If there's one show that's being ignored by virtually everyone, it's The Good Wife. Hardly any critics talk about it and the viewers, which skew old, don't rave about it on the internet like fans of other shows. Quietly, The Good Wife has become one of the best shows on television and very few people seem to realize that. Sure, it's on CBS, a network not known for critical accolades, but people have a bad habit of counting out everything on the network. Given some of the rubbish the other networks spit out, we should be lucky there is CBS to count on for a solid procedural.
"Boom" was shrouded in ambiguity but also had moments of gleaming clarity, as quality that has made the show successful. There writers don't make everything mysterious or clear. Sometimes we don't know exactly what's going on and at other times we know, without a doubt, what someone's motivations are.
There are two distinct scenes, well-made but curiously distant from anything tangible and fully understandable. The first comes after Jackie shows up at the apartment asking who Eli Gold is. Alan Cumming continues to endear himself, delivering the brilliant line, "The plumber. Who are you?"with such alacrity I literally laughed out loud. Jackie finds Peter with Pastor Easton and is clearly disappointed. She later recommends Peter an Episcopalian priest. So what's her deal? Was she some kind of George Wallace supporter and dislikes blacks? She doesn't like religion, but thinks a white Episcopalian priest would be the best choice?
The second comes near the end of the episode at the church. Peter gets up and meets with Kozko and they have a confusing conversation about their past dealings. There is a push-pull thing going on between them, but never a clear indication of what they did. We do learn, however, it is a big setup to catch Peter, who rips of Kozkos shirt to find a wire.
The Good Wife has an uncanny ability to pinpoint certain issues with amazing foresight. Somehow, out of the blue, this very episode about Muhammad drawn in a cartoon ends up scheduled the week after the South Park controversy. The producers, while approaching the subject, did so gingerly, never showing the cartoon in it's entirety or showing the Muslim side of things other than the very brief scene at the house. Ultimately, the episode was still about white people, and as much as the writers wanted to bring in some cultural sensitivity, it doesn't help when they shy away from the issue and go with the easy out: Cary suggests that another reporter is the murderer and the law part of the episode is over.
The episode ends with Alicia making plans to have dinner with Will after seeing Peter with Kozko. She's had enough of him lying and taking advantage of the situation. Peter goes right up to the edge of the apartment, weighs his options, and takes a decisive step outside. Alarms blaring, he holds his ground, ready to save his marriage. Considering how poisonous Jackie is and his own behavior, I doubt that will happen anytime soon.
Score: 9.3/10
