CBSIt's The Good Wife's party and she'll drink wine and laugh about her son's engagement if she wants to. This episode, "Party," was poignant (how could an episode that is essentially a victory lap for several recurring characters not be?) and made me remember the good old days of The Good Wife before things got oh so very muddled. The gist of "Party": Alicia was hosting a pre-wedding shindig for Jackie and Howard and because it's a family and work union, everybody was involved, from Alicia's mom to Diane Lockhart. There was no case (thankfully), just Jason investigating whether or not Peter was really guilty of throwing the case for his friend.
Since there was just a lot of relationship happenings, we're breaking it down that way:
Alicia and Jason
The episode picked up right where the last one ended with Alicia saying she wants Jason. "I'm through delaying anything. I've looked back at my life and every time I didn't say something I meant or waiting for a better moment—" she told Jason, and then Grace knocked on the door. "There is no better moment, that's the one thing, the only thing I've discovered. Everything comes to an end. There's no better moment than now."
If there's anything Alicia knows about it's bad timing. This seemed to scare Jason, especially since he had a gag gift: a deed to land on Mars. OK…he wasn't sure what they were to each other and the gift really didn't sit well with Alicia. After many attempts at chatting, they finally had it out. He wants Alicia too, but he also is used to doing his own thing, moving around, being tall, dark and handsome, you get it. Now he wants to do that with Alicia. Will she pick up and go?
Alicia and Diane
It's officially Lockhart, Florrick and Associates. Diane went and knocked David Lee off the name and he's fine with it she said. Branding and what not. I love the relationship between these two. They've been through so much together. "Firm of the amazons," Alicia said to her. "I like that," Diane said. And the whole time at the party Alicia was watching Diane and Kurt, seemingly jealous of their easy bond. The loves she's had have never really been easy. Peter, Will, Jason…
"Maybe one day you can teach me to be happy?" Alicia asked Kurt and Diane. And then my heart broke a little bit.
Alicia, Grace and Zach
Seeing Alicia with both her kids again, playing mom, was just great. It's been a while since viewers got to see that. Veronica spilled the beans about the divorce, which prompted the Florrick family hallway meeting. It reminded me of early episodes. Zach's engaged to some annoying older student who's going to work in France and he's going to live with her and write a memoir. This obviously made Alicia laugh. And then Zach's lady, Hannah, pointed out that just because Zach is following in her footsteps (marrying young after only a short time knowing each other), doesn't mean it will be the same outcome. "Marriage should work for us, but not us for marriage," she told Alicia.
Alicia and everybody else
What struck me most about this episode was Alicia saying goodbye to her mom, Veronica, her brother, Owen, Jackie and Marissa Gold because this is (most likely) the last time these characters will ever interact and the writers obviously knew that. Even her goodbye hug to Zach got to me. There may have been mist in my eyes.
"I won't be seeing you again," Jackie told Alicia. "You're divorcing my son and I just wanted you to know We're more alike than not." And now I want a prequel to young Jackie?
Alicia's interactions with Peter also struck me. They always worked best when there was no real pressure to be or do anything. They're a familiarity and a comfort that Julianna Margulies and Chris Noth easily have with each other.
"Do you feel sad?" Alicia asked Peter about the divorce.
"I do," he said.
"I guess it's just—that's what happens," she said.
And the end of the episode they toasted to their divorce while a gritty cable drama played on TV with the main character saying goodbye and atoning for everything he's done. Not the most subtle, but was The Good Wife ever that way?
The only other thread in the episode involved Jason investigating Peter to see if he was guilty (on Eli's orders) and discovering a lab tech messed up a lot of the case, so Peter hired Diane's husband Kurt.
Gasp count: 1
The Good Wife airs Sundays, 9 p.m. on CBS.