Prior to him popping up in this arc, in season 3 or 4, Elsbeth really was giving him clear signals — hell, she actually gave him clear speeches — that she hated him, would never be interested in him, and he creeped her out. This arc it's way more muddled, and it's not ringing true for me that she would have changed.

Unfortunately, it's really not — feminism has been branded as extreme and toxic in a lot of places. You would hope it would be the "I'm not racist", but depending on where you are, people can take "I'm a feminist" as though you're saying "I'm a racist". "I hate all men." Or, people will take it as your single-issue…

The end of the episode was completely wonderful. Those juxtapositions, those terrible newsblogs: A-1 work.

I don't think Alicia has ever been saint-like: that's always been an outsider's perspective on her, someone who only sees the image and not the person. Eli plays it up because it's convenient for political ends, but Alicia is not and has never been any kind of saint.

I actually saw shades of Will and Alicia in Cary and Kalinda having sex and being called by Alicia and Diane, which gave me hope for a better arc.

Alternatively, this could be the nudge to open them up for having an honest relationship of equals, rather than him having her on a pedestal, which could give Kalinda the safety to open up.

Or when Bishop takes her down. (This is my theory for how she gets written out, SA Alicia decides to take on Bishop after all.)

But it's also because the show has more of an overall arc, and more continuity, and thus less time for cases of the week (and less time for Kalinda, or Robyn, investigating.) Writer choices, eh.

You know, I don't blame her, and I wish her the best on her new show, because Archie Panjabi has major chops and with TGW going further and further away from its investigation-of-the-week, there's less and less room for Kalinda. This is going to add a sense of foreboding to all of Kalinda's scenes with Bishop, though…

This cliche is completely true for books, as Zane's stuff was selling like hotcakes years before 50 Shades was a thing.

I once had a college undergraduate tell me, "you like Jon Stewart? You're such a typical liberal. I like Stephen Colbert, he's the real conservative voice."

Becca claimed to Eli that she had an abortion from Zach years ago, I think this was season 2, at some point during one of Peter's campaigns, possibly part of a campaign smear from Anika Noni Rose's character. Eli confronted Becca and proved that it wasn't Zach's, but some teacher's of Becca's. (It was implied that…

Yeah, I think it's an acknowledgement by the Kings that Kalinda and Alicia are no longer best friends. Kalinda is far closer to Cary, and Alicia to Diane, than they are to each other. That's the way the relationships evolved, so be it.

Yes, exactly, 100%. I actually sat back from my screen and whistled, because that response was so unlike anything I'd expect from Alicia, and yet the exact response that the politician needs to give.

Alas, that's how you know they're actually filming in NYC.

Assisting my mother when she was working in a gynecologist's office, where I had close proximity to women's medical records and schedules, helped me realize that women's lives were far more complicated than one ordinarily realizes from the outside, and has kept me from ever making judgments of other women's…

I don't really drink, but I agree with you. I'm just thrilled at the continuity: Grace actually brought up her drinking in a previous episode, where she was upset that Alicia had to drink wine as soon as Grace brought up her issue. I think Alicia is too controlled to be an alcoholic, but wine is a helpful lubricant…

You have been one of my favorite writers at the AV Club since you started. I'll miss your write-ups here!

It's a one-two punch: one, this drug dealer is channeling all this illegal money for Alicia, that is being used "for" her but which she has no control over, which means he's essentially buying *her* — remember how she wouldn't accept money for Cary's bail just a couple of episodes ago, and two, that there really isn't…

I feel like, unfortunately, Warren started off as a person with something to say, and now all she has to say is soundbites. I blame running for office.