Justin Stephens and Timothy Kuratek/CBSThe Good Wife remembered Christine Baranski is one of the best actors in their cast and finally let her do things besides look flawless, roll her eyes and mediate squabbles (not that those things aren't enjoyable). In "Restraint," Diane was tasked with going against her pro-choice ideals and defend Citizens for Ethical Medicine at the behest of Sandy Cohen. Sorry, Peter Gallagher's character Ethan Carver.
DIANE
It was a ripped from the headlines story featuring a doctor secretly recorded talking about what happens with aborted fetuses. Making Diane go against her ideals wasn't something new for The Good Wife, but in doing so Baranski really got a chance to shine. She wasn't going to do it until it became a First Amendment issue and then Diane went all in, despite urgings from the judge and the lose of clients (they went over to Alicia).
"Why do I have to be so damn convincing?" she asked after Ethan Carver quoted her to take the case. In the end, she got out of the case and saved face…but was that what she really wanted.
ALICIA AND LUCCA
Things in Alicia and Lucca's world were looking dire. Clients weren't walking through the door. So while Diane was getting her courtroom drama on, Louis Canning was trying to wow Lucca Quinn…in attempts to get Alicia and give them clients. It didn't really work. However, what did work was Grace Florrick. She cold-called clients—the right clients it seemed because Bea Wilson (Kelly Bishop) wasn't happy with Diane arguing on behalf of the pro-life party. Grace saved the say.
Alicia and Lucca had some growing pains with their client meetings. Are there cracks in the partnership already? Plus, is Alicia having trust issues with Jason now? She heard Diane talking to him. This is going to come back and bite somebody.
Regarding last week's cliffhanger, Alicia didn't vote for either company to supply the voting machines, instead she ordered a study. She's a rascal. More problems from Frank Landau are sure to come.
ELI
Hey, he's loosening up. "I'm working on that. I told a joke yesterday." Eli did his best to woo Courtney Paige and surprise, it worked!
This episode felt like it was designed purely to let Christine Baranski sink her teeth into some topical material and there's nothing wrong with that, but coming after last week's pretty sensational hour, this episode fell flat. I just wished it progressed the overarching stories some more. I'm waiting for something big to happen. The Good Wife loves twists, so this holding pattern is getting a bit boring.
Gasp count: 0
The Good Wife airs Sundays, 9 p.m. on CBS.