The Good Wife and the Revenge of Peter Florrick

4uIsM.jpg

Until this episode, I'd thought the long game for The Good Wife would be that Alicia eventually gets back together with Peter. While I'm loving the Will/Alicia romance, I don't think that it will last, for a variety of reasons, not least of which his revelation to Kalinda last week about being a sociopath.

But now it seems that Peter is hell-bent on destruction, and I could not be more excited. While it was heartbreaking seeing Zach's face when he learns the truth about his parents' split, that scene reveals something important about Peter, that he is aware of who he is and what he's done, which he wasn't at the end of last season.

So it's all the more revealing that he not only knows the breakup is his fault, but still wants to take it out on Alicia. And he doesn't care who goes down with her. That's why he's kept Cary on. He needs a compatriot as invested in bringing down Lockhart Gardner as he is, albeit for different reasons.

I think that this season we're about to witness an intense battle of the minds, as the power struggle between LG and the state's attorney's office intensifies.

And you know what? Alicia can be just as brutally clever as Peter. She's never more alluring than when she's destroying people professionally, and I look forward to seeing that side of her turned on Peter.

But when the battle really gets going, I think Will and Diane are going to step out, and will not tolerate collateral damage. We're in an odd situation where Alicia has never seemed more powerful, and yet, in this quadrangle, she has absolutely no power, and any of the other three might destroy her.

That's where the fifth power player becomes invaluable: Eli. In a battle between Peter and Alicia, I think he'll side with Alicia. Peter's no good as a candidate without Alicia, but Alicia will make a perfect candidate.

And that is my theory for the new long game: by the end of this show, Alicia will be running for office.

OTHER THOUGHTS

This may be the only time in history where I ask for more exposition. I know absolutely nothing about British law (though I'm familiar with the Trafigura case that inspired this storyline), so I would appreciate a little more context to the quirks of British law.

Will is fantastic in this episode, reacting to Eddie Izzard's OTT ridiculousness the best way possible: laughing in his face. That, combined with his naked lust for Alicia, makes him the person of the episode. "Intimidation is not a sonnet."

This entry was posted on and is filed under , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 . You can leave a response .

8 Responses to “ The Good Wife and the Revenge of Peter Florrick ”

  1. Will almost had the episode (I've come to appreciate the despicable nature of the character and cheer Charles for doing it well) until that last scene which Baranski just destroys. She's in so little, but she's the MVP of the episode for me. And, though I want Peter and Alicia to get back together I'm sort of down with him wanting to destroy her...a little...if only because I hate how Alicia seems to sashay through unscathed as of late. And, I'm not really fond of her character...eh.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am sad that Diane is shaping up to be against Alicia this season, because I love her so much I don't want to root against her (also I want more amazing laughter from her)... But I thought she was really great this week. The scene where she comes to Alicia's house really brought home to me that Diane is her BOSS and doesn't really know Alicia on a personal level like the others do. And her steely gaze when questioning Will about the Florrick's marriage was brilliant.

    I totally want Kalinda and Eli to get together. I can't tell whether there was an unusual amount of sexy tension between those two or just the normal amount of sexy tension Kalinda drags around like a cloud... I just wondered whether the throwaway 'You seeing anyone' exchange Eli had with that client/strategist guy were possibly signposting things to come. Probably nothing though.

    One last thing then I'll stop, Zach did some great acting in this episode! I loved watching him in both those conversations with his parents.

    ReplyDelete
  3. As the show prefers to live in the moral grey area, I feel confident they won't make Diane unrootable (I absolutely love her, so I find it impossible that a situation will occur where I'm rooting against her.) What's more likely is that Alicia wakes up to the political realities of her split, and does something about it. (Which makes me wonder, is Peter doing all this just so that Alicia will return to him? He is a devious bastard).
    But you're right, that scene in Alicia's flat is brilliant. You can't tell who has less desire to be at that table.
    Of course I loved Eli/Kalinda, but I also think they may be too similar to actually have a relationship of any kind? And also, what a mess. I get the feeling that Eli's Alicia's only friend right now, so imagine if Kalinda stepped into that. Also known as, I really want to see that happen.
    Zach was really good! I've always thought the actor was capable, so it's nice to see him a little more grown up.
    Now Grace can be the loop-de-loop (I won't lie, I kind of missed her crazy shenanigans this week).

    ReplyDelete
  4. diane might not be against her! and it's not as if she's doing what any other show would -- ie have her charge in and make them Enemies without careful lawyerish consideration. but i LOVED the awkward scene where diane went to alicia's house.

    kalinda + eli = amazing. you know that thing where the camera pans up and down hot girls in shitty movies like transformers? they should do that with eli's suit. ending in his face, smirking at kalinda, who just stares at him like a lizard.

    ReplyDelete
  5. WILL'S FACE. it is a marvel. nobody enjoys their job more than will gardner. NOBODY. he just sits there internally laughing at practically everybody, with occasional pauses to bro-out at an overpriced bar with his amoral buddy kalinda, or have awesome sex with alicia. he really is living the life. i would happily watch several more episodes of him staring in mounting disbelief as eddie izzard oozes around the set, caressing a baseball bat and spitting out incomprehensible monologues about the english legal system.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Guys, you know what I just realized (and it's awesome). Diane must know about the split because of Zach's phone call to Peter while she was there! I don't remember the exact dialogue, but Peter did say something like "I'll cook," which probably set off major warning signs to Diane.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Intersting take. Thouugh personally i dont see why the writers are intent on having a battle between Peter and Alicia. I do think Peter has grown up and is not really the man he was - we've seen that throughout the series. His character growth apart form Alicias has been the most positive. Remember i said after the series began not what happened before which most fans are fixated on. Hes repented andadmitted in not so many words that hes wrong. I think the surprise is going to be that Peters going to turn out to be the ood Husband.(or at least im hoping) Will is really a prop.

    ReplyDelete
  8. you and i are probably the only people who watch this hsow who are rooting for Peter and Alicia to get together again and this time properly! ha

    ReplyDelete

Powered by Blogger.