it. But given how much money R.D. gives the firm, Diane has no choice. Ethan also wants them to ask Alicia to lobby Peter on the bill. Cary goes to see Alicia and tells her if he gets Peter to oppose the right to die, she could go back to the firm. Alicia isn’t interested—she doesn’t want Peter to do her any favors. She doesn’t want to owe him anything.
Back in bond court, Alicia takes on the case of Maia, a woman accused of shoplifting, when she says she was just trying to return a sweater her mom bought her as a gift. Maia refuses to take the plea deal. Judge Schakowsky is highly annoyed because Alicia is slowing down his court (a big no no) and the other lawyers are annoyed because all the other shoplifters want Alicia to represent them. She’s stealing clients—even if she doesn’t mean to. Alicia may even have cause for a class action suit—the store is targeting women of color as potential shop lifters. This is peak Alicia (and really a return to Alicia: The Early Years)—fighting the good fight and not letting a biased judge, who cares more about speed than he does about justice, bring her down. But it’s all for naught, because the store’s surveillance video shows Maia’s mom stealing the sweater.
Thankfully Jason Crouse was back as the investigator this week, so we weren’t subject to Grace going undercover at a boutique. Alicia learns that Jason has been disbarred for punching a judge, something he seems to think is roguishly charming. I really like Jeffrey Dean Morgan and he does have a million dollar smile, but his schtick is a bit much. He’s a bad boy. We get it.
The episode ends with Lucca and Alicia at a bar (“Look, we can have two women sitting at a bar at the same time!”—yeah, we get that too), with Lucca telling Alicia she cares too much, and that is going to be her downfall. Alicia responds by asking Lucca if she would like to join her. “Want to do it together?” she asks her (the question sounds much more lascivious than it was). Since Lucca came on to the scene, I think we knew this is where the story line was heading. Alicia can’t be an island all to herself.
Other thoughts on “Taxed”:
No matter what else he does Peter Gallagher will always be Seth Cohen’s dad to me.
Gallagher is listed as a recurring character, so we will be seeing a lot more of him.
This was a Diane-heavy episode. I approve.
“My head is hurting from the wrongness here.”
If Maia looked familiar to you, it’s because Marsha Stephanie Blake plays Berdie, the new counselor on Orange is the New Black. It was driving me crazy while watching the episode.
Every time the show is in bond court, you can hear a baby crying. And every time, I think it’s my baby.
Amy Amatangelo 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.