Equity Partners: "We all know what this is about and what all of our agendas are, so why keep going. Let's just vote."
Diane: "Actually? No. I'm invoking my managing partner prerogative. That means, Eli, that I can overrule you and act unilaterally under certain circumstances which, by keeping them vague, don't create extra show mythology. She's getting a bonus."

David Lee tries to get Eli to temporarily ally with him against this Diane-Julius-Will coup, but Eli knows which way the wind's going and besides, he wants Alicia to stay anyway.

Will, after: "You ... just stuck your neck out for a third-year associate."
Diane: "Your suspension has left us exposed. I stuck my neck out for the future of this firm."

Wow, on paper that looks super bitchy, but somehow the way she said it, it felt the opposite way. Like she was saying the truth but implying a truth behind it -- about her feelings for him, for Alicia -- that makes it a sort of lie. Or that Will was saying, "You really do like her," and Diane was saying, "Shut the fuck up about that, bro," because secretly she kind of does. I don't know yet, but I do know it was a sweet moment.

Which makes it kind of scary, because the idea of something biting Diane in the ass is painful enough, but when it's her compassion and generosity of spirit -- so often the ethical safety net for the firm, in such unexpected, karmically gracious ways -- the fact that she could conceivably get burned for it is very sad and scary. Anyway, she walks off giggling into her phone, flirty, throaty laughter, that confuses Will as much as it makes his day.

V CANNING

Alicia: "No, but thanks."
Canning: "You used me!"
Alicia: "This is America. Besides, buck up. This was a win for you too -- the settlement keeps the League clean."

There is a ton of "look at all this paper" in her delivery; Alicia pretending to fail to dissemble is still the funniest fucking thing in the world because she's actually a very good liar who can't lie to save her life, so any time she gets to look somebody in the eye and wink while lying to them is a total relief for everybody, because she's doing her Alicia thing while also doing the thing she's trying to do, while also being utterly adorable.