Last night’s case-of-the-week on The Good Wife was one of the more random that the show’s done. A small drilling contractor suing an oil company for payment on a job done could have had legs all by itself, but when done Lockhart/Gardner style, nothing’s as simple as it may seem.
The appearance of Fred Thompson, the man who would have been president, was interesting enough — did anyone ever actually say his name? — but how about the headless wonder that we were to believe was Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela? Was his body type even remotely on-point? I did love his line about having won the el-Qaddafi humans rights prize … do you think this was taped before or after the uprising in Libya?
But back to Fred Thompson. The last time he practiced law was in the 1980s, so I think we can all be forgiven for thinking we were watching a TV lawyer — he played DA Arthur Branch on numerous entries in the Law & Order franchise from 2002-2007 — pretending to be a real attorney on another TV show. Thompson, of course, was admitted to the Tennessee Bar back in 1967, so he practiced law for quite some time before serving in the Senate and then turning to acting.
I loved how his fame preceded him on the show. It stopped people in the halls, it had Judge Lessner (Ana Gasteyer) dropping her “In my opinion” requirement when Thompson first appeared in her courtroom, and it even necessitated Thompson to remind headless Chavez that “I’m not an actual DA,” even though he played one on TV. I thought it was a fun guest spot, and I appreciated that ultimately Thompson’s representation of the president of Venezuela, an oil rich country, was about more than collecting on an overdue bill. Will’s settlement offer was great.
I enjoyed America Ferrera as Natalie this time around, even if her interactions with Eli were still super creepy. I loved when her boyfriend, Andre, tried selling Canada to her as a place to live. And why wasn’t it a thought to cast Ferrera longer term? Even just to have had a wowed Diane and Will offer her a job … that was weird. I have to think that there’ll be more to her character, though, because otherwise introducing Natalie as played by such a well-known actress seems a waste.
I liked that for once the shoe was on the other foot in the Cary/Kalinda relationship, as he asked her for a favor putting in the good word with Peter. And I think it says a lot about Kalinda that she was so unreceptive to Cary’s request after the millions of things that she’s asked him to do for her. Kalinda’s fallen far since her status last season as one of the best things about the show.
I loved the gleam in Eli’s eye when Alicia got asked if she was interested in running for office herself. It’s actually an interesting proposition, and I think the interviewee hit the nail on the head in pointing out all the things that make Alicia a potentially popular candidate. Of course she’d still need to, you know, indicate that she had some good ideas for her constituents, but as far as the popularity contest part of campaigns go Alicia does have a head start.
But that was the only part of the interview that I enjoyed. Rather, it’s the fact that Alicia sat for the interview in the first place that got to me. I think she’s proving herself to be nothing more than a sap and a sucker, and I’m embarrassed for her. What Peter decided to do, running almost before he got out of prison, was wrong for many reasons, but especially as it concerned his family, who he’d shattered with his cheating. It was selfish, and the fact that Alicia is standing by her man in that respect is, for lack of a better word, embarrassing too. Put a different way, it shows an inner weakness in Alicia, not a strength. Peter walks all over her.
So Alicia walked out of the party after Andrew (Tim Guinee) dropped the name Leila; so what? This melodrama has been cooked a lot too long, and at this point it’s unappetizing. I’m hoping for a quick resolution: Alicia confronts Peter and Kalinda, gets confirmation, kicks Peter out and goes to work for Louis Canning, and never sees either of them again. And maybe she dates Eli. That works.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Apr 13, 2011 @ 14:00 EST5EDT
This episode was fun to watch. I hope they have America back even though they seemed to exit her. You never know. I can’t wait to see what Alicia does with the new information she got on Kalinda and Peter. I wish Peter was on the show more. Great episode.
I’m fairly certain no one uttered “Fred Thompson,” as I was paying pretty close attention after I noticed early on when Alicia cut off someone ask “is that —“.
I understand where you’re coming from with your sentiment about Alicia being a sap. I would like to think it’s a little more complicated than that. It’s clear, through all her actions, that she has not really forgiven Peter for anything, even if she said she did in the interview. It all comes off as lies. Then again, I can’t really give a compelling reason for why she has stayed with her.
I love the really grimy look the show has taken at politics – the dirty deals, the pandering to get votes, etc. I almost hope they do jump right into a senatorial campaign. They have to find a way to keep Eli around.
I like Canning, but I think I would like him less as a boss/mentor. He’s great as a slightly better adversary.
*POST AUTHOR*
I think you’re right about the interview being disingenuous, but how about Alicia welcoming Peter back into her bed the other week – whether merely literally or figuratively as well?
Agreed on Eli. As you know I wasn’t a fan at first, but he’s too good a character to lose. I think that’s why the DCC dropped the Senate race into the conversation. And maybe Alicia assumes Peter’s office after Peter goes back to jail/runs for Senate?
Agreed on Canning too, but I want to keep him in the fold, and my scenario with Alicia leaving the firm would probably make that less likely unless she worked for him….
Nooooo…….. wrong on so many levels! (In My Opinion, of course…)..
In real life, no political wife would have refused the interview that Alicia did…. after all, she and Peter are, however tenuously, reconciled at that point in her mind, and she is attempting to live up to her title name as well as keep her own work identity. That she would even look at real estate during such a busy time is another piece of evidence that she sees her place as with Peter as his wife.
I felt literally sick for her watching her walk down the hall after the ultra-annoying Tim Guinee character brought her world crashing down. So many possibilities for next season!