After so many excellent Good Wife episodes, we were bound to stumble upon a clunker. Last night’s episode was not without its charms, but they were few and far between. Once again, we are all put through another Cary bail hearing-or is it the same one? Anyway, we get to Finn’s perspective, as he tries to push the trial back an additional two months. The judge rules against him, and the trial will go on as scheduled in 58 days. When he’s back in his office, Castro drops by to give Finn his daily dose of bullshit. Finn gets down to sussing out Cary’s character, and that means checking in with Geneva Pine, talking to cops, and a lab technician who tells Finn about a big ol’ heap of cocaine that went missing last year from a case Cary was working on-a case involving Lemond Bishop.
Finn meets up with Alicia, his new drinking buddy, at the bar and she slides over a tequila. Because Finn is a decent human being (and probably a little bit in love with Alicia) he pulls her aside and warns her that Cary might be in deeper than she knows. He cautions her to isolate herself from any nastiness that might be associated with him. When Alicia arrives at the office (the old Lockhart Gardner joint) she passed Finn’s vague warning on to Diane. Florrick Agos Lockhart has also found that they have too much office space on their hands, and agrees to consider renting out office space to independent lawyers and small firms.
Peter is a guest on a political talk show hosted by Frank Prady (David Hyde Pierce) when Eli notices a gent in the wings. The fellow’s name is Warren Plepp, and his presence is making Eli mighty suspicious. Why? Well, he’s a petition bundler, which means that he helps candidates get on ballots. Eli practically chases Plepp right out of the building. He gathers Johnny Elfman and they approach Alicia at the office to tell her that if Prady runs for office, she’s a dead woman walking. Cary pops his head in to say he’s been summoned to court, but this time he’s feeling hopeful. Alicia, isn’t quite so sure. Eli and Johnny try to convince her to go to Prady and ask for his endorsement, so feel out if he’s actually running.
In bail court, Finn slaps Cary with a Proof of Other Crimes charge. He’s accused of secretly working for Bishop while an ASA. Cary makes that face that he always makes. I think it signifies emotional pain, or he could have gotten a splinter, I’m not quite sure.
Alicia stops by Peter’s office and runs into her old chum Ramona. Ramon is being considered as counsel for Peter, and happens to be the mother of “Lauren the intern”. Like Alicia, she took years off to raise children, so they bond for a mo’ over that. Alicia sincerely wishes Ramona luck, and heads off to meet with Eli and Johnny. Frank Prady wants to meet with Alicia that day, so they try to prep her to win his favor. That and scare him from running, if that was even in his mind.
Geneva Pine appears in court to testify against Cary’s character, and make him look mighty suspicious. It works. Kalinda also arrives, but has to keep at least thirty feet away from Cary at all times. While Diane tries to convince the judge that Cary took on Bishop cases to raise his own profile, Cary and Kalinda text each other and make googly eyes like a couple of high school sophomores.
At Frank Prady’s studio, Alicia is overwhelmed by the sheer amount of cookies his loyal fans send him. This dude is popular. He thinks she’s there to pitch him for an interview, but she just comes out with it: she wants his endorsement. He’s taken aback by her honesty. Alicia also learns that she really hates how it feels to ask people for things.
Still in court, Finn brings up a cop to testify against Cary, saying that since he was the ASA, sometimes CAry liked to do things off the books. Diane asks Cary, “what the shit?!” but in her Diane way. Cary did check the coke out, but to expedite the charges. When he gets back to the office, Kalinda calls him from down the hall. She is concerned that Cary is protecting Peter who was his boss at the time. She’s so flustered, her English accent doesn’t even pretend to hide anymore. If Cary won’t bring Peter into it, then she will.
On Ramona’s first day as Governor’s counsel, she is served with a subpoena for Peter’s testimony. Well, that’s a fine how do you do. Eli wants to blow it off, but Ramona suggests they should tackle it head on.
Speaking of tackling, Alicia and Johnny are working on hardball questions in preparation of her interview with Frank Prady. Johnny gives her a piece of advice, “questions are for dopes”, and encourages her to always pivot back to what a son of a bitch Castro is. He tosses a question about Zach and his girlfriend’s abortion, and she goes full on Hulk Smash. The personal questions, and digging into painful subjects makes Alicia realize why so many people don’t run for office.
In court, Ramona shows up and stands beside Finn. It takes her a moment to get her bearings after not being in court for over a decade, but she proves to be a match for Diane. She accuses Cary’s team of using Peter as a smoke screen to help win favor for Cary. The judge agrees and Peter won’t have to appear after all.
After all that hardball prep with Johnny, when Alicia finally sits down with Prady, he lobs softball after softball. When Alicia goes on the defensive after Prady brings up how she was a stay at home mom, Eli and Johnny wince. They also get intel that Prady is indeed running, so Alicia goes home to drown her sorrows in a $35 dollar bottle of pinot noir.
Kalinda is determined to help Cary, so she does what she does best. Dig. She finds out the the lab tech that pointed the finger at Cary, had a nice sum of money deposited to her account shortly thereafter the cocaine went missing. Turns out, she slipped the drugs to her cousin who worked for Bishop. Her cousin is no other that Trey Wagner, the informant who is on the run. Kalinda breaks into the tech’s car and downloads her GPS. There she finds an address in Gary, Indiana that appears worth check out. When Kalinda knocks, Trey answers. “Let’s talk,” she tells him and invites herself in.
Eli and Johnny have found a way to discredit Prady but pulling out a paper he wrote in college, that was critical of the Israeli settlements. Alicia refuses to use it, because playing dirty isn’t how she rolls. However, it’s not above Eli to find some way to use it.
Finn gets a call from Kalinda, who informs him that Trey wants testify against Bishop. He also admits that he’s guilty of framing Cary. If Finn will grant him immunity, Trey will blow the case wide open. After he personally speaks to Trey, Finn goes to Castro to let him know the score. However, Castro still wants Cary to lead him to Bishop. Finn can’t believe that he’s handing Castro Bishop, and he’s refusing to let an innocent man off the hook. When Finn asks if this is all about the campaign, Castro orders him out.
When Finn next meets with Alicia, he’s just tendered his resignation. She suggests that he rent a space from her firm. I kind of want these two to make out. Not as much as I want Kalinda and Lana to make out, but the chemistry is there.
At the end of the day, Prady’s paper does get leaked, but by Castro. Alicia is pissed, and despite his protests, knows Eli had something to do with it. Diane stops in to deliver more bad news. Trey and his cousin, were both killed in a “car accident” the night before, thus eliminating anyone who could help Cary. Prady then shows up announced at the office to tell Alicia that he’s upset about the leaked paper, and hates campaigns. That’s why he’s running for State’s Attorney. It was the leak that sent him over the edge. Alicia allows herself to be pissed and calls him a hypocrite who pretends to fight the system, but is in actuality, part of it. She turns her back on him and sends him away like a hurt puppy.
