BWW Recap: No More Wasting Time on THE GOOD WIFE

Alicia Florrick is done with bad timing. By the end of the hour, she's not even really concerned with good timing. She just wants what she wants. When she wants it. We might have only been waiting seven to her twenty years when it comes to seeing THE GOOD WIFE come into her own ... but man o' handsome man is it worth it!

I have issues on this front

Let's start with the case of the week. An unusual place for me to start, steadfastly arc-obsessed that I am. But I like cases that tackle gun control - or lack thereof. And I like anything that involves Blair Underwood. LA LAW was my very first legal love affair. My next two loves, ALLY MCBEAL and BOSTON LEGAL, followed in LA LAW's procedural footsteps - all three television shows were quirky and heartfelt, and when they wanted to be - especially in their closing seasons - each could be downright topical. So it feels all kinds of right to have an LA LAW alumni pop up in one of the last episodes of THE GOOD WIFE, and have that episode deal with a downright topical issue.

Underwood's character is Harry Dargis, a loving Dad who has lost his teenage daughter to gun violence. After his daughter was shot, Dargis took out a billboard naming and shaming Gloria's Guns, who seem to have supplied the entire neighborhood with guns. Now Dargis is being sued for defamation by the gun store, and Diane is defending him against these charges (clearly she's not talking about this one with her biggest client). Cary is there in court too, but I think it's just to show that Diane is fed up with everyone who isn't Alicia, because the two partners argue about how to argue the case (never a good sign), and before long Lucca is brought in to essentially replace Cary help out.

(Sidebar: is it a weird King thing? Characters like Kalinda and Cary have one shot at a feature story line then forever after they get relegated to the background? Sure, the whole Kalinda's creepy husband thing failed spectacularly, but I thought Cary Goes To Jail was something of a success at the time?).

The PLCAA is the act that protects firearms manufacturers and dealers from being held liable when their weapons are used in a crime. "Shoot" is a more overtly left-leaning episode than usual, highlighting as it does the risk involved when gun sellers can act with impunity (oh, say knowingly selling guns to people who go on to trade them illegally within a neighborhood, and then doing generally abominable things like suing grieving families). Maybe it's that closing season thing. Maybe the Kings don't want to waste any more time either. This episode's take on gun control feels as unambiguous as Judge Abernathy's. Our favorite leftie Judge is clear on his distaste for the PLCAA, and though he can't change the law, it turns out he can bend it. He ends up ruling in favor of Gloria's Guns, before ordering Dargis to pay damages of 10 cents per day for every day his billboard stays up. Dargis pays $40 on the spot, securing over a year's worth of exposure for his message, and this grieving Dad ends up as happy as one could ever be in his situation. Diane, our favorite leftie lawyer, is really happy with the result. And I'm sad - because sometimes TV works out better than real life, you know?

Also, bye bye Judge Abernathy. You were always the best one.

You're not in tears now

Alicia Florrick has lost her damn mind. Or at least it's gone off on a one-way track to Jason Crouse town. I don't blame her, although switching to water with lunch is never wise at the beginning of a relationship, not when there is so much uncertainty, and such sweet agony in trying to figure out your lover's intentions...

Initially, post weekend interruptus, Alicia and her investigator are all kinds of good. But then Alicia sees Jason kissing another woman. Cue Alicia spiral. What does this mean? What does Alicia want? She's still married.

Luckily for all concerned, Alicia's spiral is expertly navigated by Lucca:

Lucca: "Have fun. Start your own harem. When you stop having fun, say goodbye."
Alicia: "Oh god, this isn't who I am."
Lucca: "You don't know who you are. No one knows who they are. Talk to Jason. He likes you and maybe it was just a friend."

Lucca, you're everything we needed when Will was alive. Or everything Kalinda could have been if [insert conspiracy theory here]. There are in fact more than a few parallels between the unfolding Alicia and Jason romance and the one true pairing relationship between Alicia and Will. Kalinda was Will's advocate and confidante the same way Lucca totally ships Alicia and Jason now. We even get some directly comparable love scenes (neck kissing as a phone distracter, anyone?), and that loaded word "plan" being offered. But! The difference here is these new scenes are hopeful, not nostalgic. I'm going to think of them as homage, and a lesson in what happens when you go after what you want, rather than letting life happen to you. We've all grown up a little, maybe?

In the end, Jason shows up with his plan, but Alicia decides she'd rather settle things in the bedroom. And then again later at the bar, where she gets next level dirty with her new man. She even jokes about the front-page scandal-worthiness of her life and actions now, but she seems to have a handle on it all of a sudden (yeah, you know what I mean).

Finally. The readiness - as they say - is all.

Okay. So I left out the Grace didn't plagiarize her essay storyline, even though we got some fierce Alicia moments there. And I left out the part where Alicia and Diane are getting more serious about the all-female partners idea. And the part where Alicia and Eli try to manipulate the Grand Jury when THE GOOD WIFE is called to testify against her husband. From the looks of next week's episode, we've still got time ...

Image Credit: CBS