Be honest: did you spend the holidays wondering if there’s a jail cell in Cary Agos’ future? Did you hope you’d find positive polling results for Alicia’s campaign under your tree?
Well, consider your holiday extended. The weather outside may still be frightful, but CBS has made the new year a bit more delightful with new episodes of The Good Wife.
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Cary Prepares for the Worst
As this week’s episode, “Hail Mary,” begins, things look so bad for Cary that he’s hired a “prison consultant” (played by Domenick Lombardozzi). The guy’s advice is pretty scary — if Cary doesn’t find a friend on the inside, he’s likely toast.
Cary turns to Kalinda to see if she knows anyone. She in turns asks an unlikely source for help — Lemond Bishop. He reminds her that she threatened him just a few weeks ago. He will do her a favor, but she owes him one in return, which she meekly agrees to.
Bishop hands her a phone. The man on the other end says he can provide protection to Cary when he gets to prison (good). He also lets it slip that Cary’s co-conspirator, Trey, was trying to export drugs to Toronto through Chicago (better). Cary’s charged with conspiracy to import drugs — he’s being framed!
A quick phone tree between Kalinda, Diane and Alicia gets the ball rolling to withdraw Cary’s guilty plea before sentencing.
A Last-Minute Break
Alicia wants to help, but she’s tied up with debate prep. Eli’s hired an eccentric English professor (the great Chris Elliott) to play Frank Prady. The governor’s wife lags behind in the polls, so she needs her upcoming confrontation with Prady to turn things around. But her head’s not in the game — it’s on Cary.
Diane files a motion with Judge Cuesta (David Paymer) to drop the charges against Cary. Her evidence that Cary never assisted Bishop’s men in importing drugs is strong, but she still has to prove that the prosecution intentionally lied — something called a Brady violation. If she can’t prove that, Cuesta won’t let Cary off. Diane and Kalinda have less than a day to bring that proof.
It’s all hands on deck at Florrick, Agos & Lockhart. Every partner and associate works to prove that the prosecutors knew Cary wasn’t involved in the drug shipment in question. But while all this is going on, they agree to keep Cary in the dark so they don’t raise their hopes.
Kalinda has a breakthrough with a Canadian police official who contacted Detective Prima (the Chicago cop who testified against Cary) via e-mail with his suspicions about Bishop’s men. The Chicago police deny receiving the e-mail, so Diane petitions the court for the police department’s backup drives. With only four hours to go before Cary’s sentencing, the judge agrees to the motion, much to Geneva Pine’s dismay.
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Is This a Promise Kalinda Can Keep?
Kalinda’s computer expert looks into the Chicago PD’s files for the crucial e-mail. While she paces, the prison consultant calls her, telling her to come see her boyfriend in his hotel room before he goes to jail. (Apparently, “making memories” is one of his main pieces of advice.) Unfortunately, just then, the computer guy reveals that the all-important e-mail went to the detective’s spam folder — where it sat unread. Whatever else is going on, Det. Prima really didn’t talk to the Canadians.
Kalinda heads out to see Cary. He demands that she tell him what’s going on. She admits they can’t find an obvious Brady violation. They sit on the bed holding hands as the prison adviser yells, “Less talking, more sex!” through the door. This time, they take his advice.
Afterwards, she promises she’ll still be there for him when he gets out. (She’s obviously sincere, though we know that Archie Panjabi is leaving the show, so…)
Will Cary Run?
Back at debate prep, the professor gets off to a good start but fades quickly — it turns out he’s high on medical marijuana. Finn Polmar steps in to fill the role of Prady.
After leaving Cary’s room, Kalinda gets that “Kalinda look” on her face. She asks her computer expert if the cops could have faked the metadata showing that the crucial e-mail went unread. In theory, yes, he says. She asks him to show her how to mess with the metadata, and her friend reluctantly agrees. It’s a risky play that could backfire.
Back in his hotel room with the consultant, Cary discusses the possibility of leaving the country before he goes to jail. The consultant says it’s a bad idea. You’ll spend your life on the run.
As Kalinda is learning to hack the PD’s e-mail, the “other Carey” brings in different evidence that may show the detectives were hiding something. Things are looking hopeful again!
But Cary’s losing hope. Despite his consultant’s advice, he’s contemplating his options. He has a quarter-of-a-million in the bank. Is that enough for a clean getaway?
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Peter’s Attempt to Help Backfires
More of the seemingly endless debate prep. This time, Alicia’s doing better against Finn. But Peter shows up to watch and keeps jumping in, which annoys Polmar. He leaves, and they need a “new Prady.” Hey there — Peter happens to be available. Alicia also asks her husband for a favor: help get Cary into a minimum-security facility. He says he can’t do it because it would look bad. Alicia says she understands, but now she’s annoyed.
But she’s writing off Peter too quickly. Alicia doesn’t know it, but Peter has been stalling Judge Cuesta to keep him out of the courtroom. (He sent an operative to offer the judge a possible seat on the state supreme court.) Unfortunately, when Cuesta figures out the ruse, he’s furious and vows to ruin the governor’s wife’s law firm.
Meanwhile, Kalinda finds Detective Rodriguez, Prima’s former partner and someone who might have the key evidence to save Cary. Rodriguez was taken off the case because he “wouldn’t play along with Castro.” Now that Castro’s a lame duck, what does he have to lose by helping Agos?
A Plot Revealed
Back at debate prep, Alicia finally — finally! — gives a rationale for why she’s running for State’s Attorney. She announces that winning cases isn’t more important to her than seeing justice done. It seems like a direct slap in her husband’s face. Campaign manager Jonathan is thrilled at her fire, but Eli is worried they’re damaging the Florrick marriage. The two men end up in a raging fight.
In court, Judge Cuesta accuses Diane of pulling a stunt to keep him out of the hearing. And where is her client? There’s a heart-stopping moment where it looks like Cary’s a no-show, but he walks in.
Diane denies any involvement in Peter’s ploy and approaches the bench with evidence of a Brady violation. But which evidence? Kalinda runs into the room carrying the (legitimate) evidence she and Carey Zepps found, as Diane presents the e-mail with the (bogus) metadata. Kalinda looks chagrined.
Detective Prima vehemently denies reading the Canadian e-mail. Will Kalinda get caught? Before the judge can decipher the metadata, Detective Rodriguez arrives. Surprise — Geneva announces she’s just received a statement from Rodriguez that shows Cary may have been the victim of entrapment. (Oops!)
Judge Cuesta is furious (again). Geneva asks to retry the case, but it’s a no-go. The judge apologizes sincerely to Cary for the legal debacle and all his troubles of the past six months. He dismisses the case with prejudice, meaning Cary can’t be tried on these charges again. Cary is free to go — hugs and tears all around!
But as Cary’s hugging and thanking Kalinda, her phone rings — it’s Lemond Bishop. (You didn’t think he would forget she owes him, did you?)
Diane calls Alicia to tell her the news. Standing in the parking garage after debate prep, Ms. Florrick gives a whoop of joy. Jonathan sees her and asks if she’s okay. She’s so okay she walks up to him and gives him a huge kiss, then walks away from her stunned manager.
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Summary Judgment
Happy 2015, Good Wife fans! This show plays with our emotions in ways that few serious dramas do, and season 6 is no exception.
Let’s face it: given everything that’s happened on The Good Wife over the last 12 months, it was actually possible that Cary would be donning the orange jumpsuit. Thankfully, the man who never wanted to be anything but a lawyer remains free to practice law again.
Meanwhile, Alicia’s finally finding her voice in the campaign. With the albatross of Cary’s legal troubles off her neck, she can now focus on becoming State’s Attorney.
Now if only Kalinda doesn’t go to jail for tampering with evidence or go down in a hail of bullets defying Lemond Bishop, all will be right with the world.
The Good Wife airs Sundays at 9pm on CBS.
(Image courtesy of CBS)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
