The Good Wife

This is about a plane crash.

A Hammett GR-6 carrying

35 passengers and five crew.

All 40 dead.

Many of their widows and widowers are here today.

And all want to know one thing.

Why did this plane just drop from the sky?

Like Kyle Lidtke.

He lost his wife and two daughters in this crash.

Now, the CEO of Hammett Aerospace

would have him believe it's the pilot's fault,

and not their plane.

But we ask you to reject

this cynical, blame-the-victim defense,

because this is a very simple case of...

...a flawed airplane design.

My co-counsel, Ms. Lockhart,

represents the families of the passengers.

I represent the families of the crew.

But we decided to combine our lawsuits

because we agree on one thing.

Hammett Aerospace

put a jet into service that they knew was defective.

How do we know this?

How do we know that they knew their jet was defective?

Because there is a very brave whistleblower

from within Hammett

who's agreed to testify for us.

Damn.

Not to sound too cynical, but this could be a good thing.

Guilt-ridden whistle-blower

testifying from beyond the grave?

They didn't do a great job cross-examining in the depo.

And it's hard to cross-examine a corpse.

The problem was in the wings.

The de-icing in the wings? - Yes.

It was a system of tubes that distributed fluid

to de-ice the wings during flight.

Not bad.

We admit this into evidence.

And avoid further cross-examination.

Yup.

Falling forward.

Well, that's the problem.

She's a great tutor.

Grace's physics grades

are the best this year.

And where did you find her?

The tutor Eli suggested her.

And Grace is friends with her now?

Yes. I'll talk to her.

Who, Grace or the tutor?

The tutor.

Well, I can find some tutor referrals around here.

No, that's okay.

Let me handle it with a flyswatter, not a bazooka.

I didn't think I was handling it

with a bazooka.

Uh, okay, we'll talk.

I got to go.

Yes, sir.

David Lee's here.

We need more conference room space.

I'm like an itinerant farmer out here.

So, Alicia,

David and I head up the hiring committee,

and we've decided the firm needs a new first-year associate.

So we want you to interview and hire someone.

Really?

These are the new graduates

from U of C. See who you like.

You want me to do the actual hiring?

In consultation with the committee.

And you'll be mentoring him, too, so choose well.

Or her.

Oh, Alicia, uh, I need

to talk to you a minute about the Cole divorce, hmm?

Thank you for this.

No, not me. David.

I'm still supposed to be tense with you, remember?

And by the way, I know how Celeste works.

- Don't worry about it. - No, she thrives on chaos.

She'll say a lot of things about me just to see how you react.

Then I won't react.

So,

we can't use "Cole divorce" as our cover word anymore

because I actually have a Cole divorce.

Oh. Well, we don't need a cover word.

I'm still undecided about it.

Ah, yes, the fiction of separation.

You're putting your kids

in private school?

New item in your financial journal.

I'm thinking of it, yes.

That's $35,000 to 50 a year.

- I know. - My advice is, you don't.

Thank you, but I'm fine.

No, you don't understand.

I'm not your accountant.

You can overspend on anything you like, but

you need to get your husband to pay half.

I... Why?

To preserve your dependency.

You pay that amount on your own,

you lose your best argument against spousal maintenance.

Well, I'm not asking Peter for spousal maintenance.

No, not you. Him.

Hey, don't blame me. You guys wanted equal treatment.

Thank Gloria Steinem.

Peter makes less

in the State's Attorney office than you.

He could come after you for support.

Peter's not coming after me for support.

Alicia, he'll come after you for everything.

No, he wants the governorship.

That's what Eli's plotting over there right now.

Give him the keynote.

Are you kidding?

At the Democratic Convention?

Peter has the best story.

He went to prison on a trumped-up charge,

fought it, and made it back into office.

It's a story of rebirth.

Eli, he's a state's attorney.

And Obama was

a state senator when he got the keynote.

And a black man.

Who is it?

Who's what?

Who are you championing?

You must have somebody already.

Adam Spellman.

Oh, come on!

No to the State's Attorney, but yes to a dogcatcher?

He's not a dogcatcher.

He's a strong businessman with...

You think that's

what America wants to see up on that dais?

Eli, it's already in the works. We're pushing Spellman.

Don't worry about it.

Peter Florrick's marriage is his secret weapon,

not some keynote address.

So, how is she doing?

They knew the de-icing fluid tended to freeze

in the wing lines,

but they decided to save money

and do nothing about it.

We move to introduce this deposition

into evidence, Your Honor.

And we object, Your Honor. It's hearsay.

- We can't cross-examine a corpse. - Really, Mr. Roda?

I'm sorry, Your Honor. Inelegantly put.

But I can't cross-examine the deceased.

Your Honor, Rule 212

expressly permits the use

of a recorded deposition when a witness dies.

But only if the court, in its discretion, determines

it won't do a substantial injustice,

such as in the case of perjury.

Which is why, in the current matter, I would direct

the court's attention to Mr. Ritter's suicide note.

It consists of two lines.

"It's a lie. I'm sorry."

Your Honor, Mr. Ritter's wife was claiming

he slept with their 16-year-old baby-sitter.

The note refers to that.

We don't know that.

He could be referring to his testimony in this trial.

At the very least, the meaning is unclear.

- Unclear? - Oh, really?

Are you serious?

I'm not prepared to interpret the law...

You can all wear yourselves down.

Tell me when you're ready.

What do we do now?

We have other options.

Like what?

We'll ask for a continuance.

We still have our expert witnesses.

You thought they weren't enough.

Hold them accountable,

please... for my wife and daughters.

Kalinda, what are you doing?

Um, Eli business. What do you need?

Yeah, I'm already on it.

Yeah?

Adam Spellman-- do you know who that is?

Adam Spellman. A businessman.

Head of the Chicago Black Leadership Council.

Yeah, I need you to look into him.

- Look? - As in, find dirt.

Why?

He's the likely keynote speaker at the next

Democratic Convention, and if he has a skeleton in his closet,

I do not want him blowing up

in the face of the Democratic Committee.

Really? How selfless of you.

Yeah, well, I'm a caring individual.

Mm.

I need it quick.