Misunderstandings, Heartbreak and a Diane Lockhart Jacket Parade on The Good Wife

The Good Wife has a tendency to swing left when you expected it to zig right and while this season has been on the messy side at times, I can certainly say I did not expect to be left with Alicia in a crumpled heap with just two episodes to go. The Saint Alicia brand has been destroyed by the election scandal and she is now out of a job at the firm she helped start in the heart of her home. “The Deconstruction” also features the apparent departure of Kalinda and despite a lumpy final story for her I was left in a teary mess by her silent goodbye to Alicia. This is not the farewell Kalinda deserved after several seasons of storyline limbo and it is disappointing to not get a face to face encounter between long ago confidants. To try and make up for the lack of Alicia/Kalinda shared screen time there will be a Diane Lockhart jacket parade at the end because there are plenty of marvels on display.

Memory pop of the week belongs to Kalinda surveying Alicia’s collection of photos on the mantel; most are of family and the pain of seeing Peter and everything that represents is still strong. A happier memory comes in the form of Alicia holding up a handwritten sign of her own and it is a photo Kalinda took. Considering Stern is still in the title of the firm it must be from season one and a time when Kalinda and Alicia were super close. Regardless of whatever has or has not been going on behind the scenes the loss of the Alicia/Kalinda friendship comes with the same feelings as a romantic breakup and the Kings have repeatedly asserted the betrayal is so strong they could never go back to being the tequila drinking buddies they once were. Instead what we are left with is a hoodie and jean wearing Alicia reading Kalinda’s goodbye note and responding as if she has been sucker punched. As far as outfits go it isn’t the sadness sweats and yet it is unlike Alicia’s typical polished appearance.

My tears flowed freely when Kalinda left Alicia’s apartment without seeing her former friend followed by Alicia’s gut punch reaction to whatever Kalinda wrote in her note – Kalinda’s amazing stationary game is one of my favorite things about her – and this is in part a reaction to the overall loss of this friendship even if the initial event took place forever ago.

When it was announced that Archie Panjabi would be leaving at the end of this season I wrote about why this made sense for Panjabi as the writers have been finding it hard to utilize her beyond her magical unicorn case solving ways (she does this in this episode too). I also discussed the Alicia/Kalinda dynamic and this show has been at its most sob worthy (aside from the obvious devastation last season) when this pair have been involved. Kalinda’s elevator breakdown stands out as one of these moments and even though Kalinda’s departure has been common knowledge/they haven’t killed her off I am still left feeling super shitty about it. Part of this is down to her lack of agency in the clusterfuck of a storyline she has been involved in as she became a glorified babysitter and pawn in a much bigger game. All of the sighs.

There is some Cary and Kalinda stuff going on as he tries to take the fall for her; instead he just clues Dexter in on what Kalinda had done with the pen drive. It’s not your fault Cary, but the white knight routine was never going to work here. They get a goodbye and to be honest I was far more emotionally affected by Kalinda’s phone call farewell to Diane and her non-goodbye to Alicia. Sorry, Cary.

At the firm which has a new, new name – it is hard to keep up but now they are Lockhart, Agos & Lee – there is a whole lot of misunderstandings going on with Alicia coming back. Diane and Cary want Alicia back and Alicia wants to come back; instead we end up with an episode of them thinking the other is stabbing them in the back. If they took a moment to actually talk to each other then it would all get sorted out very quickly, instead they all play a game of ‘secure the clients’ with David Lee taking the helm. There’s an upsetting “how dare you” moment between Diane and Alicia with me crying out for more martini drinking between these amazing ladies (there is a friendship drinking theme).

Kalinda plays mediator pointing out the mix-up to both sides and even though everything gets resolved Alicia still ends up on the outs and with no clients. This is thanks to Oliver Platt’s RD sticking his oar in pointing out what a joke the Florrick name is as a result of yet another scandal. It is a little disconcerting seeing Diane put so much faith in RD’s opinion, but he does bring a whole lot of money to the firm. Maybe now Finn can get a decent exit package for Alicia.

Red wine drinking has mostly been a solo experience for Alicia swilling a goblet in the kitchen of her apartment. Since the election scandal Peter has joined her making it a much more social experience showing how far Peter and Alicia have come; the constant bickering and backbiting has ceased and this is the first huge press conference where they are united both in front of the cameras and behind them. There is nothing romantic between them at the moment and Alicia ruled that out a few weeks ago, however this scandal has brought them together rather than tearing them apart as the one that started the show did. Peter is an expert in how to deal with negative press and he suggests she writes a book. As long as it is better quality than those emails then I would read it.

Alicia likes order and now she is completely untethered; earlier she asks “What do I do now?” and this question still presents itself at the end of the episode. The book idea is fine and yet this doesn’t feel very Alicia; the uncertainty about where we will be when season six comes to a close is exciting, but I also don’t feel as confidant as I have been with The Good Wife in the past. This year has been ambitious and yet it has also stumbled along the way. So as a way to break the tension here is the Diane Lockhart jacket parade as promised.

The zips! That ring! Diane means business.

Not a good sign when your statement necklace blends in with your jacket. The statement is lost and this is when the initial Alicia misunderstanding takes place. That lipstick choice is A+ though.

Toning it down in deep purple for a visit to Joy, the court appointed officer but you can’t hide a chain necklace that big.

And back to Diane Lockhart power jacket choice in gold jacquard. No statement necklace or brooch in sight so Diane is not completely on top of her game.

Later on when Diane returns to see Joy she once again completely tones it down covering her bold gold with a black coat, but you can still see it peaking out the top.

Another gold patterned jacket and a double chain necklace which feels like it is part of this jacket rather than blending in, as the chain necklace did earlier on when she was stumbling a little. There is also something a little 70s sci-fi space admiral about this whole ensemble and I’m digging it. Diane got a win for her client and while she failed in the Alicia department her relationship with Alicia remains intact.

Tags: "The Deconstruction", 6.20, Alicia Florrick, Archie Panjabi, Christine Baranski, costume design, Diane Lockhart, Julianna Margulies, Kalinda Sharma, The Good Wife