The Good Wife – I thought it was something in my house that was beeping

Talk about picking up right where we left off last time. A few weeks ago Peter’s return brought us into The Good Wife’s short hiatus, and last night it began what would appear to be Act 2 in this saga.

For a woman whose philandering, possibly criminal husband just returned home from prison while awaiting a second trial, Alicia sure seemed to take everything in stride. But I guess that’s one of the things that makes her the strong woman that she is. Nevertheless, while he may be innocent of the crimes that landed him in jail in the first place, he definitely cheated on her. I’m not sure how she’s so prepared to let him near her and their kids.

That admitted guilt also speaks a bit to the whole “doctored” picture that Zach showed to Peter. Something’s going on there, but the whole idea of the picture is being manipulated in such a way as to make it seem as if the entire “sex with prostitutes” issue was fabricated. Let’s get something straight here: Peter may be claiming to have not been in that picture, but he was definitely sleeping with prostitutes while doing drugs at some point in time. Let’s not lose sight of that fact.

Which also shouldn’t preclude Peter from returning to public office … if he’s found innocent of the crimes he’s charged with! How about waiting on the strategy sessions until there’s some clarity there? The fact that he’d mount this campaign in his wife’s kitchen, after everything that he’s done to her, is so selfish that Alicia should have punched Peter in the face after Eli Gold (Alan Cumming) paid her a visit.

I thought we were done months ago with the investment fraud cases on TV, and I certainly didn’t expect a show to actually pretend that one of its fictional characters was involved with Bernie Madoff himself. Maybe his estate could sue for unauthorized use of his persona and raise some of the money it needs to pay back his defrauded investors.

I was disappointed in the guest spot by the ubiquitous Gary Cole. He seemed very pre-politics Bob Russell, which in other words is the actor Cole was seven years ago. He may not have wowed me on Entourage, but I still expected more than some ballistics mumbo jumbo, and flirting with the annoying Diane.

Speaking of annoying, what’s with the will they/won’t they saga swirling around making Kalinda more of an independent character (as in, will they do it, or won’t they?). Her character has appeared to have legs to stand on a few times, like when Glenn Childs tried to get her to spy on Peter, or when Peter recruited her to be a double spy. But each time that she makes progress (especially last episode, when she both investigated a murder and testified in Peter’s appeal trial), she suddenly appears to get pulled into the background. Personally I’m not sure which I’d prefer for her, but I’d appreciate the writers making a decision.

Also annoying is this ridiculously fabricated sexual tension between Will and Alicia. It’s not on display for anyone to see, but when it suits the plot, there it is. Kalinda talks about it, Will and Alicia share a look or an awkward moment, and all of a sudden it’s real. I think everyone would be better served if it were dropped.

You know, kind of like the writers totally dropped the ball on the war with Stern. Where’s the turf war that I was sure would explode? Where are the fleeing clients, the poaching of attorneys?

None of it’s necessary, but it’s yet another abandoned path on this series. The Good Wife is fantastic just keeping on a straight and narrow path. Why mess with that?

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Mar 03, 2010 @ 14:00 EST5EDT