BWW Recap: Back Behind the Bar on THE GOOD WIFE

Wow. I did not see that coming.

Nope! I really didn't either, Alicia. Perhaps the break lulled me into a false sense of network procedural security, because I thought we were coming back to THE GOOD WIFE to watch Cary and Alicia battle it out for the future (indeed for the very culture) of Florrick/Agos. I figured the writers would spend the beginning of Season 6 teasing out the proposed merger between Diane and her former underlings, while the merger between Alicia and a possible political life bubbled away as a nice enough b-plot. With a case or two thrown in, I thought we'd get the foundations of a solid, Will-less season delivered to us.

But that's the beauty of THE GOOD WIFE. Six years in, and the writers can still spin us off in dark, glorious directions - when we least expect it. Where most shows would use such a big twist - Cary Agos is arrested and thrown in jail for, well, drugs - as a season-ending cliffhanger, THE GOOD WIFE seldom uses such obvious bait. This is a show that is more about the switch. And boy have they switched it up in the Season 6 premiere, throwing Cary onto the very sharp sword of drug dealer/dedicated dad, and constant law-evading Florrick/Agos client, Lemond Bishop.

This side is for the people

Cary Agos is in jail, people. The "kid", as Bishop calls him, (hey, me too! I blame THE GILMORE GIRLS) has been busted for giving advice to the smooth criminal and his crew on how to avoid the long arm of the law. And to complicate the matter, Kalinda's former flame - the delectable, somewhat ethically bendy Sophia Russo - soon advises both Kalinda and us viewers that young Cary is in fact guilty as charged.

The case against Cary is revealed piece by piece in this season opener; indeed, at first no one even realizes Cary is missing. Both Kalinda and Alicia simply assume they're being stood up when Cary fails to show at various hook-up meeting times. The reality is something very different, however. In a series of oppressive, ominous scenes, we see Cary shunted through his first experiences as a prisoner whilst his own people remain oblivious to the danger he is in. From being handcuffed to the wall, to enduring verbal threats and abuse from guards and fellow prisoners alike, we see what happens when you cross over. As the process of imprisonment slowly but surely dehumanizes Cary, he finds out just what it means to be on the "scum" side of a very fine line.

Florrick/Agos is an outlaw firm!

While Cary's arrest might come as a shock, the reverberations play right into the history and relationships of each character - and here is where THE GOOD WIFE truly excels. After Cary is arrested, Kalinda starts her Batgirl investigation into who is responsible. Alicia goes to Diane for help getting Cary out of jail. And Robin offers her life savings to help make bond. Basically, the four women continue to do their best work together, even though they really don't work together at all these days.

Diane, meanwhile, has told Canning and Lee that she is going to retire, but her involvement in helping Cary soon tips off the two schemers (takes two to know one!), and the fight is on to get Diane's clients to stay with ... actually, what will the original firm be called if there is no Will, and no Diane? Things have moved too fast for me to notice what's written on the office wall these days (sigh. I miss LG!).

Diane's desire to take her $38 million to Florrick/Agos might have stayed a secret just a little longer, if not for her taking on Cary's case. And the reason she finds herself involved is a doozy. Finn Polmar is not a team player! I'm going to bold that. Finn Polmar is not a team player! As the prosecuting ASA, he gets Alicia thrown off the case, and essentially goes against Cary in every possible way. Okay, that is his job. But it is also another unexpected twist for Season 6 - Finn Polmar may not be the nice guy, after-all.

Which means Alicia is absolutely going to fall for him, right? She was practically WILL-ing him on when he went against her, suddenly proving himself a more than worthy opponent.

Thanks a lot, Eli!

Speaking of Alicia and opposition, she is never saying yes to Eli's idea to run for State's Attorney. Which is why Eli commissions a poll that proves she could win, and why Eli tries to convince a reluctant, still-scandal-prone Governor Florrick that his wife is the best person for the job. When reasoning doesn't work, Eli turns to scheming instead, setting up an argument between Florrick and the dreadful alternative, Castro, which helps to turn Peter's head away from a panty-free intern, and toward the prospect of seeing his wife in office.

Yes, thank you Eli!

Who runs the world?

"Alicia, we have a chance to make this the largest firm in the country run by women."

Okay I clapped when Diane put this to Alicia. I miss Will and Diane dancing and drinking scotch and being a generally awesome married couple without the sex, but there's something about the idea of Diane and Alicia, and Kalinda (deal-breaker!) and Robin running the world - or at least a law firm together, that makes me very, very happy for the state of television today.

We might have left Cary in jail. Finn might be a snake. Peter IS a snake. And Eli is still a walking, talking agenda. But the four women of THE GOOD WIFE are pretty much my superheroes - and I'm not so worried about the dark days ahead for our gang. The season premiere ended without resolution, but I am confident these strong, resourceful women will eventually save the day.

With a little help from upcoming guest start [spoiler alert!!] Gloria Steinem - anything could happen!

How did you find the season premiere? Were you as shocked as I was to see Logan Huntzberger in jail? How do you feel about dark Finn? And how good was it to see the lovely Samantha Mathis delivering poll numbers to Eli part-way through the episode??

Check out a sneak peek at next week's episode below:

Photo Credit: CBS