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florrickandassociates · 5 years

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TGF Thoughts: 3x04-- The One With Lucca Becoming a Meme

Under the cut! 3x05 coming... sometime.

The One with Lucca Becoming a Meme is one of the most complex, layered, reflective, and thoughtful episodes this show’s ever done… and I don’t think I’ll have that much to say about it. Sure, there’s a lot to think about, but I don’t have answers-- and I don’t have much to add to the conversation that hasn’t already been said. I don’t think my perspective on most of the issues this episode raises is going to be very interesting!

It’s still storming in Chicago. TONE SETTING!

Maia’s in with the partners, explaining her actions and her arrest. The charges are under review. Maia denies having a drug problem (she sounds surprised Julius would even ask) and says the drugs were “foisted upon me by Roland Blum.” “Foisted, but not planted,” a partner points out. Maia doesn’t try to argue the point, which leads me to believe that after Blum gave her drugs and warned her that if she turned on him, he would have the police search her car, she decided to knowingly piss him off and kept the illegal drugs in her car. Maybe she doesn’t have a drug problem but my goodness that’s a big common sense problem.

She says she accepted the drugs from Blum because “the standard playbook goes out the window.” Fair. Why’d she keep ‘em, though?

Speaking of things going through windows, the next subject is the laptop Maia threw! Adrian admits that everyone loses their temper sometimes. Maia, interrupting, insists she didn’t lose her temper. Yes. The way to show you didn’t lose your temper is to not even let a name partner finish his sentence in defense of you. Also, I feel like she DID lose her temper in that scene. “I had to let him know I wasn’t intimidated,” she explains.

“There may be better ways of doing that,” Diane chimes in. Maia agrees, and so do I. Maia breaking that window may show she’s unpredictable, but it also shows a lack of self-control and ability to direct her anger. Maybe to Blum it shows that she’s not intimidated, but to me it shows that she so badly wants to be seen as a badass that her judgement (along with the standard playbook and that laptop) goes out the window.

Anyway, Maia apologizes for breaking company property and offers to pay to replace it-- the right, mature move.

After Maia leaves the room, the partners are divided on what to do. Some want to fire her since they fired someone else for a similar offense (he was using, though) and others think Maia’s charge isn’t as bad so she should be suspended. Shock of all shocks, Diane is in favor of suspension.

Diane points out that Maia doesn’t have any other issues, and Julius mentions her arrest at the end of season 1. That’s not fair. Being privileged enough to believe your foundation is “helping Africa” or whatever is ignorant but it’s not criminal, and that’s really all she was guilty of then.

The partners are going to vote on Maia’s fate in four days. In the meantime, Diane is attempting to bring Liz to what I can no longer call the #WhiteLadyResistance.

Diane goes to visit Maia in her newly-windowless office and jokes about closing the door. Wait wait wait, Maia still has that office? Her case is over and SHE BROKE THE OFFICE.

“Am I fucked?” Maia starts off the conversation. “Wow, Maia, all grown up. No, Maia, you are not fucked,” Diane replies. What a professional way to start a conversation.

Maia will have to be drug tested. She sounds surprised.

Maia apologizes to Diane and Diane doesn’t accept it. She says, correctly, “you should’ve had some supervision with Blum.” 100% agree. I said it in an earlier post but I’ll say it again here: this is the only argument I can see for why Maia should keep her job, for why an exception to the drug arrest policy should be made. Maia was not capable of handling this case on her own-- even before Blum showed up I thought she seemed to be doing a bad job-- and it is the partners’ job to be aware of that. Would every associate have accepted the drugs? Highly, highly doubt it. Is it clearly Maia’s fault that she gave into pressure when she had no support or supervision? I don’t think so. If Maia is underperforrming (and I think she is, though it’s not clear whether or not the show thinks she is) then the partners need to understand what projects to staff her on and what projects she can’t handle. There should be a clear process for discussing case strategy, for reporting new developments in a case like working with Blum, or for partners looking out for foreseeable issues like having a co-defendant represented by a deranged addict. A large part of this mess is bad management. That doesn’t excuse Maia’s terrible judgement, but she never should’ve been put in this position.

Maia and Diane have no clue what’s up with Julius and Marissa. What’s happening is that Marissa’s giving Julius good advice. That’s about it; don’t have much else to say except that I laughed at Marissa saying “twelve kids” when she knows he has six.

#WhiteLadyResistance now has at least two black women in it, so I’m going to just have to call it #Resistance. I could still call it #LadyResistance but I don’t think that works. Anyway, does anyone find it odd that Diane is totally on board with a group assembled by a con artist? I guess she did fall for it too…

#Resistance wants to go after Not!TaylorSwift, who just so happens to be a client of RBL.

Without Diane’s presence, #Resistance went through her client list. Does that mean she turned over her client list to this group!?

Maia phones Lucca (who is off of work) to ask about her drug test troubles. She wants to know about false positives in drug tests. She just expects Lucca to have the answers (and Lucca does, because Lucca’s great).

An obnoxious white lady overhears Lucca discussing drug tests and decides it’s her place to judge Lucca’s skills as a nanny (it doesn’t occur to her that Lucca could be Joseph’s mother). This lady is terrible: she can’t take a joke (and Lucca makes some really funny ones in this scene!) or even consider for a second she could be wrong.

Obnoxious white lady calls the police on Lucca because Lucca… exists. Awful and, sadly, realistic. I’m glad TGF took on this plotline.

Credits!

Republican leadership thinks Julius is a strong candidate but they don’t want him working with Eli Gold’s daughter. Don’t think I have that much to say about this plot. It’s fun that Marissa gets to do her dad’s job, it’s nice that Julius gets a plot of his own, it’s understandable that Marissa thinks Julius is the lesser of two evils if she knows there’s going to be a Republican judge. That’s… all I got.

The next day at work, Lucca begins to get anonymous hate emails. Maia, wearing another one of her strange outfits (this one looks like she’s wearing a blouse under a sweater, except part of the blouse is a scarf and the sleeves of the sweater are too short), comes into Lucca’s office and asks for more advice on drug testing. The internet wasn’t clear, but Lucca is an expert on drug testing apparently.

Maia hears the incessant email notifications Lucca’s getting and reads a few messages. “Woah. Those are the kind of emails I usually get,” Maia replies. This is maybe my favorite Maia line yet? Shows self-awareness and shows that she’s strong enough to deal with the harassment while still reminding the viewer it’s something Maia has to deal with on a daily basis.

Maia drops the pretenses: she actually used Blum’s fentanyl lollipop. She. Tried. It. It was her first time doing drugs, but she still did it. On her own time. Yikes. Idk if I think experimenting with drugs once is enough to warrant firing, but it is highly illegal and… Maia knows that shit’s illegal and addictive as fuck. She also knows that Blum is unstable and should’ve been able to see enough steps ahead (even without his warning) that he could accuse her of being an addict.

How the HELL did Maia manage to delay a drug test? If drugs can leave your system and she’s given warning of a test, then of course more time is better for her. They would test her immediately if they tested her at all.

Lucca answers a call and gets sworn at. She answers a second call and it’s the Washington Post asking for a comment on the Mothering While Black video. Seems that someone (many someones) recorded Obnoxious Lady confronting Lucca and it’s gone viral.

“Congratulations, you’re a meme,” Marissa informs Lucca. Is that what a meme is? Just anything that goes viral? That is not how I use that word.

Everyone at the firm is watching the video. Diane and Liz only look up from the video to follow Not!TaylorSwift into Adrian’s office. She’s been photoshopped into looking like a tiki torch Nazi and she’s not happy about it. But she refuses to denounce Nazis because that’s too political. Get the fuck outta here!

How the FUCK did she write a song about Carl Reddick that got mistaken for a KKK anthem???? I want to read the lyrics.

NotTaylor and her manager are idiots who think suing her fansite is the way out of this. Diane, Liz, and Adrian immediately point out that this is… ill-advised.

Also the photoshopped pic is coming from #Resistance so why did they really need NotTaylor to be Diane’s client? Everything Diane says to NotTaylor is something that any good lawyer or PR person would say, and I feel like NotTaylor is only Diane’s client to make the plot more engaging and resonant.

Why is NotTaylor even RBL’s client? She wouldn’t likely be based in Chicago and if she’s so big on being apolitical, RBL is a bizarre choice of a firm.

NotTaylor’s speech about music not being political is nonsense, garbage, incorrect, etc. Oh no! Art might be political! To my mind, art is INHERENTLY political.

It’s time for another TGF short, and this one kind of loses me. It’s not really explaining anything and the only people who will understand it are… the ones who don’t need an explainer. Meh. The animation’s fun, as always.

The partners want Lucca to have security (Jay) and Lucca wants to forget this ever happened. As the partners explain their case (with an assist from Marissa), Lucca realizes that all of the black people in the room know the names of the black police brutality victims, and none of the white people know them by name. It’s a good point.

Diane insists it’s not true, but Lucca gives an example and none of the white people can answer. Shows what they actually pay attention to-- all of them would claim to care, but none of them know the names.

One quibble: Laquan McDonald is not the example the writers should’ve gone with here, just because these are lawyers in Chicago who worked at a firm that regularly handles police brutality cases while a police brutality case that drew nationwide attention was in the Chicago courts. They would ALL know his name for that reason alone. (Lucca’s point, of course, still stands.)

Everyone’s shaken by Lucca’s observation, including her friend Marissa. Marissa confronts Lucca and asks “do you think I’m racist?” Really, Marissa? You know better than to say that. Also, yes. You asked that question. So, yeah, a little bit.

“My grandparents went to Selma,” Marissa points out. Stop digging yourself a hole, Marissa. Lucca’s not attacking you personally. Being called out is not the worst thing in the world. If you don’t like that she’s right, then do what Diane does and fucking SAY THEIR NAMES instead of being upset that someone might think you’re racist.

Lucca points out that her white colleagues don’t bother learning the names of black victims and Marissa’s response is to worry that she’s being seen as racist, not to worry that racism exists or that people have died because of the color of their skin. Ugh. I expected better from her. It can’t feel great to be told you’re not as woke as you thought you were but even still.

Diane handles this SUPER well, googling the names of victims and saying them out loud. She, unlike Marissa, understands that Lucca’s right.

Adrian and Liz talk about Lucca’s comment, too. Adrian says he’s “accepted that there’s a certain amount of bias in my life no matter what, and I’m just looking for some everyday kindness and respect.” Liz pushes back, wondering what it means if white colleagues are kind to them in good times but would “break off into their own tribes” in bad times. Adrian’s response is to worry about the racists he can see, not the racists he can’t see.

Lots of highly visible racists are flooding Lucca’s inbox, still. Julius swings by and asks Lucca to talk to a new crop of associates because “they need to hear from a fourth-year.” Is Lucca both a fourth-year associate and the head of matrimonial law? I feel like she doesn’t need the fourth-year title anymore.

Lucca notices-- and comments-- on the racial makeup of the new crop of associates. They’re mostly white.

It’s time for Maia’s drug test, and what does she do? Fake it with Marissa’s help. There’s someone else in the bathroom, another lawyer, and it’s unclear to me if this is to up the stakes and make Maia worry that it’s Jay or if it’s a seed planted for later.

Jay’s driving Lucca home. Lucca still thinks it’s silly; Jay doesn’t. Lucca shares her observation that the new associates are mostly white with Jay. He’s surprised she noticed, which strikes me as odd. First, I was under the impression that Diane, Marissa, and Maia were the only white people employed at the firm, so I feel like just about anyone would take note if a new batch of hires were majority white. Second, Lucca NOTICING doesn’t seem weird or new to me. Lucca VOCALIZING her observation is new.

Then Jay mentions there’s a pay gap. The best offices and salaries go to the new white employees. Jay doesn’t want to say more, but Lucca insists. She asks for the data so she can decide whether or not she’ll help.

The way Jay explains it in this scene makes a lot of sense-- not sense as in it makes sense the white people are making more (that doesn’t make sense, of course) but sense as in it answers my questions. It sounds like it’s only recently that they’ve started hiring lots of white people, and it’s those white people (not ones who were promoted from within the company) getting the best offices and best pay. That’s consistent with what Adrian will say later about the market.

“You fire that bullet, it will start a war,” Jay warns.

#Resistance is-- obviously-- responsible for the alt-right embracing NotTaylor. One member of #Resistance even goes so far as to insult Diane’s skills as a lawyer.

Jay has the salary information for Lucca in the morning. Most incoming senior associates are white, most junior associates are black and have lower pay. Oh, and Marissia got a large raise (large enough that she’s being paid as much as Jay is, even though Jay’s got several more years of experience). Lucca worries Marissa will get dragged into this and tries to back out, but now Jay’s even more pissed.

“Look. This isn’t just about money. This is about value. And I don’t know why my contribution is valued less,” Jay explains. That’s the crucial thing, I think, when discussing salary.

“It’s not. And it would be good to not attach it to individuals,” Lucca suggests. How can she know that, though? I know she just wants Jay to stop, but it’s a valid point. Is Marissa outpacing Jay? And if not, why is she making more money? (Just to note: I think that if Marissa is doing better, faster work than Jay, she absolutely should make as much/more than him, as long as he’s making enough to live comfortably on and her work is better even after you control for stuff like Marissa getting more assignments from white associates.)

Frank Landau comes to scream at Marissa. I wish it were Eli, but he’s in Albania.

Anyway, Marissa explains why she’s helping Julius, and it’s for very pragmatic reasons: the seat’s going to go red no matter what, and she’d rather it be Julius’s than a “creepy drunk frat boy.” Fair.

NotTaylor comes back and, shocker, suing her own fansite was a bad idea. Now she wants to issue a statement… about “love.” And unity. It’s… nah.

Jay goes to just Adrian and Liz about his salary concerns.

“It’s a mistake to equate salary with value,” Liz explains. Is it, though? Especially when it’s relative to another employee doing the same job? How else are you going to figure out how much you’re valued? And if you’re so valued, why aren’t you making more money? You’re valued, just not enough to be paid more.

Adrian says the partners won’t discuss financial decisions. Feel like there’s probably a better policy than that, but I see why they wouldn’t want to open that can of worms. Like, being aggressive towards an employee who somehow got his hands on confidential salary information is… not a good look.

Jay asks if it’s because Marissa’s white and Adrian swears at him. Adrian, you’re a name partner, YOU FUCKING KNOW BETTER.

Liz wants to know why they’re paying Marissa as much as Jay. Adrian says Julius suggested giving Marissa a nice raise last week. I hope he’s also paying her independently for her consultation because it would be really horrible of him to get his company to pay her more for work she’s doing just for him… (It sounds like this could be in addition to the consultations she’s doing; he’s just seen how much value she adds for the company.)

“This company keeps working because we don’t look at certain things, we don’t pick at certain scabs. We pay people more who we think we’re losing, we pay people less who we know are not going anywhere. Nothing to do with Marissa. It’s capitalism, Liz,” Adrian explains to his fellow managing partner. Liz understands this, but she also understands that (much like “pure meritocracy”) this idea in practice is often racist.

She, I would assume correctly, points out that the white people are more likely to leave their firm than the black people. “Hell yeah,” Adrian agrees. “What, you thought I’d say no? The ugly truth, Liz: Women are valued less than men because we think the men can leave us for better paying jobs. And black people are valued less than white people because we think the white people can leave us for better paying jobs. I hate it. But that’s the reality and that’s what I have to deal with. If we don’t keep this place afloat, no one survives.” I don’t manage a business and I have no idea what RBL’s margins are, but I buy this as an explanation-- not an excuse.

If RBL valued paying employees equal pay for equal work even if that meant having smaller offices or less pay for themselves or fewer employees, I’m sure they could find some compromise that would allow them to be equitable and profitable. Or, at least, they could strive to find one. Just saying, “but capitalism!” isn’t as much of an excuse as Adrian thinks it is. He’s just reinforcing the system.

Even though Adrian’s decided he’s the only partner responsible for planning for his firm’s future (seriously though, why is he always explaining his strategies to Liz and Diane), I don’t mean to say he alone should be working to end the pay gap. All I’m saying is that if everyone accepts that the system is the system and doesn’t work to change it, the system’s going to stay in place longer. If Adrian declines to take advantage of the opportunity he has to make a change, I’m not going to drag him for it-- he has many competing priorities and it’s gotta be very hard to balance the budget when you pay more than the market rate but can get away with paying less. But I certainly am going to say that Adrian is CHOOSING to reinforce the system. He has his reasons, but he has enough power that he could at least TRY not to be part of the problem.

(Also it seems like Adrian is actively hiring white associates for more $$, thus reinforcing the idea that they are worth more and have options.)

Liz points out that while she understands where he’s coming from, if this gets out, people are going to be angry. She’s right.

Jay, in fact, is angry and he’s sending the salary information to the rest of the firm so they can be angry too. Lucca warns him against it, but he knows he’s starting a war.

Julius insists on having Marissa as his campaign manager, which is a terrible idea I’m certain Marissa would’ve advised against. His meeting doesn’t go well.

Man do I wish we could see the salary information for any of the main characters, particularly Maia. I’d like to know how she compares to the other third-years.

Jay joins a group of black associates in a conference room. Everyone takes turns expressing their concerns over the types of cases the firm’s taking (more ChumHum, less police brutality), Maia getting an office, white associates choosing Marissa over Jay, etc.

Maia cluelessly interrupts this meeting, looking for Marissa. Not a good look.

NotTaylor is back. Now the alt-right is going after her trans sister and NotTaylor is in tears. And she’s ready to denounce the alt-right.

Liz and Diane confront #Resistance about it and #Resistance eagerly claims responsibility. Duh. Diane acts stunned they’d be willing to hurt someone for political gain, completely forgetting that she sicced the press on Tara in hopes of destroying 45 just weeks ago.

“Salaries are driven by seniority, Lucca,” Adrian explains in a meeting about salary concerns. First, his tone is going to solve nothing. Second, what does this mean? That if a white associate comes in as a fourth-year he’ll make the same as Lucca, even though Lucca’s a fourth-year good enough to run a department? Seems wrong.

Another big complaint: Maia’s new office and her drug arrest. Everyone except Adrian thinks it’s about race. Maia is absolutely getting the benefit of the doubt a black associate would never get, regardless of whether or not her offense was actually lesser than Alan North (the last associate fired for drug use). After all, for all we know, he could’ve used drugs once and gotten caught too.

Diane isn’t as hypocritical as I made her out to be above. She and Liz both decide to stick with #Resistance because it’s effective.

WHY IS THE SCENE WHERE THE PARTNERS DECIDE MAIA’S FATE SHOT ON SHAKYCAM, THIS IS A BAD CHOICE. (This director is the one I complained about in 621 and he otherwise did a fine job with this episode, but the shaky cam is really bad.)

Diane really tries to defend Maia, but it doesn’t work: the pay gap controversy tips the votes against Maia (Liz is the deciding vote), and she’s fired.

I wrote a post earlier this week about whether or not I think firing Maia is justified, so I won’t write it out again, but to summarize my thoughts in one word: Yes.

There’s a song by The Wild Reeds playing over the scene where Diane tells Maia she’s been fired and I am very proud of myself for recognizing the artist.

Lucca watches through the window-wall as Diane delivers the news to Maia. You know what this (and, tbh, every?) episode could’ve used more of? LUCCA! QUINN! One the pay gap war starts, we don’t hear about the viral video again, and we should’ve. The experience made Lucca more interested in taking a stand at work… anything else? Is that it?

I like that we get to see Diane walk into Maia’s office, greet her, and deliver the news. It would’ve been easy to just imply it, but it adds a lot to see the firing actually take place. It’s clear how hard this is on Diane-- Maia is her goddaughter, after all-- and showing the whole sequence makes Maia’s firing feel more consequential.

Also, THERE WAS NO ROLAND BLUM THIS EPISODE AND FOR THAT I AM GRATEFUL.

#the good fight #tgfthoughts

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