The Good Wife Recap: A Precious Commodity – 5×3

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I was so excited to see the fireworks on “The Good Wife” last night! I knew Will finds out about Diane trashing him to the reporter, but I didn’t expect her to tell him about it herself. She tells him that she told the reporter about his taking money from clients in the past—which, unfortunately, I barely remember. Diane tries to apologize to Will but he storms out and gathers with the other partners to arrange her exit package.

While I was excited, now I’m just sad. Will insists that Diane made her own choice to leave, rather than being pushed out, as she sees it. Will and the partners continue offering her exit packages, which she continually refuses, eventually saying she wants a 20 percent bump in money, since Will can’t pay her in appreciation. We’ll see how it resolves in the coming weeks. Poor Alicia, meanwhile, is wedged between them, even while her allegiance is taking her elsewhere.

Or is it? Will offers her Diane’s position as managing editor, which makes her reconsider her departure. But ultimately, she sticks with her decision, and tells Cary they need to leave this week.

At home, Alicia finally notices what we’ve all seen for weeks now: that her daughter “doesn’t look like herself.” She doesn’t recognize Grace, looking mature and sexy in a dress that Alicia’s mother bought her. Grace has also been getting presumably unwanted attention from boys calling and dropping by the house. Zach tells Alicia about the hottest political daughters website (nice callback to that goat video, btw), and Alicia tries to fix some matters by turning Grace’s older male friend Cam away when he comes to her door. It turns out Cam is simply Grace’s pastor, but heaven forbid Alicia actually talk to Grace and ask her who all these men are. Way to trust your daughter.

Meanwhile, the case du jour involves a young college student named Tara who is serving as a surrogate for a couple’s baby. When they learn that the baby has a birth defect, the couple, Brian and Kathy, wants to terminate the pregnancy, but Tara decides she doesn’t want to. The lawyer representing the couple (played by Christian Borle, who was so fantastic in “Smash”) seems to have Alicia against a wall and forces her to take the case pro bono.

David Lee learns about the case and pushes his way into second chair, with larger plans to sue the hospital or perhaps the doctor who discovered the abnormality. He tramples on Alicia’s case, often without helping it at all. After much back and forth and various complications, as the case du jour always has, including accusing Tara of breaking contract by being sexually promiscuous, and even Tara extorting the couple for the abortion, they find that the embryo was cultured two days earlier than implantation. This changes the timing so that the fetus is viable, meaning they cannot force Tara to terminate the pregnancy.

I don’t know enough about the law in this case (I’ll definitely be reviewing it on the FindLaw blog), but it seems a little ridiculous. Perhaps they rushed it, like the case is too complicated to squeeze into one episode, but they didn’t want to stretch it out to two (I suppose it could continue next week, but it didn’t look like it from the promo).

But much of this episode seems strange somehow. Grace, for example, told her mother that she just wants to be pretty. It’s been a while since we’ve really seen Grace on screen, but this seemed out of character for her. She’s always been more mature and self-assured in the past. Lockhart/Gardner’s investigator Robyn, too, seemed dumber than usual when she spilled to Kalinda that Alicia is leaving the firm. Did she really think Kalinda already knew, and if not, could she really not see it on Kalinda’s face? Come on, she’s not that clueless.

It seems Will and Diane aren’t the only ones having trouble with the press. Back at Peter’s office, he and Eli agree to bring back Marilyn Garbanza, whom they had “promoted” to the transportation office, because of a reporter’s concerns that they’re replacing highly regarded ethical watchdogs, like Marilyn, with “yes men” (this show really makes reporters look bad). In return for being rehired, Marilyn demands unfettered access, which Eli gives her—in his restrictive way. I still think they might have been able to tell her in confidence why they promoted her, and she probably could have recommended someone else.

Thus ends another dynamic episode. Don’t know about you, but I’m so sad to think of the partnership between Will and Diane ending. They have such a history, and I loved the moments of them working together and celebrating their accomplishments. Their partnership—not to mention close friendship—dissolved so quickly in this episode, and she was so immediately forced to harden and take a stand that there doesn’t seem time to grieve for the end of her current life, no matter how much she may be looking forward to her new one on the state supreme court. I confess, I was hoping this would allow a moment of intimacy between Will and Alicia, like that incredible moment in season one, but judging by the poop that’s going to hit the fan in the next couple of episodes, I suspect there won’t be any such moment. Bummer.

So what do you think, fans? How touching was that final scene between Diane and Will? Are you sad about their split, or do you think Diane had it coming? Did you like the surrogate pregnancy storyline? What do you think Kalinda will do now that she knows about Alicia’s leaving? For that matter, where has Kalinda really been this season? Leave thoughts on “The Good Wife” below.

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2 responses to “The Good Wife Recap: A Precious Commodity – 5×3”

  1. The Good Wife Recap: A Precious Commodity – 5×3 http://t.co/LVs4e34KFi

  2. Is it the end for Will and Diane? Read my recap of last night’s #TheGoodWife on @reallifejane: http://t.co/KhC7bodySN

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