Recap: The Good Wife “The Deconstruction” (Spoilers)

The gavel has been lowered, pun intended, on St. Alicia; she was betrayed by the Democratic Party in Illinois, and was forced to resign from her position as the States Attorney last night.

When the show started many seasons ago Alicia faced many challenges, but her journey was always at an uptick; she always persevered, but for the first time in her many years Alicia seems at an impasse.

Where does Alicia go?

So does Alicia go back to what is now called Lockhart, Agos and Associates?  Alicia’s face at the changed sign was priceless, it was one of those classic “Oh this” faces she gives to unbelievable moments from either her husband cheating yet again with Ramona, or when Eli pisses her off about anything.

In her negotiations with Diane, Cary, and David Lee in the beginning of the episode it appears that Alicia is going to simply waltz right back in and become a partner again.  What transpires after this is one of the worst games of telephone, literally!

Kalinda played intermediary between Diane and Alicia, and just when you thought all this confusion would bring Alicia back into the fold, it all fell apart, namely because of her perception as a cheater in the election.  RD (recurring guest star Oliver Platt) stated he would leave the firm if she came on board again, and thus Alicia’s time at this firm ended.

I like what they did with this story, although Alicia’s ousting felt abrupt and too quick, I like that for the first time in the show she is at a place where nothing is settled, and she truly has to search for her next step.

Kalinda says “Goodbye”

A few months back it was announced that Archie Punjabi who has played the very popular Kalinda Sharma since the shows first episode would be leaving the show toward the end of this season.  This is the second original cast member to leave within the last two years, last year it was Josh Charles.

Many speculated about the way she would leave.  Would it be bloody?  Would she go to jail? What would cause the exit?  As the season moved forward, and Kalinda was involved in cheating the legal system to save Cary, and working for Lemond Bishop, there was speculation on all fronts.  In my heart of hearts I knew how her journey would end, because is Kalinda, and she has always been a shadow, weaving in and out of different situations, while making herself an unknown, except when they explored her crappy ex-husband story.

My prediction from the moment her exit was announced was that Kalinda would just disappear, and that is exactly what happened.  Let’s start from the beginning.  ASA Geneva Pine was pushing for Diane to turn on Bishop for court so she could save herself from jail.  Kalinda devised a plan to implicate one of Bishop’s men as the person who turned on him, saving her friends.  Just when she thought she was in the clear, Cary tried to play knight in shining armor, ruined her plan, and it was clear that it was Kalinda who got Bishop arrested.

The beauty in the Kalinda character is that she was more of a wild card than any of the other characters on the show; she brought depth and took this show out of the procedural law cases.  Kalinda never needed a knight in shining armor, she was her own person who never defined her sexuality, who never played by the rules, but not in a cliché way either.  While some will complain about her absence, I will miss her, and the different elements she brings to the show, I think the exit was well constructed.  The Kalinda void is going to be tough to fill on this show, namely because the character unique, and made The Good Wife something special, especially in the first two seasons with her friendship with Alicia.

Kalinda did leave Alicia a note, and Alicia broke down, some are speculating that the note implicated Peter in something negative with her campaign; while my assumption Alicia was sad she lost another important aspect of her life in a small amount of time.

In the end whether you agree with her leaving or not, I can say that Kalinda was one of the most interesting television characters I have encountered in my many years watching television, and the King’s should be proud of the character the created.

Sign In

Reset Your Password

Email Newsletter