Contributor: Henry T.
Written by Corinne Brinkerhoff and Meredith Averill
Directed by Robert King
This felt like a really odd season finale. I expected this given what occurred in the previous episode, and is so often the case with this show, it delivered pretty much on what was promised. The episode’s title of “The Dream Team” has sports connotations to myself personally, and the plot eerily follows suit in that way. It’s more of an all-star highlights approach of most of the little subplots that have been building throughout this season.
It’s not really complete, yet there is no real tangible cliffhanger to work as a buildup into the next season. It’s not the worst thing to do for a well-oiled machine like “The Good Wife”, but there’s little momentum behind everything. There’s a lot going on in this hour, which again is a good thing (this show does busy episodes better than most), and you’ll miss a lot if you don’t pay attention. What also helps is bringing in a couple of its major guest star characters in Louis Canning and Patty Nyholm for a substantial appearance. The stakes are raised whenever they’re around so it adds to the fun in the episode. The show seems to be building for next season more than capping off this one.
Lockhart and Associates starts the episode in a familiar position: On the winning side of another judicial decision. There is a large financial windfall in the case that should help the firm stave off ruin for a couple more months. Diane and company seem to be banking on the hope that some things will return to normal once Will is off his suspension. Of course, that comes back to bite them when both Canning and Nyholm team up to sue the firm for playing the legal system and bribing yet another judge. That the judge who awarded the financial settlement was one of the three judges who was deeply involved in the scandal that led to Will’s suspension is damning evidence in the case.
It’s a prime example of the characters’ past sins coming back to hurt them. They’re always at risk or operating by the skin of their teeth here. Yes, Will was never fully investigated for his judicial bribery, but that doesn’t mean he’s totally in the free and clear. Again, this is one of the aspects I really like about this show. It remembers what happened in the past and that informs on actions in the present. That shady past could possibly put the firm out of business. It has been this tenuous seemingly since last season. I would hope it also continues next season. Especially when Canning and Nyholm’s true motives are revealed at the end.
The nuisance lawsuit was a distraction for Lockhart and Associates so that they could poach one of the firm’s richest clients. It’s a nice move by the “dream team,” although the whole “left hand isn’t watching what the right hand is doing” twist has been somewhat overused during the course of this series. Canning and Nyholm are the prime characters the show likes to use for this tactic, too, and I could see it coming. The writers should hopefully use future guest stars in different ways next season.
I would have thought that Canning was doing this because Alicia had rejected his offer to come work with him, but that was never mentioned here so there had to be something else. It’s never fully espoused and so I was left with a feeling that the story was incomplete. Diane and Will also take the con the duo pulled with a lot more grace than I would have. They seem to accept that this is part of the legal game being played (and they’ve pulled off similar moves themselves) so they just move on to another day. I think that’s the only way to keep themselves sane.
The rest of the episode is an interesting mix of various subplots. Cary starting his first day returning to Lockhart and Associates with a spot in the bullpen like he’s a first-year associate even though he’s equal to Alicia, and yet Alicia has the big office. Cary might want an office of his own someday, but he’s going to have to work for it, and it’ll be interesting to see how the show uses him in the future. Here, he doesn’t get to do too much. Peter has to testify during the Canning-Nyholm lawsuit due to his close relationship with the judges being bribed and in the course of the deposition, he acknowledges in public that he and Alicia are separated.
This won’t help his campaign for governor (the overstuffed episode doesn’t really address the campaign), but Peter comes off very decent in this instance. He buys off the house with the plan of flipping it after some home improvements. He asks Alicia to at least consider staying in the house for a little while, but doesn’t push it on her. That seems to work because Alicia stops to ponder what it would be like to be a fully-formed family in their old house again at the end. The ending is left ambiguous, and for once, I like that it stays that way. It’s not a big cliffhanger where we want to know what happens next. It’s just left there for pondering.
Less successful, however, was everything involving Kalinda and her really shady past. The threat of her ex-husband has been hinted at before, and this time, it’s much more immediate when the guy vaguely threatens Alicia over the phone. We all know Kalinda is not the most open character out there. It’s a beat the show has played a lot of times before, and I’m getting a little tired of it by now. Have Kalinda and her ex-husband get into a knock-down, drag-out fight so the show can move on to other things. Kalinda’s character development has been stunted ever since it was revealed that she had an affair with Peter. Unless there is some other angle the show can work with involving her ex-husband, it’s better just to do away with all of it.
By and large, this is yet another solid end to a season that been very steady. No real standouts, but also no failures either. The season, like this season finale, fell right in line with my expectations. It’s all I can ask for at this point.
Grade: 8/10
(Season 3 Final Average: 7.5)
