'The Good Fight' Season 4 Ending Explained: The firm is ground firmly beneath STR Laurie's thumb
Spoilers for 'The Good Fight' Season 4
With its fourth season unfortunately cut short due to the coronavirus halting production, 'The Good Fight' may not have ended on a cliffhanger, but it does leave some major plot threads left dangling, and as the final shot reveals, it's not the only thing that's left unresolved. We now explain the ending to a tumultuous season, and look at what Season 5 has been left to wrap up.
What's the truth about Epstein, and does it matter?
Ultimately, no. The point of the season finale appears to be that the conspiracy around Jeffrey Epstein does not matter so much as the victims of his crimes. While Reddick, Boseman & Lockhart was able to find a major lead in his case, what they ultimately ended up finding was a large storehouse out in the Virgin Islands that held no satisfying answers as to who or what the mysterious "BUD" is. However, the camera shows us that just past the empty chamber is a secret passage that leads to what is implied to be Epstein's frozen brain, and penis -- the latter of which is labeled "BUD." The implication is that Epstein arranged to have his most important organs preserved in case he could be brought back. The deeper implication is that everything surrounding Epstein's death, aside from the crimes that led him to prison in the first place, is silly.
STR Laurie shows its cards
STR Laurie orders the firm to lay off 20% of their payroll. With this, they've finally made a decision that Liz Reddick (Audra McDonald), Adrian Boseman (Delroy Lindo) and Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski) are unhappy enough with to want to buy out their contract, and put their firm back in their control. Despite having raised required $20 million, however, a minor clause in their contract states that the partners must be earning more than they did before STR Laurie bought the firm. If not, then the partners would need $80 million in order to buy their firm back -- a sum well beyond their means. Diane realizes that's why she was made to work pro bono cases. Since she's been working the cases for free, the cost of her billable hours is reduced to nothing. This is a loophole that STR Laurie takes full advantage of. It's the first time we see how completely underhanded STR Laurie is, and Liz, Adrian, and Diane realize that they're now completely at the mercy of their parent company, meaning that a lot of their employees are about to lose their jobs.
How far up does Memo 618 go?
This episode sees Julius Cain (Michael Boatman) take his first steps towards taking Memo 618 down, with Diane by his side. Testifying before the Inspector General herself sees Julius arrested a day later, on bribery charges. Diane and Julius realize, to their horror, that Julius' arrest means that it's likely that even the Inspector General enacts the abuse of authority that Memo 618 is the source of. Julius has become a target and may have no safe harbor, which leaves him with only one option: to fight the good fight.
The battle against Memo 618 -- and against STR Laurie -- will doubtless continue into Season 5, though as of now it is unconfirmed as to when that season will release. All episodes of 'The Good Fight' Season 4 are now available to stream on CBS All Access.
