The Good Fight (Good Wife Spin-off)

Episode 6 here and the cracks show with Wackner's court. Albeit without his knowledge (or at least I hope so, he's fairly naive in any case), though enjoyed his scenes with the real judge; can't recall the actors name (she was on 3rd Rock From the Sun) but she has always been one of the more entertaining ones. Both series always made sure to have suitably eccentric, memorable justices.

Baranski is fabulous, and 69! I don't think this spin off would have lasted half as long without her; which, given the constant plot of her mere presence at the firm is kinda funny. I know the Trump stuff rubbed people up the wrong way but she sold those plots through her energy. Plus her charisma with Gary Cole has always been great to watch.

Episode 7 and ...uh. can Wackner even do that.? Now I'm really curious about the legal ramifications. I understood this thing operated more like arbitration, hence financial settlements - but how can this faux court possibly enable incarceration? I know it's just a TV show, but I was left trying to think how it could possibly stand against any kind of actual legal challenge from someone being turfed into private prison.

Diane and Liz though - who saw that coming? 😁

Just at episode 9 and I don't think the idea is completely far fetched, but yeah the court has finally overplayed its hand, can't see it ending well for everyone. Crossing the threshold to using private prisons being too much. It has been played with sometimes goofball energy but the idea of DIY courts isn't all completely crazy. The social contract itself is just a heavily codified agreement to abide by decisions made by "authorities". If two sides consent to the judgment of a third, albeit unaccredited body, where's the harm letting things be hashed out this way?

The episode itself was decent, and I like Wanda Sykes too. Daft as a brush but clearly competent too; and as always there was just the right amount of David Lee to spice things up.

Agree. I get this show rubs folk up the wrong way and prefer to avoid US political issues; but the fact a Trump addled group tried to storm their government in January, I totally get why a show like this still wants to throw a magnifying glass on cultural or political issues.

Not sure how Good Fight's Chicago could work something like Afghanistan into its stories TBH? I'm sure if there are any great social, racial or cultural upheavels during Biden's admin, the show will lean into it; Trump was an easy target because he and his actions made for big, easy targets. All of which culminated in a hillbilly coup in January - which was a shocking thing to witness in any stable democracy. More shocking again many politicians still stay within that demographic's radius. We haven't had anything even remotely equivalent.

In any case, this is a culturally left-wing show and Robert & Michelle King have rarely tried to hide this; while their most overtly apolitical project, the forgotten sci-fi show BrainDead, often struggled to stay completely centrist; but it did also hint to me that the Kings don't seem to possess any great love for the DNC either. They might be left wing, but I sense they hate the Democrats' own brand of machinations.

But I've argued before and would stick by it: The Good Fight isn't that left-leaning in the modern sense. Just this season there were attempts to interrogate cancel culture and over-sensitivities towards race and edgy humour (the "one joke about X" idea is genius). The consensus often being an appeal towards common sense from the adults in the room. While the sexual politics have - to my eyes - steered more towards a bafflement from older, 2nd wave feminists like Diana or Liz towards the younger generation of militant feminists. IIRC Diane had a confrontation with a young feminist along those very lines. You could practically hear the Kings using Dian as the surrogate for their own frustrations.

Seemed like only a matter of time before more Good Wife alumni returned; I guess Cumming's cheaper than Julianna Margulies!