THE GOOD WIFE Fans "Recipients" of Another Great Installment

Article originally written for Seat42F.

Thank you for your advice. All options are open to me, and I’ll make a decision within 48 hours.

That’s the repeated refrain on this week’s installment of THE GOOD WIFE on CBS, “Undisclosed Recipients.” Alicia (Julianna Margulies) has won the State’s Attorney election, but that is just the beginning of her problems. She tries to play open and honest with everyone, donors and her partners at the law firm alike, but it doesn’t work too well. It’s time for her to start being a politician, and Eli (Alan Cumming) makes that very clear to her.

As much as one roots for Alicia to stand up to influence and do the right thing, it’s easy to see why Lemond (Mike Colter) and Redmayne (Ed Asner) think they should have influence over her. They did pour a lot of support into her campaign with the expectation of getting something in return. Alicia may not have agreed to terms, but she did take the money. She could have refused or made a stink about it, but she wouldn’t have won. Perhaps THE GOOD WIFE goes too easy on politicians and the influence of money, or perhaps they are just showing that even the best person is put in a difficult position within this broken system.

Eli provides a way out, backing up the stereotype that politicians are slimy liars. He tells her to deflect and appear to appreciate advice she won’t seriously consider. This works on Redmayne, and it works on Castro (Michael Cerveris), who is looking for professional respect. A variation of this also works on Alicia’s partners, whom are trying to lowball her in buying her out of the firm. But I don’t think it will work on Bishop.

Bishop isn’t a part of that world. He isn’t a public figure in the same way the rest are, preferring to dwell in the shadows. He also uses violence to fight, not words, giving him a different set of tools. Redmayne may forget that Alicia doesn’t choose who he wants, but Bishop won’t overlook Alicia refusing to call of an investigation on him. She could wind up hurt, or worse.

Alicia needs assistance in dealing with Bishop. I think it’s time she brings Eli and Marissa (Sarah Steele) fully into the loop here. Perhaps she puts them at risk by coming clean, but both have been very valuable advisors, different sides of the same coin with varying opinions. If the brain trust of these three can’t figure a way out of this, I’m not sure no one can.

The other thing that happens in “Undisclosed Recipients” is that a hacker leaks the firm’s emails because they are representing a client suing a file sharing site. Because these people let off steam, and also because they work with people they don’t always like, there are many damaging comments made that now come to light. Cary (Matt Czuchry), Diane (Christine Baranski), David Lee (Zach Grenier), Kalinda (Archie Panjabi), Lyman (Jerry Adler), and just-returned-from-New York Julius (Michael Boatman) all succumb to infighting over this. Alicia is spared only because the released emails are from the time of her campaign.

It’s interesting to see dirty laundry brought to light in this particular environment. The type of job and the sort of people who do this work create a much more tumultuous atmosphere than in most offices. Not everything said is what the authors are really thinking, though some of it is. I think it reminds us that we all find ways to work with people we don’t agree with or like, and we can’t condemn others for being no better than ourselves. It’s quite a thought-provoking story, as much as it is a juicy, dramatic one.

That Finn (Matthew Goode) lets comments Alicia pre-emptively admits to making about him roll off his back shows that he’s a different type of person that the rest of the cast. Or he just trusts Alicia more than he would most people, her actions speaking louder than words. He would be a great ally for her to have, a reasonable, logical individual who cares about her. I hope he takes the job as her deputy. Marissa, too, shows no judgment as she reads Alicia’s messages, so she also needs to stick around, given her considered take on the world (though it’s worth noting none are about her).

I also don’t think THE GOOD WIFE has seen the last of these emails. Alicia’s are not released, but they could be, as the hacker says they have two years’ worth of stuff. Given Alicia’s new job and how much more damaging this could be to her in the high-morality role, it seems too tantalizing a bait to not toss in the water. Expect this to come back up at some point, whether it’s sooner or later.

Once more, THE GOOD WIFE gives us excellent, engaging plot with authentic, layered characters in a very real situation. It rips from the headlines, but also stays true to the individuals created. I can find no flaw with “Undisclosed Recipients,” another excellent hour from the stellar series.

THE GOOD WIFE airs Sundays on CBS.

"Weird" GOOD WIFE is Very Good

Article first published as TV Review: 'The Good Wife' - 'A Weird Year' on Blogcritics.

A lot happens in The Good Wife‘s season finale, “A Weird Year,” which aired this week on CBS. I say this even by the standards of this particular series, which has had its best run yet, creatively speaking, with dynamic changes among all the characters and their relationships over the last nine months. The season begins with Alicia (Julianna Margulies) and Cary (Matt Czuchry) breaking off from Lockhart/Gardner to form their own firm, continues through the battles between the two groups, undergoes a jarring reset after the death of Will Gardner (Josh Charles), and ends with the futures of most of the players up in the air. What a heck of a ride! “A Weird Year” indeed.

As “A Weird Year” opens, Diane (Christine Baranski) is being challenged for control of the firm she and Will built by Louis Canning (Michael J. Fox), the new senior partner, and David Lee (Zach Grenier). This doesn’t seem fair at all, an interloper coming in and teaming up with a long-time partner to oust Diane while she’s still trying to get her bearings back, but that’s what makes Louis and David such vicious villains. Normally, Diane would be up to the challenge of fending them off, especially because she’d have Will in her corner. But isolated in the office and nearly alone, save Kalinda (Archie Panjabi), who is tough but not a political player, and Diane is looking at losing everything, as Louis promises to burn the firm down if she doesn’t concede.

This is Diane at her most vulnerable in a way we’ve never seen her before, even after the death of Will. There is absolutely nothing she can do. Bribing Howard Lyman (Jerry Adler), the swing vote, would help her hold onto power, but only temporarily. She sees no way out, and really struggles with the idea that she can’t overcome her latest challenges. This is defeated Diane, Diane who has no hope, and it’s a pivotal moment for the character, brilliantly played with nuance and poise by the amazing Baranski.

It’s very telling that Diane doesn’t roll over. She’s pragmatic and knows she can’t win against Canning and Lee, but neither does she take the easy out, running for State’s Attorney at the behest of the Governor (Chris Noth), seeing the offer as the slap in the face it is after the Governor dusts her for a seat on the state Supreme Court. No, that would be stepping down and admitting she’s done, retiring away from the defense attorney she is and loves being. Instead, she finds another option, one that could maintain her reputation and position, albeit in a new locale. She offers herself to Florrick, Agos, & Associates.

Now, we don’t know if they will accept or not (they’d be stupid not to), but let’s examine what it takes for Diane to do this. As much as Diane likes Alicia and their bond has been healed through the shared grief regarding Will, this start-up firm is full of people that have betrayed Diane and stolen her clients. This is not a return to friends, but a humbling. Yet, Diane knows she brings much value to the table, a huge amount of billable clients, so she is in a good place to negotiate from. Viewers will love the choice because it brings back beloved characters and helps fix rifts. But for Diane, this has to be a hard decision to make. Going to them, hat in hand, is not the same thing at all as absorbing them in a merger, which she previously considers.

The big deciding factor in if Florrick, Agos, & Associates will take Diane in is Cary. He is the one vehemently opposed to the merger, but might he take Diane on her own, knowing he’ll keep his decision-making ability and not having to give up what he’s built? Cary likes Diane personally, even if they’ve had their differences in the past. I think Cary’s anger at Alicia for trying to force the merger earlier in “A Weird Year” could play a role in his thinking, though. All most fans want is to see Alicia, Cary, and Diane get along, really the three stars of the show now, but for drama’s sake, it may not be an easy coming together. If they do accept, though, at least they can finally afford an office with walls.

Another issue in allowing Diane to join Florrick, Agos, & Associates, besides adding her name to the letterhead, is that Kalinda is most likely part of the package. This would be difficult for Cary because, after overhearing what sounds like Kalinda playing him, his romance with her is soured. He doesn’t stop sleeping with her, but he does feel like she has done a huge, horrible thing to him. That alone might prompt Cary to reject Diane. It’s a shame Cary seems to be getting such a rough deal. He’s suffered enough, having been fired from Lockhart/Gardner previously, then being denied partnership by them, and having to fight his way back to the good place he is in now.

Amidst all of this, Alicia almost misses her son, Zach’s (Graham Phillips), graduation. She does miss the dinner and festivities surrounding it. The Good Wife could let Alicia spend time agonizing over this, but it’s far too fast-paced for that right now. The moves going on for Alicia professionally are important, and thankfully she’s gotten over that working mother’s constant guilt, making time when it’s important, but not always able to be there. The fact that she gets to the school in time to see Zach walk across the stage, and then shares a private goodbye at home afterward, is enough. She is present for the milestone, and he knows she loves him. There is no animosity between mother and son.

It is a little bit of a shame that Alicia doesn’t get home sooner, though, because what’s playing out in her absence is hilariously awesome. Any time Jackie (Mary Beth Peil) and Veronica (Stockard Channing) come into one another’s orbits, conflict erupts in the most entertaining of manners. They may not be central to the main story lines, but both add something really cool to the overall tone and the big picture, fully fleshing out the world into something engrossing and authentic, something that The Good Wife consistently does well. Its roster of recurring parts, second to none on any network, cable or broadcast, contributes to that.

The style of the show is well illustrated in “A Weird Year.” There is a case and a client, but those matter only as far as they affect the main players. Instead, the focus is on the core cast. There are some neat conceits, such as when one law firm first accidentally, and then purposely, spies on the other after a camera is left on, showing that the series is up-to-date on incorporating technology, trends, and current events into the story. Overall, though, it’s the quick pacing, light style mixed with heavy emotions, and fantastic acting by a stellar cast that sells the show.

Speaking of the wonderful actors, Alan Cumming’s Eli Gold has little to do in “A Weird Year,” but he is nearly never wasted. Instead, he gets a small side bit about trying to find a State’s Attorney candidate to support, which he actually thinks Diane may accept because he misjudges his own actions so severely. But at the end, his search ties into a heck of a cliffhanger when he asks Alicia to run. I hope she doesn’t, but it’s cool that Cumming is still threaded into a plot he isn’t a major part of to start, and is instrumental in bringing it home perfectly.

“A Weird Year” is an accurate descriptor. The Good Wife is weird in that it defies the genre of legal procedurals on a network not known for pushing boundaries. This entire season has been a showcase of what happens when a broadcast network actually gives their writers free reign to develop a worthwhile series, and the finale is a great capper for that. I hope it runs for many years to come, definitely the best thing CBS has to offer, hands down, as well as one of the top three broadcast network shows currently running.

If only the network treated it as such, instead of letting the time slot constantly be pushed at the last minute because of inept scheduling of sports coverage. It deserves better.

The Good Wife has been renewed and will return in the fall on CBS.