āThe Good Wifeā recap: Processed cheese
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The action on āThe Good Wifeā can be divided into three roughly equal parts: Thereās Aliciaās personal life, thereās the endless maneuvering and power plays at the firm, and there are the cases-of-the-week.
So far, Season 3 has felt decidedly case-heavy, with far less time devoted to Aliciaās personal life or the inner workings of Lockhart-Gardner. This season also lacks an overarching narrative to tie the episodes together, the way that Peterās comeback campaign did last year. This is fine, for now, but at some point āThe Good Wifeā will have to remember that itās so much more than a legal procedural.
This weekās episode, āGet a Room,ā actually centered on two cases. After some tainted cheese causes a nasty listeria outbreak at a Chicago elementary school, Eli is hired to manage the ensuing PR crisis. Mostly, the storyline is there to provide comic relief. The footage of children projectile vomiting half-digested, fluorescent orange cheese-food was hilarious, albeit revolting, and itās always fun to see Eli when heās fully āon.ā The crisis also serves the narrative purpose of creating tension between Diane and Eli. The cheese manufacturer has to hire Lockhart-Gardner as temporary counsel, otherwise the information they disclose to Eli will not be subject to attorney-client privilege.
The problem is that effective spin is not the same thing as effective legal representation. Eli urges his client to be contrite and claim responsibility; Diane advises them to express sympathy, but to stop short of admitting guilt. My hunch is that this wonāt be the last time Eli and Diane will clash, especially given the intense media scrutiny heās brought to the firm.
In the second case, Will and Alicia are negotiating a settlement on behalf of a client whose malfunctioning spinal-cord implant led to chronic pain. It just so happens that the attorney representing the other side is Celeste (Lisa Edelstein, formerly of āHouseā), one of Willās many, many exes. Because of their romantic past, Will and Celeste are experts at reading each other.
Alicia isnāt too bothered by Celeste, but she pretends that she is in order to elicit the sympathy of Ira, the court-appointed mediator (played by Isaiah Whitlock of āThe Wireā). Somehow Ira figures out that it was all a ruse, and he scolds Alicia for acting in such a blatantly manipulative way. āDonāt worry about it. If I needed a lawyer, Iād probably hire you, too,ā he says. (In case you were wondering, this was meant as an insult.)
Between the labored poker metaphors, the annoying reporter, the leak from the stateās attorneyās office, and Will and Celesteās romantic history, this storyline was unusually muddled. For the moment, Alicia isnāt too worried about Celeste, but Iām guessing that will change when/if Celeste joins Lockhart-Gardner.
Aliciaās not the only one whose scheming got her in trouble this week. Kalinda stops by Caryās office to get the scoop on the stateās attorneyās investigation of the unscrupulous doctor who implanted the device, but he wonāt give an inch. When Kalinda tries to steer the conversation to more personal matters, Cary accuses her of feigning interest in him. āYou tend to use peopleās feelings to further your investigations,ā he says. Looking abashed, Kalinda assures Cary that āwhatever I felt, I didnāt invent.ā
It was a pretty great scene in an otherwise unremarkable episode. Weāve always known that Kalinda uses her sexuality to get what she wants but this may be the first time that someone has called her out so directly. While itās good to see her evolving this season, I wonder if a kinder, gentler Kalinda can possibly be much fun.
This weekās saving grace is Owen, who should be brought into every episode where thereās not much else going on. Alicia has to work all weekend ā with Will, in a hotel room ā so Owen agrees to watch the kids. During a heart-to-heart with cool Uncle Owen, Zack reveals that Peter āslept with someone other than a hooker.ā Presumably, Zack interpreted his dadās awkward admission that heād done āother thingsā to hurt Alicia to mean that heād been with other women. Of course, with Zack thereās always the possibility of something else; maybe heās been doing some snooping. In any case, Owen confronts Alicia about the news. She doesnāt deny it, but she also doesnāt disclose the identity of the other woman.
Frankly, I find her discretion to be bizarre. Alicia has precious few confidantes; at this point Owen might be the only one. Why wouldnāt she tell him? Itās also odd that she hasnāt told Owen that sheās having an affair with Will, especially since heās the one who encouraged her to pursue him in the first place. Owen, perceptive as always, figures out that Alicia is, in fact, sleeping with Will after he jokes that she is āthe most prudish, wanton woman I know.ā (Itās a pretty apt description of Alicia, isnāt it?) So why would she keep this detail from her beloved brother? My guess is that Aliciaās hedging her bets. By not telling Owen about Will, itās like she doesnāt have to invest too much in the outcome of the relationship. If no one knows that itās happening, it doesnāt matter if it goes down in flames ... right?
The episode ends on a pessimistic note. Owen asks Alicia if her relationship with Will is about love; she says, somewhat surprisingly, that it is not. āGood. Because that would make it very complicated,ā he replies. Again, there are two possibilities at work here: Either Aliciaās protecting herself by not admitting to her true feelings for Will, or she has decided that their relationship is more about lust than love. Either way, this is yet another episode that ends with a giant, flashing question mark. The show is methodically building a case against Will; I wonder when the indictment is going to come down.
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-- Meredith Blake