The Good Wife – Stay away from Heather Farms’ cheese

Where or where has The Good Wife gone? I don’t know what’s going on with the show — bearing in mind that the season is all of three episode old — but even with the seemingly fresh spin to the case-of-the-week structure the main story fell flat.

Instead I found myself drawn to, while still slightly bemused by, Eli’s cheese story. His crisis management practice is bringing clients in from both near and far, and this time they came in all the way from Wisconsin and the state’s Dairy Guild. The Listeriosis footage was not pretty, but then I suppose that’s what made it such a big crisis.

But for me — and I assume I’m not alone — it wasn’t really the crisis at hand as much as it was Eli that made his story interesting. While it’s smart for the firm to try and double team Eli’s clients by insisting that they hire Lockhart/Gardner as counsel, I wasn’t so glad that in this case that meant enduring Diane. However, the vast difference between Eli’s and Diane’s priorities made for a very interesting point that Eli made to Kalinda: his business isn’t concerned with the law so much as certainty. And I think if the show succeeds in fleshing out that distinction, giving Eli ample time to demonstrate it, The Good Wife just might find the good once again.

Meanwhile, the cheese plot itself was bland, but I have to imagine that the point was more to bring Nina Arianda’s reporter into Eli’s universe. Will lost whatever minimal good vibes I still had for him when he sold Eli out for a favor from the reporter, but then why did I expect anything different from him? But the main thing is that I don’t think she’s going anywhere anytime soon. Once you’ve identified — and, more importantly, opened a dialogue with — the man behind the curtain, you’re unlikely to walk away from him too quickly. I felt a great significance when Eli said, “I am not part of the story,” to which she replied, “Sorry Eli, you just became part of the story.” That said, if she is one-and-done than I have no idea what Eli’s story was all about.

Other than that the episode failed to interest me. Owen (Dallas Roberts) was back, which is never a good thing as far as I’m concerned, as was Grace’s weird tutor and her odd videos. I can’t even fathom a guess about what her purpose is … you?

And to think that a stacked roster of guest stars was so wasted. I’m sure some of you are Lisa Edelstein fans from House, and I hope for your sakes that Cuddy was better than Celeste. I really hope that she won’t actually be joining the firm … can you imagine having to sit through a ridiculous love triangle on top of everything else?

Isiah Whitlock Jr. played the mediator, and I couldn’t help but think about his crooked State Senator Clay Davis on The Wire. Man, that character pulsated with fire and brimstone; this guy fizzled with some leftover smoke and smudges of soot. What a shame.

And I’d never forget our favorite 90210 dad, James Eckhouse, as CEO of Heather Farms. Or maybe I should … Jim doesn’t do so well without his Cindy.

The season’s still young, but this is not a good path we’re heading down. Maybe The Good Wife will wake up next week.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Oct 10, 2011 @ 13:30 EST5EDT