Some time had passed between last week’s debut episode of “The Good Wife” and last night’s interesting episode. We were told that Julianna Margulies’ Alicia is now “one month in” to her job as junior associate, and show creators Robert and Michelle King, who wrote this episode, used the time-lapse to skip past tedious Alicia-settling-in subplots.
But time hasn’t made Alicia hurt any less. The hour began with a sex scene involving her husband (Chris Noth) and another woman. It turned out to be Alicia’s dream — a nightmare of infidelity. The Good Wife didn’t linger on this. It plunged into the case of a woman who claimed she was raped. She’d worked for an escort service; the accused was a smirking rich punk. Alicia’s firm was representing her, and we knew how this would play out: the punk would pay.
Except he almost didn’t: Alicia and her law partner (Josh Charles) actually lost the case, due to the ditherings of an all-too-liberal judge (fine performance by Denis O’Hare).
“The Good Wife” is both a straightforward lawyer show and a subtle domestic drama, a mixture I think is going to make it work over the long haul for us viewers. The terse, poignant home scenes (Alicia’s kids discovering photos of Dad carousing followed by the son’s desperate attempts to prove they’re Photoshopped fakes) contrast with satisfyingly flashy courtroom drama. And how terrific is Titus Welliver as the state’s attorney who’s a little bit bad-guy and a little bit good-guy?
What did you think — still liking “The Good Wife”? Disappointed that Matt Czuchry was pushed to the sidelines this week? Are you hoping Chris Noth gets out of jail soon?