The case started off better than most this season, with the audience seeing the client being innocent before he's suspected of the crime. The entire case, however, is pretty boring. At first after there is a witness that positively confirms the client's identity, I thought Kalinda would dig into the witness's background which would then lead to something deeper. Instead, only after most the episode is spent finding nothing, then Kalinda looks into the witness and finds out he actually the shooter. Well that was easy...
Diane's plot, while solid, needed to be extended a little further. There have been money problems this whole season and the previous seasons, so when Diane wants to stop pro bono work, it makes perfect sense. But when Diane finds her roots, helping Alicia, talking to the legal aid guy, and deciding to move him and his people into the office, it rings false. The quick turnaround makes the money troubles seem not as significant. At the very least, it should have gone into the next episode so we'd actually wonder whether Diane lost part of herself. I guess we'll learn more since Romany Malco will be on the show for more episodes.
This is the second week with Celeste and we see just how slimy she can be, deliberately making things awkward between Will and Peter. While the move might seem inappropriate for someone courting a legal partner, she seems to know how to push Will's buttons. She busts out the potential for Will to become baseball commissioner, and this ploy really grabs Will's attention until he realizes what he has at the present.
I'm sorry to say this, but the episode felt a lot more streamlined without any detours into the Florrick household--no Zach and whatever he's up to these day and no Grace and her weird tutor. There was still personal drama to be found--Will's "love you" to Alicia--but it didn't interfere with the episode nearly as much as kid drama does.
Score: 8.6/10
