Alicia and Diane consider merging their firms in the wake of Will's death, even as they find themselves on opposite sides of a contentious divorce suit. Meanwhile, Alicia offers assistance to Finn when it becomes clear that the State's Attorney is looking for a scapegoat in the Jeffrey Grant case.
"A Material World" plants the seed of Lockhart/Gardner and Florrick/Agos merging. Diane and Alicia just want to get rid of the animosity between their two firms. They sympathize with each other because they are the two people in the world who knew Will the best. Now that he's gone, they are both at a loss. Diane now feels like the outsider in her own firm. She still holds all the power but now David and Damian are coming after her since she no longer has Will to protect her. Alicia broke away from the firm in the first place because she wanted to distance herself from Will. She went off on her own and has built this steady new world with Cary. Merging could save both of their monetary issues. But the personal issues are so much longer to deal with. A drunk Diane and Alicia are a lot of fun to be with but when they're back in the real world it's a lot more difficult to put such plans into action.Complicating things a ton is the fact that they once again are opposing each other in a divorce suit. Neither side wants to go to court. In fact, Alicia and Diane both want to compromise easily and quickly to better put a merger into motion. David Lee of course has other plans. He took Alicia and Cary's departure as one big betrayal. He was right by Will's side as they plotted to both expand and crush Florrick/Agos in their first few months. Bringing those people back to the same firm would be a crushing blow to him.
So, he swarms and elongates the case as much as possible. That forces Alicia into a line of questioning with the husband that makes her question her entire view of Will's passing. It's some hard stuff she has to get through. Everyone asks her if she is okay and of course she says she is. But when she's laying down in bed watching some bad TV - gotta love The Good Wife's depiction of cable dramas - we know that she's not. And it's a much more complicated issue than the simply fact that she was in love with him. She actively chose to leave him behind. She chose herself and her marriage and her family. But now, that he's physically gone, she's not quite sure how she feels. Julianna Margulies convenes that uncertainty quite well. She just wants to be in bed. She doesn't want to work or even think about the merger. Surprisingly, Finn is the one to get her to sit up. He's just a connection to Will. He gave her clarity over Will's final moments. Now, she wants to help him. So, he gets her up but Peter makes her feel. She's put up with a lot with him. She is the good wife always standing behind him solely because it's good to be distinguished as the governor's wife. And now, that's all she wants to be to him. The relationship with them is over. She once again is choosing herself over a man. It's an empowering moment even though she's quite disheveled and Peter's calling her a selfish bitch. She no longer has any love for Peter. She may have at one time and she frequently has slept with him since. But her life is now the firm. That's what she truly enjoys. Yes, some aspects of the profession truly suck. But it's what she's good at. That's where she belongs and she's going to do whatever it takes to help and protect the people she respects in this business.
Some more thoughts:
- "A Material World" was written by Craig Turk and directed by Griffin Dunne.
- I just love Diane so much. This really has been her best season yet. When Christine Baranski gets her routine Emmy nomination, it will be totally worth it. Seeing her defeated with Kalinda was just so awesome - as was her drinking with Alicia.
- Elsewhere, Kalinda couldn't sleep with Cary because it was about love and intimacy. Those emotions are different for her in the wake of Will's death. She wants to be closed-off and alone. She thinks being with him may help but it doesn't. She sleeps with Jenna because it's work. It is difficult but she always pulls through when it's about the work.
- Jason O'Mara and Ben Rappaport both returned in this episode after several away doing who knows what. Neither contributed to much and now O'Mara is leaving. So, what was the point of his character in the first place?
- Loved the stealth cameo by Michael J. Fox at the very end. We knew he was coming back but it's still nice to be pleasantly surprised by the particulars. I've typically loved Louis Canning swarm more than David Lee swarm but their pairing up could be very interesting.
- Diane: "We're like the two mistresses at an Irish funeral... Sorry, I meant that metaphorically."
