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“The Good Wife” recap (6.8): Thank you and go to hell

Now that Alicia Florrick is running for public office, that same public’s opinion matters. That’s why Johnny Elfman is running a focus group to figure out what people think about her. There are plenty of different opinions-some folks think she’s swell, while others don’t feel they know who she really is. One woman in particular thinks she’s a doormat for standing beside Peter after the affairs.

One thing most people agree on is Frank Prady. He’s a smart likable guy with a recognizable face. When the majority polled says they would vote for him, Eli goes into panic mode and calls Alicia. She agrees to meet with him later, but right now she has a more pressing matter to deal with. Her brother Owen has shown up and is sitting in her office. It’s the first time she’s seen him since she asked him to break it off with his married boyfriend, something she is quite apologetic for now. Owen accepts, but the reason for his visit is more serious: One of Owen’s students was raped on campus, and is facing her rapist in front of the University Judiciary Board. The young woman needs an advocate to sit with her, and Alicia agrees, even though she’s promised Eli that she’d take a step back from her caseload.

Meanwhile, just a few offices down, Cary, Diane and Kalinda (who is calling in from elsewhere) are listening to the recording that the late Trey Wagner made of the conversation that has gotten Cary into so much trouble. It doesn’t sound good. The beginning and end were cut off, so the fact that Cary was talking about an hypothetical situation is not evident. The other man on the wire, Dante, fled town after he heard what happened to Trey, so there is no one to back up Cary’s story. Cary can’t help but notice that Kalinda is whispering, and that’s because she is sitting close to a very naked and sleeping Lana Delaney. Kalinda changes the subject and tries to convince Cary to take the stand in his own defense. Diane is hesitant because she’s concerned that Cary won’t make a very good witness. She decides to bring in an attorney to mock cross-examine him, to see what they are working with.

In a rare moment, Kalinda has actually let her hair down and looks longingly at Lana as they exchange oh-so-naked kisses. Lana loves that Kalinda can’t go to the office, so she can have her all to herself that morning. Man, she is one smitten kitten. Their makeout session is interrupted by a phone call from Bishop. Dammit, I really wish the men on this show would stop interrupting Kalinda’s sexytimes.

Anyway, when Bishop demands that Kalinda be alone, she excuses herself to the bathroom. Surprise! Bishop isn’t happy because he thinks the FEDS are after him and wants her to find out more. Speaking of being wanted by the FEDS, Lana comes into the bathroom where Kalinda is hiding out, sprinkles some kisses on Kalinda’s bare shoulders and plays with her hair. Damn, these two will be the death of me. Kalinda looks at Lana with an expression that is unfamiliar when worn upon her face. Could it be…affection? Maybe even happiness?

In the university rape trial, the young woman named Jody testifies about her encounter with the accused student, Troy. As she gives an account of her side, Troy keeps interrupting and calling her a liar. Alicia stands up to stop the madness, and she is told that she is simply a silent advocate and cannot actually interject during the trial. Alicia does interrupt again, but this time to ask for a bathroom break. While she is alone with Jody, she advises her that Troy can only interrupt with questions, not statements, and asks for Jody’s phone number. When they get back into the trial, Alicia begins texting Jody on the sly to help her out.

Eli and Johnny are watching some playback from the focus group when Alicia walks in. She catches one of the participants calling her entitled and selfish. While Eli and Johnny try to get her to focus on Prady being the real issue, the woman’s comments really get under Alicia’s skin.

As Kalinda attempts to collect her car from Lana’s parking garage (this is not a euphemism) Bishop and his men are waiting for her. She gets in his car, where Bishop reveals he knows about her relationship with Federal Agent Lana Delany. He doesn’t like it one bit. Kalinda insists that Lana isn’t involved with any investigations tied to Bishop, but he doesn’t believe her. He asks her to spy on Lana and find out what she is really working on.

Now that Finn has moved into Alicia’s office building (also not a euphemism), she pops by with some scotch to welcome him. She asks him to level with her: Is she entitled and selfish? He doesn’t believe so and says that he too has been accused of being “obsessed with his own pain” before. He suggests that doing good for others might make her feel more humble, and tells her about the soup kitchen where he volunteers.

Back at the campus rape trial, the campus police captain takes the stand and says that Jody refused a rape kit, which he found strange. Also, she wasn’t crying. You can practically see steam shooting out of Alicia’s ears as he makes assumptions about Jody based on these two very normal responses to being assaulted. Alicia texts Jody to ask about the availability of rape kits on campus. Turns out they don’t actually have any, which the captain already knew.

Diane brings in her old frenemy Viola Walsh (Rita Wilson) to cross examine Cary, because she knows that Viola will find a way to push all of Cary’s buttons. Howard stands in as the judge, but mostly just moons over Viola. Right off the bat, Viola catches Cary in a lie. Back when he was an ASA, Cary told Geneva Pine that he didn’t work for Bishop, when he clearly did at Lockhart Gardner before he was let go. Viola also points out that Cary somehow managed to keep up his accustomed style of living, even when his ASA paycheck was less than half of his LG salary. She suggests that Cary used his power as ASA to make evidence disappear and let Bishop go free. Of course, Cary denies this.

Owen steps in to testify on Jody’s behalf. Since Jody has a low phone battery, Alicia starts texting Owen instead. Unfortunately, it only takes one autocorrect to misconstrue a message, and Troy jumps up, accusing Owen of having it out for him. (Owen had failed the guy.) The panel decides it’s time to rule, and that there simply isn’t enough evidence to expel Troy from school, which is what Jody wanted. Alicia accuses the panel of not abiding by Title IX and giving Jody her due process. When the head panelist asks if that means Jody is threatening to sue them, she and Alicia exchange glances. You bet your ass it does.

Cary sits and watches himself in cross-examination, and doesn’t like what he sees. He calls Kalinda to comfort him, but she’s busy drinking wine and wearing silk robes with Lana. Both their phones ring, but Kalinda ignores hers. Lana decides to take hers, since it’s official FED business, and excuses herself to the other room. Of course, Kalinda tries to eavesdrop and does catch Lana mention something about Lemond Bishop.

Alicia and Jody sit in court, waiting to bring a case against the university, Chicago Polytechnic. Representing the school is none other than Louis Canning, who is now using a motorized wheelchair to get around, on account of his worsening kidney condition. He pulls his same old schemes in court, using his illness to seek favor with the judge, but this time, one has to wonder if Canning really is suffering. He asks the judge to expedite the hearing, and his request is granted. He and Alicia exchange pleasantries, and she asks if he is indeed dying. Louis doesn’t give her a straight answer.

Alicia shows up at the soup kitchen, right after being in court. Finn sends her and her thousand-dollar suit to wash the big ol’ pile of pots and pans. Eli calls her while she’s mid-scrub, and Alicia waves to a woman taking a picture. Eli tells her that Prady is planning to make his announcement at the Bonaventure Hotel and Eli has cooked up an idea to overshadow the announcement by having Peter and Alicia meet at the same hotel.

Cary sits in his car, waiting in Kalinda’s building’s garage. While technically 30 feet away, spying is still creepy, Cary. He watches as Lana drops Kalinda off and the two exchange a sweet kiss.

Grace, who is hip to the intertubes, gets a ChumHum alert for Alicia Florrick. A website has gotten ahold of the picture snapped of Alicia at the soup kitchen, and is accusing her of staging a photo op, and scrubbing a clean pot. (I’m pretty sure this actually happened to Paul Ryan during the last presidential election.) Eli is furious, because now Alicia looks like a total phony. “Don’t do unauthorized photo ops,” he warns her.

Viola returns to once again cross-examine Cary. Now that his heart is all wounded, he’s even more on the defensive and Viola cautions Diane that Cary is going to make a bad witness. When Diane confronts Cary with this news, he lashes out, saying she’s supposed to be protecting him.

When Kalinda arrives home, she finds her door already open. Thankfully, instead of Bishop or one of his men, it’s actually Cary. Still not cool, but at least she’s not in danger. Cary asks Kalinda why she’s been lying to him about where she’s been. He knows about her relationship with Lana, and can’t stop obsessing about it. He asks Kalinda to pretend that she cares about him for at least the next few weeks while he prepares for trial. The fact is, Kalinda does really care for him, but she cares for Lana, too. Cary wants Kalinda to be with only him, but Kalinda doesn’t work that way. He is wounded by the truth. “Thank you and go to hell,” he tells her as he leaves.

On the second day of the Chicago Polytechnic hearing, one of the panelists, Ms. Booth, takes the stand. Alicia is able to break down the fact that the board is simply not trained well enough to handle sexual assault cases accurately or fairly.

Now that Cary realizes he has some serious shit to lose by not being prepared for cross-examination, he sits down again with his video. Alicia stops in to check on him and give him a little advice. He’s letting his anger and entitlement get in the way. She’s right, and he takes her words to heart. The next time Viola cross-examines him, he handles it much better and may actually help his case now, instead of hurt it.

Kalinda calls Alicia with some very incriminating information about Chicago Polytechnic. Apparently, campus assaults are a major issue there, and there is even a wall that women who have been assaulted use to warn other students. The school is quickly trying to cover up that evidence, so Kalinda snaps as many shots as she can before they disappear. Alicia uses this info to threaten to bring a class action suit against the university for providing an unsafe environment on campus.

Like a bad penny, Bishop continues to show up and make Kalinda’s life more difficult. She lies to him and says that Lana Delany is working on a white-collar crime case, but yet again, he doesn’t believe her. He hands her a white key card and tells her to plant it in Lana’s wallet. You know, to prove that Lana isn’t really out to get him. A look of fear washes over Kalinda, as she realizes that Lana could be in danger.

Knowing they are screwed, Louis Canning delivers a statement from Chicago Polytechnic, that during a random search of Troy’s room, they came across a ton of pot, and he was thusly expelled. With Troy gone, there is no need for the lawsuit. Alicia sees no reason not to go ahead with the class action, however Jody objects. All she wanted was to not see her rapist on campus, and now that’s what has happened. When she leaves, Alicia asks Louis about his upcoming kidney operation. For a moment, they both let their guards down, and he asks Alicia to visit his wife if he doesn’t survive this.

Alicia shows up at the soup kitchen, this time for a scheduled photo op. She’s dressed more casually and the media is eating it all up. In a surprise development that gets totally washed over, Castro drops out of the race. Now it’s just Alicia and Prady, and this time, the focus group loves her.

Kalinda lies wide awake next to Lana, watching her sleep. It’s almost like they are girlfriends. Almost.

Kalinda rises and takes Lana’s purse into the bathroom. She pulls out Lana’s wallet, and the key card Bishop gave her to plant. Just as she goes to place the card in the wallet, she stops herself. There’s no way she’s going to endanger someone she truly cares for. She breaks the card in half, and tosses it away. Kalinda Sharma answers to no man, not even Lemond Bishop.

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