Article originally published as THE GOOD WIFE Review Season 6 Episode 16 Red Meat on Seat42F.
THE
GOOD WIFE gets into some “Red Meat” in this week’s installment on CBS.
You may take that title literally, as Diane (Christine Baranski) goes
hunting with her husband and his rich, conservative buddies. But there
is also ample opportunity to take it figuratively. The Good Wife is always juicy and filling, and “Red Meat” is no exception.
The main plot revolves around Election
Day for Alicia (Julianna Margulies). Things are looking good for her, so
Marissa (Sarah Steele) and Finn (Matthew Goode) try to distract her
with video games so she doesn’t worry too much. Unfortunately, a little
worry is necessary when Peter (Chris Noth) blows up Alicia’s chances,
sending Josh (David Krumholtz) and Johnny (Steven Pasquale) scrambling.
They even considering having The West Wing’s Melissa Fitzgerald
(herself) do a robo-call, though they don’t know who she is.
Thankfully, Eli (Alan Cumming), almost always a fan of Alicia’s these
days, and relatively honorable where she is concerned, convinces Peter
to help fix his mistake, and Alicia wins.
Peter and Alicia’s marriage is over.
This has never been more clear than in “Red Meat.” When Eli has to
convince Peter to help his wife after Peter is the one that screws
things up, that’s a sure sign there’s nothing left there. He has little
respect or love for her, using her merely as a political tool. She has
seemingly shut down most of her emotion towards him as well, and
hopefully now that the election is over, they can get a divorce. It
might not be what Eli wants, or the most helpful thing for their public
image, but it’s time for them to move on.
Alicia has two romantic options going
into “Red Meat,” but both seem to be gone by the end of the hour.
Although Finn offers to cancel a date to go out with her, Alicia doesn’t
let him. And while I think she would take up with Johnny, Johnny sees
Alicia and Peter together and wrongly assumes their marriage is still
viable, so he leaves town. Either would be good matches for Alicia, but I
have to admit, I’m sad that Johnny seems less likely at this point
because they were very good together. Thank god Marissa is sticking
around to help Alicia, even if she only provides for less physical
urges.
Alicia offers Prady (David Hyde Pierce)
her number two spot and he declines. This is disappointing, but
understandable. He doesn’t believe in Alicia’s approach, and how can he
serve an office he doesn’t respect? A friendship of a sort may have
formed between the two, and I do hope they come back into one another’s
circles in the future. But they are just too far apart in outlook for
the District Attorney’s office to be place for it.
While this is going on, Diane is off
hunting with Kurt (Gary Cole). She can’t resist turning it into a work
trip when she finds out a big name in the tech industry, Gil Berridge
(James Snyder, Adonis), is present, but that’s still relaxing for her,
as she enjoys her career immensely. Despite screwing things up with Gil,
she does find herself in an engaging political debate with R.D. (Oliver
Platt, The Big C), who turns out to be even richer and much more open
to her pitch, providing her firm stays out of abortion issues.
“Red Meat” is pure fun for Diane. We get
to see her out of her element, but also somehow in her element at the
same time. She’s surrounded by those she has fundamental disagreements
with, but as in her marriage, she makes it work, and she ends up having
fun. Diane is a complex, wonderful character, and I’m glad that THE GOOD
WIFE gives her this focus, away from cases, to explore her personality.
Back at the firm, that leaves Cary (Matt
Czuchry) and David Lee (Zach Grenier) as unlikely partners. Thank
goodness Diane will soon be back, as I can’t imagine David Lee getting a
position of too much power again, given his recent bad behavior. Still,
Alicia leaving the firm will shake things up, especially for her
co-founder, Cary, and I look forward to The Good Wife milking the dramatic possibilities.
Finally, Kalinda (Archie Panjabi)
continues to work for Lemond (Mike Colter) in a situation she should
absolutely not be in. That Lemond has decided to get out of the drug
business after his son is kicked out of yet another school doesn’t
improve Kalinda’s position any. Now Lemond wants Kalinda and Alicia to
protect him for jail, which will not be easy. I don’t think Lemond will
find Alicia all that cooperative, no matter what he did for her
campaign, and Kalinda is the easiest one to take his frustration out on.
Even if Alicia doesn’t like Kalinda any more, I’m sure she’ll try to
protect the investigator from harm. Will she be able to?
We still have half a dozen episodes in
this season of THE GOOD WIFE, but “Red Meat’ is starting to build
towards the finale, as have other episodes that have come before it. The
story is extremely serial at this point, and it’s enjoyable to watch
each unexpected new twist.
The only complaint I have about “Red
Meat” is, where are Alicia’s children? Shouldn’t they be around while
she’s waiting for the results, and certainly at the celebration after?
THE GOOD WIFE airs Sundays around 9 p.m. ET (depending on inexcusable sports overruns) on CBS.
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