"Blue Ribbon Panel," Gold Medal Performance

Episode Title: Blue Ribbon Panel (yields Gold Medal Performance for Julianna Margulies)

Season 3, Episode 19 | Original Air Date: March 25, 2012

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Rarely am I at a loss for words.  This blog is clear proof of that fact.  There’s little I can write that would be more accurate or succinct than this: If ever there was an episode for Julianna Margulies to shine as Alicia Florrick, “Blue Ribbon Panel” would be it.

In fact, I loved Alicia *so* much in this episode, I’m going to forego a standard recap and instead take a closer look at scenes from this week that made me say, “Just when I thought I couldn’t love this show any more they went and [insert awe-inspiring moment that made me laugh, cry or cheer].”

Now, where to begin?   

The Honesty Policy 

The scene: Alicia staring at Kalinda staring at Alicia.  Silence. 

Kalinda broke the stillness by saying, “I’m not sure.”  You see, Kalinda feels she has an obligation to keep secret the names of those who employed her for freelance work.  The IRS has a different opinion on these matters and now it’s Alicia’s job to invoke the honesty policy she put in place last week and get Kalinda to disclose her income sources.  The first cheque in question came in the amount of $2,460 for three days work (which amounts to $102.50/hour for anyone who’s counting) but right off the top Kalinda was guarded.  Why?  Well, someone Alicia knows paid Kalinda for her time.  

Oh no.  

When it comes to Kalinda, the who and the why could be anything, so Alicia is left to shoot K an oh god, what did Peter pay you for now? look but before she could answer, Kalinda jumped from her chair in order to pay Diane a quick visit.  Returning with a bounce in her step, Kalinda shared with Alicia that Diane contracted her for… firearms lessons.  At this point, Alicia’s expression said, I’m simultaneously relieved, impressed and glad I asked Diane for the raise before her marksmanship skills were revealed, while Kalinda’s expression said, I could give you firearms lessons, too… and it wouldn’t cost you $102.50/hour.  This was the best three minute opening of The Good Wife maybe ever.

Side note: What is this mystery account from which Diane is writing cheques?  I have a feeling there could be a good backstory lurking in, say, season five?

Alicia Florrick's "Firearms" face

Live from the IRS

The scene: Kalinda is busy getting to know the IRS officials when Alicia rushes in. 

Alicia: I am so sorry. I was held up.  Sorry Ms. Sharma.

Kalinda: That’s quite alright, Ms. Florrick. It gave us time to get acquainted.

When it comes to Kalinda, the IRS is after one thing: getting down to the brass tacks surrounding her mysterious income… or at least that’s the façade they are using.  Apparently they aren’t satisfied knowing she has been hired in the past to perform research and background checks, they also want to know who has hired her and exactly what the projects entailed.  From the perspective of the IRS, this is like catching Al Capone on tax evasion.

Unfortunately, that’s not Kalinda’s biggest problem.  It seems this IRS “negotiation session” was being secretly recorded by a laptop webcam, an observation Kalinda shared with Alicia as they were leaving.  Having had a rough day already, Alicia stormed back into the room, approached the camera and exclaimed, “If you want something from us, call my office.  Stop playing through intermediaries!”  Pa chow, Alicia Florrick!  

It wasn't long before Kalinda's old friend, Lana Delaney (Jill Flint), appeared in Alicia's office with questions surrounding not only the IRS issue but for details surrounding Kalinda's potential connection to the oft-mentioned but rarely seen, Lemond Bishop.  As far as we know, Kalinda hasn't done any work for Bishop (remember, this was Blake's beat, not hers), but, let's be honest: anything can happen on The Good Wife.

Dear Gilda

The scene:  Having had her initial offer on the Highland Park house refused, Alicia's Realtor suggests a personal note of interest might sway the sellers in their decision. 

I’m the first to admit I’m completely against Alicia moving back to Highland Park (you can check out the top reasons why I think she shouldn't go back by clicking here), but that doesn’t mean it’s not an interesting rollercoaster.  Pulling out her “from the desk of Alicia Florrick” cherry blossom stationery, we watched Alicia struggle to put into words why she wanted the house again.  As an audience, we felt the exact same way.  The good memories were plentiful – Grace’s first steps, playing at bath time, installing a front yard mailbox and even playful moments with Peter; but the bad memories continue to be so haunting – news trucks parked on the driveway, Grace coming home crying, Alicia having to explain to both kids why their lives would forever be changed.  In the end I wasn’t sure Alicia would send the letter, but she did and Gilda responded.  While touched by Alicia’s words, her offer still wasn't enough.

Flash forward with a call from the Realtor, congratulating Alicia on figuring out a way to secure the house.  The problem?   It wasn’t Alicia.  That left two other Florricks and after a brief confrontation with Peter, the truth revealed itself: Jackie purchased the Highland Park home.

Peter: “Where are you going?”

Alicia: “To buy a gun.”

As though my love for Alicia wasn’t sealed years ago, and more recently in the opening scene of “Blue Ribbon Panel,” this quote was the icing on the cake.  First Jackie was coming to the apartment uninvited, then she was riffling through Alicia’s fine washables and now she’s buying Alicia’s old house?  I’d be enraged, too.  Also, now Alicia knows Kalinda can train her in firearm operation, the idea of purchasing a gun probably isn’t entirely unappealing.  

Now, I can’t say I didn’t see that coming, but it was surprising nonetheless.  I have a feeling Jackie bought the old Florrick homestead so Peter can move in and give off the impression that all is well in Pleasantville before election season.   Whatever the reason, Alicia tracked down Jackie in the hair salon to have a little chat.  And curtain.  All I can say?  I hope Alicia pulls out her you’re out of control face and gets her yell on.  

Blue Ribbon Panel

The scene: Diane, busy dealing with the ever-present inter-office bickering that has taken over Lockhart Gardner, asked Alicia to take her place on a Blue Ribbon Panel investigation surrounding a police shooting.  Alicia accepted and headed off to a location that can only be described as an old boy’s club.

This particular panel was made up of a few new faces paired alongside some familiar ones.  Two of the three judges in question from “Another Ham Sandwich” – Judge Winter (Peter Riegert) and Judge Dunaway (Kurt Fuller) – were both present, as were a few fresh characters, including Pastor Yarrow (Charles Dutton) and Mike Kresteva (Matthew Perry).    

Now, I don’t know much about Blue Ribbon Panels – only that they are independent investigations that can pull in field experts to analyze information and study a specific question.  In this case, that question had to do with an undercover police shooting involving a civilian and a dropped gun.   Sitting in a semi-circle, everyone on the panel had five minutes to question each of the witnesses; however, Alicia was the only person to use their time, which quickly forced her to be reprimanded by the other panelists.  After having been warned that she could be making quick enemies, Alicia never wavered in her resolve to get to the bottom of the shooting, that was, until Kresteva started to make things about Peter.

Ultimately being forced to recuse herself from the panel based on a conflict of interest, Alicia stood up to the challenge like a seasoned pro and was ultimately granted the respect she fully deserved by the likes of Winter and Yarrow.  As for Mike Kresteva?  He enjoyed putting Alicia between a rock and a hard place, making the police shooting about Peter and forcing Alicia off the panel.  For Alicia, this kind of pressure showed her strength as a lawyer and as a woman, but also highlighted her passion for justice and her desire to believe that not all verdicts in Chicago can be bought.

Bits and Bites - Flip you for it

If there’s one thing that can bring Eli, Julius and David together, it’s a good bout of verbal sparring.  Diane must be counting down the days until Will can return to work instead of throwing his baseball in the air and rearranging office supplies.  

This week, everything came to a head between the equity partners – Eli and Julius teamed up (okay, flipped a coin and Julius won) to go up against David Lee.  The only problem?  Neither David nor Julius has ultimate seniority.  No, that falls to the beloved Howard Lyman (Jerry Adler), who we last saw in season two’s “Great Firewall.”  Remember when everyone was trying to oust Bond and they had to call in all of the old equity partners (who hadn't died) to make it happen?  Yes, Lyman is the only one who seems to have survived and he’s looking for an office close to the bathroom… and Will’s inside scoop on nefarious websites.   He’s in, Julius and David are out.  Lockhart Lyman it is – let’s get some stationery ordered!

What’s next?

With just three episodes left this season, what’s in store is anyone’s guess.  While we have to endure a mini-hiatus (to ponder what will become of Jackie and her wet hair), The Good Wife will go out with a marathon of new episodes, April 15, 22 and 29. Until then, here’s something to think about: In April 15^th’s “No Ordinary Lie,” Alicia finds herself working on a plea deal while juggling life back in the public spotlight thanks to Peter’s latest political rival.  Who could this adversary be?  My money is on Mike Kresteva (Matthew Perry).  With all of the mentions of Peter during the Blue Ribbon Panel and Mike fully willing to pin the whole “mishandled gun” incident on the State’s Attorney, I can’t help but think we’ve been set up. 

Related to this Post:

• Behind the Scenes at the Filming of “Blue Ribbon Panel”
• Eight Reasons Why Alicia Shouldn't Return to Highland Park
• Food Inspired by The Good Wife: Grilled Apple and Cheese - A perfect sandwich for Jackie's wholesome, 'apple pie' style
• Catch up on episode 19, “Gloves Come Off”
• The Latest Briefs – The Good Wife in the news

"Live from Damascus"

Episode Title: Live from Damascus aka The Last at Bat

Season 3, Episode 15 | Original Air Date: February 19, 2012

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With baseball references being bandied about like homeruns at an All-Star game, The Good Wife was back in full swing with episode 15, “Live from Damascus.”  Sure we had to wait three weeks for this episode, but in the end, sometimes it takes a while to get to the much touted seventh-inning stretch.  The result?  A bitter sweet episode that had me exclaiming, “Why can’t they just hug it out?” and “Wow, Will has the best female friends… ever.”

In My Opinion – Episode Commentary

Picking up right where we left off, Audra Mae’s "Here I Go Again" played gleefully in the background as Peter dismissed Wendy Scott-Carr from his office (take a hint WSC – your parking has been validated), while across the city, Will and Diane twirled in the hallways of Lockhart Gardner.  To be perfectly candid, I always know it’s going to be a great hour of television when I’m clapping in the first 36 seconds.  Oh how I clapped.  Unfortunately all of that was cut short when Will got word Lionel Deerfield had called and left an important message.  Side note: If you don’t remember Lionel, he was one of the lawyers Will considered hiring before he met Elsbeth.  Also, he’s played by Edward Herrmann, aka, Richard Gilmore.  Much like when you hear the names “Andrew Wiley,” “Dana Lodge” and in some cases, “Peter Florrick,” when Lionel Deerfield enters the picture, it’s rarely about anything good.   

The really bad news?  Not only did Lionel call, he showed up the party.  Fortunately, so did Alicia. More about that later.

With an ever-expanding guest list, it only seemed fitting to add another couple of hitters into the batter’s box: Enter Viola Walsh (Rita Wilson) and Neil Gross (John Benjamin Hickey) in, as Will playfully noted, “in his patented hoodie.”  The collision of Walsh and Gross could only mean one thing: the imminent appearance of Patric Edelstien (Jack Carpenter), The Good Wife’s very own Mark Zuckerberg.  If anyone else was having flashbacks to season two’s episodes “Net Worth” and “Great Firewall” you weren’t alone.  I couldn’t help but think, haven’t we been here before?  Here we have all of the same players in “the same but different” situation.

With Kalinda video chatting with her friend, Samir, in Syria (a situation, by the way, that made me think, yet again, if ever I’m lost or kidnapped, I want this woman on my side… she knows people everywhere!), we were given an inside view of the Lockhart Gardner class action suit.  You see, they are going up against Gross for knowingly selling software to the Syrian government that was ultimately used to capture and kill prisoners.  Flash to court, where we found one my favourite judges in the Cook County system: Judge Abernathy.  He’s quirky, smart and if you know him well enough (as we’ve come to), he’s also a bit calculated. This week, he was caught in the Occupy Wall Street protests, which found him on the bench battling the aftereffects of a run-in with pepper spray.   For Lockhart Gardner, Abernathy’s support of the 99% become critical to their case, a fact that eventually help them hit the class action out of the park.

I’ll be honest in admitting the case this week didn't thoroughly inspire me, but perhaps that’s because I was more than a little preoccupied with wrapping my mind around the fact the grand jury, the party and the final preparations for the big Damascus case all happened, apparently, on the same day.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad Diane had the opportunity to wear that stunning eggplant blazer a few more hours and that Alicia did manage to make it to the office to see the festivities, but still.  While the timeline was, admittedly, a little far-fetched, it was all forgiven when Will bounded, with boyish vigor, into a dimly lit office to chat with Alicia.  As they looked at each other and expressed their relief over the dropped indictment charges, the palpable feeling reverberating through the room said, give this man a hug already! And yet… just like Will, we were left hanging with ball four… walking to first.  Still, their friendship is stronger than ever, and for fans of Team Gardner, a little goes a long way.

Three Strikes, You’re Out

They say the first cut is the deepest, but for Will Gardner, it looks as though it’s about the seventh or eighth cut that’s tearing into the heart of the matter.  When Lionel came to talk to Will, it was to give him the heads up that The Attorney Compliance and Disciplinary Board was pursing his disbarment.  Honestly, this man could not be having a worse year.  Hearing the news, Diane set out to talk to Lionel herself, an altruistic act, we would later learn, where she told Lionel that Will was actually the one who pushed to elevate the importance of pro-bono in the firm.  Of course, we know that’s not true, but that’s hardly important.  The facts are these: Diane was willing to do everything she could to ensure Will’s legal future.  This adds to a long line of women in Will’s life who are willing to bend over backwards for him – Whether it’s Alicia, Kalinda or Diane, Will has some of the best female friends ever.

Diane’s valiant efforts didn’t go unrecognized and Will was offered six months probation, an opportunity  he took because the alternative could see him never practicing law again.  What does all of this mean?  Firstly, another law firm name change.  That’s four name variations in the last three years, for those of you keeping track.  Those companies holding the contracts for stationary printing or office glass etching must make a killing doing business with this firm.  The new name?  Lockhart & Associates.  Secondly, it means Will cannot enter the offices unless it’s related to a case.  Thirdly, it seems as though we’ll be getting to see a different side of Will Gardner.   We know his sisters come to town in the next episode, “After the Fall” and their minds are set on finding Will a suitable love interest.  Also, we learn that Will can play the guitar.  What else will we find out over the next six months?  If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s to expect the unexpected, but I’ll confess to having a purse full of predictions standing by…

Eli, Vanessa and Stacie, oh my!

Meanwhile, things are kicking into high gear in the campaign for State Senate.  Eli is losing his mind about Stacie working with his ex-wife, Vanessa, so much so, he barely seemed to care that Kalinda hung up on him for more important matters.  Stacie, on the other hand, is playing Eli like a pawn in an intricate and passionate game of chess.  Vanessa, one would think, seems caught in the middle, but in fact, Eli is the one who can’t get enough of this proverbial sandwich.  The truth is, Eli still cares about Vanessa and he truly wants the best for her.  Does this mean Stacie is the right choice?  In Eli’s mind, no… but that isn’t stopping him from getting involved in the campaign.  Over the coming months we’re going to be seeing a lot more of Eli, Vanessa and Stacie.  Where it will lead, I don’t know, but it makes me wonder… what other projects does Eli have on his docket?

Bits and Bites: A Few More Things to Mention

• With Will kicked out of the game for six months, Alicia has been called in to handle a very sensitive case: the tax files of one Kalinda Sharma.  We have no idea what’s inside said file, but it has been touted as “sensitive.”  It stands to reason Kalinda has some baggage (and, let’s face it, she doesn't really seem like someone who rushes out to H & R Block to file her return each year), so, what could be contained inside?  Despite being a third-year associate, Alicia is quickly becoming more linked-in than almost anyone else in the firm. 

• Over at the State’s Attorney’s Office, Cary was tasked with a bit his own “restructuring.”  I saw this one coming from a mile away, but it became official: Dana hitched her wagon to the wrong star in Wendy Scott-Carr and now she’s back to square one.  The game of Snakes and Ladders is a slippery one, isn’t it Dana?
  
  
• I would probably be remiss if I didn't at least mention Johnathon Groff's guest-starring role in this episode.  He was solely involved in the case surrounding the use of software to used to kill captured prisoners, as his sister was one of the alleged victims.  Full props to Groff for being able to cry on cue - I thought he did a stand-up job, if only the case had been slightly more alluring.

Quotes of the Week:

Neil: “So, this is where creativity goes to die?” 

Alicia: “Oh no, that’s the next floor.” 

Neil: “Is that supposed to be funny?" 

Alicia: “It is.” 

Neil: “Well I didn’t think it was funny” 

Alicia: “It must have been my delivery…”

Viola: “We seem to be catching you in the middle of a party” 

Will: “Casual Wednesdays.”

Diane to Will: “You’re trying to hit a home run with your last at bat. I’d love nothing more than to be proven wrong.”

Eli to Vanessa: “First lesson about being an elected official?  When you get what you want, shut up!”

What’s next?

For what seems like the fourth time this season, it’s a new day over on The Good Wife.  We get to see Will begin his six-month hiatus from law with a visit from his sisters.  Meanwhile, Julius isn’t waiting two minutes before the dust settles to see if he can get his name on the new stationary.  How does Lockhart Cain sound?  While I’m not sure Diane will be so receptive, it does bring up a few interesting questions.  (Where will the firm be in six months?  Is it possible Will and Diane could split up and have opposing firms?  Just think: Diane could bring back Cary; Will could have Alicia and Kalinda…).  Before any of that happens though, we have to deal with the matter at hand, and in two weeks, that seems to involve Caitlin.  Kalinda smells trouble and warns Alicia that this peppy first-year might be more of a piranha than anything else.

Upcoming Schedule

We’re on another two-week break *sigh,* but according to imdb.com, March is fully stocked with new episodes!  Stay tuned March 4, 11, 18 and 25.

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