Florrick/Agos and Lochhart/Gardner fight to keep Lemond Bishop as a client when he is arrested on a drug-related charge, which possibly resulted from a leak inside Alicia's firm. Meanwhile, the investigation into voter fraud in the gubernatorial election continues to move forward when Marilyn is approached by an agent in the Office of Public Integrity.
The Good Wife is back after a two month hiatus and everything in the world feels right again. Was this a fantastic episode on-par with the heights the show was reaching last fall? Not quite. I didn't understand why none of these characters thought to question if it was some other agency that wiretapped their phones sooner than they actually did. And the stuff happening in the Lockhart/Gardner side of the universe never fully came together. I don't know why Kalinda would say Cary's lying only to prolong the wire tap on their phones from a narrative perspective.And yet, the focus on Alicia's firm and the mounting issues that she is becoming more and more aware of was just the kind of story I wanted to return with. The return of Wallace Shawn helped a lot too. In his previous appearance, I noted how I'm not the biggest fan of his and yet this show found a wonderful way to make him intimidating and menacing. Those tactics are used in this episode as well but don't simply feel like a repeat of that prior episode. The appeal of that previous episode was learning his style of handling witnesses which was a lot of fun as the hour built that up. Here, he's asked to be seen as an asset that points out things to Alicia and her firm. Yes, he still tries his tactics - like when questioning Cary, Hayden, Robin and the U.S. attorney. But he's doing things in service to her while still protecting Lemond Bishop.
"Parallel Construction, Bitches" just makes so many characters aware of the growing problems that have the likelihood of landing them all in jail. No matter how hard Eli tries, the voter fraud issue is not getting swept under the rug. And I love the show for doing this. It presents a morally complex issue that so many characters have their hands in. Like Cary and Alicia note at the beginning, it's been tiring seeing them face off against Will and Diane week after week. This story keeps Alicia, Will, Peter and Eli all in the loop - as well as consequences that would effect both firms and the Florrick children. There is no way of resolving this issue that doesn't get messy. Each of the characters are facing jail time themselves with a conspiracy to cover-up this fraud. That's some pretty big stakes that feels so real to all of these characters. I don't expect anyone to land in jail for an extended amount of time - but I also don't think they can just walk away from this unharmed. And that excites me so much for the coming episodes.
Some more thoughts:
- "Parallel Construction, Bitches" was written by Erica Shelton Kodish and directed by Matt Shakman.
- Who hires Jack Davenport only to have him use an American accent? I know he works for the U.S. government but his natural accent should not be tamed.
- Alicia: "I think this will make sense if I get more wine." Exactly!
- What was that show Grace was watching anyway? A knockoff of Low Winter Sun?
