Articles

The Good Wife 5.3 Review: “A Precious Commodity”

By John Keegan and Henry Tran

thegoodwife-iconI badly underestimated both Will’s capacity for holding personal grudges and his friendship with Diane. I figured that if he was gracious in last season’s finale about Diane’s pursuit of the judgeship, he would do everything he could to make her exit from the firm as smooth as possible. No, Diane’s unnecessary interview to trash Will effectively turned him into a cold bastard after the first act. It kicked off a very busy (as per usual with this show) and dramatic episode. In fact, it was so busy at one point that I openly wondered how Alicia was able to keep from becoming a blubbering mess drowning in endless glasses of wine.

If there’s one thing she has learned from the events depicted here, it’s that she needs to get away, fast. It seems like she’s doing just that at the end of the episode, though the show really is taking its time to set up the new status quo. Given the tense atmosphere in which she has to operate in day after day, I wouldn’t blame her for giving it up altogether to become the governor’s wife full time and a mother to her kids again.

The episode was very good in balancing what to parse out in each storyline. While the whole backroom drama is happening with Will and Diane, the other partners get wind of Diane’s pending exit and move quickly to cut her down piece by piece. They’re setting up her severance package, but also trying to poach her clients in the process. It’s a pack mentality akin to being in the jungle. This episode reminds everyone that the law is a ruthless, cutthroat, survival-of-the-fittest kind of business. It has little room for friendships, and the disintegration of Will and Diane’s partnership plays out throughout the hour in devastating fashion. Diane wants to save every shred of it she can because of what they built together, but Will made his mind up once she walked into his office and told him about the interview.

That was the turning point to me. Everything else was just dressing for the inevitable break at the end. Will’s callous attitude in negotiations tells Diane exactly what his mindset is now: That it comes down to the one number he needs to shove her out the door. I kept expecting security guards to show up at the door to physically escort Diane out of the office. In the midst of all this, there are other matters to attend to, including a rather interesting case being tried in court.

The-Good-Wife-Season-5-Episode-3-A-Precious-Commodity-2I wasn’t immediately invested in the case because the parties involved practically came out of nowhere. As details emerged, though, it drew me in. I think it was because the case operated in a morally ambiguous area (not to mention it touched on abortion, which is a hot-button issue) but didn’t get tangled up in unclear legal speak. That has hampered many cases tried on this show. A surrogate pregnancy has the high probability of producing a child with severe birth defects and the parents want to terminate the pregnancy to spare the child pain while the birth mother wants to carry it to term. We might not see these characters again so this is their only chance to make an impression, and it goes off rather well. The case comes down to the question of whether the birth mother is in breach of contract with her decision to carry to term. It isn’t an easy, clear-cut decision and comes down to technicalities along with differing interpretations of specific contract language. Alicia takes the personal route in trying the case, genuinely dealing with her client’s best interests.

This is in contrast to David Lee’s approach, which involves false pretenses in order to drive up the settlement amount. He doesn’t care about the parents (who still manages to draw sympathy even though their side increasingly cold as the case goes on) or even the particulars of the case. In his eyes, the hospital screwed up and they are the bigger cash cow. Alicia needs to get away from this line of thinking in the law business. She won’t stay away from it altogether, but it’s definitely to a lesser degree than if she takes Will’s offer to make her name partner in Diane’s place. It’s plainly obvious she won’t take the offer, but it did give her pause. Maybe some part of her still wants to keep her friendship with Will in place. She has now seen how Will acts when he’s threatened and she doesn’t want any part of that. But there’s an air of inevitability to it. She needs to tell Will she’s leaving the firm for both their sakes. She can deal with the repercussions later.

Alicia’s position as Peter’s wife also affords her with a way to cushion the blow if her friendship with Will ends. The happenings in the governor’s office isn’t as interesting as the rest of the episode, but it does add some intrigue to the proceedings. Peter and Eli had to bring back Marilyn, as expected, and she seems peeved at first about the whole arrangement. Eli always likes being in control of the situation and buckles when he can’t figure out how things work. Marilyn wants “access” to Peter and Eli does everything he can to block it or at least reduce it. The chemistry between Peter and Marilyn is at best a work in progress. They’re feeling each other out, and that can be awkward at first.

Peter has always had this shady side to him, which manifests itself in the worst ways like when he shows up spotaneously at the courthouse to see if Alicia can go away to renew their vows. He may find himself attracted to Marilyn subconsciously, and if that’s true, it’s yet another secret involving another woman that he is keeping from Alicia. No one is truly sure of what Marilyn’s motives are exactly so it becomes a wait-and-see approach on how this subplot is going to play out. There are fireworks to be expected in the future of this show. If it’s anything like what was shown here, then this is going to be a very enjoyable season.

John Keegan is Editor-in-Chief for Critical Myth, a partner site of SciFi Vision. Henry Tran is Critical Myth's reviewer for The Good Wife.

Latest Articles