I don't know if Alicia will win in that battle or not.. earlier in the season it was pointed out to her to avoid those kind of expenses because it would allow Peter to potentially claim he needed spousal support in a divorce. That's what I love about this show, it's so tightly written that small moments from before can come back and play out in my head as it moves on.
What I think about most, though, is the confrontation between Alicia and Jackie. I think I liked it on two different levels. First, Alicia finally was pushed into breaking it to the kids that Jackie was NOT on their side, and she did it in the most straightforward and honest way: "I believe Jackie wants your father to have sole custody". Now, Jackie isn't just the annoying grandmother, but the children view her as a further fracture in their household; Jackie isn't working to try and fix the relationship between their parents, she's working to change their family permanently. That can't sit well with the daughter who has been hoping for reconciliation. I think that's a big part of what led to the "what a bitch" comment. But Second, the moment at the doorway was a bitter sword for Alicia: she basically announced to Jackie that the kids were old enough, that she trusted them. They are both high schoolers, both of them are on their way to being adults, and she has to put some faith in them. When Jackie announces the "crimes of the children" "You're son is dating a jew!" "She locks herself in her room with her tutor!" it smacked of Jackie's desperation and her faked up morals; she can be outraged at the silly, but the real moral lapses of her son are forgiven with a shrug - and they might be forgiven in part because she desires to be in the spotlight, and partly because she just never liked Alicia.
As to the storyline of the soldier.. you're right Adam.. it made me go back and watch the beginning again. What that storyline really showed us though was the power of one witness who was willing to lie to destroy someone. It was fairly obvious to me that the person she worked with - the one who didn't like women - used this as a way to get rid of her. The change in her world be damned. While we the audience knew the "TRUTH" the Jury only knew the "truth" as provided by a witness who was unscrupulous. For us, the audience, we know that to be true. But if I were on a jury, and the only witnesses present say "there was no lag, she knew.." I think that's what made that case brilliantly written. It was a loss. But it highlighted an issue that is before the Supreme Court right now.. why we put so much stock in eyewitnesses. And why was there no other way to check or establish these things as fact?
I understand we as an audience disliked the results because we knew the truth; but if we were on the jury, knowing only what they knew.. and that's justice. Wendy Scott Carr is trying to make political hay with Peter, because she sees him as someone who would like to leap to another office. The DA is a stepping stone - he has a goal as a senator, governor.. somewhere. She has no problem jumping on his coattails.. and to do that, she has to crush Wil Gardner along the way, so be it. How that all shakes out is going to be.. interesting. She's one of those characters who they give such a positive backstory with but she's played so effectively as a real bruiser who gets away with it with a nice smile. It's a great, juicy role and it's played very well.
I also like the back and forth between Kalinda and Cary.. and all those in between.
