The Good Fight has been like a beacon in the fog – shining a light on the world around us as it increasingly becomes more complex and, well, odd. Every season the show takes a look at the changing power structures around us, telling stories that make sense of it all.
From the brand new trailer for season 4, all evidence (your Honour) indicates that The Good Fight is back for another year in fine form:
The new trailer tells us A LOT about the upcoming season.
What do you want to do now?
The trailer opens with a meeting. Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski) is speaking with Gavin Firth (new series cast member John Larroquette). He’s a senior partner for an international law firm that has purchased her firm, Reddick, Boseman & Lockhart and wants to know what Diane’s plans are moving forward.
What is Diane returning to work from? Don’t forget that season 3 ended with a SWAT team entering her apartment. Has Diane been locked up? Has she taken some time off following whatever incident occurred?
We have questions.
But the biggest question here is… what exactly does Firth mean when he asks Diane: “What work?”
Source: CBS
The mysterious memo 618
The theme of the season is the question of what the law means when figures like Donald Trump have completely subverted all the rules that apply.
Series co-creator Robert King explained that “There’s a tendency that people have now of thinking subpoenas can be ignored, and we wanted to look at how it played out because so much of courtroom drama requires people following the rules. But what kind of courtroom drama do you have if [suddenly the rules don’t matter]?”
We hear in the trailer that Diane has noticed that a mysterious memo, when handed over, allows the rich and powerful to not comply with judicial rulings. As soon as she said it, the screen cuts to longtime Good Wife/Good Fight character Julius Cain (Michael Boatman) who received a federal judgeship at the end of last season. His political ideology has always differed from Diane’s – is he a willing conspirator with Memo 618?
Source: CBS
Hate comes in many forms
Straight after we see clips of regular cast members relaxing in a tropical locale, we see the familiar face of Michael J. Fox on screen. The former Back To The Future star makes his debut on The Good Fight after years as a recurring character on The Good Wife playing morally suspect lawyer Louis Canning.
In the clip we witness Diane laughing at Canning’s effort to gain the court’s sympathy by highlighting his dyskinesia condition (people living with Parkinson’s disease can get it as a side effect of their medication – it causes muscles to move involuntarily). It’s a regular move that Canning pulls in court.
Source: CBS
It’s worth noting that Canning is making an appearance in a season that is dedicated to the idea that truth and... wait...
Why is Diane dressed as a bondage queen?
We have no idea, but we’re fully supportive of her however she wishes to behave... as long as everyone involved is consenting.
Source: CBS
“This is motherf**king nuts”
The Good Fight has always had a healthy lack of respect for the bizarre times we find ourselves in. Norms have been shattered and previous expectations of what was considered acceptable behaviour are seemingly off the table with The Good Fight there to chronicle it all.
And that was before new phrases like “social distancing” are suddenly part of everyday conversation.
So when Diane, a character who at this stage has been witness to some of the most bonkers shifts in modern society already is reaching her breaking point, declaring that it has gotten to be “motherf**king nuts”, there’s no way that she hasn’t just experienced something completely off the wall.
Source: CBS
And we’re motherf**king desperate to know what it was.
Find out what sets Diane off when The Good Fight returns to SBS and SBS On Demand at 9.30pm Wednesday 23 September 2020.
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Michael J. Fox is back for ‘The Good Fight’
