The Good Wife's fourth season has, so far, amounted to star-studded uneventfulness, and I'm actually fine with that. If Julianna Margulies wants to act as a snickering ringmaster for the glorious cavalcade of guest-stars that has included everyone from Jane Alexander to Christina Ricci, so be it. (For some reason it's really easy for me to picture Christine Baranski in harlequin circus makeup. Anyway.) But I'm glad to report that Sunday's episode managed to incorporate juicy guest roles and measurable plot progression. We have definitely haven't seen a lot of that combination in awhile. Not that I've had a difficult time settling for heartstopping shots of Cary's coy grin.
Here were my five most notable moments from the episode, numbered for your pleasure.
1. Alicia Florrick's "exuberance" stresses me out.
In one of the opening scenes, Will and Diane call in Alicia for a meeting to make an astounding announcement: They want her to join as partner to the firm, even though she's only a fourth-year associate! OMG. Alicia is floored. Well -- she's as floored as Alicia can be, which means she looked like a woman finally smiling in relief at the end of an Excedrin commercial. Seriously, even when Alicia is given fantastic news, she can only manage a reluctant smile and a minor eyebrow jolt. At her happiest, she looks like Fran Drescher just learned there's been a death in the family. Shante, Ms. Florrick! Jive, grapevine, and kick-ball-change! Let's test the elasticity of that ferocious silver suit with a victorious lunge or two.
Of course, this good news seemed pretty suspicious right off the bat. We knew we'd learn of a catch later in the episode, but even so, I demand thrilling glee from my kickass female protagonists. Constant stoicism can be pretty grim, unless you're a born stoic like Marcus Aurelius or Lee Grant.
2. T.R. Knight's weirdness also stresses me out.
T.R. Knight's continuing surliness as Eli's replacement/protege Jordan Karahalios is getting a little bizarre. After Eli advised Alicia not to announce her atheism for the sake of Peter's campaign, Alicia wearily asked Jordan if he believed in God. "I believe in rainbows and little kids' smiles," he uttered insincerely, like some lunchroom bully preparing to steal a Capri Sun from Alicia's backpack. So weird. T.R. Knight's huggable essence is so squashed and distorted in this role, and maybe that's kind of exciting, but Jordan is mostly a creep who hasn't contributed much to the stakes at hand. He's sort of like Slugworth from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, appearing at unexpected moments to whisper riddles in our hero's ear. Hopefully he turns out to be a harmless plant at the eleventh hour, because I can't cope with him being this shady and nervously diabolical.
3. Atheism wins!
You had to love it when Alicia defied Eli and Jordan's warnings and admitted to the press that she was an atheist. Sure, she was merely following Maddie Hayward's (Maura Tierney) lead, but any speck of genuine candor from Alicia is a blessing. Eli has become so unlikable in the past couple episodes, and I guffawed like Cruella de Vil knowing he'd be pissed. That's all he is anymore. He looks like a pissed-off Inspector Gadget about absolutely everything. He's a humorless headmaster who's out of his depth. Come back to us, cool Eli!
(Also: I just slid a picture of Butterfly McQueen into a Good Wife recap. You are all so welcome.)
4. Evil Michael J. Fox gets a firm slap from a poetically ethical Nathan Lane.
Nathan Lane's arc as Clarke Hayden seemed to conclude last night when he ended up defending Will and Diane against the nefarious, theatrically pill-popping Louis Canning (Michael J. Fox), who tried to sway Clarke into quashing Lockart-Gardner's bid for an extension by wooing him with a job opportunity. Nice try, McFly. I guess I'm sad to see Clarke and his grim reaper stylings disappear, but really, where else could his character go? He'd been such a downer for so long that obviously his time as a viable character was running short. Here, he got to defend Will and Diane on the stand and offer a hilarious final line: "It has been interesting here. I don't know if I'll miss it, but I'll -- no, I won't miss it." Flawless.
5. Diane is scary, saucy, and right. Take that, Alicia.
Alicia learned at a rather inopportune time (on the witness stand) that Will and Diane had offered partnerships to five associates for a somewhat shady reason: to get those five associates to pony up $600,000 apiece as buy-ins. That'd kick a good 10% off the firm's debt. Alicia clearly felt betrayed and misled by the dynamic duo, but Diane won our hearts again when she sat down with Alicia at episode's end and scolded her for being pouty. "You know why I was made partner? Jonas Stern was sued for sexual harassment, and he needed to show that he had a female partner. That's all. When the door you've been knocking at finally swings open, you run through. That is the simple fact." She added, "No one is here to appreciate your moping... Find a way to wear a smile and thank the equity partners for giving you this opportunity, because what is given can quickly be taken away." Hell yes! Excedrin Alicia has a new headache, and its name is THE LAW OF DIANE. Such a fierce and unexpected closing Sugarbaker monologue from Ms. Lockhart. You better believe Alicia cut her crap and smiled like a Mentadent shill immediately following that heart-to-heart. Thanks for the sweet, sweet sourness, Diane!
What'd you think of this episode? Entertaining enough? Are you waiting for T.R. Knight to get comely and huggable again too?
