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Now … THIS is why we watch The Good Fight. After finally slogging through the Rindell financial scandal, the show can get its focus back on what it does best: an odd case, great writing and performances and even a few laughs (and I laughed out loud a couple of times this week).
This episode focused on two main plots with enough peripherals to keep things moving forward. The first storyline focused on a ‘ripped from the headlines’ story in which a reality show contestant on a dating show called ‘Chicago Penthouse’ sued the production for allowing another contestant to perform non-consensual sex on her while she was drunk and passed out. If this sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because this exact same thing happened last year during the production of ABC’s Bachelor in Paradise. The female contestant, Melanie (Isabella Farrell), claimed production allowed the act to continue while she was in no frame of mind to stop it. The producers, of course, contend that she was fully aware and consenting. So who is telling the truth?
Melanie’s legal team, Adrian and Diane, wanted the raw recordings of the show while the opposing side led by Andrea Stevens (returning guest star Christine Lahti) claimed the footage was proprietary. But the judge (guest star Rob Reiner) wondered how footage that will eventually wind up on television for the world to see could suddenly be private. He ordered the footage be turned over, with duplicates for him, and they got it all … on unlabeled memory cards with no time code. Luckily Marissa is a fan of the show so she volunteered to scroll through the footage (and knowing what happened when from watching the show made it easier to know which cards had nothing important on them).
And then she discovered the producers had withheld footage from a third camera. Whoops. After a lot of he said, she said, and a great line from Melanie to the guy she accused of assaulting her, that he may not think he’s that guy who would do something like that but he was the guy who thought it was okay to finish something he thought she started, and several low-ball offers to settle the case, the smoking gun footage proved that not only was Melanie passed out drunk, but one of the producers physically picked her up from the couch and dragged her back to the hot tub and seemed to give direction to Blake to carry on with her. Now, this being The Good Fight and on CBS All Access, we were able to see the footage in question, including nudity (hey, it’s a pay service!) that ultimately was quite disturbing. But in the end, Adrian and Diane won the case with a $3 million-plus settlement.
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The second interweaving storyline started with a bored Maia — she has nothing to do because everyone thought she’d be in jail — chatting with Marissa as Marissa is opening mail. Suddenly, white powder falls out of a letter, some on Maia’s hand, some in Marissa’s lap. The ‘Kill All Lawyers’ letter, addressed to Diane, claimed the powder was ricin and the two held very still as to not disturb the powder any more than they already had. Alerting Adrian, Diane and Jay, the investigator, in the next office, Jay got the floor cleared. But as the panicked masses headed to the elevators, Lucca was just arriving, pushing through everyone to see what she could do. She actually got makeshift masks on the two women as they waited for the hazmat team to arrive.
Even in a stressful situation, Marissa had her eyes on hazmat guy Drew and asked him to go for a drink later, if they weren’t dead. Luckily, the substance turned out to be baking soda so no one is dying just yet, but the whole situation has left Diane severely shaken. But still trying to talk Drew into that drink, Maia made sure he’d know where they’d be later that evening. And in the bar in the building, that’s where they were when he showed up. Except he assumed Maia was the interested party and Marissa had to drag her to the rest room to make her aware of that.
The two had already had a few whiskey sours, so when they returned, Maia just blurted out, ‘I’m gay.’ Drew was a bit stunned, and confused, but in the end it seemed like Marissa got her man. But there was still a matter of who sent the letter. The firm refused to turn over the names of Diane’s clients to the police due to confidentiality rules, but Jay was able to determine that the letter actually came from inside their building. The letter stated that the client had been overcharged and lost his family in a divorce proceeding while the firm just took his money and moved on.
Diane did have a divorce client in the building and after a visit to him, Jay took a piece of paper from the guy’s printer. Apparently all printers leave invisible dots, like a finger print, on the paper that can be seen under ultraviolet light, so he compared the paper from the two clients in the building. Neither matched, but Marissa suggested that perhaps he had another printer or did it from home. That triggered something in Jay and the next thing we know he’s talking to some guy who works in the office who had matching paper. Turns out the poor schlub just needed an extra day to complete some work so he thought the ricin scare would give him that. Unfortunately all it got him was arrested.
But the whole ‘Kill All Lawyers’ thing is taking a toll on Diane, and Liz — who already planted the seed in Adrian’s head that Diane was thinking of retiring — took full advantage of her state of mind, suggesting Diane take the rest of the day off and that she’d fill in on the reality show case for her. At home, Diane decides to start microdosing again (and apparently the bartender serving Marissa and Maia and Drew offered them something stronger than whiskey sours, but we don’t know if they accepted), and while watching TV she sees a news report about Donald Trump buying a potbelly pig and keeping it in the White House map room. The next day in court after the judge agreed that the TV show producers had to turn over the ‘forgotten’ footage, he asked Diane why she wasn’t smiling, and then wondered what happened that women don’t smile anymore. Whatever it was that he said gave Diane the giggles which turned into a full-on guffaw. Luckily the judge had dismissed everyone, but Adrian and Marissa were not sure what was up with Diane.
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Diane denied she was microdosing when Marissa asked, but then she asked Marissa if there was a news report about a potbelly pig at the White House. Marissa knew Diane was on something at that point. Later at the office, after the TV producers offered the multi-million dollar settlement, Adrian brought the good news to Diane which set off her laughter again. Telling her the firm was $600,000 richer, she laughed more and said they wouldn’t be taxed as much thanks to Trump. And then she asked Adrian about the pig, which confused him even more. Knowing the pressure she’s been under, he asked Diane if it was true what Liz said about her thinking of leaving the firm. She said no, that she had found the key to happiness — insensitivity. She just doesn’t care anymore. After Adrian left, Diane strolled from her office to Liz’s and simply said, ‘Fuck you.’ This may get ugly, folks!
But, even though the resolution to the ricin story was a bit ridiculous, this was still a terrific episode free from all the Rindell drama with that great writing, acting, music, directing … ‘Day 422’ had it all and I can’t wait to see what happens next week!
What did you think of this episode? Is Diane losing it? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
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