The Good Wife – Haven’t we seen this cliffhanger before?

I think something must have gotten lost in translation on last night’s season two finale of The Good Wife, because while the stakes of a judge’s murder were certainly referenced, I’m not certain that I ever felt the dire situation that Jacob Rickter (Seth Gilliam, not quite as good as I remember him being on The Wire) was supposedly facing. That said, Judge Morris’ (Jane Alexander) warnings to Will about Rickter’s dim prospects in the appeals process certainly made the defense’s stall tactics a fun and interesting diversion. I hope Petey (William Hill) was okay reading one hundred and eighty-seven pages aloud.

But then I suppose the action last night was anywhere other than in the courtroom … or was it? Lockhart/Gardner appears to be expanding, and I have to ask: how? Even forgetting about what Bond may or may not have done for the firm, when in the last few weeks did we witness an explosion in revenue? Suddenly money’s flowing like there’s no tomorrow? And even if it is, is the prudent decision after their recent financial struggles to spend it all today instead of thinking about tomorrow?

Or maybe the expansion was simply necessary to build Alicia’s promotion into the story line and entice Eli to bring his lobbyist firm in-house. First of all, great way of keeping Eli on the show as a regular! I’m glad that he’s not going to be forced to do something other than politicking in order to stay in the fold … at the same time, the pressure that we know he’ll be applying to Alicia to stand by her cheating husband is old and annoying even before it really starts. Please spare us (and the fictional residents of Illinois).

I also question the timeline that we witnessed with regard to Eli meeting with Diane and Alicia being asked to act as liaison between Eli’s political department and the firm’s legal arm — Diane approached Alicia about bumping her up before she ever spoke with Eli. So what promotion did Diane have in mind for Alicia before she got stuck with the Eli gig? Or was that a flub?

Speaking of flubs, how about Russo (Kelli Giddish) referring to a “PRC” test, something that we all — including her character, who corrected herself later on — know is called a “PCR,” or polymerase chain reaction, test? I assume she just misspoke, but it was surprising that a mistake about a crime show staple like PCR could squeak by in the editing process.

The other action, of course, took place between Alicia and Will. Oh to be able to get back the five minutes I spent watching the end of last night’s episode! Two actors who spent fifty-five minutes turning in stellar performances took me right out of the scene by forcing emotions that are completely lacking on screen. Alicia might as well have headed up to that hotel room with her gay brother Owen (Dallas Roberts) — minus the intimate moments, of course — who, incidentally, was in the episode for what reason? I had hoped we’d already seen the last of him.

I take it the season-ending cliffhanger is meant to either be “did they/didn’t they,” or “what happens now that they did?” but my assumption is that Alicia won’t go through with it. Despite the state of her marriage — and the unworthiness of her mate — I can’t imagine Alicia cheating. And if she did, I think we’d have to have a whole other conversation about the type of person that she’s evolved into. I hope we don’t have to do that.

I guess all I have left to mention is season three. CBS announced that The Good Wife has been renewed, and will be moving to Sunday nights. Is the network looking to dominate a new night of the week, or is it a demotion for the “ratings hit anywhere but on CBS” series? Honestly, while I’m concerned about anything that threatens the show’s future, I think it can speak for itself if given the chance. With a third season it has just such a shot … we’ll have to wait and see if it scores with great cases and suspenseful intrigue, or misses with boring chemistry-less plots and sexual ambiguity nonsense. Which show will return in the fall?

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on May 18, 2011 @ 13:45 EST5EDT