07 October, 2013

The Good Wife: The Bit Bucket and a Thousand Sugar-Covered Webs

Season 5, Episode 2 | Original Air Date: Sunday, October 6, 2013
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Between Grandma Veronica, Chumhum, the brief appearance of Patrick Edelstein and the surprise resurgence of a conniving Becca and a crying Nessa, “The Bit Bucket” spent the entire episode overflowing with story lines built atop a sticky web of personal/professional connections. 


If I’m being perfectly candid, I’ll confess this episode left me thinking I need to take more notes – and build more flowcharts.  Am I alone here?  Did everyone else get everything that was happening?  We had Chumhum looking to sue the government who, as it turned out, is tapping the phones of Alicia and Diane, only to find out that some terrorist group is calling the Florrick house 12 times a day.  The terrorist group is none other than Nessa, who is actually just upset that Becca is back and stealing gavels, which makes it seem like Zack is cheating (are they even still together?), which of course he isn't – it’s the world’s most annoying sister, Grace, who is getting makeup tips from Eli’s 21 year old arch nemesis.  Unfortunately, this means Peter is now being looked at for connections to terrorism and the government is more in the loop than Kalinda… which just seems wrong.   Confused?  This was strangely the least complex plot web of the entire episode.

So, what did we learn?  Grace is undermining the government, Chumhum and the state of Illinois without even knowing it.  Of all the things I didn't see coming over the last five seasons, this doesn't make the list – it’s just the cherry on top.

“The Bit Bucket:” Highlights, Lowlights and David Lee

1) The Slow Drip: I’m not one to side with David on much (especially his horrible choice of ties), however, there’s no denying his shrewd instincts when it comes to people and the firm.  “The absence of bad news is not good news” he says to Diane, who seems somewhat oblivious of the soldier ants slowly moving the grains of sand from her kingdom.  While Diane is worried about her seat on the Supreme Court, she’s missing what David is catching – and that’s a mutiny.  It’s a slow drip that she’s not seeing between her meetings with Mandy Post, but it’s there.  If only Julius were around.  He and David would fight about the lack of fourth year texts and life would be grand.

2) Welcome to your Closet: The highlight of the episode for me?  Watching Cary take Alicia to a closet filled with boxes and brooms and saying it was her new office.  Having followed Cary through some seriously unappealing work spaces, this was especially fun to watch.  The best part?  He thought so, too.  If ever I’m having a sad day, I think I’ll put this scene on repeat.


3) Pour a Little Sugar on Me: It’s not a full David Lee experience without his square dish of M&Ms and candy scattered across the boardroom.  My questions: 1) Who eats candy off a boardroom table?  2) What does Veronica see in David?  I mean, really – who knows where that candy dish has been.  3)  This line: Veronica: “You’re a carnivore.  You’re a jungle cat.” Me: “Ewww.”


4) The Golden Gavel: Two things about these scenes: 1) Peter has a ‘gift room?’  This seems like the best and funniest place on earth, especially with Eli lurking around and trying to sleuth items put into storage.  It’s like finding out relatives are coming over and having to go into the basement to track down Great Aunt Judy’s crystal ashtray to put on display, even though you don’t smoke and it actually makes no sense you would have this out anyways.  What I’ve learned here: meetings at the Governor’s office and family gatherings aren’t all that different. 2) Becca is back!  Now that “Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23” is over, Becca is back as the “B” of Illinois, which is fun and surprising development.  She’s just as evil as before which means we’ll get to see Eli upping his game.  I guess that’s what comes with being Chief of Staff.  Sometimes you have to play in the mud… and sometimes that means paying a price for your golden gavel.


5) If Jesus Says So: The only thing better than having Grandma Veronica come to visit is seeing Uncle Owen.  This week, Grandma V was in fine form as she took Grace shopping and came home uttering the words, “Jesus has no problem with Grace looking her best.”  Even Zack is concerned – but that probably has a bit to do with last week’s findings that Grace has made the list of hot politician’s daughters.  This year, I sense, is going to be a family disaster.  The best part?  We haven’t even seen Owen or Jackie (or Jackie’s caregiver/lover, Cristian!) yet.  Once these three resurface, anything could happen.

6) I’ve Got Your Back:  Eli is backing Peter who is backing Diane who is backing Will.  It’s a strange yet comfortable place for everyone, as individually, each of these characters have connections with each other.  Though, when push comes to shove, I’m not sure they would if the roles were at all reversed.  For now though, everything is bliss as Peter tries to get Diane elected to the Supreme Court.  Well, bliss for everyone but the Chief Justice, who it now seems Peter has something on… and maybe for Diane who has avoided selling Will out for the last year, until maybe now.  Okay, so it’s not bliss for anyone, except maybe Will who doesn’t seem to know anything is happening with Diane, the missing gavel, the firm or Alicia.  I sense a rude awakening coming and the only good that can come of that is the hope Will’s sisters will once again surface.

Favourite Guest Star:

There’s no question for me this week: Dreama Walker as Becca.  She’s just so manipulative and sly – kind of like a young Colin Sweeney.  She’s one of those characters you love to hate and that’s what makes her so compelling to watch.  Of course, the fact she could be the undoing of Eli’s sanity is always an entertaining plus.


What did you think of, “The Bit Bucket?”  What were your highlight and lowlight moments?  Sound off in the comments below!

Up Next: "A Precious Commodity"


3 comments:

  1. The Governor with a "Gift Room"....hahaha, no wonder they end up in jail so often.

    There was too many things "connected" to keep up with. Did not like the case this week. NSA "big brother-ing" listening in on folks phone calls...now ain't that a bytch!

    Alicia never felt like her Mom "liked" her and she was a very likeable kid she thought. Veronica and David Lee have the oddest relationship evah, loved your lines about eating M&M's off of the conference room table....yikes...nasty much! Nice to see Alicia and her mom have a moment their where they actually bonded.

    Diane gave in and trashed Will it seems. Old MandyPost was happy it her last interview, just when Eli was calling to tell her not to do it. Poor Will, his ladies are Alicia and Diane are backstabbing him BIG TIME!

    Becca is back to cause Eli trouble again and Grace befriends the wrong person...again!

    For some reason I don't really trust Cary, I always thought he was jealous of Alicia. Maybe I don't want Alicia to leave Will and L/G. This was very much a filler episode, leading up to the BIG BLOW UP when the soldier ants leave with the money.

    Enjoyed your review. Thx. Pam in Dallas

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  2. Sorry, but you can only read the following if you have the proper security clearance for a SCIF.




    Hahaha....just kidding

    To be totally honest, I totally steal that one from someone else. I just had to do it.

    Hi Pink

    I am back if you still remember from last year !

    I had been reading your reviews the past 2 weeks just did not have the time to say hi yet ! Congrats about your baby ! My daughter is 3 years old and her name is Grace. I did not named her after Grace Florrick though.

    Season 5 started out really well. Infact last week I enjoy the TGW pilot more than breaking bad finale and I am a big fan of Breaking Bad too.

    With so many wonderful main and supporting cast plus lots of recurring guest stars added with a case of the week, we will probably see lesser of some characters.

    Last season we saw very little of Cary, this season will be different with Alicia starting a firm with him. From the 1st 2 episodes, it seems the one being sacrifice is Kalinda. I agreed it is probably to early to tell so I do hope that is not the case and hope we see more of her. I am a big fan of Kalinda and Eli.

    I have heard that Carrie Preston,Nathan Lane,America Ferrera and a strong chance that M J Fox will be back as well.

    Will be here every week to read your reviews and hopefully you will have time to do them even when your baby is due.

    Lastly do you still want to name your blog Lockhart Gardner since Alicia is leaving. "Leaving Lockhart Gardner" perhaps? :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I really enjoy your reviews! It's nice to have a sense of community surrounding a great TV-show and to exchange thoughts and points of view on what is happening! :)

    What I remember best from the episode is thinking "Don't cry over Zach, Neesa! He doesn't deserve you!" Really, she's such a pretty, sweet girl, but I think the more she tries to contact him, the less he will respect her. Oh well, I guess we all have been through such behavior over a guy who didn't deserve it and it's just part of life's many lessons.
    I also think that maybe with Neesa, who's just a broken-hearted girl, being associated with terrorism, the Good Wife wants to criticise the prejudice surrounding Muslim families. I do think that's a recurrent theme in this show, how quickly American authorities suspect someone of being a terrorist just because he/she is a Muslim and/or speaks Arabic. I could also really appreciate the episode about the revolts in Syria last season.

    Concerning the Alicia-Peter-Will triangle, throughout the last four seasons I've noticed a lot of self-destructive behavior in Alicia. Whenever she feels something real that could shake the status-quo in her life or whenever she gets tempted to listen to her heart, she always has to sabotage it. I think she had to deal with a lot of pent-up anger, but instead of letting it go in a healthy way, she kept it inside most of the time. As long as she keeps herself in her self-made prison of wanting stability over what her heart truly desires for her, there will be no real development in her relationship with Will.
    It's possible that Peter has changed, but I haven't seen them communicating in any raw, real way about what happened that could lead to true forgiveness and healing. I get a serious "repress your feelings because feelings are dangerous" vibe from a lot of the characters. Anyway, I hope this season might bring some positive change for everyone, even if that has to happen through chaos and an ending to how things once were.

    ReplyDelete

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