This week in the first Good Wife of 2013, we had some highs and some not-so-highs. There are never really any lows on this show, but let’s be honest; there are Alicia-and-Kalinda-hanging-out-in-a-hotel moments, and then there are not-Alicia-and-Kalinda-hanging-out-in-a-hotel moments.
We also saw the return of some notable secondary characters: Michael J. Fox is back, in a big way, as competing lawyer Louis Canning, who we learn also weirdly has a really sweet and hot wife, and Anika Noni Rose as Wendy Scott-Carr, enemy of pretty much everyone, but right now, Eli. Which in turn, ends up being pretty much everyone. Way to go, Eli!
If you’re ready for some good times, there’s also a small child with West Nile Virus and an old man dying of cancer. Wheeee!
So let’s go ahead and jump into this bowl full of cheeriness. We meet Alicia at some monstrous fancy hotel thing in Minnesota, an impressive stone building surrounded by beautiful fall foliage and the kind of intimidating rustic charm that only really rich people can enjoy. She’s there to depose the head of a bank, who has foreclosed a bunch of homes and promptly left them to rot (yay banks!), whose abandoned swimming pools then bred a bunch of mosquitoes which then infected Lockhart Gardner’s client, the small child with West Nile. The client actually isn’t that small, but in her adolescence, a fact which is actually more awful, as she’s able to be truly aware of the crappiness of her situation. We meet her back in the offices in Chicago, where she’s hangin’ with all the other lawyers, and she seems frail and nervous and mostly traumatized. When the other lawyers talk to her in condescending tones, it gives me a big case of the sads.
But back in ye old charming Minnesota hotel, Alicia meets with Canning, who is obviously representing the Big Bank Guy, who Lockhart Gardner have apparently been trying to depose for 14 months. Tracking him down to Minnesota was the only way he could make this thing work, I guess, because that’s reasonable. When they all sit down, he gives a few brief “I’m a good-hearted old man, don’t cha know, and why are people so mean to banks, also I have kids which shows my obvious sympathy” lines, some of which are jokes-that-are-not-really-jokes that everyone around him laughs heartily at anyway because he’s rich. Except Alicia. Alicia gives the best Alicia tight-lipped smile that always means “nope.” Because Alicia is the best and she’s not going to take any of your fake camaraderie, Big Bank Guy.
Shockingly, as soon as Big Bank Guy is presented with evidence that could actually implicate his bank’s guilt, he gets whisked off to some emergency thing or other, and continues to give Alicia the runaround for the majority of the episode. You wait for 14 months, what’s two more days, right? It goes like this: I’ll be back at 2. Just kidding! I’ll be there tomorrow morning. Haha, make that the afternoon. LOLZ, I’ll be there in the morning (again). OK, not really. I’ll never be there! And so it goes, and Alicia gets stuck in Minnesota for longer than anticipated, spending her time waiting and contemplating the silence of the woods, interrupted by the occasional real weird interaction with Michael J. He’s actually the one behind this runaround, of course, as he knows his client might be screwed.
One of the conversations they have revolves around his wonderful wife whom Alicia has met, who is also staying at the hotel, and who really is quite lovely. Look at her! How could she not be lovely!
Alicia asks Canning how such a good woman could be married to a bastard like him. He replies: “Women like bastards. Didn’t you notice that? It’s like a challenge. Beauty and the Beast. It fits in with all the fairy tales you consume.” These comments are infuriating and gross, especially since it’s mostly true. Alicia responds like we all would, with an incredulous laugh and a beautiful eyeroll. And then a mere beat later, as the phone rings again from the ever-absent Bank Guy, she delivers my favorite line of the episode, still in so-done-with-this laughter mode: “Oh, and there’s Godot!” How I love when you’re burning with witty rage!
Back in Chicago, that wonky Eli story we had forgotten about continues to build in still-real-boring fashion. The Democratic bigwigs seek Eli out to say, “Hey, remember when the DOJ raided your office? Yeah, we heard about that. We’re going to hire someone else to back you up, just in cases.” And guess who this person is? Double-oh-seven, Dr. George O’Malley! He’s apparently some political boy genius who’s gonna help Eli out, somehow. Eli is so, so pumped.
The punches just keep on rolling for Eli when he and Diane head to the DOJ to drop off a harassment complaint on Eli’s behalf, and they discover that Wendy Scott-Carr has been assigned to his case. Wendy has opted to take a “What do you mean, we’re friends! At the very least, we are all totally unbiased, professional lawyers ’round here!” role in this scene.
Diane responds by reaching out to Wendy Scott-Carr’s old campaign manager, letting Wendy know that if the DOJ is really going after campaign finances, she’ll be under scrutiny for her past actions, as well. Wendy reacts by showing up at Lockhart Gardner, as Eli has done work out of their offices, and raiding it. Which also means Diane can no longer represent Eli. Whoops.
But in more important news, Alicia is spending another lonely night in the North Star State in Creepily Nice Hotel when there comes a knock at the door. She walks slowly to open it, as this would be the perfect location for a Stephen King plot, but alas, on the other side stand not a murderer or possessed children, but Kalinda! With wine! The moment we’ve been waiting through all the other boring stuff for! Alicia says, “Kalinda!…And clothes!” She’s excited about the fresh clothes, but note, first, she’s excited about Kalinda. (Duh.)
Honey, I’m home.
They sit on separate beds with their glasses of wine, and Kalinda remarks on how quiet it is. She can’t believe Alicia has had to suffer two days and two nights of this. Alicia says she likes it. Kalinda replies, “Huh. I’d probably kill somebody.” Would you, Kalinda? Would you kill somebody? I can’t help but feel that this is the writers giving an obvious nod to the suspicion of her doing off dear old Nick herself.
Speaking of Nick and That Awful Time That Came Before, Alicia has launched into a monologue about how she misses the quiet in her life before she had to become a lawyer again, when she could sit with a drink at 3 before the kids came home from school and just enjoy the stillness. This picture of her life actually makes me feel rather dispirited, in a way I can’t completely describe, but regardless, the real point is, after a moment, Kalinda then says, “I miss this.” Alicia glances over, says simply, “Yeah.”
Kalinda, regretful, knowing that she’s the reason Kalicia hasn’t been as strong as it should be for too long, then says, equally simply, “I’m sorry.” Alicia responds, “I know.” Kalinda looks down, and smiles.
They promptly move on to talk about the Big Bank Guy, how they can make him actually show up to the table, but you guys, they love each other so good. So. good. So understated but perfect and true. They don’t show what happens next, but I imagine them sleeping apart but near, both feeling safe and happy, finally, again.
In the end, Kalinda helps discover that Big Bank Guy actually has cancer, which is unknown to his bank’s shareholders. His bank is also about to merge with another bank, and knowledge of this illness could, somehow, mess up the merger. Bringing this up seems low, but it’s a low that Lockhart Gardner often steeps to, and they wager this: you give this little girl money, we don’t tell anyone you’re dying. This seems rather awful, but, you know what, it works. Yay for teenage girl getting money, but boo for Bank Guy getting called on for having secret cancer instead of, you know, just being a Bad Bank Guy. The “getting shit for having cancer” conclusion is always a less satisfying sort of justice.
But anyhoo, there’s even more legalese-that-makes-people-feel-bad to get through in this episode! In the business world of Lockhart Gardner, Nathan Lane has called a mediation on Diane and Will, saying he wants to kick them out because they refused a merger opportunity which would have helped their debt and saved the firm. The good part about this is that the mediator is this lovely and slightly sassy woman, bringing the number of powerful women of color on this episode to three, if you include Kalinda, and three is better than what most shows can muster each week.
The bad part is that Diane and Will bring in Cary to be on their side. This is logical, but it also shakes up, and probably destroys, the obvious bromance that has been developing between Cary and Nathan Lane. Cary, we learn, has been helping tutor Mr. Auditor Lane in preparation to take the bar exam, a long-forgotten goal that has now resurfaced.
Auditor Lane strikes me as a profoundly sad character, with Cary being one of the only true bright spots in his life, and the knowledge that he’s the one who obviously cares more in this relationship-Cary says he only helped him out because he felt like he had to-is both humiliating and crushing. Poor, poor serious Nathan Lane.
With the settlement from Bank Guy, and the knowledge that another creditor has just offered to buy out their debt, the mediator adds salt to Nathan’s wounds by eventually siding with Diane and Will. They know they’re still biding time, as they only have a few months to collect the rest of the money they need until Nathan actually can kick them out, but it’s still a small victory.
That is, until Alicia prepares to say goodbye to Canning and get the hell out of Minnesota, and Canning is all, “Hey, well, I’ll see you soon. Didn’t you hear? I just bought out Lockhart Gardner’s debt. I’m your new creditor. Byeeeee!” Aw, snap. Nice wife is like, “YAY, now we can be besties!” Alicia, as she often does at the end of episodes, just sighs.
What did you think of the first episode back after the break? What do you think was running through Kalinda’s head on her journey from Chicago to Minnesota? What was the last thing Kalicia said to each other before they fell asleep, and the first thing when they woke up? (I think they just gave each other meaningful looks, you know?) And seriously, why does West Nile Virus still exist?
