Jeff Neumann ©2014 CBSWelcome to Alicia Florrick's closet, here are all her skeletons.
In "Oppo Research," The Good Wife fired on all cylinders once again, revealing the perfect life of Saint Alicia isn't so perfect after all. But it's not really her secrets that may come back and haunt her, it's those of her family. You know, Zach's secret abortion, her mom spanking a young boy in a store, Owen's affair with a married gay porn star who performs bareback (without a condom), Peter's one-night stand with Kalinda and relationship with that intern's mom, having Lemond Bishop as a client, pictures of her and Will and pictures of Finn Polmar leaving her apartment in the morning. And then there's the wine. Alicia loves wine.
The episode saw Alicia attempt to bury each secret and put out the fires trying to get rid of them created. Alicia was snappy and focused, frustrated and determined, a far cry from the Alicia we met in 2009 when the show first started and that is a great thing. Watching Alicia evolve—or the Education of Alicia Florrick as The Good Wife co-creators Robert and Michelle King put it—has been riveting television.
Here's how Alicia dealt with her problems:
She called Zach about his abortion and confronted him about his lies. She was pissed and disappointed with and herself. When she threw her phone down it seemed like a turning point for Alicia, an eye-opening moment.
She sat her mom (Stockard Channing was a comedic high point in this episode) and the boy's mother and little boy down and orchestrated an apology. But when the mom wanted $50,000 to avoid a lawsuit, Alicia and her team fought back, basically shaming the mom for having no control over her kid.
She confronted Owen, but he walked out. A far too short visit from Dallas Roberts, but certainly this will be resolved.
She told Eli about Peter's one-night stand with Kalinda, something Eli was unaware of. For a split second I thought that would mean we would finally get a scene between Alicia and Kalinda…but nope. Eli and Kalinda had an awkward meeting over a lunch of water and Eli determined the affair will stay secret…or will it? Whose heart broke a little when Kalinda protested she wasn't Alicia's best friend?
When she met with Finn to address the image of him leaving her apartment, she was set up by the current State's Attorney and pulled over. She passed the sobriety test, but a photographer captured the moment and now there's a story circulating about her alcohol abuse. Alicia Florrick does love her drink!
To run, she had to get rid of Lemond Bishop as her client. Her relationship with him has always been a murky territory, so you can imagine the shock when he revealed he had started her PAC and was raising money on her behalf. A drug lord would benefit from having a friend in the State's Attorney office, wouldn't he?
In the end, she committed to running. But will she win?
Gasp count: 2
Some other things:
Loved that a large chunk of the episode was framed by The Good Wife's fake cable drama Darkness at Noon and the tropes of cable shows and even criticism The Good Wife has received. A nice little wink. Thankfully we don't have to worry about The Good Wife getting a post-show…right?
So Peter's totally going to/already has a relationship with Ramona Lytton (Connie Nielsen), right?
After writing all this I realized there was no case in this episode! More of that, please.
The Good Wife airs Sundays, 9 p.m. on CBS.