Contributor: Henry T.
Story by Courtney Kemp Agboh
Teleplay by Robert and Michelle King
Directed by Rosemary Rodriguez
I have never had to worry about “The Good Wife” pulling one over me because it’s just not that kind of show. It doesn’t go for shock value or playing out something then putting a twist in at the last minute. Its approach to narrative and storytelling is very much straightforward. So I have to express a good amount of disappointment that the show’s writers tried it here. They tried it on a subplot that I — and I suspect much of the rest of the audience — didn’t really care for and that makes the twist appear even worse than it actually plays. The rest of the episode didn’t get much traction on the other plots running within the season so it really has the feel of a transition episode. This leaves me wondering what the next phase of the season will entail.
The episode begins with a bad dream Alicia is having that somehow involves Grace in distress. This informs some of Alicia’s actions through the rest of the episode. She frets about Grace and warns her about dangers that aren’t really there. That is left in the background for the majority of the episode’s running time until the final act.
Alicia and Caitlin take a case that involves wrongful termination of a college professor (Jennifer Carpenter), and this case is only significant because it marks the return of Martha, David Lee’s niece who lost out on a job to Caitlin a few episodes back. Martha works for Louis Canning, and there’s a nice little cat-and-mouse legal game between the two of them with their pupils, Martha and Caitlin, involved as proxies.
The case is interesting up to the point where it seemed like the reason for the professor’s termination became moot. First, it was unwanted physical contact, then it was because she was disruptive, or it might have been because her religious views are a bit too inflammatory. It could have been a combination of all three things. We will never know why exactly, but the various reasons are all presented throughout the episode.
Ultimately, the case doesn’t matter at all because Alicia, who’s been distracted as of late, gets a series of odd voicemail messages from Grace. The first one sounds very odd and suspicious, and she — as did I — suspects the worst: Grace might have been kidnapped. Now, I’m not a parent so I can’t subscribe to having the feelings that Alicia did at that moment, but I’ve been told that these parental premonitions are quite common. My mother said she had a bad dream about me that worried her on the day when I got into a minor car accident. What happens in the final act is pretty suspenseful and I was thinking they might end the episode on a cliffhanger. Things move at a more urgent pace, edited with intent, and it’s at this point that the episode reels me in to Alicia’s predicament.
Only to pull out the rug from under me when it’s discovered (by Kalinda of all people) that Grace is only being baptized by the guy seen on the religious sermonizing online videos Grace has been watching. The multiple voicemails were a result of Grace “butt-dialing” her mother. Frankly, I thought this was the worst kind of cheat, and only highlighted what I have so disliked about anything involving Grace (or Zach) since the series began.
Piling things on, it is this very scary incident with her daughter that prompts Alicia to end her secret-yet-not-so-secret relationship with Will. On one hand, the breakup does sort of make sense, since Alicia needs to commit more time to her kids, and that could mean she leaves Lockhart-Gardner for Canning’s firm. On the other hand, she has worked very hard to prioritize between Will and her kids so it makes little sense why her kids are the reason for breaking up with him.
The “Grace potentially missing” plot so dominates the episode that little is given for other characters to do. Eli wanders around the office to ask for favors and further ingratiate himself with those in power at the firm. Wendy Scott-Carr seemingly continues her investigation into Will’s shady dealings, but Peter tells her to tone it down due to a “tight budget.” Kalinda and Dana continue to flirt behind Cary’s back.
Little is told as to where these subplots will go in the future so we just have to wait until the writers shift the focus onto them in episodes to come. Until then, I can only hope this is the first and last time “The Good Wife” pulls this kind of “twist” stunt. The show is so much better than that.
Grade: 6/10
