The Good Wife almost gets spanked by a 26 year-old

I think I really enjoyed last night’s case-of-the-week on The Good Wife. Not for the sensational nature of it, but for the ways in which it tested Alicia’s ability to do her job successfully.

Not only did opposing council Nancy Crozier (Mamie Gummer — can you guess her famous mom?) play the naivete game well, but the very nature of Alicia’s client’s character recalled a lot about Peter that she probably didn’t ever want to think about again. I saw her discomfort at Colin Sweeney’s (Dylan Baker) explanation for his affairs (“They did things my wife wouldn’t”) as having more to do with how close to home that hit for her than anything else.

Especially with Peter’s appeal trial underway.

My son is very enthusiastic when he claps, throwing his entire self into the process, his face lighting up and his body almost lifting off the ground. Well, I give Alicia that kind of full-body applause for telling Peter exactly how things were going to be if he came home. My fear over the last few episodes was that we were watching as Alicia basically gave up in the fight against what Peter had done to her. But listening to her very systematically describe the distance he had created between them relieved me of my concern that the past would be forgotten. Good for her for not letting Peter off the hook.

We did get a lot too much of him on his own, but I suppose there isn’t necessarily any way around that. I enjoyed Amber’s (Kim Shaw) testimony — imagine hiring a prostitute as a means to bribe the prosecutor in your trial not to prosecute. Now I finally get why Peter’s infidelities play a large role in his fall from office.

What wasn’t quite as clear was the deal that Childs (Titus Welliver) seemed to be offering. Does his interest really only lie in political office? Is that his sole concern here, that Peter not be able to run against him again? How sad is that? Even doing all of this just because you hate the guy would be better, because it would at least not be acknowledging that you couldn’t beat him in an election. That’s just pathetic. I really hope Peter doesn’t take the deal, because I want him to stay in prison (it’s better for the show), but I also hope that dangling Peter’s freedom doesn’t become a weekly game … that’s a terrible idea too.

Two faces I loved seeing on the show: Michael Boatman, here as Alicia’s colleague Julius Cain, best known for his work as Carter Heywood on Spin City, and Peter Gerety, here as Judge Stanek (was he the judge in both trials?), best known by me as Judge Daniel Phelan, McNulty’s guy on The Wire. Great to see good actors keep getting work.

And, before I forget, alleged murderer Sweeney had a good line last night. When meeting Alicia for the first time, he extended his hand to shake hers, and she hesitated. To which he said, “Don’t worry; I killed her with my other hand.”

Everybody’s a comedian.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Feb 03, 2010 @ 15:10 EST5EDT