BWW Recap: Every Which Way on THE GOOD WIFE

There's just too much craziness in this world. So says Alicia Florrick tonight, and boy, ain't that the truth. Sometimes - unlike the real-life, tragic events of this past weekend - the craziness can be fun. Tilt-a-whirly. Unexpected and delirious. Like being on a ride someone else designed, so you just get to let go - and have fun.

Fun. Remember that word? Remember having a really great day, where you just kind of nail everything that comes your way - even the things that get thrown at you, hard and fast? The way momentum builds your confidence, or dismantles your care factor, so that you end up owning every space you're in, no matter the situation?

So it is for Alicia tonight, and what fun it is to watch!

Here's the thing. We love sassy Alicia. We love powerful, direct Alicia. We love her because a: what's not to love about those characteristics in a woman, but more than that, because b: we've been with her so long, through so many bad days, that her good days feel personal, somehow. Her payoffs are ours. Somehow. After seven years, we love to see Alicia come out on top. Even if we know it can't last. Even if we know it won't last.

It won't last.

Eli knows this more than anybody. Tonight, though we're all living in Alicia's world, it's Alan Cumming's Eli who gets the MVP award. He's the one who is usually crazy. Tilt-a-whirly. Unexpected and- well, you get the drift. So when Eli discovers Alicia post-rendezvous with her no-good husband, and asks if she's being smart about it - you're being smart, aren't you? - it is a beautiful, tender moment of sanity, made more so in light of Eli Gold's usual craziness.

She's not being smart. She's celebrating, and she's deflecting (yeah, we've seen Alicia do that before, haven't we. Subverting new desire for old comfort - better the devil you know, and all that). You've probably guessed, by the way, that I'm no Peter fan. I am a fan of how Chris Noth plays him, and of how complex and real the Florrick partnership has become. But I don't like Alicia with Peter. Never have, never will. She plays a role with him. Even when the role changes - good wife, scorned wife, calculated wife, sexy wife - it's still a role, and it's still about being his wife.

I don't like it. But it sure does make for good TV.

You know what else makes for good TV?

* Elevators

* Tequila

* Three-ways

We get them all tonight. Alicia has elevator time with Smoulder Jason Crouse, tequila with Peter, and a three-way with Louis Canning, and Cary and Diane. Technically, Lucca is there too, and a bunch of other people associated with the case of the week, which is about self-driving cars, and the future of AI (or artificial intelligence, as I'd like to helpfully explain). But it is a three-way, because three firms are representing three different clients in the same case, and because, hey, who doesn't love a cheeky nod to Alicia being ... represented ... by both Peter and Jason, all in one night.

The case is fun. They usually are. Self-driving cars are scary. They can be hacked. Our whole world is one hack away from scary. Actually, our world is already scary, without the technology THE GOOD WIFE so loves to teach us about, and whether that technology is used for good, or ill. The point of the case is to give Alicia her very good day. One that culminates in 20-minute sex with her husband, and a fake birthday for a very accommodating Grace, and an engagement announcement from Jackie and Howard that makes Alicia laugh. And laugh. And laugh.

It won't last.

Peter rigged the election that destroyed her career. The DNC wants her allegiance, no matter the level of corruption involved. Vanessa Williams' Courtney wants her to have a perfect, boring marriage. Jason wants a rain check on those tacos.

Actually, that last one is probably okay. Everything else is designed to pull Alicia's carefully built-up life back down again. Eli knows it, too. He knows what Peter did. So he knows what's going to happen. Eventually.

To quote Alicia Florrick again, all we can do now is wait - and watch it.

I'm going to assume you loved 'Driven' as much as I did. What was your favorite part? How good is THE GOOD WIFE, when it gets it so right?

Image Credit: CBS

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