BWW Recap: Old Tricks and New Spice on THE GOOD WIFE

Liberal doses of silliness, some supreme Alicia exasperation, and the sublime sadness of the closing scene make "Old Spice" a very good episode, but not a great one (in my opinion).

This wasn't my favorite episode. But then again, we've been spoiled, haven't we. THE GOOD WIFE is so good that what would in fact be a great episode on another show - fabulous guest stars, chess pieces moved, personal stakes raised - feels slower than what we've become used to. And with this steadier pace, the stories somehow seem less interesting than when they're all happening at once.

I blame the case. I'm not a fan of the procedural elements of THE GOOD WIFE. For me, the case-of-the-week is the least interesting part of the hour, working best when the courtroom action tells us more about the people fighting the case than the case itself. Take the epic Alicia vs. Will battles of early Season 5 for example. We learnt so much more about their relationship through this lens than we ever did when they were together (damn you, Season 3!). THE GOOD WIFE has moved so far beyond the procedural that more often than not, the case is a distraction from the good stuff, the people stuff, the relationships between people stuff.

I get that tonight the relationship being explored is that of returning kooky #1 Elsbeth Tascioni, and returning kooky #2 Josh Perotti, and both Carrie Preston and Kyle MacLachlan provide some great moments - plus the case does give us some more Ana Gasteyer, whose Judge Lessner is - in my opinion - one of the funniest judges on the bench rotation. But I'm not sure that we care enough about the Tascioni & Perotti show to have a whole case framed around them. Some other year perhaps, some other slower year, where there isn't so much else going on that we feel like we're missing out when the guest stars take over.

Damn Your Old Spice To Hell

The case in question sees Alicia and Elsbeth teaming up to defend tech company J-Serve against charges of intellectual property theft. Last week the two women were on opposing sides of the equation, but Alicia can't get a $23 million settlement for her client who was wrongfully dismissed by J-Serve if the Justice Department has frozen all of their assets.

Turns out (there's always a turns-out when the Government is involved) Perotti wants to get J-Serve on economic espionage charges, after an App they sold to a Chinese company made its way to the Chinese Government. In my opinion, we've seen this kind of case before, and we've certainly seen the tricks that resolve the case: Elsbeth gets Perotti to destroy evidence, as he has a habit of doing, and then she records his confession, as she has a habit of doing. In the middle of these old tricks, we do however get some new spice, when kooky #1 and kooky #2 get it on - on Elsbeth's desk no less. Like I said, there are some great moments through-out, and both Preston and MacLachlan are as usual on-point with their kookiness. There was just more interesting stuff going on in the background that I wanted to see.

Voters Don't Vote For Atheists

More interesting stuff, like Alicia's atheism, and what that means for her State's Attorney campaign. I love that THE GOOD WIFE has given us an unapologetic atheist in Alicia, and I really love that the writers did not give her a tidy "come to Jesus" moment after Will died. So it is especially interesting to see Alicia have to compromise her convictions for the campaign. As her Campaign Manager Johnny Elfman (Stephen Pasquale) puts it, voters don't vote for atheists, so she needs to do what every other politician is doing, and go talk God with Pastor Jeremiah.

Before her interview with Pastor Jeremiah, Alicia gets some help from Grace, naturally. And from Marissa Gold, who has now been assigned to Politician Alicia as her "Body Woman". Eli's daughter has always provided wry, knowing commentary on the proceedings, and I hope she sticks around as the resident Body Woman, if only as an anti-Grace for Alicia.

Alicia does the interview and (almost) says the right things about being more open than her prior declaration of atheism would suggest. But you can almost feel her tongue being bitten, and you can see the toll her so-called softening approach to religion is taking. This is a woman who is used to telling the truth. She has no need for tidy answers, for neatly tying things up just to feel better. But voters don't vote for atheists - and Alicia wants voters to vote for her, so something has to give.

It's a very clever take on what it means to compromise one's self for political gain, and I especially love how both the pious Grace and Alicia herself are disappointed in the outcome of this attempt to be what she is not - the woman they need the voters to think she is.

He Is A Good Guy

Cary Agos is busy being someone he's not, too - stupid! He attends a Harvard mixer across the state line, gets drunk, goes home with basically the most horrible girl at the party - and promptly gets spot-checked by his pre-trial Services Officer, Joy (Linda Lanvin). With all of the above, Cary has more than breached his bail terms, proving himself, as Joy puts it, casual in his conformity to the very clear rules laid out for him.

One gets the feeling Joy is on his side, and indeed she does help keep him out of jail once again. But she has some rules of her own this time, including a recommendation that Cary stay away from Kalinda. Kalinda has a past (shock!) and connections to Lemond Bishop, and that makes her a bad influence on a good guy, apparently.

The court agrees, and so it is jail or Kalinda for Cary from now on, or at least until the next twist in the tale.

I Guess This Is You And Me

And now to that sublime sadness I mentioned.

THE GOOD WIFE writers have stayed true to their promise that the presence of Will Gardner would continue to be felt. Tonight his ghost looms large, after Diane wins back the former offices of Lockhart Gardner. With the help of Kalinda, and the deliciously ridiculous Howard (now an employee of Florrick, Agos & Lockhart), she succeeds in evicting Lee and Canning from the building. Now she can have her old, gloriously lit office back, and with Cary happy to take David Lee's former office as his new digs, that leaves Will's desk and chair for Alicia.

We end the episode with Alicia easing into that chair, unsteady and close to tears. This is home, this is where he is. Where she left him, and where he'll always be waiting for her. Her lover, her friend, her mentor - the love of her life (in my opinion).

She shares a look with her new-old-new partner Diane, they smile at each other from their respective offices - and for these two incredible women, the future begins.

And Will Gardner is with them all the way.

Did you tear up at the end like I did? Are you happy that we get to keep Howard? And how long did it take for you to get Call Me Maybe out of your head?!

Check out a sneak peek at next week's episode titled 'Message Discipline':

Photo Credit: CBS

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