BWW Recap: THE GOOD WIFE Tilts Toward Home

Maybe I'm detaching. Maybe last week's confirmation that this is indeed the final season has caused me to withhold my affection for THE GOOD WIFE - just a little. Or maybe I'm just the viewing equivalent of emotionally exhausted after the intensity of the last few weeks. Either way, I liked tonight's episode of THE GOOD WIFE. I liked it. It was familiar, and funny, and full of interesting ellipses for what comes next. But my mind wasn't off and racing when the hour was done, the way it usually is when I sit down to write these streams of consciousness rambles recaps.

I liked "Monday". There was flirting. There were power struggles and double-crosses and creepy Government-y organisations doing the dirty work for corporations. Back at the firm we all know so well, we also got nods to elevators and the second floor, and a reminder that even the smartest people can have blind spots when it comes to diversity (Diane, stop it!). There were a lot of hints about what's going to happen next.

It's just we don't have much next when it comes to THE GOOD WIFE.

So allow me a small, heartfelt criticism of my favorite show. Sometimes so much is happening that nothing happens at all. And that's fine when there are months and years of seasons ahead to amble through, but it makes me slightly panicky when we're counting down to the "End" in terms of hours now.

For instance ...

Alicia and Jason

Alicia is a terrible flirt. She's awkward and her sexy banter kinda sucks (we know this absolutely, after seeing those leaked emails to Will). She's also way too slow. It's Valentine's Day for Pete's sake! I thought we'd get some Jalicia action tonight so I could judge their chemistry like one does a gymnastic routine (10. 10. 10. for elevators!), but instead, it's all about the gentle flirt.

We don't have time for this, people!

Besides, it's giving me flashback to those anemic early days of Season 3, where I thought we'd have all the Will and Alicia moments. But we only ever got ... well, moments. I need things to progress more than one scene per episode, okay?

Alicia and Diane and Cary (and Lucca)

Actually, I can't complain about nothing happening here. The gang is back together again, as flinty and untrusting with each other as ever. It's just ... the thing happening, the thing with Diane putting Alicia in her place, isn't really my thing. I love that back in the early days the Kings decided against openly pitting these two women against each other. I love that Diane's displeasure with Alicia over the years has been anchored in things Alicia has actually done (like sleeping with Will, or stealing clients), instead of a rivalry based on them having the same kind of private parts.

Why is Diane so disapproving now? Aren't there bygones, after all this time? I love an imperious Baranski as much as the next person - but I'm not so into seeing that haughtiness directed at the woman who probably could be sitting beside Diane right now. And certainly not at Lucca, whose talent and drive Diane should recognize.

There's a special place in hell for ... oh, never mind. We know that one gets people in trouble these days.

Eli, Ruth, Marissa ... and Peter

In the not happening stakes, this arc seemed more about shifting pieces on the chessboard. If I understood chess. At the very least, one more round of Eli and Ruth's sparring is a treat. And Eli's pride in his resourceful daughter is a thing of beauty (only Eli could so easily turn parental pride into looking in the mirror). But what does come next here? The walls seem to be closing in on Peter Florrick - the FBI has sent in that sneak to woo Marissa, and Ruth has been subpoenaed, and there's something totally ominous about what's not being said.

What has Peter done? Ruth says it's the stuff you don't take notes on that always comes out. Are we going to find out something really bad? Was that the King's seven-year plan all along? And why do I suddenly feel kinda sorry for Peter Florrick, a character I have despised since day slap?

We don't have time for this, people!

All these cases

Maybe I don't like the cases of the week so much because I have to concentrate. Because sometimes I don't quite follow the issue, let alone the resolution - and that makes the cases of the week really hard to write about. Oh well. Tonight it was about technology and prototypes and, I'm thinking, the long reach of tech companies, who are possibly the big pharma of our times. In tonight's court, Mr. Chum Hum is a quiet egomaniac as usual. His ex-partner is a funny, tangential thorn in his side, and the ant-affected Judge is my new favorite listener. Things happen because Lucca and Alicia make them happen, and the good guy wins in the end.

Except it's not the end. That comes in eight weeks. The "End". You're not the only one tilting, Alicia Florrick.

How did you like "Monday"? Are you glad Alicia has come home? Any ideas on what Peter might have done this time?!

Images: Supplied

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