BWW Recap: Blind Spots and No-Go Zones on THE GOOD WIFE

In the words of Judge Marx, I'm still curious.

No matter how many episodes THE GOOD WIFE devotes to technology, there's always one more thing for me to think about. Tonight, 'Discovery' spends the hour addressing technology as both a reflector, and cultivator, of racism. Essentially - if what we are shown online is primarily a reflection of how we see ourselves, how responsible is technology for making us aware of our blind spots? Should technology help us become conscious of our unconscious bias? Or is it the function of a search engine like Google ChumHum to simply give us what we want to see, irrespective of how narrow our view?

Not a little question. But one that has more relevance to most of us than, say, the emergence of Bitcoin (though I did see a Bitcoin machine in one of my local shopping centers the other day, and felt smug that I - almost - knew what it was all about).

Nice to see you again

It is clear that Diane isn't in fact happy to see the person she delivers that line to. Turns out it's Monica, the no-prizes-for-guessing-she'll-be-back character we met a few episodes ago. When we last saw Monica, she'd just released a video showing Lockhart, Agos and Lee's offensive hiring practices when it comes to anyone who isn't a young, white male. But right now, Monica needs Diane's help - she wants to take on ChumHum in a case about racial profiling, and if you are going to take on ChumHum (seriously. I HATE that name), you need a big firm on your side, no matter how ignorant they may have acted the last time you met.

The case of the week offers an interesting premise. A black woman's business is jeopardized because certain algorithms determine her restaurant is located in an unsafe area - what ChumHum calls a red zone. Yet the algorithms themselves are determined by the people using the search engine - so who's at fault for any bias in what makes for a safe or unsafe neighborhood? Are we leading or following when data, driven by our own behavior, is fed back to us as a directive?

Here's the problem with tonight's episode, though. This interesting, relevant question feels much bigger than the time 'Discovery' dedicates to it. I thought, as we approached the end of the hour, that perhaps it might not be resolved straight away. That maybe the case would be played out as some kind of arc, where Lockhart, Agos and Lee get to meet Florrick, Quinn same time, next week as the story evolves (oh yeah, because I forgot to mention - Alicia and Lucca are representing ChumHum now). But nope, the case ends up being tied up neatly for all concerned. ChumHum admits to some dodgy behavior, mostly driven by a lack of diversity within its almond milk drinking employee base, and the business woman represented by Monica/Cary/Diane is revealed to have been in enough financial trouble that no ChumHum profiling, good or bad, could have saved her.

ChumHum. Ho hum. I didn't want neat this time around. If you're going to say something, take as long as you need to say it ...

I can't help it

That's Eli. At least he knows himself. Because he really can't help it, whether it's falling harder and harder for the cheque-writing Courtney, or interfering with Alicia's love life yet again. He's set off in that regard by Ruth, after she witnesses Alicia and Jason together. As in working together, but to her narrowed eyes, it looks like something more. You'd think Ruth would be more concerned with how terrible Alicia is at faking sincerity when it comes to talking to voters about her husband (Alicia's reading of messages directed at Iowa voters is very much in the "Look at all this paper" category). But we need stakes when it comes to Alicia and Jason - especially now that Alicia seems to care less than ever about actual stakes - so of course Ruth zones in on their obvious chemistry.

Once again, Alicia is about to be ... I'm trying to think of a polite term here ... blocked ... by Eli when it comes to getting what she wants. No doubt Courtney is right when she notes that Eli loves our good wife, but that doesn't mean he always has Alicia's best interests at heart - at least not if it's an interest that doesn't serve him. And so tonight, probably because he's human, and sees just how easily one could be attracted to Jason Crouse, Eli pulls out all sorts of Eli-ness in an effort to keep Alicia and Jason apart. He enlists Nora as a kind of bodyguard (one wonders what Marissa would make of this?), and goes all head to head (well kind of) with Jason himself, as well as confronting Alicia directly.

The scenes between Julianna Margulies and Alan Cumming are actually my favorite of this season, I should add. Probably because the relationship between their characters is really the only one that has survived with any warmth - and truth - intact.

I've gotten over words

THE GOOD WIFE is telling the truth, and she isn't. Alicia was never very good with words in the first place, but sometimes, she appears to be trying harder to communicate than she used to. With certain people, at least. When it comes to Jason Crouse, there are a couple of lines tonight that are reminiscent of her conversations with Will (sob), but this time she pushes it further. For a start, she actually asks Jason if Eli warned him off, instead of brooding about it. Like how she could have asked Will what was in that voice message and pushed for an answer, instead of - ah, never mind, I'll let it go.

We don't end up much further along with 'Jalicia' this episode. Not with everyone playing interference. But we do learn that Jason has been investigating Alicia as much as she's been investigating him (ah, courtship these days), and we basically have it confirmed that they like each other (duh), despite the complications involved.

But then, everything is complicated. Everything is seen through our own, distorted view of the world, and that confuses us. Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear, and all that. Which brings me back to something that bothered me tonight, and I'm not normally bothered by the writing on THE GOOD WIFE. In the scene with Cary and Monica, where he accuses her of reverse racism, I feel like the writers sidled up to something, then backed away from it. I know it's not the job of THE GOOD WIFE to proselytize, but maybe we could have gotten a better take down of Cary's unchecked privilege here?

I dunno. It just felt like a wasted opportunity to teach people that reverse racism is a misnomer, and it also made Cary look like an uneducated jerk.

Even if he did end up on the dance floor with Lucca by the end of the night.

Alicia, of course, ended the night alone.

How did you find tonight's episode? Do you think they'll keep building the momentum between Alicia and Jason? We'll have to wait a while to find out. The next episode of THE GOOD WIFE doesn't air until December 13th ...

Image Credit: CBS

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