Okay, this show has now officially annoyed me, and possibly even jumped the shark. I thought this season’s premise of Alicia running her one-woman law office and doing bond hearings was certainly plausible, and I don’t mind some stretching of credibility in this show, as it borders on parody anyway.
But episode three pissed me off with this bit of stupid:
Alicia makes a point of telling the FBI undercover guy that he has client-attorney privilege, and he spills the beans to her. She promptly tells Eli all about it, thus committing a crime that any pre-law student would never commit, and exposing herself to disbarment.
For a supposedly hotshot lawyer who was personally mentored by one of the leading legal brains of her time, the stupidity of this plot device leaves my jaw hanging in disbelief. I can only surmise that the writers think the viewing public are idiots. The series is on thin ice for me at this point.
I binge watched the first six seasons, then watched the premier of the current season.
They do like to recycle plots, don’t they? Peter is running for office. Plucky Alicia is trying to branch out on her own. Lather rinse repeat.
I haven’t found the time to watch episodes 2 or 3 yet. The stories about the feud between Juliana and Archie Panjabi also left a bad taste in my mouth.
[SPOILER]The client threatened to claim that she encouraged him to perjure himself on the witness stand. She didn’t really do that but she did point out to him that if he testified that he believed he was making GHB but failed, he would be acquitted. But if he testified that he deliberately set out to make the safer analogue to GHB he would be convicted.
So she went to Eli Gold (who is an attorney, remember) to ask for advice. Her conversation with him was protected by attorney/client privilege.[/SPOILER]
So not stupid, but also not as smart as she should have been.
Personally, I’ve been enjoying it so far. I didn’t care for the FBI story line for two reasons. 1) Even if she felt like she was being “technically legal” in telling the undercover FBI guy his options; I don’t think it’s something she would have ordinarily done. She’s the “good” wife for God’s sake! To me the one constant is that she manages to succeed while playing by the rules. Two, even I who is not a lawyer knew Alisha fucked up by telling Eli. I’m not happy about that.
Cary Agos is such a dick! I thought he was at least capable of playing ‘fair’ with Alicia; but was surprised when he took the list of investigators as leads.
I’m a lawyer, but certainly don’t practice the types of law they generally refer to in the show. I tend to take all the legal references with several pounds of salt. They seem to be especially loose with their application of privilege. Something is privileged or not as it suits their dramatic needs. I’m far from an expert, but - for example - I was surprised that she would not have been able to say ANYTHING to Diana about Howard. But - again, not my bailiwick.
I was very surprised she didn’t go to the judge. I didn’t see the agent’s threat as credible. I also wondered if there was any atty/client privilege - the client wasn’t who he said he was, and instead of seeking services, was manipulating her to “entrap” the judge. I could imagine that if she spoke it would be “interfering with an investigation” or somesuch, but not sure an atty is bound by privilege in such a situation.
But I just watch it as passing brain candy, in the eyes and ears, and instantly out of mind. Fun to watch, and often somewhat related to law, but far from any reality I’ve ever encountered. Can’t even remember the specifics of her conversation with Eli, other than that she told him “Don’t make the calls.”
My FAVORITE part this year was when she had to quickly try to pry information out of defendants who were not terribly communicative or bright. Something I do EVERY day, and they got it spot on. Had me rolling on the floor.
The law is kinda fun, they often put twists on real recent legal issues, and my wife tells me the fashions are fabulous. Worth 45 minutes of my time compared to just about everything else out there.
And re: tiptoeing around suborning perjury - I did not watch the first 2 seasons when they came out, but recently caught up this summer. In many of those eps Will and Diane were pretty upfront about their willingness to be incredibly slimy so long as they could come up with some BS theory about how what they were doing was not actionably illegal or unethical. I thought they did a pretty good job of presenting attys as their clients’ whores, not terribly interested in anything related to “justice” or fairness.
She thought she was preserving plausible deniability. Many an attorney is fine with that.
You mean, it didn’t jump the shark when she kinda/sorta took her husband back while she was still sleeping with the other guy?
I watch this show every now and then; I suspect if I watched it more often, it might be easier to follow but, based on some of the remarks here, maybe not?
Didn’t read about that, but I usually ignore that sort of stuff. Star egos clashing? I recently saw Archie on PBS in “The Widower”. Totally different character than Kalinda.
It got really bad, to the point where Julianna refused to film scenes with Archie. That final farewell was done on a split screen.
From what I could tell, it was Julianna’s ego. I think strong secondary characters make for a richer show, but I guess that wasn’t what Ms. Margulies wanted.
It “supposedly” got really bad, but from the article you linked to: “There is no tangible evidence for this feud other than increasingly loud whispers among the entertainment industry set — but to viewers who have noticed their separation on-screen, it’s become an accepted fact.”
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from watching Breaking Bad, it’s that attorney-client privilege only kicks in if money changes hands, which it did not in that case. That certainly leapt out at me as a carelessly constructed moment.
Yeah, well I’ll go out on a limb and suggest the possibility that that might be the SINGLE instance in which BB was not 100% factually correct!
Like I said, I’m not an expert. Been decades since I had clients of this type such that I needed to worry about privilege. But ISTR that it could even cover information told to you by someone seeking representation, whether or not you choose to represent them. If I am correct, she might not have been able to discuss specifics of what Howard told her and her advice. But I could imagine that she could say as much as , “Howard approached me re: representation, and at this time I do not represent him.”
I’m glad we’re down to one kid. I hated Zack; now if they would just kill off Jackie. I knew it had to happen sooner rather than later with Alicia pairing up with Lucca Quinn (Cush Jumbo).
They’re showing Cary Agos growing more and more frustrated. I really hope they don’t have him switch over to Alicia’s team again. At least not yet.
Also, will there ever be any redemption for Judge Schakowsky being such an overblown asshole? I hope so!
This. Nonetheless, I’m still watching it. :dubious:
Bets: how long before Alicia Does It with the sardonic, cocky investigator?
I love what Michael J. Fox is doing-- shamelessly using his disability to manipulate everyone. Disabled characters are usually played as saints. I also enjoy it when phony hayseed Mamie Gummer shows up-- “I’m from Michigan, and we don’t do those things…” And of course, Alan Cumming-- I’ll watch him in anything.
Observation: Diane’s hair had gotten better over the years and Alicia’s had gotten worse.
My wife regularly comments negatively on Alicia’s hair (tho I tend to be pretty clueless about such things. “It’s brown, isn’t it?” ) She does appear to have been getting thinner and thinner - or has she had some work done. At times her face looks absolutely skull-like…
Yeah, I get a kick out of that phony hayseed lawyer. Tho I don’t know a single judge (and I know many) who would put up with a fraction of Fox’s antics.
They do a pretty good job of portraying bond court as a place where large numbers of people get processed, as opposed to anything resembling “justice” being done.
The writing is good enough, there are enough entertaining characters, and enough of the storylines are entertaining enough that I enjoy watching it.
) She does appear to have been getting thinner and thinner - or has she had some work done. At times her face looks absolutely skull-like…