The Good Wife: Welcome Back

The Good Wife comes back in the same vein that it left on, family drama; delicious family drama. In this week’s episode we are given a heartfelt story and compelling characters to welcome back this series after winter hiatus.

At the firm this week, Will and Diane (with Alicia and Cary) take the case of a husband whose wife committed suicide because of the comments of shock television host (think Glenn Beck, amplified to a hundred, and totally obnoxious) Duke Rosco. Sheryl, the wife, was out with their daughter, Jamie, when Jamie is kidnapped. On his show, Duke Rosco says that Sheryl killed the little girl; he even goes so far as referring to her as ‘The Murdering Mom.’ He’s truly brutal. He verbally assassinates her on the air, and she kills herself. So, the husband sues. The network calls a meeting to talk (hopes are for a settlement); they are all set to go into the meeting room when-

Alicia is pulled off the case to join divorce lawyer David Lee, her role is ‘you know a lot of hand-holding.’ Alicia, fed up with being the babysitter, objects and is promptly overruled.

In a cruel twist, the meeting room for Alicia’s previous case is right beside the meeting room for her new unwanted case. Throughout the divorce discussion Alicia stares longingly into the opposite room where the conclusion of her case is being played out without her. She is not paying attention to her divorce case and as such does not realize that the woman she is representing is Carla Browning, wife of Glenn Childs, the state’s attorney, also known as: the man who put her husband in jail. Hold for irony.

In the settlement meeting Will and the network lawyer, Emily, reach a settlement sum of $2.5 million, but before anything is settled Duke Rosco strolls in, the most care-free person in the universe and amiably interjects himself into the proceedings. Everyone else is taken aback, and when Emily requests Duke’s absence he counters with “if the network pays one red Commie cent I’m gonna quit the network and take all of my 9 million viewers with me.” Seriously, love this guy, yet can’t stand him. He’s so brash, unapologetic, and rude. He’s passionate, true to his ideals, and a fun character to watch. So, despite the fact that he’s truly obnoxious (or maybe because he is), I love him.

At the prison, Peter and Alicia talk about his upcoming appeal. Peter is positive about his chances. Alicia questions Peter about the future, but it is clear she is not talking about the case. Peter tells her he wants to come home. When she asks him about his future in politics, he says that though he does not want one ‘the people’ want him. This is not what she wants to hear, but she doesn’t object.

Arbitration, Childs hearing: Childs does not show. When Carla tries to fight the prenup the lawyer refuses. When he asks why his client would want to ignore the prenuptial agreement Carla points to Alicia in a bold move and threatens that if Glenn does not appear at their next meeting she will tell Alicia what Carla found on his computer. Intriguing. In the hallway, Alicia confronts Mrs. Browning about being used as leverage; she doesn’t like it. Carla responds in a move that prompts total admiration: “so use me back.” Carla shows great backbone in this scene and shows that while she may be in the background she will not be walked over. She knows the rules of the game and she’s not afraid to play by them. In short, it rocks.

At the office, Alicia sees Corey who has inherited her role as hand-holder in the Rosco case. And we see this is a job for everyone as Corey totally railroads the conversation and leaves the client all but rolling his eyes at him. This is nice to see that Alicia has this role for a reason. In Alicia’s office Childs is waiting. He accuses Alicia of poisoning his wife’s mind, ‘she was fine, Carla was happy until you talked to her.’ Then in a move to show his strength he threatens her with more of the envelopes that have been appearing at her door. (Oops, someone just showed his hand.) Of course, Alicia knows nothing about the photos/ dvds that have been appearing as they have been intercepted by her children, who when she later asks, deny any knowledge of them.

In Emily’s hotel room, Will and Emily flirt. Turns out that they knew each other in law school. She shows him her tattoo on her back and just as they are close to getting close, Diane calls. On the television, Rosco has sent his spies to find information on Will. A picture appears of Alicia and Will in a hotel (on a previous case) and Rosco implies they are having a sexual relationship.

At the jail, Peter gets moved in with the general population, Childs is there for the transfer and tries to get Peter to call his wife off the divorce case. Peter laughs.

At the divorce settlement Childs is present, when Glenn objects to disregarding the prenup Carla starts to talk to Alicia revealing that her husband has a file on Peter in his laptop. Glenn, afraid of what she might reveal, stops her and agrees to negotiate. Carla gets what she wants in the divorce settlement, but only if she agrees to say nothing about his work after she signs. Just before she does so, Carla tells Alicia that Glenn had her phones tapped the year before.

In an attempt to prove that Sheryl Willens killed her daughter, Rosco offers $100,000 to anyone who can prove that Jamie is alive. As they are sitting outside of the courtroom while the jury deliberates, Will gets a phone call. They found Jamie. Will tells Tim. Tim cries, and so do I. This moment is just completely heart-wrenching, so tear evoking; you can tell for Tim the lawsuit is meaningless now (he lost by the way). He has his baby back. And when they are reunited, your heart just sighs.

Welcome back.

Season 1, Episode 11: Infamy (originally aired January 5, 2010)

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Tuesday at 10/9c on CBS

Photographs courtesy of CBS, Jeffrey Neira, and David M. Russell.