Courtesy of CBS
After an unexpected break, The Good Wife returns to clean up the wreckage following Alicia’s (Julianna Margulies) eviction as States Attorney.
Let’s bitch it out…
It’s time to negotiate an exit strategy and I’m totally talking about Alicia.
Ha ha – no, I’m not. I’m talking about Kalinda (Archie Panjabi) and her stealth exit from the series last night. In an abrupt turn of events that we’ve admittedly anticipated since the start of the season, Kalinda ends up turning evidence against Lemond Bishop (Mike Colter) and making a run for it. It’s pretty much exactly what most viewers figured would occur since the time that Panjabi’s exit was announced, especially when Kalinda began spending more time around Bishop after he blackmailed her to protect his son.
The exit itself is classic Kalinda, albeit disappointing for those of us hoping for one final Kalinda/Alicia scene. Whether or not you believe the rumours about Margulies’ request not to play scenes with Panjabi (the pair of actresses have not shared a face to face scene in several years) it would have been nice to see them break bread one last time. Many of the fans that I knew were hoping for this, but alas Kalinda’s final act of kindness to Alicia sends her to Diane (Christine Baranski) and Kalinda knows that she can’t hang around Alicia’s apartment snacking with Grace forever.
Instead Kalinda has a quick, quietly emotional farewell and then she’s gone. At Alicia’s apartment she surveys pictures of their time together, gets teary-eyed, offers Diane some final help with a case and then, in a strategically blocked moment, says a simple simultaneous goodbye to Grace and, by way of direct address, us. That’s her final scene. Cary (Matt Czuchry) later discovers her phone has been discontinued, her apartment has been cleared out and Alicia finds a note that presumably says farewell.
Judging from the online reaction, the note is the point of fixation for most fans. People are desperate to know what Kalinda wrote, anxiously hoping that this isn’t a mystery that will go unaddressed in the season’s two remaining episodes. Some are speculating that Kalinda merely says goodbye. Others believe that it is dirt on Peter’s (Chris Noth) attempt to undermine Alicia (Kalinda has a visibly negative reaction to Peter in one of Alicia’s pictures, though that could simply be a reminder of the affair that caused so much friction between her and Alicia*). At this point we don’t know; we just have to hope that the Kings will do right by us and let us in on the secret next week.
*It could also be a sly acknowledgment by the showrunners of the real-life divide between Margulies and Panjabi. Who knows?!
Courtesy of CBS
Other Observations:
- Unfortunately aside from Kalinda’s unexpected departure, the rest of ‘The Deconstruction’ is a hot mess. As Michael Ausiello rightfully points out, are we really meant to believe that Bishop keeps all that sensitive information on the desktop of his computer? And that any evidence collected would actually be admissible in court?
- The miscommunication between Diane and Alicia was the story line that grated me the most. The escalating game of telephone as the pair tried to shore up and poach clients was amusing, if overly familiar, but the origin of the problem doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. Alicia hears from a client that Diane has said Alicia isn’t returning to the firm after their meeting, and yet Diane claims that she never said that? I fully expected it be revealed that this was all a ploy by smarmy David Lee (Zach Grenier) or some other firm to create discontent, but there’s nothing else to the story. It’s aggravating to spend the episode watch Diane and Alicia needlessly go to war.
- Also: not quite buying the argument that RD (Oliver Platt) would hold enough sway over the firm that he’s the final word on whether or not Alicia returns. I get that he’s a major client, but it all happens too quickly – RD makes the call and the next scene is Peter consoling Alicia.
- I’m torn – do we want to see Alicia writing a tell all book for season 7? That doesn’t seem particularly interesting.
- Finally, the case of the week…um….yay for bringing back Linda Lavin?
Your turn: what did you think of Kalinda’s quiet exit? Did the lack of security at Bishop’s bother you? Do you understand how the miscommunication between Alicia and Diane began? Did you suspect David Lee was involved? Where does Alicia go from here? Sound off below.
The Good Wife airs Sundays at 9pm EST on CBS