Boundaries are important and these have shifted this season on The Good Wife; relationships are not what they were and the rules have been redefined. Loyalties changed, first when Alicia and Cary started their own firm and Will’s death has further altered the equilibrium. When Kalinda tells Canning “Or we could be adults, just ask questions and talk” it seems like the most simple and obvious statement, however this isn’t how things work in either the legal or political sphere and it’s all about gaining the upper hand by whatever method no matter how nefarious. Straight talking can make things even worse from hyperbolic off the cuff remarks to throwing a glass of water in someone’s face (actually that was pretty great) and there should be a certain amount of wall building, but there’s also a danger that you will cut yourself off from everyone as Diane is learning.
Alicia’s arrangement with Peter is problematic for all the reasons Eli lists as someone is always going to talk, no matter how much you think they won’t. Peter might be an incredibly savvy politician, but when it comes to his emotional reasoning he runs hot. We see this in his interactions and face soaking of Castro, but Castro’s not going to yell about this from the rooftops and yet if he sleeps with this intern (with a blog) then he’s the biggest idiot there is. She will definitely talk (or blog) and yes I love that lipstick too. It also calls into mind this New York magazine Eliot Spitzer cover, after all that is who Peter is loosely based on.
The goal posts have been moved and Will’s death did act as catalyst, but it’s not just this and Alicia reiterates her feelings of being tired and done with this aspect of her life, this time to Eli. Eli tries to appeal to her from an emotional standpoint mentioning how good they have been together over the past year and while part of me knows this is part of Eli’s job, I do also think he is the only Alicia and Peter shipper out there. Enter James Castro’s smear tactic and Finn claims there is nothing hiding in his closet – as an aside it’s interesting that the word divorce pops up with his wife and why haven’t we seen Mrs Polmar yet? Is this why he moved to Chicago from New York? – Castro takes something innocent as a suggestion of something duplicitous. It’s a security photo of Finn leaving Alicia’s apartment, Castro claims it was from only two weeks ago but Finn is wearing his sling in the photo which he definitely hasn’t worn for a while now. Instead of showing the photo to Finn or Alicia, Peter barely shows it to Eli and gets in a huff about it. To Peter it’s another Will waiting to happen and he probably thinks this is partly why Alicia implemented the new rules. Peter has been given no choice in this decision and that’s compounding these bratty reactions.
Boundaries have always been important to Alicia when it comes to her relationship with Eli; she imposed them when it came to using the kids during campaigns and there’s always been frankness to their interactions. So when Eli mentions they need more walls at Florrick Agos he is talking about the physical kind and yet he needs to break down the mental ones that both Peter and Alicia have erected so he can do his job to the best of his capabilities. The reason he interferes with Peter’s interactions is because if Peter fucks up it could bring the whole thing crashing down and the way he watches the Florrick family at home shows just how vicarious his relationship with them has become. Alicia notes “we seem to share everything these days” and Eli really is the third person in this marriage and there’s this blurring of professional and personal responsibility.
Alicia and Cary’s case is all about a lack of filter and how words can be worth a whole lot of money. Diane is learning this the hard way as a smear campaign is being waged against her by Louis Canning as he’s using Will’s death to try and undermine her. This is pretty low tactic, but it is Canning after all. Diane’s only really ally at Lockhart Gardner is Kalinda and really if I had to have anyone in my corner it would be Kalinda. Kalinda unfortunately doesn’t hold much sway in the grand scheme of things and Diane realizes this is a fight she has to go at alone. Cary didn’t seem overly receptive to Diane and her problems so while I’d love to see Diane join their firm, there will be resistance.
Costuming wise there’s an interesting amount of color palette sharing between the three main women, a few weeks ago this happened with teal and once again there is a mirroring. Both Alicia and Diane wear monochrome:
It’s a flip reverse it take on monochrome with Diane in predominantly white and black dominates this look on Alicia. Diane’s includes a bow flourish standing in for the usual pin or statement necklace. The balance is off with both of these characters at the moment because of what happened with Will and these women are connected by their relationships with Will, as well as a professional and personal admiration for each other. It’s why Alicia doesn’t react in a hostile manner (as Cary does) to Diane’s accusations.
Diane and Kalinda both wear deep shades of blue in “The One Percent” and this color has featured heavily in their costuming recently. Blue means loyalty and it’s significant that despite their very different styling this is something they share. Diane is pretty exposed at Lockhart Gardner and the only thing that will ensure her position is her monetary worth to the firm. Her worth could be impacted greatly by Canning’s tactics and he is doing a very good job of making her very paranoid. Kalinda’s loyalty is vital and it’s another case of these women being tied together by their relationship with Will; he might be gone, but the bonds he formed are still very present.
Next week is the season 5 finale and there’s a fight brewing. I’m not sure it can top the dizzying heights of “Hitting the Fan” or the shock of Will’s death and yet I am also very excited to see how they are going to finish this exceptional season. Everything has dramatically changed since this time last year and I don’t even want to try to predict where these characters will end up in the aptly named “A Weird Year.”
TV Ate My Wardrobe 
