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This week wasn’t supposed to be the season’s penultimate episode, but it is through default since production on the series shut down three episodes short of a season. But there was a whole lot going on this week with all of our main characters.
Lucca
Lucca is still basking in the glory of winning $1.5 million playing poker with Bianca and her rich friends. The joy the winning sparked — and the talk with Bianca that convinced her not to feel bad about it — drove Lucca to buy a new purse. Not just any purse, but a Birkin bag. And following the advice of Bob the Drag Queen, she entered the offices of Reddick, Boseman and Lockhart purse first. And then she tried to play it down as Marissa went around telling everyone about it. Liz practically drooled over it, forcing Lucca to lie and say she got it at a sample sale, but after Marissa did some investigation (after all, that’s what she’s good at … plus she grew up around rich people) and said she knew that bag cost $20,000, Lucca admitted she got it at Hermés but she still wouldn’t own up to how much she won. Marissa advised Lucca to have a talk with the repugnant David Lee to cover her ass on taxes because he lives for that stuff.
And she did. And then we found out … she hadn’t actually received her winnings from Bianca’s friends just yet, so Lucca is personally out $20,000. Lee told her she’d never see that money because that’s how entitled rich people behave. She tried to bring it up over dinner with Bianca but she felt awkward talking about money with her wealthy client-friend. But going over some business with Lee, he just casually mentioned to Bianca that Lucca had not been paid yet. Shocked, Bianca got on the phone and pressed her friends to pay up and had a talk with Lucca about being honest with her because it’s just money. Lucca was surprised Lee did that for her but he said as her attorney, he gets 10% so that’s the only reason he did it. But is it? Could David Lee actually have a teeny-tiny heart?
Diane
Diane had a sit down with Julius to trade information about Memo 618. Neither of them really had much to share but Julius did have the business card with the mysterious visitor’s number and decided to give him a call to see exactly what he wanted. Meeting at a restaurant, the man told Julius that if he wanted to move up in the judicial world, all he had to do was follow the advice he’s given with certain cases. Or else he’d end up driving an Uber as well. Diane surprised the visitor as well but he told them this ploy only works in the movies and this would end badly for them if they didn’t play along. The man left but Diane had Marissa and Jay waiting outside to tail the guy … who drove like he knew he was being tailed.
And then another car followed Jay and Marissa and they both got blocked in an alley by a garbage truck. A woman jumped out of her AMC Pacer and started cursing like a sailor at them and it turned out she was following the mystery man too, they just got in her way. But they were able to get a picture of her license plate and gave the name to Diane — Linda Shuck. Paying a visit, Diane had no idea she knew Linda until Linda reminded her that she’s a court stenographer. She hesitates about letting Diane in to her apartment but when she does Diane is floored by the stacks and stacks of paper Linda has all throughout her place. It’s the records of all the court cases going back several years because Linda knows that court cases have been disappearing from the electronic records, apparently over the course of many decades. And she knows who is behind Memo 618 … or at least she believes she knows: the Office of Legal Counsel for the Department of Justice. And then for the first time in quite a while, we got one of those animated musical interludes (apparently China had been offended by one and that’s why they stopped, as explained at the top of the song) that explained what the OLC is. How refreshing to have this back. I was wondering why we hadn’t seen these.
Linda explained that Memo 618 has been used for decades as a sort of placeholder for laws that didn’t yet exist, such as when FDR ordered the Japanese internment camps. Blowing a photo up several times revealed a sheet of paper with M. 618 typed on it. So anytime any president wanted to do something legally questionable, Memo 618 was invoked until an actual law could be written. She also claims the current president used Memo 618 to garner his acquittal after the impeachment trial, showing Diane video that she says a lip reader confirmed he was discussing Memo 618 with John Kelly. But as Linda spoke the words over the video, what she was saying really didn’t seem to match up with the lips so is she for real or a conspiracy theorist? Diane doesn’t seem to know either.
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Adrian & Liz
After sitting out the last episode, Adrian had a double-barreled storyline this week. First he was approached by Frank Landau to consider running for president in 2024. Not because they expect him to win the nomination, but because they need a Black man who can last at least through Iowa. Adrian was asked to keep this top, top secret but he immediately ran to Liz and told her … and she was not thrilled that they didn’t ask her even though she denied she was upset about it. And then he told his judge girlfriend. But … she may have some corruption issues that could come into play, especially now after she’s agreed to move in with him. She ran down a list of her ‘crimes’ for Julius but when he asked about Memo 618, she said she didn’t mention that because it was the solution to their problems. When he first told Landau about the possible issues, he was told to dump her immediately but now that he believes this Memo 618 will shield them he’s jumping into the race with both feet.
AS for his other storyline, this one got into some very deep, emotional and troubling territory: defending a young woman who had been training for the Olympic swim team only to be bumped in favor of another swimmer whom, it seemed, the committee had changed the rules for in order to place her on the team even though she did not qualify in the 2019 trials. It seemed like a cut-and-dry case with Judge Brickner (a returning Rob Reiner) apparently on the defense’s side but then Adrian had to push things just a bit further by bringing up the ‘real’ reason his client was bumped — the swimmer who was given her spot was transgender and the committee delayed making a decision by two months so, as Adrian claimed, her testosterone levels would be below what was acceptable to be a member of the women’s swim team. Adrian sensed his new gambit was not going to play well so he asked Liz to join him at the table so there would also be a female lawyer on the case. Liz really didn’t want any part of it, perhaps because she was still feeling stung by the DNC request, but she reluctantly joined him and it went spectacularly badly for them, being confronted by their own associates back at the office for what they perceived as ‘transphobia’. Adrian had to explain hard that they were defending the client (who happened to be a Black woman) and that they were not attacking the other swimmer personally.
And then he did by bringing up the fact that she still had male genitalia, which just further complicated things and caused Liz to take a seat and refuse to argue the case any further. In a totally heartwreching decision, the judge was forced to side with the Olympics’ lawyer (played magnificently by Lorraine Toussaint) but outside the courtroom Jay had some new information for Adrian that brought them all back into court. His client, Melanie Evers, was mentoring another swimmer, Piper Vega, who was on the team but whose testosterone levels exceeded the acceptable amounts. Except she isn’t transgender and has female genitalia. According to their medical expert, Piper would be considered intersex, appearing a female on the outside but having male characteristics biologically on the inside. This made the judge’s decision even more difficult but he had to abide by the Olympic committee rules which forced Piper off the team and Melanie got her spot back. This was some very heavy subject matter but The Good Fight is known for handling touchy topics like this with class and intelligence. Still, it was a very emotional moment and I have to say Rob Reiner played the role with such honesty that I believed he really felt the emotions of the character, so much so that I even found myself with tears welling up in my eyes. Good job by everyone involved.
What did you think of this episode? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
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