Contributor: Henry T.
Written by Robert and Michelle King
Directed by Brooke Kennedy
It’s rare these days when I watch so much television that I immediately dislike something on an otherwise good show. When Nick showed up for the first time in this episode, I basically tuned out. Somehow, after only three episodes, Kalinda’s subplot with her husband (or ex-husband, the characters and writers aren’t defining this relationship very well) has become dead weight. What is the point of this storyline? She clearly loathes him/fears him/likes messing with him so while it’s satisfying to see things like her clocking him for calling her a “dyke”, it’s hard to take anything they do seriously.
The non-sensical feeling spread to the other subplots in the episode. While the Case of the Week had its good moments, I got tired of another war between the proprietors of internet start-up companies. The show’s creators had never hidden from their fondness for new computer technology and widespread use of computers. It has gotten a bit out of hand at this point. There’s also a lack of clarity with everything involving Alicia in this episode. She worries and fears something, but then everything is resolved in the end so all that tension from early in the episode dissipates. It’s jarring, and felt like a copout, even if it was a happy ending of sorts for Alicia and Peter.
For the most part, the Case of the Week works just fine. There are complications involving search engine optimizers, plagiarism, creation and trademark rights, and free speech. The case becomes a war between Will and Viola Walsh (guest star Rita Wilson, looking wildly overindulgent in the makeup and hair department) and Lockhart-Gardner desperately needs the case to stay financially solvent. The particulars of the case didn’t really interest me, but I did enjoy the surprisingly knowledgeable Judge Marx character and Clarke’s side dealings with Walsh. Marx kept control of the case at every step along the way, doling out miniature victories for both sides. I particularly loved when he laid the smackdown on the arrogant college chancellor. Clarke seemed to be playing both sides, but ultimately tells Diane that he’s working in the best interests of the firm. He will not be conned (and Walsh did so blatantly that the rejection at the end had a nice bit of schadenfreude to it) and for now, it looks like he’s helping the firm and not hindering it.
He does make a good point to Diane: She has been so defensive around everyone that she’s lost the ability to see who she can trust to be on her side. They have been fending off so many sharks who smell blood over the years to see when a life preserver has been tossed their way. It could be Clarke, but who knows what will happen as they take on the next case? What I didn’t like was how the case finally got resolved in the end. Gross buys out the two girls with a settlement and that’s all there is to it. Normally, the firm would score a decisive victory. Leaving things on such an ambiguous note is a change, but one that doesn’t sit well given the tenuous financial situation the firm is currently embroiled in.
As for the shenanigans involving Peter, Alicia, and Will, there were a lot of holes and questions remaining by the end. In the beginning, it looked like the snoopy gossip reporter was going to slam Alicia with an affair charge with Will. Slowly, it’s revealed that they’re actually looking to hurt Peter during his gubernatorial campaign. Alicia’s reaction to this news was puzzling. If she and Will ended their relationship months ago, why would she be so worried about what a reporter might know? So Alicia spends much of the episode fretting about a story that seems to have no traction to begin with, then ends up being about something completely different. Rumors fly around that Peter slept with a campaign worker. Kalinda’s interview with that campaign worker proved that the entire thing was some attempt to smear Peter. Alicia would never say something anything as callous as the “open marriage” comment from the campaign worker. We know Alicia to be this buttoned-up, uber-conservative wife and mother. The credibility of the campaign worker ensured that the whole thing was a farce.
So what was it that Alicia feared here? Questions about the status of her marriage to Peter? That she and Will had an illicit affair that could be brought to public light by some opportunistic journalist? It’s never said outright, and the episode ends with Alicia kissing Peter for the first time in what feels like months. Like Nick and Kalinda’s “relationship”, I’m unclear as to the nature of Alicia and Peter’s current relationship, but unlike the former, the latter couple has more than enough chemistry to make everything they do just a little more interesting. It feels like the natural progression of things, and that the two of them have a shared, complicated history. Nick and Kalinda have none of that, and it makes their scenes excruciating to watch with each passing episode. So while some flaws still exist (one more major than the others), other storylines are enough to compensate. The writers just haven’t put up a completely satisfying episode yet. Excise one subplot and that should become an easier task.
Score: 7/10