Matthew Morrison makes his debut in an energetic 'Good Wife' episode
Wow, Sunday's The Good Wife was a lot. It felt like someone sent a surge of electricity threw the show and energized in a way that it hasn't been in quite some time.
"Hearing," Sunday's installment, flies by so quickly that I didn't realize an hour had passed until the credits started rolling. It's been awhile since The Good Wife has felt this alive.
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However, the episode's energy tricks you into believing there was more going on than there actually was. With the start of the grand jury hearing and the return of Veronica (Stockard Channing) and Owen (Dallas Roberts), there's this sense that there's a lot of plot happening, but most of that plot is missing any kind of emotional hook. At times, it was very hard to care about what was happening.
That's not to say this was a bad episode. In fact, it contains two of the season's best scenes so far. And, it just so happens that the first one is the entire first act.
"Hearing" opens with Alicia and Jason eating nachos and watching Roar, starring Melanie Griffith, naked in Alicia's bedroom. These two lovebirds have shacked up for the weekend and have been having a ton of sex. Everything seems to be going fine as Alicia and Jason get to know each other, both physically and emotionally, and Alicia seems is complete control of the situation.
However, things start to quickly spiral out of Alicia's control as more and more people show up at her apartment, interrupting this lazy Sunday and bursting hers and Jason's bubble. First, there's Veronica and Owen, who are there to ask for Alicia's help. It's hard not to laugh at how annoyed Alicia gets when Victoria and Owen meet Jason, starting chatting him up and prevent him from leaving. Then, Eli and Mike Tascioni show up to warn her that a grand jury has been called and that she should expect a subpoena very soon. It's the next thing that arrives at the apartment.
From there, the episode gets down to business. While Jason helps Veronica reclaim $100,000 that was stolen from her, Alicia is stuck at the courthouse with Eli and Mike. There, the three of them meet Connor Fox, played by a hirsute Matthew Morrison (Glee), the experienced prosecutor who is coming after Peter Florrick. Morrison is actually very convincing in the role and I completely forgot about how insufferable Will Schuster was.
Although Connor won't reveal what he's after, Alicia, Eli and Mike discover -- thanks to some eavesdropping from a handicap bathroom that shares a vent with the grand jury room -- that he's investigating Peter for his connection to the People v. Locke case.
As luck would have it, Cary was one of the ASAs assigned to that case, which involved a young working class man named Richard Locke who was accused of killing his girlfriend's ex, although he claimed it was an accident. Despite his economic status, Locke had an expensive defense team and the case ended in a mistrial. At the time, the rumor was that his father was someone who mattered. This seems to worry Eli, but it's not entirely clear why. Does Eli think Peter said "father who mattered"? Please, don't let that be the case because a secret child seems a bit too cheap for The Good Wife.
Right now, it's hard to engage with this new investigation into Peter because we're not entirely sure what we should be worried about and how it could possibly affect Alicia. Yes, there's a need to play things very close to the vest, but it feels like The Good Wife might be playing it a bit too close and not giving out enough information.
Meanwhile, Cary and David Lee, still worried that Diane is trying to push them out, call Alicia and ask if Diane has approached her about any sort of plan of that nature. Alicia says no, which is the truth, but they don't believe her. However, Diane sees Cary and David on the phone and decides to make a move.
Diane takes Alicia out to lunch to discuss their future, and, as I said before, it's the best scene of the season. First, Diane starts out by denying that she wants to create an all-female run firm, but then it becomes clear that she actually does because she thinks there will be a culling of Chicago law firms soon and if they want to survive, they'll need to make themselves more relevant. Part of making themselves more relevant means buying Cary out of the firm.
Diane: I want to join forces with you…I've been working with Cary now as a fellow named partner for a year. He's learned a lot. I respect him a great deal, but he's no Will Gardner.
Alicia: He doesn't pretend to be.
Diane: You don't either, but you fill his shoes. You can slice an opponent to threads smiling the whole time and they come back thanking you. I want someone I can work across from who I can respect, who I think can outrace me. Cary is not that person, and anybody that isn't that person is holding us back.
This conversation is such a treat because it's supported by all of the history between these two characters. Having watched the series for so long, we know that Diane actually does have a lot of respect for Alicia and at times, it feels like part of the show has been about Diane trying to form a strong and lasting bond with her. In fact, Diane tried something similar to this back in season two when she thought Will was in cahoots with Derrick Bond and she approached Alicia about leaving the firm with her. The other reason Diane's move is so emotionally intriguing is because this will be the third time she has chosen Alicia over Cary when there are pretty good reasons to do the opposite.
Now, Alicia is in a tough situation, similar to the one she was in back in Season 2. Should she go along with Diane or warn Cary? Lucca thinks she should do the latter. Alicia and Cary have come a long way from where they were in the first three seasons of the show. I can't imagine Alicia throwing that away, but who knows what will happen.
Case Notes:
"This is my life. It is not a reality show," Alicia tells her mother and brother as they giddily question her about Jason. This is ironic because that's exactly how the NSA analysts are treating her life. Wow, you know they must've had a field day this weekend.
At one point, Alicia mixes up Jason and Will's names, which confirms to Lucca that she and Jason are together.
Fun fact: Jason is Greek Orthodox and goes to church every Sunday evening.
