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The way we move through the world often betrays our most intimate selves.
I found myself studying the people around me.
A mom with a blonde bob pushed a stroller with single-minded determination.
But what happens when the rules you live by truth, justice, and democracy itself cease to exist?
In the third season ofThe Good Fight, this has proved to be the rich seam of Dianes arc.
Her character wrestles with retaining her morality and utilizing her anger in this chaotic political moment.
In the process, her body language changes from her signature self-assured grace to a sharply pointed threat.
Early on inThe Good Wife, Dianes aspirational qualities were evident in her physicality.
Her posture was straight, and she took up space with both her body and her voice.
This isnt to say she wasnt complicated.
The best moments in Dianes arc onThe Good Wifeare when she lets her guard down.
It is one of the most sexually charged moments in the series.
Her gaze follows his jawline and the curve of his lips as he moves around her.
Its as if shes undressing right before our eyes, peeling off layers of control.
Its around Kurt, in the throes of lust, that we see Diane begin to appear disheveled.
And finally, in the finale, comes theinfamous slap.
Its a fuck you in physical form.
WhenThe Good Fightbegan in 2017, Diane was already beginning to fray at the edges.
Diane is composed, at first, but the rage roiling inside of her is evident.
So, youre loyal to her?
she says with contempt.
[But] not my firm, not my client, not to me.
As tears well up in her eyes, she emphatically says, I will not be that wife.
At first, Dianes reaction is to run from her problems.
She turns to microdosing hallucinogens and a torrid affair that has repercussions for her professionally.
Its not about being an aggressor, Baranski told me in a recent phone interview.
We see this in her exhilarated awe as she studies and buys exquisite, hand-carved Bavarian axes.
It is evident in the assured focus of her gaze and movements.
Its only her and her target, only her and her goal.
She remains focused on the bulls-eye, hitting it with precision.
The only noise interrupting Blums self-indulgent prattling is Dianes occasional, mirthful chuckle and thethunkof blade hitting wood.
Until Diane turns to Blum.
I know what this is, she begins.
Youre compelled to defile, Mr. Blum.
And you may think youve made some inroads at my firm, but I promise you it wont last.
It would be easy, after this moment, to turn Diane into a gleaming paragon for moral verisimilitude.
It would be earned in some respects, if a bit hollow.
But by the end of this season it isnt anger that defines the way she moves through the world.
In the face of how jaded Maia has become after joining Blums cause, Baranski softens her performance considerably.
Shes left emotionally bare the shock written on her face as she sees Maia alongside Blum in court.
For Diane, the richest moments are the quietest in the finale, far away from the courtroom.
