What I’m Watching: The Good Wife

The Good Wife: Season 4, Episode 2 “And the Law Won” (B+)

It’s great to see Will practicing law again, combining cockiness with the occasional flustered look and dutiful support from Alicia. The same can’t be said for Kalinda, who got a harsh talking-to from Will after she had to ask him which case he was talking about. Her husband is distracting her entirely from her work, and Clarke’s insistence that Alicia keep him on as a client is going to create serious problems for everyone. Clarke’s trust in what Alicia said about people was so interesting, and it was crazy to see her casual comments be realized and lead to immediate decisions, though that may not be the case anymore after her pushback on Kalinda’s husband. Alicia does seem to have an inspiring effect on people, as was the case of Maura Tierney’s Maddie, who it appeared was coming on to Alicia but instead supported Peter’s campaign and tried to befriend Alicia instead of helping to relieve the enormous debt incurred by Lockhart Gardner. It’s nice to see Peter and Alicia getting along so well, having fun laughing at Eli on the bus together, and this season should provide an intriguing alignment of Alicia’s involvement in Peter’s path to the governorship and her own personal development in an ever-transforming Lockhart Gardner. This week’s case was, once again, an extremely controversial one, and the focus on jury corruption, which was interesting, couldn’t match the denouement of the trial, which featured a few great twists and, as usual, a judge with a personality and a passion for something in particular.