The Good Wife returned last night with a spicy episode that layered in character details like a well-prepared lasagna. Accordingly, one main ingredient was cheese: The central legal case, about a college student accused of murdering another, was framed as a 12 Not-Too-Angry Men and Women jury-room drama. This was the usual stuff about jurors debating and changing votes during deliberations. (Hats off to Tovah Feldshuh, herself in a tomato-sauce red hat, for breaking through the blandness here.)
The real meat of the episode was, of course, outside the courtroom. Christine Baranski’s Diane had a thick plot line reuniting her with the laconic ballistics expert played by guest Gary Cole. It was almost shocking when he and Baranski kissed — not because of the plot’s she’s-a-liberal, he’s-a-conservative tension, but because no other popular network drama gives its middle-aged co-stars so much of a romantic life. (By contrast, Matt Czuchry has seen his Good Wife role shrink to being a quiet helper. Last night, his primary job was to translate the illiterate gurglings of the young woman on trial and transmit her wishes to his betters.)
And then there was Alicia. Alicia, who’s now taking calls at home from Will and sighing breathily that their long-ago university affair is “romantic because it didn’t happen.” This was overheard by Alicia’s daughter, which means Alicia will pay for her honesty in a future episode. (It was an off-week, apparently, for Chris Noth, otherwise I assume he’s the one who’d have been eavesdropping, his house-arrest manacle clicking like a Geiger counter.)
If Diane’s sexcapades with her “Marlboro Man” ended up putting the firm’s murder case in jeopardy, The Good Wife used Archie Panjabi’s Kalinda as its most dashing truth-seeker. “You been a bad girl?” she asked Alicia playfully, reading the guilt on the latter’s face over the Will flirtation. And Panjabi knows how to make a deadpan stare work like a hardboiled detective, as when she cowed a college student into opening a locker simply by giving him a cold, fierce glare in response to his feeble are-you-a-cop? questions. (“I’m Kalinda” could become the title for a spin-off series.)
The Good Wife had all sorts of good ingredients this week. The hour managed to keep Julianna Margulies front-and-center even though he didn’t have much to do with the main trial. And I liked the small details, such as the way one juror cited an episode of CSI: New York to make a point about evidence.
I also enjoyed Will talking about how the case had to tell “a good story” to convince a jury. Talking like a script writer for, say, The Good Wife, he’d say, “There’s a problem with the narrative” and “It’s not a good story” when a problem arose.
Since it started in the jury room, we knew The Good Wife had to end there, and am I the only one who wishes that, after a plea bargain made the jury decision moot, the camera had not panned down to reveal the jury’s verdict? But The Good Wife, led by the terrific performances of Margulies, Josh Charles, Baranski, and Panjabi, gave us a nourishing hour with a little food for thought, and a warm feeling in our hearts and tummies.
Did you watch? What did you think of the episode’s legal case, and the various romantic activities?
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Completely agree that they should not have shown what the verdict was. Would have been much more powerful if they had left us guessing. That move was a little too lowest common denominator.
I don’t think it would have mattered; seemed obvious to me that they voted not guilty.
Toats my goats, man. Agreed.
I think the end of that has a big metaphor for pretty much the season and this episode of openness
That’s an interesting point, Luis. I felt the same way as Ken. I hate when movies and TV shows have little trust in their audience to “get” what’s between the lines. But your analysis is interesting and, I suspect, spot on. I look forward to seeing how it pans out.
Absolutely agree.
Revealing the jurors’ decision actually makes the ending more provocative, not less. This way we are left with not one, but two ironies: First, that the girl would’ve gotten off if she refused the plea and let the jury decide her fate. Second, that the jury (to my view, based on their reaction to the plea deal) believes they were about to free a murderer, when their verdict was actually correct. Both ironies feed directly into the lawyers’ worrying over facts and stories and how what things look like – how accessible they are as abstractions – adds up to less than the simple truth. In this case, I believe giving the audience more information was definitely NOT a lowest common denominator move.
I agree. I had figured out the verdict but still felt it was the right ending.
Adds up to MORE than the simple truth. Oops.
very good point
I liked the ending — really made me sad for the young girl, a character I barely knew — for the reasons E.B. stated (and better than I could have).
Also, I disagree with Ken about Carey’s role being insignificant. Usually, we see the clients bond with and trust Alicia. This time, Carey, who began the series as a kind of young slickster, showed a welcome humanity.
I just wished the confused and desperate defendant continued to take Carey’s gut-level advice to the end.
Did anyone else think Will and Alicia seemed to think taking the plea was the smart way to go?
Perfect.
Spot on. My husband would’ve preferred that they hadn’t shown the jury’s verdict at the end, but I thought it was an effective way to show how complex a defense case can be — especially the calculations involved in taking a plea vs. taking your chances with a jury verdict.
I am glad they showed the verdict … even though I knew what it was going to be. It was very poignant and all in all a well done episode. But its a real comment on the legal system … that people have such little faith in juries and the legal system that they bet against themselves by taking a plea bargain for something they didn’t do instead of hoping truth will prevail.
I was a little confused by the whole thing, this was my first whole episode after sampling it a few times. I’m just soooo happy that CBS has a show with BUZZZZZ that people are talking about.
I thought it was necessary. I served on a jury last year. Very difficult.
It was used to show just how insecure the lawyers on both sides are. Neither side thought they had proved their case that is why the agreed to the plea. Neither side was willing to let the jury render its verdict. I felt sorry for the girl (I don’t know whether she was innocent or not) but to realize that she took a deal for 10 years when she was going to be acquitted sucked all because her lawyers weren’t sure they had convinced a jury shows the flaws in our system. It also proves that our system works. I would think that someone who is guilty would take a plea if you are innocent you fight. So the Will and Alicia did their job very well the jury found her not guilty unfortunately apparently she was guilty.
She wasn’t guilty. As the Marlboro Man gun expert showed, the victim was a thief who accidentally shot herself with the gun when she tried to steal it out of the drawer. Carey told the defendant to trust that the truth would win, and if the girl and her mother had done so, the girl would have been freed, because the jury did indeed acquit her. Instead, she’ll serve 10 years because she was too afraid to trust her lawyers and the system.
Yep.
I agree 100%
I believe her mother convinced her to plea
Yeah, the idea “that someone who is guilty would take a plea if you are innocent you fight” is one of those “stories” that make sense and make people comfortable coming to a judgment. But reality dictates pragmatism when you’re weighing a definite ten years versus possibly the rest of your life (or 45 years or whatever it was.) You know you’re innocent, but how much do you risk on the hope that anyone else believes that?
Agree with E.B. again.
The choice between possibly coming out of prison an old woman or coming out of it still a young one was made very difficult since both sides presented holes to their cases.
Of course, the defense only has to show reasonable doubt — which the jury was smart enough to ascertain — and I think Alicia and Will failed their client by not stressing that. Then again, as indicated above, they weren’t confident about their case — another thing that makes “The Good Wife” special, showing attorneys who are not invincible in court.
Finally, I’d argue that the jury, relying on its common sense, was smarter than the high-priced, well-heeled lawyers arguing this case.
Dramatically, they probably should have kept the verdict a secret. However, the fact that so many people were willing to go with not-guilty made me think it was a foregone conclusion.
I love this show!
I think Josh acting was brilliant last night… His facial expression was superb! Great..great performance. Again another fantastic episode,..2 thumbs up to the writers, director and actors
I really, really like this program. I agree with zee regarding the writers, director and actors, and I look forwarding to watching each new episode.
Agreed. His facial expression was pefect. Brilliantly done. I loved that scene.
I looked forward to coming to this site this morning and seeing a little tribute, or at least a re-cap of, last night’s Law & Order: CI’s departure of Goren and Eames. There was nothing last week after part one, so I thought you were waiting to comment after part two. No such luck. A huge transition took place in the Major Case Squad, but EW was oblivious. Too busy with DWTS and other reality crap to cover a serious drama with such high production values. Sorry to post my comment here, but there was nowhere else to put it.
A big thank you to Zap2It in giving a nod to D’Onofrio’s departure which resulted in 144 comments and counting…
CHEERS TO YOU TERRYT!
I love how they is no coverage of L&O CI.
Maybe they should have had a reality “star” on this episode to get some coverage.
ew always is weird with shows going off the air. Its like the show caught a disease or something. Tributes are few & far between. I was shocked when 90210 went off the air and nothing from ew. Now, that might not have been the best show but it put FOX on the map & showed that putting new episodes on in the summer in a very smart thing & was on for years.
Thanks, Mia. Go on over to Zap2It for coverage.
I do not think L&O CI went off the air. I believe Eames and Goren left but the series will continue with Jeff Goldblum and his new partner. If I am wrong, please enlighten me.
No, the show isn’t going off the air. Gorem and Eames, along with their captain, have been replaced with a whole new cast.
THANK YOU TERRY T! I went over to Zap2it but still would’ve loved an EW recap or something. D’Onofrio and Erbe will be extremely missed, I wish them luck in their future projects.
It was a good episode. Matt Czuchry is completely underused so far in this series. However, you should have included him in the listing of terrific performances on this show. He has excelled with every bit of the character they’ve given him. You also, as usual, failed to mention that Cary called the jury decision correctly in his advice to the defendent. This was not “translating” info to his “betters”. We are quite tired of your attitude towards Matt Czuchry. You didn’t like knowing the jury vote because it showed Cary correct is our guess. When Alicia wins the rigged “competition” let’s hope Cary is given more of a storyline on his own. If that bothers you, Mr. Tucker, so much the better.!
Do you realize how strange this sounds? Do you really think that this critic has some kind of personal vendetta against a fictional character? BTW, who is “we?”
Is this “we” a Matt Czuchry fan club made up of you and your cat?
LOL !!!
The best new show on tv; the writing is fantastic.
I think the purpose of showing the verdict was to show that Carey’s instincts as a lawyer are pretty good. personally I’m glad they told us what the verdict was. Love the interaction between Diane and McVeigh – they have great chemistry and I hope that’s not the last we see of the 2 of them together. Also love that the interaction between Will and Alicia is very subtle and they have turned the show into a soap opera after the 2 of them kissed. Nice move showing the trial from the jury’s point of view for a change. Was it just me or did anyone else want to know what Will said to Alicia on the phone – towards the end of the conversation she said to him “don’t say that”. How long do we have to wait until the next episode??? Such a great show….
Meant to say that I’m glad that they did nt turn the show into a soap opera after the 2 of them kissed…
Actually, Sparky — and I was on record right here in Ken’s blog saying “The Good Wife” was the best show on TV about a week before EW declared so on its magazine cover — my one criticism of this episode was that it leaned a little too much toward the soapish side. There was a lot of who’s kissing whom, who slept with whom, who gave whom what look. That said, I really liked the episode.
“How long do we have to wait until the next episode???”
I hope last night began a run of new episodes over consecutive weeks. Seems like there has only been an average of one new episode a month over the last 2-3 months. Can’t afford doing that with a quality new show that is trying to increase viewership.
no previews were shown which usually means no new ep…
I’ll take what I can get but what in the heck is the damn point of having re-runs, 1 new ep, and re-runs again?? love this show though!! More Mary Beth Peil!!!
TV Guide shows a rerun next week AGAIN.
That’s too bad. Thought it was a really good episode. Glad they showed the verdict. Can’t imagine the ratings have been that great with all the reruns sandwiched between new eps. Is this show officially on the bubble?
I really wanna know what Will said to Alicia on the phone.
Love the episode.
great acting and writing.
I’ve been wondering what he said to make her say that…
loved the episode, but would have preferred if they hadn’t told us the veredict…
You review this, and not Chuck???
chuck is a festering turd. much like fans of chuck.
I enjoyed watching the “two middle aged folks” being sexual..What a concept and all kidding aside not enough of it on screen in general.
What I loved about it is that it showed off, once again, what a superb actress Christine Baranski is. In the past, she’d proved what a brilliant comedienne she is, and “The Good Wife” showed how equally good in intense drama she could be. And then tonight: while always being the strong, intelligent law firm partner she is, Diane was positively smitten: smiling brightly when she caught a glimpse of him outside during her interview, hanging out at the court to “accidentally” run into him. It was great to see that side of her. Ah, Christine Baranski – is there anything she can’t do?
I enjoyed the episode. I was surprised to find out that Diane had gone up to the “Marlboro Man’s” hotel room. They do have good chemistry. Cary didn’t do much in this episode but I’m pretty neutral regarding Cary’s character. Love the looks and subtlety between Will and Alicia. Waiting for them to have that dinner. I also think it would have been really interesting if it had been Peter listening in on the conversation instead of the daughter.
They do have great “sexual” chemistry, but no intellectual commonality. They’ll wake up smiling in the morning, but have nothing to talk about over breakfast — unless they’re arguing. Writers, PLEASE don’t have Diane give up who she is for a mam!
Well-written review of an excellent episode.
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I honestly don’t understand how the jury came back with not gulity considering they had 2 ballistic people testifying saying two different things. That alone would have made me think guilty. Seeing that chick who is always on Law and Order playing a juror was really jarring. I also wish they didn’t show the results of the jury. I just LOVE Diane and The Cowboy. They have so much chemistry and are so cute together. I loved how she timed herself so that she’ll run into him at the courtroom. I wonder if Alicia’s daughter is going to tell her daddy or whether she will just confront her. I love the way Will and Alicia look at each other. They are saying so much with just those glances and smirks. I just have to try to look at the actor who plays Will as only Will. I keep looking at him as that kid from Hairspray. I desperately missed Chris Noth and his sidekicks although the episode didn’t seem all over the place. I care more about Alicia and her career than her husband’s.
The 2 different ballistics opinions = reasonalble doubt = not guilty.
If I were a jury member, i would have taken that as the defense was desperate because she was guilty. I wouldn’t have thought of it as reasonable doubt.
Or that the Prosecution was desparate because she was not guilty and they didn’t want to lose.
Then we have to pray that Sina never gets on a jury.
This is what makes jury trials so intriguing.
I love this show, but I hated this episode.