Whatever the note said, Alicia found out Kalinda was gone from that note, and I think that was enough to provoke sobbing. She lost another person from her life without being able to resolve anything (as of that point in time). Not to mention being the last straw after losing the SA position, and then her partnership.

I liked the paralegal plot. Simone is struggling with some of the same issues Alicia has faced, wanting to succeed on her own merits but being defined by her marriage, for better or worse. I hope we see more of her.

It's believable to me that they learned to be civil and professional to each other, but that they never completely got past the rift (or rather, Alicia never got past the rift, and Kalinda continued to respect that). I couldn't care less about this supposed conflict between the actors, but as a narrative choice, I…

I think the separation of Alicia from the rest of the cast has been intentional and poignant. The contrast between the flashbacks and present made me sad, but in the way that Alicia was sad. The bit of conversation with the writer about who her "friends" are was really telling—such a basic question, and she has no…

I thought Kalinda's exit was done really well. She and Alicia were never able to repair the rift (which seems realistic to me considering how devastated Alicia was about Kalinda and Peter), but Kalinda continued to quietly be a loyal friend to Alicia, and it was nice seeing that continue until the very last minute.…

I love Martha's character too actually, the fact that she's a mother and totally cut-throat. They're just different from the gender norms we generally see on tv, and I like seeing that represented. It's not that I think Wiley deserves applause for it, but that the show does.

Maybe it is wishful thinking. It just really seems like the SA storyline was part of a larger plan the showrunners had and not something they would just drop to go back to business as usual. But it's hard to say exactly how anything would play out.

That's true, but I could still see the details of the emails awakening that old jealousy/anger and making him less likely to hesitate about betraying Alicia. But aside from that, he has more practical reasons to want the supermajority and to keep the Democratic Party people on his side.

I don't agree that this will be the end of the SA storyline. Returning to the firm would be such a whimpery end to the season, and it feels like they are building to something much bigger than that. I think Alicia will find a way to put up a fight. She might even find out that Peter was involved in the party's…

Oh no, not Wiley. I get the sentiment, but I love that he's primary caregiver to his kids, while his wife is the brilliant breadwinner of the family (I think we learned at some point she's a rocket scientist??) Anyway, I think we don't see enough arrangements like that represented on tv, so I like him in spite of…

Maybe she will enter her own brand of witness protection—in the way Leelah became Kalinda, now Kalinda will become ——. No one but Cary will know who or where she is.

Agreed, and a governor has a huge interest in having a state legislature supermajority so that his own policies will be successful. Plus he's recently seen confirmation that his wife was unfaithful to him. I don't trust Peter in this a bit.

I'm very disappointed to see Elfman go. I got so hooked on the idea of Alicia having someone who believed in her and empowered her, rather than someone who will sabotage or support her on a whim. Even if they couldn't be together romantically, he was in her corner and looking out for Alicia as an individual rather…

The thing I don't get is that it seemed like such an obvious political ploy. No one will think Alicia won this election on her own merits, given that Peter did that.

I'm surprised to see this election story characterized as spinning wheels, because I thought it was a really important step on Alicia's journey to define herself, from her husband's shadow, to one half a package deal, to her own person, a political player in her own right. I hope the series is headed toward a moment…

The Colin Firth story in Love Actually doesn't bother me much. He's on the rebound, and she jumps in the water after his manuscript, showing herself to be the opposite of his selfish ex, so of course he falls hard for her. Maybe not the smartest thing to get engaged that fast, but he was asking her to move to England,…

It's a bunny's bedroom. Who knows how bunnies live?

I loved Alicia's rant to Diane and Cary at the end about her reasons for running, because I think that's an important point the show has been building toward for a while, but it felt odd and tone deaf coming in this episode. Alicia has struggled but her struggles as a privileged white woman still pale in comparison to…

I felt that way too for a while, but today I got curious and read one of the police interview transcripts where they ask him about his inconsistencies, and it became clearer to me that Jay was a scared teenager who didn't trust the police at all. He had some involvement in the local drug scene, and he'd had rough…

Friday Night Lights. I was wondering how they were going to wring any more emotion out of football, and it ended up ending on a triumphant moment in the Taylors' marriage instead, which I then realized it had been building to for a long time. The show was always enjoyable for me, but that made it memorable.