It’s a testimony to The Good Wife‘s critical buzz that the Boss himself allowed CBS to debut three of the songs off his new album during this week’s episode. And it’s a testimony to the show’s integrity that the music blends in but never overwhelms the proceedings.
The title song off Bruce Springsteen’s new album, “High Hopes,” sums it up well: you need to keep up your optimism even during bad times. The Florricks might need to take those lyrics to heart.
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24 Angry Men (and Women)
After last week’s court showdown, is it any wonder that Will and Alicia can’t stand to be in the same room? But fortunately for us, fate — or TV showrunners — have a way of throwing them together.
Give it up for The Good Wife, which deals in something close to realism when it comes to court cases. On many lawyer shows, people are arrested and put on trial within what seems like days. In real life, cases can drag on for months before the defendants actually go before a jury. So that’s why Alicia and Will find themselves in the same courtroom in “We, the Juries,” defending a couple who’ve been charged with smuggling cocaine from Brazil. They were arrested before the two firms split, so both L-G and Florrick, Agos now have roles in the trial.
Though the lawyers try hard to convince the judge (Victor Garber, another great TGW guest star) to split the cases, he agrees only to allow the two defendants — a seemingly unlikely pairing of a nerdy college professor and a blonde hottie — to have separate juries. In the same courtroom. At the same time. Will and Diane defend the hottie, while Alicia and Cary handle the prof.
Chaos ensues throughout the trial. Not only are the two groups disgruntled at having to share the jury box (which apparently has more comfy seats than the folding chairs used to accommodate the extra 12 jurors), but the two groups of lawyers quickly begin pitting the defendants against each other to try and win. The State’s Attorney’s Office, in the form of Matan Brady and Geneva Pine, find the proceedings confusing but happily allow the L-G and FA teams to duke it out.
This also means the two juries get sent out of the room repeatedly so only one group at a time can hear testimony that might be prejudicial to the other’s case. The judge, who can barely keep the two juries straight, finally goes ballistic and declares that everyone stays in the courtroom and hears everything that’s said. With the new rules, Diane manages to convince Alicia that working together is the best way to go.
Robyn (again!) comes up with a possible cause for reasonable doubt about the couple’s guilt, and Alicia introduces her theory in court. It’s only half successful, however. Despite Robyn being on the Florrick, Agos team, it’s L-G that pulls out the win. The hottie’s jury acquits her, while Alicia tells the professor that it’s a coin toss whether his jury will find him innocent. He takes a plea deal for simple possession that will get him out of prison in a couple of years.
At the end, despite everyone doubting whether the couple truly loved one another, it’s clear the hottie is heartbroken at losing her man. It looks like some people can be trusted.
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What Did You Know and When Did You Know It?
That’s not necessarily the case over at the governor’s office. Just because Peter isn’t guilty of fathering Marilyn’s baby doesn’t mean he’s innocent. Cheating comes in all shapes and sizes.
Now that Eli’s brought the incriminating video of his henchman Jim Moody at work with the ballot boxes from Peter’s election, Marilyn Garbanza must investigate possible voter fraud. Seemingly past her morning sickness, the ethics chief dives in deep, interrogating Eli, Peter, Alicia and Will. Eli admits that he might have asked Jim to “do what it takes” to win the election, but can’t recall giving a direct order to commit fraud. Doesn’t look good, though.
Because L-G acted as Peter’s campaign counsel, Marilyn is especially interested in hearing from Ms. Florrick and Mr. Gardner. Alicia’s up first. She not only denies knowing about the video, but she points out that she went to court to get those same ballots disqualified — ballots that later turned out to be for Peter.
When she’s done with Marilyn, a furious Alicia marches to Peter’s office. He denies prior knowledge of the video as well. But — big “but” — he knows that Will wanted to show him something the day of the election that he refused to look at. This doesn’t reassure his wife.
Alicia points out that Zach had to testify in court about those ballots. And now he’ll have to do it again, this time in front of the Feds. “My son will not get caught up in the middle of this hurricane,” she insists to Peter. “Just fix this. Tell me you’ll fix it, okay? Just tell me you’ll fix it!”
“I’ll fix it,” Peter says quietly. But he hasn’t heard the worst yet. Could Alicia’s loss of her court case be a bad omen?
A Very Hostile Witness
When Marilyn questions Will, he admits knowing about the video at the time, but asserts attorney-client privilege. Got to talk to Peter first, he tells her. They march to Peter’s office where, much to Marilyn’s dismay, the governor asks to talk to Will alone.
Getting these two alone in a room together is never a good idea. Will reminds Peter that he tried to bring the video and the fraud to his attention on Election Day, but Peter says he doesn’t remember it like that. (And it is true Peter refused to watch the video then.)
“Oh, is that how you remember withdrawing Diane’s judgeship?” sneers Will. Apparently, Will has a low opinion of politicians’ memories. It’s not long before Will is accusing Peter of voter fraud, while Peter’s calling Will a crooked attorney who was suspended for ethics violations and who slept with another man’s wife.
Fortunately, neither of them carries dueling pistols, so they settle it as attorney and client. Peter makes the decision not to waive privilege, so Will can’t tell Marilyn a darn thing.
This leaves Marilyn in the position of declaring her investigation “inconclusive,” which means the Feds might have to get involved after all. Later, a furious Eli can’t talk her out her decision. Cursing, he throws the report across his office.
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The Player Gets Played
The episode’s third thread revives a dormant storyline that a lot of Good Wife fans care about (myself included) — the relationship between Kalinda and Cary. Whether or not they’re lovers, we still miss their friendship, and so does Kalinda. She sets up a meeting at a bar with her former colleague.
She wants him back in her life, but he’s not buying it. He’s still hurt that she gave private info about the new firm to Will. She reminds him that she jeopardized her job by keeping his plans to start Florrick, Agos a secret. They seem to be making some headway when the bartender spills a drink on him. When he goes to clean up, he leaves his phone behind. It buzzes — and Kalinda looks at the text. Oh, Kalinda!
The text confirms some insider dirt Robyn shared earlier. A wealthy L-G client, Mr. Paisley, may be ripe for the plucking by Florrick, Agos because Will has been neglecting his business. The text says he’s been caught soliciting a woman named Hailey Elliott, so Kalinda tells Will what she’s learned. This is a great time to make things right.
Mr. Paisley (played by Tom Skerritt, so I’m thinking he’ll be a returning guest star at some point) seems baffled at their sudden interest in him. Imagine his surprise when they say that they can help him with the solicitation charge. Imagine their surprise when they learn Hailey Elliott is actually his granddaughter! Worse, she’ s in a wheelchair! There was no solicitation charge — they’ve been had. (And the CEO will be taking his business elsewhere, thank you very much.)
Kalinda visits Cary at his apartment and compliments him on the scheme to trip up L-G. “Well played, Cary,” she says. Props to Kalinda — a pretty savvy player herself — for owning up to being suckered. Cary had the whole thing planned, down to paying the bartender to spill the drink.
She gets him to agree they’re now even. She asks him out for a drink. At first, he hesitates, because any relationship they might have now is probably a bad idea. Just when our gal thinks he’s closing the door on her, he opens it — literally. Out they go, together. (Yay!)
Summary Judgement
Thanks to Marilyn (and that pesky thing called the law), Peter’s troubles are just beginning. He may have blocked Will from testifying against him right now, but there’s the little issue of video evidence still to deal with. Plus, Eli’s man Jim may be loyal, but loyalty only takes you so far when you’re facing a federal grand jury.
A few other questions that I hope will be answered in future episodes:
- Is Diane trying to make nice with Alicia? It almost seems that way during the crazy court case.
- Will Cary and Kalinda manage to trust each other again, if only so we can enjoy watching them hang out? (I still miss Kalinda and Alicia hanging out, but that’s probably too much to ask for at the moment.)
- And what’s up with Will lying to the judge about something that he and Alicia both witnessed? It’s a small thing — what looks like members of the two juries illegally colluding turns out to be a garden-variety hook-up — but why would he do that?
There’s no new episodes for the next couple of weeks, thanks to the Grammys and football playoffs, so we’ll have to wait for the answers. In the meantime, you can enjoy the whole new Springsteen album for free here for the next couple of days. If you listen, be sure to think of The Good Wife!
The Good Wife (usually) airs Sundays at 9pm on CBS.
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(Image courtesy of CBS)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
