“Mind’s Eye”
First and foremost I am sorry this is late, I was on vacation in New York City, with that said this week’s adventure into the world of The Good Wife may be the polarizing matter since Kalinda’s husband showed up on the scene.
In last week’s episode entitled “Mind’s Eye,” Alicia Florrick had laryngitis and was doing her best to not speak, so most of the episode was seen through her eyes and the perception of her emotional intake on certain aspects of her life. I debated doing a list on what worked/what did not work, but I think it’s best to tackle each subject at a time.
Family
The thing that worked most here was Alicia finally dealing with the pain she experienced from her son and his girlfriend having an abortion. Away at Georgetown, Zack has been off screen for most of the season. Alicia felt so betrayed when he did not involve her further with his issue; his lack of presence feels as though she cut him out of her life. I will say this led to some of the moments that did not work, like Zack looking homeless on the street because she abandoned him. I get it’s the “mothers worst fear,” but it felt cheesy.
There was not enough Peter, but that’s maybe because he isn’t on her mind. I thought it was cheesy the way different spiritual leaders popped up as she dealt with Grace’s religion. I get what the show was going for with this element, but it fell flat.
State’s Attorney’s Race
While Alicia’s mind was racing, the State’s Attorney’s race played a big part in her thought process. Was she going to be the honest candidate and own up to Lemond Bishop running her PAC? Would her words matter at all in the interview? Alicia found out that Bishop was a contributor, and the story leaked to a blog, throughout the episode and whether she would own up to knowing she was associated with a drug kingpin.
This aspect of the story played one of the most important parts in last week’s episode, is Alicia sticking with her nickname of St. Alicia or will she bite the bullet player lawyer; she played the lawyer and decided not to share the information about Bishop in her interview.
Louis Canning
Alicia may not have played the saint role in her political life, but she did when it came to her arch nemesis Louis Canning. Michael J. Fox has been one of the strongest recurring guest stars on this show over the years; his relationship with Alicia has been fascinating., and it almost seemed like tonight’s episode highlighted the best elements of this relationship. I loved watching Canning and Alicia play off each other in her mind, and over the phone. At the end watching Alicia at his hospital bed with bed with his wife showed the importance of these two sparring and the way Alicia wrestled with dynamic of what she should do in every aspect of her life.
Goodbye Will
The best part of the episode was that Alicia finally was able to say goodbye to her former law partner, and part time lover Will, who died last year.
In several very sexy montages Alicia envisioned herself in bed with her new friend and colleague Finn Polmar, and her campaign manager, but it was the vague outlines of Will holding her that hit hardest. In the final moments of the episode Alicia got the reprieve she needed, and through her moments in her head she was able to finally let go of her love for Will.
Overall the episode was a mixed bag, but I like the way this closed out her relationship with Will. I imagine people will hate the episode because of the way it closes the door on that story, but I thought it was ambitious. I also like the way this show explores the complicated nature of humanity without giving an easy answer to whether someone is “good” or “bad.” This episode was not one of my favorites, but I like the way the Kings think.”
“Open Source”
Go After Peter!
In the hunt for the State’s Attorney’s office Frank Prady and Alicia Florrick have promised each other they would not go negative against one another. Prady figured out a way around that attack, go after; he started to let out slight jabs against her husband Peter Florrick, and his role as a corrupt States Attorney.
Why did a speech at the Black Business Leaders get moved? As Eli works through the reasoning in his head, he starts to realize that Alicia and her campaign are moving away from Peter and his black hiring practices. It was Jon’s idea to badmouth Peter, but Eli helped Jon get a job in Sacramento. Jon his plan to get his job, and tells Alicia to ditch her plan, but then switches back telling Alicia to nail Peter.
At the end of the day the chemistry between Juliana Margulies and David Hyde Pierce dueling politicians has been one of the greatest parts of this season, and their scene where Frank talks about being a Jesuit. The writing team knows how to sell the tough everyday battles, but adds that right punch of heart
I will say my only slight problem is buying the sexual tension between Alicia and Jon, I let it happen in the beginning, but its still a little and seems odd and out of nowhere. I am intrigued to see how the election, and her love life end, but I am over Jon.
Maybe 3-D is not the way of the Future
While Alicia is hard at work running for office, it seems like the rest of her firm is battling it out in the courtroom. Charlie Fife (Billy Magnussen) was the plaintiff, and Diane Lockhart and Finn Polmar were putting him through “agony”, because his company manufactured a 3-D printer, which made a gun and paralyzed a man. I had to throw an Into the Woods reference into the mix.
Is this a first amendment versus a second amendment right? It appears as though Mr. Fife and his lawyer Nancy Crozier, the fantastic Mamie Gummer are trying to state that use of this type of weapon is allotted to everyone, hence the title of the episode “open source.” Before I go any further Nancy Crozier is one of my favorite recurring lawyers on this show, Gummer is quite fun in this role.
After this happens there is a battle of the ballistic experts, Keith McVeigh (Gary Cole) testified on behalf of the defense, his wife Diane, while a pupil testified on behalf of the plaintiff. McVeigh testifies it was the technology while his pupil testifies that the person who fired the gun, who was not Fife, the person with the money, could have adapted the technology.
The case was interesting and points to some dangerous technology on the rise, but it floundered a bit in the end. The best part of this this story was getting to watch Christine Baranski and Gary Cole play off one another, boy do these two have some amazing chemistry.
The Canning of it all
A girl who lost her life in a soccer accident gave Louis Canning a kidney; he wants to cash out and give most of his money to the family of the girl, but they want to give the money to a Pro-Palestinian group. Did Louis try and set Alicia up? I kind of like the concept of Louis messing with Alicia even on his deathbed.
