The Good Wife season 2 thread (1 Viewer)

[NeilO]

Another interesting episode. The Hollywood case was entertaining.


It appears that Kalinda has a husband in the wind somewhere. That whole sequence with her and Blake was a bit bizarre. What was he thinking in giving her the baseball bat at that time? Clearly not thinking with his brain.


Alicia and Will had a talk and Will decides to go with his current situation.

It appears that Owen will be appearing more (especially since the actor sadly doesn't have Rubicon to take any of his time anymore).

 

[Patrick Sun]

I was hoping Blake gave Kalinda a faux bat, just to have an ace in his back pocket when dealing with her. Their scene was cinematic-steaminess (and the scene between Kalinda and the FBI lady wasn't chopped liver, either).


Alicia seems like a catalyst character, as I rarely find her storylines as interesting as almost any other side/supporting character these days.

 

[DaveF]

Last night we watched two of the last three episodes. Amazing, detailed episodes. I was surprised to have felt like I'd seen an entire episode and realize we were just at the 36 minute point! These shows felt long; not in a tedious way, but in the sense that every moment is packed with details, critical dialog, and advancing the over-arching plot or character drama. I can and do watch shows such as No Ordinary Family or V while reading a magazine or surfing the web. I only need to catch about 30% of the show to follow it. But The Good Wife demands my full attention. And requires I skip back to catch a word missed, a conversation misunderstood. I concluded those two episodes wishing The Good Wife could field 2-hour episodes

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt /forum/thread/304439/the-good-wife-season-2-thread/30#post_3777605

 

[DaveF]

Wow. Another super episode. I find it quite intriguing—and jarring—that it's Kalinda who uses violence against Blake. He's never been violent, has he?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I love Gary Cole as Kurt McVeigh. Not for the political banter -- which is intentionally shallow -- but for the rare demonstration that two adults with polar opposite political views can be polite, smart, decent and relatively honest and honorable people who like each other a lot for their similarities and their differences. Gary Cole's character isn't written with any less respect or care than any of the regulars on the show, and Cole's performance imbues the character with terrific low-key, unpretentious dignity.


I loved the casting of Sarah Steele as Eli Gold's daughter. I thought she was terrific as the overweight daughter in James L. Brooks's Spanglish, and have been waiting to see her again in a role with similar substance. Having a daughter humanizes Gold's not very human character. It explains why he took Becka so seriously; having an altogether much more decent but equally intelligent daughter of his own, he knew not to underestimate her. In two small scenes, we're shown that Eli is a distant father but not anywhere near an absent one. Unlike many divorcee dads, he's willing to be the bad cop when warranted rather than trying to bribe her affection by giving her whatever she wants. His daughter is more into her Jewish heritage than he is, but still very much like any other teenage girl growing up in Chicago. She's not surprised to find him wooing a very young woman for some nefarious purpose, so she has no illusions about the scummy nature of his job. At the same time, her relationship with him seems to be healthy and there's no great animosity between them. All of that conveyed in two short scenes, with very little of it stated explicitly. Of all the shows on television right now, only perhaps "Parenthood" could fit so much subtext into so little.


I like that Eli Gold respected and even admired America Ferrera's illegal immigrant character. As a Democratic strategist, he undoubtedly supports amnesty for her. She has worked very hard to make something for herself, and she tantalizingly close to achieving it. But he has a responsibility to Peter, and without unmasking her, Peter's pretty much out of the race. Personally, I don't support amnesty, not even for someone like her who has built an impressive life upon her parents' crime. But it was still a crime, and she has committed other crimes to keep her life going. But I don't look to drama to reflect my beliefs. I expect it to support the reality of the world. Everything that we know about Eli says that he'd be in her corner, and her character was about as sympathetic of a portrayal of an illegal alien as you can get. It was exactly right to present this story the way they did. Both Cumming and Ferrera were excellent.


I think they're taking generally the right tack with Grace exploring Christianity. Alicia is right to be skeptical that this is just a phase like the many phases teenage girls go through. Grace was right to point out that religion bothers her rigidly secular and probably atheist mother. To Alicia's credit, she's letting Grace feel this out for herself, just as she's given Peter room to go through his religious conversion in peace. If there's a missed opportunity so far, it's that they haven't paired Peter's religious conversion with Grace's religious explorations. I'd think Peter and Grace would have more to say to each other about this topic than Grace and Alicia.


It looks like next week things finally come to a head on the battle over the firm. Should be exciting.

 

[NeilO]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt

I think they're taking generally the right tack with Grace exploring Christianity. Alicia is right to be skeptical that this is just a phase like the many phases teenage girls go through. Grace was right to point out that religion bothers her rigidly secular and probably atheist mother. To Alicia's credit, she's letting Grace feel this out for herself, just as she's given Peter room to go through his religious conversion in peace. If there's a missed opportunity so far, it's that they haven't paired Peter's religious conversion with Grace's religious explorations. I'd think Peter and Grace would have more to say to each other about this topic than Grace and Alicia.


It looks like next week things finally come to a head on the battle over the firm. Should be exciting.

I think Alicia led things to go in the direction of Grace and Peter talking about religion in a future episode. In her discussion with Alicia, Grace was just parroting back the propaganda from that religious rebel web video. I think after her discussion with Alicia, she started to realize that there is more to it than just that.


As far as the battle with the firm. I know they try to mislead us in the promos and they have definitely led us to wonder just what will happen.

 

[mattCR]

I completely agree on the way the show picks at small issues and pulls the strings to let you know it's a lot more complicated then it seems. I found the story of the illegal alien to be a good one. It wasn't overly sappy and they touched all the bases - that a social security number was forged, documents were invented, and she had worked the system with the help of someone else. It didn't make her an axe murderer, and Eli felt true sympathy for her, but it also made it something that he knew he couldn't ignore not if he represented Peter. I thought that was a great shift. I tend to like that Peter and his daughter are on completely different roads to the same place in the way of faith. Alicia is a bit more like me, but I find it interesting that the father and the daughter are coming through their journey on their own, and I think they have vastly different appreciations of what faith means to them. I think that makes for interesting TV.

 

[DaveF]

Another striking episode. I always enjoy McVeigh's appearances. I don't believe for a moment his and Diane's romance would last long, should they pursue it; but their chemistry is marvelous. And I like it when a show that does romance between people of a certain age well (one of the reasons I loved "Judging Amy").


I believed Eli's story, but I was sad that he made the choice he made. There's a certain form of evil, I think, in willingly and purposefully ruining someone's life simply because they're the tool you need to do your job.



Grace's inchoate rebellion and searching is so interesting to watch. I remember that undirected idealism of youth and uncorraled desire for things, all things, to be better. I also read into it a parallel to the inchoate political rage, the unfocused, juvenile thinking about our nation's problems being demonstrated by so many in our electorate. But perhaps I'm not too far off. In the episode with the searching teenager, we have some back and forth between Diane and Kurt about modern politics.


And Kalinda, fielding calls from...Blake? Her alleged husband?



I was hoping to see Diane firing the machine gun

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Originally Posted by DaveF


I believed Eli's story, but I was sad that he made the choice he made. There's a certain form of evil, I think, in willingly and purposefully ruining someone's life simply because they're the tool you need to do your job.

That's one way to look at it. The consequence will almost certainly be that the young lady's life is ruined. But the other way to look at it is that he helped bring a particularly sympathetic criminal to justice. It's not a black and white issue.

 

[mattCR]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt


That's one way to look at it. The consequence will almost certainly be that the young lady's life is ruined. But the other way to look at it is that he helped bring a particularly sympathetic criminal to justice. It's not a black and white issue.

You also have to realize that Eli was really equally caught. He went out of his way to get an attorney motivated on her case to get paperwork done quickly to help establish her case. But once he knew of the situation, and became aware that social security numbers had been lifted, etc. what was he really to do? If he didn't report it, he would be part of a criminal conspiracy to keep someone there, which would seriously damage his candidate.

He really didn't have any choice once he knew for a fact the details. It's why people say things like "I don't want to know!" Once he knew, there were no outs for him, though he worked hard to get her some protections. In the end, it was the other candidate who created this situation. If she wanted to fix this, she could have helped her establish her citizenship years ago. She could have applied for work Visa status for her. She didn't do any of those things, which means she illegally employed someone; she didn't report taxes correctly, she skated on money, and she took the quick way out. Of course it's damaging to her campaign. It's one thing if, say a McDonalds Franchise owner hires an illegal alien to babysit.. vs. a State Attorney flouting the law and doing it, and then disregarding helping the person become legal.


I thought that storyline was incredibly well played. All of the complications and nuance which made it not black and white, a character you liked as an illegal alien, a character as her boss you liked. But it didn't change the situation or the realities of what happen, and while Eli also felt slimy doing it, he really was hemmed in - and he took every chance to throw her a rope by pushing her attorney to help.

 

[DaveF]

Eli chose his job over his conscience. He wasn't interested in criminal justice. His only concern is his job, and he will destroy anyone if that helps win the election. It's a Karl Rove-ian view of politics.


It's good drama, good writing. All sides are seen. All characters are sympathetic. Each can read into it their personal politics, and find strength or weakness to their actions.



It's an interesting contrast to last week. The essence of Louis Canning was shown. At his core is someone who will violate his oath and duties to people relying on him for his own vendetta against class action lawsuits. Eli Gold is shown the opposite. He is loyal to his professional duties above all else, regardless the personal cost of those in his path.

 

[DaveF]

Wow. Just wow. And Ken Leung. He was great as Miles on Lost. But he stole his scenes. I've not seen an actor completely be someone else like that in a long time. I had to double check it was him. Ken Leung needs more roles. Amazing character actor.

 

[NeilO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveF

Wow. Just wow.

And Ken Leung. He was great as Miles on Lost. But he stole his scenes. I've not seen an actor completely be someone else like that in a long time. I had to double check it was him.

Ken Leung needs more roles. Amazing character actor.

I did recognize him right away, but then forgot as the story went on. He was great.


As I mentioned earlier, the preview for this episode was quite misleading as to what was going to happen in the vote - as it was meant to be. They kept us guessing throughout the episode as to who was deceiving whom with the voting. When Alicia was given the job offer before the vote I was thinking that they really could pull a fast one on us and have the vote go the other way with Alicia leaving to join another firm. I didn't think it was all that likely, but the possibility was there.

 

[mattCR]

This is how you introduce a twist that impacts all of the players on the show. The situation with Calinda is something that most of us had suspected for quite some time. They had inferred that there was something between her and Peter for all of the first season but they had never really made it clear what that was. Now, when it comes to light, it isn't a twist where you say "How is that possible?!?" It's a twist that makes you say: "HOLY COW, it all makes sense!" It was telegraphed, but it was telegraphed so deftly, without a lot of in your face moments that when it hits it has full impact and really works.


I thought the turn with the PIs was a good one; the witchhunt was Lockhart Gardner, and boy did that fall apart.. great moments in the courtroom. It's good to see Good Wife come back with a great strong well plotted episode.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The interesting thing is that for Kalinda having sex with Peter was undoubtedly a pure matter of expedience at the time; payment for a service rendered. But the consequences for her relationship with Alicia were emotional. It's perhaps the first time we've seen a genuine emotional response from her. The whole thing is a nightmare for Eli that he doesn't even know about. After they've so deftly swept Peter's plethora of past indiscretions under the rug, one's threatening to pop up in the homestretch of the race. And of course, Blake's hanging the guillotine over Will's neck, too; there's something (or somethings) illegal and unethical in his distant past that he's already paid a price for and worked to make amends for. Now, Blake's threatening to bring it back.


The show's also doing a good job of setting up Carey for a return to Lockhart & Gardner, as Childs's kingdom falls around him. Wendy Scott-Carr would definitely eliminate him, and he'd probably die rather than work for Alicia's husband. The moment at the end of their phone call was great, a shared recognition by two good and decent people who may not like one another, but certainly respect the hell out of one another.


My favorite storyline was Grace's, though. She cut through all the BS, and confronted the fact that Eli had written off the black vote and was trying to bleach Peter's campaign to appeal to the racist and the ignorant. I liked the way Pastor Isaiah answered her questions, which certainly couldn't have been interpreted in an offensive way, and I really liked that Grace liked the way he answered her questions. Eli's attempt to gently throw Pastor Isaiah under the bus backfires by turning Grace against him. The framing of the scene where Grace confronts her mother was great, as we see it from Zach's girlfriend's point of view. It leads her to very much expect one outcome, only to resolve in apparently the opposite outcome. Alicia reasserted her family values over the campaign's needs, and that required putting her children under the lights. As much as she wants to keep them away from all of that, teaching her children the right message was more important than that.

 

[Patrick Sun]

And the wheels are turning furiously now for K. Good stuff.

 

[mattCR]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt


My favorite storyline was Grace's, though. She cut through all the BS, and confronted the fact that Eli had written off the black vote and was trying to bleach Peter's campaign to appeal to the racist and the ignorant. I liked the way Pastor Isaiah answered her questions, which certainly couldn't have been interpreted in an offensive way, and I really liked that Grace liked the way he answered her questions. Eli's attempt to gently throw Pastor Isaiah under the bus backfires by turning Grace against him. The framing of the scene where Grace confronts her mother was great, as we see it from Zach's girlfriend's point of view. It leads her to very much expect one outcome, only to resolve in apparently the opposite outcome. Alicia reasserted her family values over the campaign's needs, and that required putting her children under the lights. As much as she wants to keep them away from all of that, teaching her children the right message was more important than that.

I thought it was a pretty good "throw away" line when she asked him if it made him unhappy people put up white jesus and his response of "people see Jesus to look a lot like themselves; that's not necessarily a bad thing.." I thought that was a really good moment to turn the question; it hit the key point a lot like 'does it impact what you believe..' I thought that was a nice touch. Actually, that whole exchange was pretty good. I was glad to see Nissi, who has been in the background all season, but that even as someone with maybe 3 total lines they managed to make her existence matter. And while Gold was worried that she would be seen as a "prop to the left" the part that made it work is that for the show, she wasn't a prop. They didn't use her existence as any false drama "is this OK" it just was, and it was such a non-issue that it took Alicia an extra step before she caught on that it was what Gold was trying to do. I thought that was a great bit of writing there.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Great episode tonight. I love Eli's daughter. You really feel like she's his kid, and there's none of the drama most parent-child relationships have. She enjoys tweaking his ego, he's used to the barbs, but there's an underlying affection under the sighs.


I love Cary, and the way he and Alicia were able to work together to achieve some common good. Part of me wants him back at Lockhart/Gardner so he can be a full time character again, but the other part of me thinks he's a much more interesting character where he is. That would only be even more the case working under Peter or Wendy Scott-Carr.


I also liked that the actions taken by Kalinda and Peter were all about protecting Alicia. Peter didn't think, "Man, this is going to destroy my campaign." He thought, "Man, this is going to destroy Alicia." And he's smart enough to know that destruction will be as much about losing Kalinda as a friend as it was about yet another betrayal from her husband. The ironic thing is, if he'd fessed up at the time all the other crap came out, it'd be a non-issue with everybody at this point.


Love this show.

 

[mattCR]

I think Peter's decision here was what comes natural too him - and that will be the point that kills him. Can they sweep it under the rug? Yes... but it will always be the axe hanging over his head.

 

[NeilO]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt

Great episode tonight. I love Eli's daughter. You really feel like she's his kid, and there's none of the drama most parent-child relationships have. She enjoys tweaking his ego, he's used to the barbs, but there's an underlying affection under the sighs.


I love Cary, and the way he and Alicia were able to work together to achieve some common good. Part of me wants him back at Lockhart/Gardner so he can be a full time character again, but the other part of me thinks he's a much more interesting character where he is. That would only be even more the case working under Peter or Wendy Scott-Carr.

I really liked them working with Cary for a change. It was a feel good episode right before everything probably will hit the fan next week.