On "The Good Fight" It's Diane Lockhart for the People

Focus.  It was the single most important aspect of CBS All Access’ The Good Fight during its first season.  As it happens, its second season is no different.  Our perception of the world we live in is shaped by our personal experiences, and those experiences by the information we focus on throughout our day-to-day lives.  It’s this idea, especially during TGF's sophomore year, that’s lead me to believe that this series is less a look into the trials and tribulations of lawyers at a high-end Chicago law firm than a case study of the American people.  How does one deal with the most globally traumatic event in recent history: The presidency of Donald J. Trump?  The Good Fight has a few suggestions, all of them complicated.

In Season One, the very first image of the very first episode was Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski, pictured at top and below left) watching the inauguration of our current president.  She sits motionless and confused; a representation of the shock that many Americans found themselves in at that moment.

In Season Two, the first image is exactly the same: Diane sitting in front of a television, reeling over recent events that have shaken this country to its core and wondering what they mean for all of us going forward.  The world has lost its goddamn mind, and Diane’s reaction to everything throughout the season is supposed to reflect the emotional rollercoaster that we, the people, currently find ourselves on.  The titles of the episodes in Season Two are numbered days (Day 436, Day 457); watching them tick by speaks to the feeling of captivity felt by the more “woke” half of this country since January 20, 2017.

Speaking of being “woke,” Diane seems to be the only one that’s paying attention to any of this.  Sure, fictional people in the show are talking about Trump and what he’s doing, but their interest seems to depend greatly on how (and if) his administration specifically affects their lives.

Ainsley Andrade

Ainsley Andrade is a freelance writer working primarily as a TV critic and influencer for MediaVillage in the column #AndradeSays. Having "cut the cord" back when cords were still a thing, Ainz, as he likes to be called, brings a fresh an… read more