Bucky: "I'm pretty sure that's offensive..."
Alicia: "What's offensive is using military exceptions to keep an employee from facing his accuser in court. After serving her country for twelve years I think Captain Hellinger at least deserves to face her rapist."
Bucky: "-- Accused rapist!"
Alicia: "Good point, scum."
Abernathy: "I'm with Florrick on this one..."
Bucky: "Really? Because I'm pretty sure most of these get overturned on appeal."
Alicia, verbatim: "Come! On! You'd be more subtle if you sent the judge a death threat."

Abernathy: "Yeah, but. Okay, let's argue evidence on how closely aligned Martinel is with the military."
Alicia: "We got 48 hours, man!"
Abernathy: "We can do a lot in 48 hours, sister. Get it done."

All service is about putting yourself under a higher authority. (Is it just me, or is the IN GOD WE TRUST sign over the Bench much bigger and brighter and more prominently framed than usual?) There aren't any Kalindas in Army Town, nor any Eli Golds either. Just the law, just the itty-bitty living space. Kuhn tells Hellinger to do something, that's an order, and you do it. You breathe, you remember who you are, and you do what's being asked of you.

And St. Alicia, being who she is -- being used to her own authority being of a higher caliber than anybody else's -- really has to pull and stretch against that, just to even understand it. Looking at these brilliant strong admirable women, Kuhn and Hellinger -- and seeing them nod and breathe (and lean into) bullshit she'd have already called Kalinda or Peter to fix -- is another path to growing.

The thing Judge Kuhn brings with her, much like Diane Lockhart herself, is the explicit exploration of how many ways there are to be a woman in territory the men still hold. This part is verbatim, but I love it so much:

Hellinger: "You're good!"
Alicia: "I've had practice."
Hellinger: "Take a compliment."
Alicia: "...Thank you. Let's win this."

K CHEN INVICTUS

Kristin Chenoweth: "Why am I here? Is this another ambush?"
Eli: "You get the real story, not the dumb fake one like Mandy Post. What do you know about her?"
K Chen, leaning in: "What do I want to know about Mandy Post?"
Eli: "Oh, it's good. Her cousin in Greater Illinois's going through a nasty divorce four years ago, and suddenly the wife accuses him of molesting their nine-year-old..."
K Chen: "That's dark, for this show."
Eli: "...The kid testified against her father and he was convicted..."
K Chen: "You're creeping me out right now."
Eli: "Prison for twelve years, currently serving his time. And just you guess who prosecuted him."
K Chen: "Four years ago, Peter Florrick would have been the SA the first time..."
Eli: "You can't tell anybody I told you this."