Earlier this season, I talked about the universe of The Good Wife has expanded and that there are many more threads compared to the first season. The danger is that too much will happen and there won't be a core to the show anymore.
"Nine Hours" hangs on the edge, juggling multiple storylines and locations, and I'm not sure how I feel about all of it. There's Kalinda and Alicia working together at Alicia's place before Kalinda rushes to catch the arson specialist, Will at the office, and Diane at the prison waiting for the client's daughter to arrive. On top of that, Blake does a bit of investigating, Cary hangs out with his 18 year old cousin, who has a crush on him, and has a discussion with Barry Scheck, one of OJ's lawyers, Peter has a debate, Zack keeps checking out Kalinda, and Grace turns to prayer after Carter gets another trial. I'm probably forgetting something, but the point is, a lot got lost in the jumble.
The main plot, the defense of Carter Wright, was strong enough to stand on its own, and the various subplots only served to detract from it. On the subject of the case, Alicia makes an impassioned plea to the judge to save a potentially innocent man, and succeeds in the end, a sigh of relief after nine hours of fervent work. It also must have been a relief for the clerk who saved a person from his end, originally leading Alicia in the right direction.
The Good Wife continues to tackle cases from different angles and is still very fresh. Still, I hope that some of the subplots could be consolidated to make things a bit tidier. The good thing is that unlike the case with many shows, I don't dislike the loose threads individually, just that it's too messy.
Score: 8.7/10
