Mickey, sighing: "All right, so I'll talk to you when he gets out."
Eli: "Yeah. ...I like him."
Mickey: "Not a bad guy. Still room to corrupt him. Hee-hee-hee. I'm thinking of him for state senate first..."

And Eli realizes he's in trouble, because by the time this happens Parker Posey will really have some steam behind her. Which means he's working for them both, which obviously he cannot do, which means he's going to stick with Mickey -- "that's unfortunate," he grins, which could go either way -- but if he does, that probably means Marissa was right, and she's the one that's going to get screwed.

Ah well. At least Eli will have more compassion for Alicia's mommy-bear stuff after that, right? He'll be the Good Husband, then. Forced to bend into the shapes he's bent so many other people into.

What I want, and I know this is not for this season, but I want Alicia in a campaign. That's got to be where this is headed, right? I haven't thought about it in a while, how good that will be, but tonight I am, because of that awful thing Chris Matthews said about Hillary Clinton that time:

That she only got where she is, every step of the way, because her husband fooled around on her.

EXT. DEATH ROW

Alicia escorts Mom and Brother Michael into the jail for Ricky's execution. As usual, she finds the light faster than anybody else:

Alicia: "Just so you know, Mrs. Packer, he helped us with our case. We found the real killer, and our client will be freed. I don't know if that helps..."

How could it? How could it not?

Father Jim: "He really helped you with your case?"

Alicia's surprised that he's surprised. Still, Alicia can be surprised by this. That's what gives me hope.

Father Jim: "I ... Know there's supposed to be good in everyone. But sometimes it's just hard to see. So this gives me hope."

The last thing you should ever say on this show. Ricky's brought out in chains; his mother and brother crowd the bars, with tears in their eyes.

Ricky: "I'm going away now."
Mom: "We love you."
Ricky: "I know."
Mom: "What can we do for you?"

For a moment it's the movie that his mother things it is; the remorse and the love in his eyes. And then it burns out.