"Paul Levinson's It's Real Life is a page-turning exploration into that multiverse known as rock and roll. But it is much more than a marvelous adventure narrated by a master storyteller...it is also an exquisite meditation on the very nature of alternate history." -- Jack Dann, The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History

Monday, March 10, 2014

The Good Wife 5.13: NSA on Television

The Good Wife roared back with episode 5.13 last night, pulling back into play the NSA and stories ranging from Peter's campaign to Alicia's drug king client.  The NSA connection couldn't have been more apt, given Julian Assange's Skype talk to SXSW a few days ago and Edward Snowden's Skype talk to the same today.

On The Good Wife, our happy duo at the NSA are tapping into Alicia's conversations and everyone she is connected to.  Alicia pretty quickly realizes her conversations are being overheard, but it's not until near the end of the episode that Cary puts some of the pieces together and realizes the bugging goes beyond the DEA.   Alicia and Cary are able to use this info to get their client off, but their troubles - and those of most of the other central characters - are just beginning.

Peter looks as if he's in the hottest water for the next episode.  The NSA has been sharing its wiretaps not only with the DEA, but with a Department of Justice force looking at integrity in government.  The DOJ group got its hands on the videotape of ballot boxes being moved on Election Day in Illinois. Now they're putting the pressure on Will to tell what he knows.   The time he was Peter's lawyer shields him, but only partially.   If anything untoward happened after Peter was Will's client - and we know that it did - Will could be brought up on obstruction charges for not cooperating.

The episode ends with Will refusing to cooperate, and putting himself at risk for someone he doesn't particularly like, to say the least.  But he still loves Alicia - that's been clear in his anger at her for leaving the firm - and this makes for one of the most volatile situations in the history of this volatile series.  Alicia would want Will to protect Peter, if possible - but to the point of Will going to prison himself?  Tough to call, but I just don't think so.

About the only way out of this for Alicia and all concerned is for the NSA to stop the DOJ in its tracks in this investigation - prevent DOJ from using anything related to what the NSA provided.  Will they do that?   We'll know more in the next two weeks.   But what we've seen already should be a wake-up call to what NSA can do not just on a television show but in our real lives, as well.

See also The Good Wife 5.1: Capital Punishment and Politicians' Daughters ... The Good Wife 5.5: The Villain in this Story ... The Good Wife 5.9: Reddit, Crowd Sourcing, and the First Amendment on Trial ... I Dreamt I Called Will Gardner Last Night ... The Good Wife 5.11: Bowling Bowls and Bogdanovich


#SFWApro

Want a novel about the NSA?  Check out The Pixel Eye

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