'The Good Wife' recap: Alicia and the terrible, no-good, horrible, very bad day

Ever have one of those days where you’re just trying to do your job, and all of a sudden, some former TV star representing a socialist dictator waltzes into your office, steals a case from you, then all of a sudden you’re on TV talking about how you’ve forgiven your husband’s infidelities, only to find out hours later that he’s actually cheated on you with your best friend?

Yeah, me neither.

But it’s a testament to the writers and cast of “The Good Wife” that such a patently implausible “day from hell” can elicit our sympathy. 

Alicia’s roller coaster of a day begins on a domestic note. On her way to work, she’s checking out a house for sale in the suburbs — apparently, since last week, she and Peter have changed their minds about staying in the city. But after having one look at the house I can’t say I blame them: It’s gorgeous, and available for the low, low price of $2.4 million. The real estate agent explains why the house is available for such a (relative) bargain: “It’s a divorce, so they’re motivated.” That’s what we call foreshadowing, people.

You can tell Alicia has tremendously mixed feelings about the whole thing. She practically gets a contact high walking around the spacious, perfectly appointed home, but, like a reformed addict on the verge of a relapse, she’s visibly relieved when work obligations cut the visit short. “It is tempting,” she admits.

The scene was an effective way to set up the rest of the episode, in which Alicia has to juggle her thriving new career with the particular demands of being the wife of a politician — arguably a job in and of itself. On the eve of the long-awaited election, Peter is tied with Wendy Scott-Carr, but a slam-dunk interview with her devoted husband may help put her over the edge. Reluctantly, Alicia agrees to sit for an interview, too. Her about-face on this subject struck me as curious. She changes her mind only after finding out that Frank Landau, and not Eli, asked Diane to give her the afternoon off. So was the interview her extravagant way of repaying Eli’s kindness? Or does she really want Peter to win? I’m not sure, and maybe she isn’t either.

Alicia’s interview is a smashing success, and helps Peter clinch a victory over Scott-Carr. (Question: Isn’t there a general election ahead? Wasn’t this a Democratic primary? Or are the writers hoping we forget that part so they can start getting ready for Peter’s Senate race?) But the real insight comes when Eli, prepping Alicia for the appearance, asks: “Peter slept with Amber Madison on 18 different occasions. Does that bother you?” Her rather too-honest response? “Does it bother me? It horrifies me!” Alicia’s become a lot more forthcoming over the last two seasons, but it’s still rare for her to articulate her feelings so explicitly. This was a great way to really get inside her head, and to see the unlikely rapport that she and Eli have forged.

Will watches Alicia’s interview from the office conference room, taking generous swigs from a tumbler full of whiskey. The booze can be read two ways: Either Will, still hung-up on Alicia, is self medicating, or he’s just unwinding after an improbably long day at the office (more on this later). As of last week, it seemed pretty clear that Will had moved on, but perhaps not. Kalinda, who’s also got Alicia on her mind -- if for totally different reasons -- finds Will in the conference room. “You should tell her how fantastic she is,” she tells him, but he dismisses the suggestion. “You’re in a weird mood.” I liked how cryptic this whole scene was, though I wasn’t quite sure what was motivating Kalinda. Is she simply hoping that, if Will actually tells Alicia “how fantastic” she is that they'd then run off into the sunset together before the ugly matter of Kalinda’s one-night-stand with Peter could come to light? 

If that was indeed Kalinda’s goal, it’s already too late. Alicia finds out, via Andrew, that Peter was rumored to have slept with a co-worker named “Leela.” Predictably, the news comes at the end of the episode, mere seconds after Peter is projected the winner. Let’s just say Alicia doesn’t take it so well No doubt, Alicia’s humiliation is all the more intense given that, only hours earlier, she’d publicly claimed to have forgiven Peter’s indiscretions. On the verge of a breakdown, she slips out of the victory party undetected.

With only three episodes to go, Alicia is at a serious crossroads. It seems unlikely that she can forgive Peter, but she’s got her family to consider: If she leaves him she’ll only succeed in attracting more unwanted media attention. Will she stick it out once again for the kids? For the sake of her dignity, I hope not. In any case, things at the office are about to get really, really awkward. I have a sneaking suspicion Alicia might just be giving Louis Canning a call in the near future. No matter what, that big yellow Colonial Revival is going to be on the market for a bit longer.

Now before I go, a few words on the "case-of-the-week," which even for “The Good Wife,” was extraordinarily over-the-top. Lockhart/Gardner is representing the owner of Latin Star, a drilling company suing Platico Stillman, a giant oil conglomerate. Platico Stillman pulled out of Venezuela after President Hugo Chavez's rise to power, skipping out on money owed to Latin Star. Thus ensued an absurd series of twists and turns involving complex international law, a few justifiably aggrieved oil workers, a "geophysical surveying map of the untapped oil reserves in the Orinoco Belt" and, oh yeah, Courtney Love.   

Former presidential candidate and “Law & Order” star Fred Thompson made a very meta guest appearance as Frank Thomas, a lawyer and former television star representing Chavez. The role was doubly ironic given that Thompson, a Republican, played a character representing a socialist. He shows up at the offices of Lockhart/Gardner and, like a villain out of an Ayn Rand novel, gleefully declares, “Your client’s oil facility has just been nationalized.”

The whole story strained credulity to such an extent that it was almost, if not quite, farcical. I’m sure the writers were aiming for some level of satire, especially in the scenes with Chavez -- or rather, Chavez’s torso. (Side note: Crazy dictators are all the rage these days.) Adding to the cartoonish feel was the busty, Monica Bellucci lookalike representing Platico Stillman, and the fact that Will and Diane make not one but two visits to the courthouse in a single day (Cook County, apparently, has some very efficient courts). 

I’ll give the writers credit, at least, for not even trying to present the story with a straight face.  

A few small observations:

--Where was Chris Noth this episode? Wasn’t it strange that Alicia didn’t even see him from across the room? Maybe this was for dramatic effect, or maybe Noth is too expensive to have around if he’s not talking. In any case, for all the focus on Peter’s campaign lately, we’ve barely seen the guy -- except on his posters.

--I am really loving Alicia’s wardrobe lately. Costume designer Daniel Lawson is doing a fantastic job with her style evolution. Remember the pearls and — egads! — boxy blazers she wore last season?  Lately, perhaps as a sign of her independence, Alicia’s been wearing some seriously edgy looks like this one, right, which appears to have been borrowed from Kalinda’s closet. I want one.

-- Meredith Blake

twitter.com/MeredithBlake

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Photos from top: Eli (Alan Cumming) prepares Alicia (Julianna Margulies) for her interview; Alicia in one of her edgier new outfits. Credit: Jeffrey Neira / CBS

Comments

[Tweety]

Overall, I thought it was a good episode, though I fully agree with you that the Chavez plot line was a little over the top and farcical. My big beef of the night was how the Peter/Kalinda affair was revealed to Alicia. Why would Andrew Wiley show up at Peter's results party to talk to Alicia about her husband's affairs? That seemed a bit unrealistic to me. He could have waited until the next day and went to her office (while Kalinda was there - that would have made for a more dramatic moment). It just seemed unrealistic him going to that party. Why would he, as an investigator, be so determined to tell her about her husband's indiscretion? (Is Child's planning something against Peter?)

I'm still upset about the Peter/Kalinda story. Why ruin such a great relationship between the 2 women? It seems a little soap-operish. Why take such a popular, beloved character as Kalinda and ruin everything in the 2nd season that you built in the 1st season? Where does her story line go from here? Just crazy. BUT, I seriously love this show. LOL

[Atomic Kommie Comics]

OK.
It was over the top!
It was melodramatic!
It was totally unrealistic!

Did you change channels?
Didn't think so! ;-)

Now if only Alicia and Kalinda would throw-down "Dynasty"-style...

[Watcher]

No new episode until May??? Not even a coming attraction? That's against our human rights.

The Hugo Chavez bit was hysterical. The whole TGW production team and cast, especially JM, AP, and AC deserve academy awards...in my opinion...even though it's a tv show. Plus an award to Meredith for the best recaps (if there was a recap category). Nice point on Alicia's sharper fashion style.

I don't want to think Kalinda is so manipulative and psycopathic as to be friends with Aliciafor the wrong reasons. I love it when they go out for drinks. It could make a great episode for them to spend some quality time hashing it all out. Kalinda's on the hot seat - does she end up with Cary or the FBI agent? Does Andrew Wiley has the perfect last name or what?

Is CBS bringing this back next year? If not I'm never watching CBS again. They can call it The Good Ex-wife.

[Bill]

First, I think it should be mentioned that when Peter had his one-night stand with Kalinda/Leela years ago, Alicia probably didn't even know her. Yes, the fact that she is friends with her now surely adds to her pain but I don't think it really contributes anything to Peter's transgression. As for Peter not confessing to Alicia before, was that really so terrible? I'm sure he and Kalinda immediately regretted what they did and thought it would never be made public. Then when Alicia and Kalinda began working together and became friends, Peter probably decided no good could come from telling Alicia, not for anybody involved. So he left the past in the past and concentrated on becoming a better husband an father, which ironically I really think he was doing.

As for Kalinda, I have no doubt that in last night's epi when she encouraged Will to express his true feelings to Alicia, together with the multiple times before she had pushed Alicia to "go for it" and sleep with Will, she was just trying to relieve her own guilt. If Alicia cheated on Peter, she wouldn't feel as bad about having slept with him.

So now the Kings have decided to take Alicia and Peter's marriage off of life support, just when it was looking like they may survive a major crisis in their relationship and it may have become stronger than ever. Instead, it's likely before the end of the season, Alicia will kick Peter out of the apartment, devastating him and their kids, file for a divorce or at least a formal separation, end her friendship with Kalinda, which will likely lead to Kalinda quitting and working elsewhere (for Peter again?), and then in the season finale sleep with Will, a.k.a. her boss, which I'm sure won't cause any complications at all in both her personal and professional lives. While all very dramatic, it's not the way I hoped this show would go. So I'll probably start watching Parenthood rather than recording it for later viewing.

[Tweety]

@ Watcher,

I don't think Kalinda is friends with Alicia simply out of guilt or manipulation (at least I hope not, shame on the writer's if she is). She may be hard, but she's not heartless. Maybe with Kalinda it started out as guilt, but I think she genuinely likes Alicia. I mean, there's no easy way to tell your friend you slept with her husband. LOL I hope they can patch things up because they are awesome on screen together. I agree, they all deserve academy awards. I hope Alan gets an Emmy this year; he has certainly earned it!!!

[Me2]

Loved everyone's clothes..Alicia, Diane, Eli, and even the Realtor-nice to see how Daniel dresses everyday people.

I am not a fan of MJF so hope she doesn't move to Canning's firm. Loved America and would like to see her stick around. It is great to see women portrayed as intelligent, calm, and well dressed - instead of screaming and ditzy (Rita Wilson). When is Patty going to show up again?

Thanks for the great recap. It is much better than others that seem to miss the point of this intelligent, calm, and well dressed show....in my opinion.

Other bloggers have commented that Big is doing a Broadway show and not around for taping. It seemed odd that he and Alicia didn't have a big, emotinal moment at his victory just before she got the bad news.

I am a big fan of Wiley, but didn't understand his tenacity to destroy Alicia.

[willowbe]

What? No mention of the fact that Anna Gasteyer late of SNL (many seasons ago) played the judge? So it was two ex-tv show stars complementing each other. I thought she was very credible, by the way. Andrew Wiley- good point about the name- he's obsessed. Just as he was obsessed about being a good dad, he's obsessed with finding the truth. Like Cary said- he's not someone to be controlled. Didn't you notice how harried he looked, like a stalker? That's cause he was a stalker- a stalker for the "truth". And the subtleness of the performance from Julianna Margulies when Alicia is asked "Knowing the Truth is always best right?" "Of course!" but she looks down as she says it. She knew she didn't want to know the "Truth", and she was right.

[Margaret]

It wasn't unrealistic for Andrew Wiley to track Alicia down, he had been harassing her all day so it only seemed normal for him to try and find her and tell her. And people must remember, he doesn't know who Leela is....in fact most people do not know that Leela is Kalinda...only Blake and Alicia know that.

Now that Alicia knows.....Kalinda's in deep deep trouble. I also think that she may not run into Will's arms as everyone is expecting....thanks to "Ask Ausiello"...he says Alicia strikes up a friendship with an unlikely person due to all this...my guess is Cary because Cary was not pleased at all by Kalinda's behavior and how she could act like a caring friend for Alicia yet know this. I think hes going to side with her and leave Kalinda in the dust. Last but not least, Alicia please divorce Peter...like gosh!

They need a new hot lawyer on the show next season for ALicia...my vote for casting is Idris Elba LOL Random thought...but Im tired of the Alicia/Peter/Will love triangle ahaha

[Watcher]

@ Tweety
Thanks for soothing my concerns :), you're preaching to the choir, I'm rooting for it to go your way.

@Bill
I'd give the benefit of the doubt to Kalinda's motives in trying to get Alicia and Will together. She's the fly in the wall at LG and has been at the state attorney's office as well. She could know things about Peter we don't yet.

Interesting how the writers are probing the domain of public/personal persona.

[LMT]

Chris Noth is doing a play on Broadway. That's why he's not around as much as we would like. I thought that this was an excellent episode. Yes, the Chavez stuff was over the top, but it was pretty funny so who cares?

What does Alicia do next? I have no idea. I doubt that she's going to go to Will. I also think that her friendship with Kalinda is toast. Does she leave Peter? I don't think so. Unfortunately, we have to wait 3 frakin' weeks to find out. Ugh!!

[Am]

@Margaret - unless Wiley is a total idiot, I'm sure he put the mysterious "Leela" with Cary's repeated snooping at Kalinda's behest, Cary telling him that this was "something personal, Blake's vendetta against Kalinda, Kalinda working with Alicia, Kalinda working with Peter, Kalinda jumping into existence out of nowhere (as Blake suggested she did right off his preliminary investigation into her background), Kalinda, Kalinda, Kalinda... and came up with the conclusion that "Leela" and "Kalinda" are the same person. Coming up to Alicia like that and questioning her by slipping a stiletto between her ribs was more of a tactic to get the truth out, I'm sure, than any actual desire to put things to rest.

@Bill - I don't know where people get this idea that Alicia and Peter were heading into a strong marriage. Alicia admitted she was in love with Will and every time they've moved ahead in their marriage is when Peter pushed for it. He's the one who made all the sexy moves and asked to be let back into the bedroom. The only time Alicia responded to him is when things went wrong with Will. If Will had told her the truth about the voicemail, she'd be strategizing her exit right now. She'll probably end up doing that anyway. As Alicia told Owen, Will, Peter and now Eli, she would do anything for her kids and they come first. Which is why she's with Peter. Her kids love their father and want them to succeed as a couple in spite of everything because she's done her best to hide the real damage he's done her.

There are so many reasons for Alicia to be destroyed by this, imo. This little reveal exposes the lie she was ready to believe about Peter in the interests of moving forward i.e. that it only happened with Amber and it was a side effect of a time when he was in a terrible mental space. But if he had a ONS with Kalinda years ago, then who else did he sleep with? And how long did it go on? How many other exes are waiting to take her by surprise?

And if someone as close to her as Kalinda was brought into this conspiracy by her husband, who can she trust? Is she supposed to go through life looking at every single woman in Chicago as her husband's possible ex-lover?

It just reinforces my opinion that Peter isn't actually sorry for the things he did and has barely any idea of the price Alicia paid for the privilege of once again becoming someone worthy of his "love". He's just sorry he got caught and in such spectacular fashion.

[AnaK]

Wiley is just a hound on a fresh trail. It was very calculated tracking her down at that moment and in that place. If there was anything to get out of her, that would have been the moment. Or plant the seed and then keep watch.

It was indeed heartbreaking seeing Alicia in the last scene.

America Ferrera stole more than just Eli's heart, but I did love the show from its first season exactly because of its strong and interesting women. The men never quite compared and I like that Eli and later this season Cary became contenders.

No more predictions from me. I suck at it, and things turned out really bad. Will sit and wait for May to find out what is in store for Alicia and Kalinda.

[anonymous]

kalinda really slept with peter? and carey is inlove with alicia,if that is the case. We (thefans) are really suppose to believe that?

who really is leilah? kalinda has got to be covering for someone. even when alicia finds out about the REAL leilah, she'll probably divorce peter and be with will.

put kalinda with lana delaney; they make a great couple. Peter isreally giving his wife a reason to be with will.

[chez crisden]

How many times has peter done this to alicia? are the fans actually suppose to believe that kalinda is leilah? next thing you know, it will be carey that is inlove with alicia, that would explain he was miffed, when she got the job at lockhart and gardner and he didn't, and he will confess his love to alicia.

Carey has a better chance or will, to take alicia from peter, than kalinda being leilah. Is the real leilah, or what ever her name is, even out there? maybe it is some one that alicia knows, who works with peter and kalinda, and for some reason, kalinda is covering for her.

alicia and kalinda's friendship will never be the same. seems like alicia will divorce her husband and be with will.

[Tom Clarke]

Chris Noth was ding a play on Broadway.

[Kathy Carlson]

Is there a way to find when the next episode is showing? It seems dangerous to skip 2 weeks (Or more?)when ABC has a hot new show~ BODY OF EVIDENCE~ that we w/o THE GOOD WIFE will be tuning in to? Someone said, "No new episodes until May. Not even previews!" Where did you hear that? I'm just now watching a preview where Alicia is handing Peter a set of keys to the apartment she's banashing him to. And she tells that horrid mother_in_law off! YAY!! Oh well, come on May!!!

[Watcher]

@Kathy Carlson
Here's a link from TGW's website on the next episode, May 3.
http://www.cbs.com/forum/posts/list/0/153573.page
I'd seen it several places. Where are the coming attractions???

Jeez everybody, why shouldn't Alicia run to Will for a little companionship. He's jerking her
around less than anybody else. I'm really really hoping after Alicia blows off some major
steam on Kalinda, then hears her side of it and remembers how she was trying to devine whether
Alicia would have wanted to know. Maybe she'll fish Will's 2nd message out of her phone for her, or
maybe Eli will confess the 2nd message. I mean Will and Tammy - talk about not having a plan.

Don't forget, nobody knows yet that Alicia knows, so on the other hand, if Alicia gives
Kalinda an opening to explain, and she uses it to go to bat for Cary, that could be a big mistake.

Maybe they'll spin Kalinda off into her own show. I guess it would be called, My Way or the Biway.