BWW Recap: Saints & Sinners Try Not to Unravel on THE GOOD WIFE's 'Tying The Knot'

"You're still suffering from Jeffrey Grant. And I'm not blaming you."

So says Castro, the oily State's Attorney, to ASA Finn Polmar in Tying The Knot. He could just as easily have been speaking to fans of The Good Wife, bereft as we are after losing Will Gardner four episodes ago. Except. Suffer though we might, this show just won't let us stay down. Like all those phone calls Alicia juggled at the start of the episode, The Good Wife keeps distracting us from our sadness, with every episode of season five just a little smarter, busier, juicier than the last.

For anyone questioning the show's sustainability after Josh Charles' sudden departure - and I'm not blaming you! - these subsequent episodes have provided an emphatic answer. Without Will. And in no small part because of Will. The Good Wife just keeps getting better.

This is a show that has not forgotten its past, however; even as we're lured toward the possibilities of a post-Will world, The Good Wife can't resist looking back at where it's been. If Tying The Knot was not a standout of this season, it is only because we've come so far. This episode felt like a throwback to earlier, less complicated times, bringing back the queasy, sleazy comedy of Colin Sweeney (the creepily perfect Dylan Baker), and the earnest interference of Alicia's brother, Owen (Owen! The return of Dallas Roberts always deserves an exclamation mark, and maybe even a clap). We also get a vintage Eli freak-out, triggered by pictures of a maybe-bong-smoking Zach Florrick, and video of his definitely-bong-smoking Uncle Owen. And some classic Alicia disdain, too. No-one does measured exasperation like Alicia Florrick.

It all made for a fun, frenetic hour of television. Perhaps the intention was to give us a break from the intensity of the preceding episodes, to replace it with another kind of intensity entirely. If so, Tying The Knot worked as a pleasant enough distraction, if only for the hour:

Town Houses and Torture

This week's case saw wife-murdering, Alicia-loving Colin Sweeney involved in yet another crime of 'passion'. Only this time it is his new fiancée Renata (played with an eerie, serpentine grace by Laura Benanti) who is arrested. A practitioner of a Japanese form of rope bondage called Shibari, Renata is the prime suspect when the rope-burned body of her female lover is found hanging from a chandelier.

Present at the house party where the murder took place, Alicia finds herself in court as a key, yet unreliable witness in the case against Renata. See, Alicia has been having those memory pops again, that not-quite-remembering of hers. They're nebulous recollections, these memories she has, just like the ones that used to feature her lover, Will. She remembers differently these days, with so much on her mind. It might be about murder this time, not sex - but sex and murder are always tied together when it comes to Colin Sweeney.

Quite the Team

It's Diane who saves Mrs. Sweeney-to-be. The fabulous Ms. Lockhart (who says the word Shibari as if it's made of silk) was recommended by Alicia to defend Renata, and she quickly takes advantage of Alicia's memory pops, and her acknowledged confusion about the events of the party. Setting Alicia up by having Colin approach her outside the courtroom to discuss business, Diane exploits this conversation, and further muddies Alicia's testimony before the judge.

Alicia is none too pleased with Diane's tactics (Alicia disdain!). It's a clever way to build on the antagonism between our two warring firms, without nullifying the warmth these two woman have shared since Will's death.

In the end, Judge Morris determines there is not enough evidence to proceed to trial. Before walking off into the blood-red sunset with her lover, Renata admits her guilt to Alicia. Evidently, watching the life drain from someone's eyes is an exceptional way to bond with your lover. If your lover is Colin Sweeney, that is.

The Accidental Candidate

Meanwhile, on the plot-boiling front, the quietly handsome Finn Polmar is both trying to keep his job, and block out his own memory pops of Will. The State's Attorney, who used to be a friend, is using faux concern for Finn's mental health to push him out of his ASA role, but Jimmy Castro did not bank on Alicia Florrick's care for the last man to see Will alive. In a seemingly genuis move, Alicia reminds her new friend Finn (and they are just friends. For now) that he can't get fired if he runs against Castro for State's Attorney.

It's a safety measure, that's all. Until Peter Florrick publically endorses Finn for the position, leaving our new leading man in some kind of (adorable) shock. It's a classic, murky Florrick move that likely has something to do with winning back his wife's favour. But more importantly, it sets us up for a new season, and a new Finn. With his friend Alicia Florrick now explicitly connected to him.

Matthew Goode, you can most definitely stick around.

The Good Marriage

Speaking of sticking around - or not. It looks like Alicia is holding her ground when it comes to Peter, and the cooling of her marriage. We'll leave it to Zach to sum up where we're at with this one:

"You and Dad are playing Bill and Hillary. Why don't we talk about that."

It's Alicia, she doesn't talk about things. Not even to her brother Owen, and not even when there's wine. So we'll have to take Zach's word for it. For now. Because things can't stay this icy forever. Alicia always wants to make things better. She's Saint Alicia, after-all.

Then again, as Renata pointed out to her earlier in the episode, "Every saint is just a sinner waiting for an opportunity."

Even if it's too soon for her to consider ...

Where there's a Will

I'll admit that I look for Will everywhere. And if The Good Wife is a show that hasn't forgotten its past, it most certainly hasn't forgotten its former leading man. As the writers promised after his death, Will's presence can be felt everywhere. It's in the flashbacks Finn has of his death, it's in the lip tremble that Alicia allows, and the way characters like Sweeney acknowledge the post-Will world they have entered.

With Tying The Knot, the connection to Will is explicit. Josh Charles directed the episode, and wonderfully. I'll admit to a little daydream, in that poignant moment toward the end, where Alicia retreats to her bedroom, holding back tears. One of those quiet moments that The Good Wife does so beautifully. And I imagined Will next to her, watching the love of his life, comforting her. Wishful thinking, I know - and Alicia would be the first to agree.

But knowing Josh Charles was right there, directing the scene - for a moment, it wasn't so hard to believe ...

Photo: Screenshot/CBS/THE GOOD WIFE

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