After The Lockhart Gardner Split, What's The Worst That Could Happen?

Well, the fourth-years kept their secret as long as they could, trying to stick around Lockhart Gardner to get their bonuses before jumping ship to start their own law firm, but they underestimated the cleverness of Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski), who figured out why everyone was being so sneaky and shared her findings with Will (Josh Charles) in the last episode. The latest episode is a tremendously satisfying series of plot twists that show how a law firm might acrimoniously break apart, leaving both of the resulting firms scrambling to remain viable by chasing the same whale of a client. As we leave our players for the week, Florrick Agos has triumphed, locking up ChumHum's business -- some $35 million a year in billings -- and things seem okay for them at the moment. But there could still be some scary stuff looming on the horizon for our attorneys. They're probably in good hands...but let's still consider some nightmare scenarios that could yet ruin the show for us all.

1. Will enlists Kalinda in his scorched-earth pursuit of Florrick Agos: If you never thought you'd see Will (Josh Charles) direct his berserker rage at Alicia (Julianna Margulies), this episode showed that no potential target is immune, including ones Will has slept with; it was just as much fun to see Alicia give it right back to him just as hard (TWSS). But I will confess, with some embarrassment, that seeing Kalinda (Archie Panjabi) turning fake turncoat was a surprise. I mean, how dumb can I be, right? Kalinda giving up a high-paying job where she basically runs the place to go work for less money at a less powerful company? Kalinda looks out for one guy: Kalinda. That said, now that we know where her loyalties actually lie, they could prove disastrous for Florrick Agos; Robin (Jess Weixler) is in no way Kalinda's equal, and this would be an extremely unbalanced fight, which would be boring to watch -- not to mention that while I'm 100% on Diane's side over Alicia, I'd rather see Alicia triumph over Will.

2. Peter gets sanctioned for ethics violations: What finally tipped the balance for ChumHum in going with Florrick Agos over Lockhart Gardner was the decision by one Illinois governor-elect, Peter Florrick (Chris Noth), to end a press conference about state pensions with a barely-veiled threat about maybe changing tax laws regarding internet companies. Hey, what do you know, that actually makes the prospect of being represented by the governor's wife's firm somewhat more appealing! Unfortunately, as has already been established earlier this season, Peter is being coached in the ways of ethical behaviour, ideally so that he, unlike several of the state's recent governors, doesn't get indicted, and given that this gambit played out on live television, it's kind of high-profile. Does anyone want to watch Peter wriggle for a while as he's being investigated, only to (almost certainly) escape in the end? If he doesn't wriggle out, and Alicia has to repeat her Season 1 storyline of managing life with Peter in prison, that would be even worse.

3. Alicia and Peter break up: Speaking of repeating old patterns: if 2., then probably 3, right? I'm not convinced that the door is completely closed on Will and Alicia. Sure, they're furious with one another now, but if you've seen TV before, you know how quickly loathing can turn into hate-fucking -- and now that he's no longer her supervisor, if Peter does go away, that's two fewer impediments to Alicia and Will openly being together. However, there's another possibility that's even more horrible to contemplate: what if Alicia breaks up with Peter and looks to replace him with a romantic prospect even closer to home? WHAT IF ALICIA HOOKS UP WITH CARY (MATT CZUCHRY)?! I know he's come a long way, but he's still a smarmy little fuck.

...Eh, actually, now that I think about it, if Alicia and Cary were just sex friends and not trying to be a for-real couple, I guess I'd allow it.

4. Something happens with Grace and Other Carey: This whole season has been building toward Grace (Makenzie Vega) embracing her sexuality and trading her Campus Faith Fairs for more Leger bandage dresses; sure, Alicia put a lid on what seemed to be a risk of flirtation between Grace and Other Carey (Ben Rappaport) for now, but if he's going to be working out of Alicia's apartment for the foreseeable future, he and Grace will be crossing paths. What if Florrick Agos did all that work to secure ChumHum, only to risk another schism when Carey totally deflowers Grace?!

5. SOMETHING HAPPENS WITH DIANE: I HOPE MY ALL-CAPS COMMUNICATE HOW ANXIOUS I AM ABOUT THIS. As the episodes ends, Diane has seemingly finished serving Lockhart Gardner's interests; she's technically still a partner, because her exit contract has yet to be signed, and, as she says, even though the firm she built has pushed her out, she hates disloyalty and took up for the firm against Alicia and Cary for that very understandable reason. And, though Eli (Alan Cumming) assures her midway through that none of the split business will affect Diane's bid for the state Supreme Court, the episode ends with Peter suggesting that he's no longer interested in putting her on the bench. The likeliest outcome is that, once Diane realizes that her Supreme Court aspirations will have to wait (maybe forever), Will and Diane will forget their differences and join forces against the Florrick Agos threat. But what if Will and the rest of the Lockhart Gardner partners stick to the original plan and force Diane out after all? Where will she go? What if she just decides "fuck the law" and retires? WHAT IF ALICIA'S TREACHERY MEANS WE LOSE DIANE FROM THE SHOW?! I know it's probably just a nightmare scenario BUT IT'S LITERALLY MY WORST NIGHTMARE!!!