What I’m Watching: The Good Wife

The Good Wife: Season 5, Episode 14 “A Few Words” (B-)

This episode was disappointing on a few levels, which is a rarity for this show. Alicia making a big speech in which she referenced some very important moments from when she first tried to reenter the legal world was a perfect opportunity to flash back to a time when Alicia and Will actually liked each other but hadn’t yet fallen for each other, and this episode definitely seized on that opportunity. Yet, as tends to be the case with flashbacks where the same actors are playing their characters’ younger selves, it didn’t feel entirely authentic, aside from that one oft-replayed, sweeping second where Will blocked the elevator doors to say hi to old his classmate. The two of them sitting next to each other in the café and finally hashing it out also left something to be desired, and it didn’t have the same impact it should have. In terms of guest stars, Jill Hennessy’s Rayna Hecht feels like a less enticing version of Maddie Hayward, a powerful woman intrigued by Alicia but ultimately interested in blazing her own trail. It was good to see Elsbeth again, rightfully ranting at an anti-Semitic bear (an obvious parody of the real-life Anti-Semitic Elmo). She’s got a lot on her plate now, with a new partner and a major client in the form of Will, who is going to have to decide just how much he hates Peter and whether he wants to throw him under the bus or not. I think things should fall into place once everyone returns to Chicago, and I’m optimistic about future episodes.