The Good Wife – Is Lockhart/Gardner going down?

As a legal dramedy, The Good Wife has always been known to offer up variations on traditional courtroom drama (although returning to that tried-and-true method would be appreciated now and again as well). But what was more interesting than last night’s “creative” suit against Lockhart/Gardner — aside from watching paint dry, which might also have been more interesting than last night’s case — was watching as the internal turmoil that has been lying dormant just under the surface for so long rear its ugly (read: awesome) head. Is time running out for the firm?

I sure hope so. In a way we long ago shifted from how well these attorneys practice law to how poorly they get along, as well as to where the next power play will come from. Sometimes that works — see: Boston Legal all the time — and others, like here, it becomes so burdensome that it might be better to just get it over with already. I never liked David Lee, I never particularly liked Julius (at least outside of courtroom mode), I’ve never liked Diane, and I only enjoy Will when he’s wearing his lawyer hat. So why not get rid of the bunch of them and move on? When will Alicia — since I’m assuming that whatever happens she’ll always be around — finally decide to accept one of the numerous jobs she’s been offered over the years and leave the firm?

In fact, the only really interesting thing about Lockhart/Gardner’s office politics was that suddenly Eli was involved. I loved how incredulous he was upon discovering that the partnership agreement he’d just signed put him on the hook for $1.2 million should the Huntleys win their suit against the firm. When he decided to set his sights on running David Lee out the door, I got all set for an epic battle that would last us for weeks until David Lee was ultimately booted from the firm, leaving Eli and Julius victorious, and leaving Will and Diane to face a new power base growing right under their noses.

So with such an awesome setup, what did the writers decide to do? Have Diane quash the dispute like a kindergarten teacher defusing an argument over crayons between two five year-olds. Now, it may not be done, because what else does Eli have to do right now, but talk about a letdown! Plus, if thirty percent of the firm’s revenues are coming from the divorce lawyer … well, they need to think really hard about why their money practices are failing so miserably.

Anyway, I’d love to see Eli throw David Lee overboard (shouldn’t his little DUI scam have made more of a splash than it did?). Barring that, Eli and Alicia should pack it in and move over to Louis Canning’s firm. And maybe take Justin Coyne (Romany Malco) along for the ride? I like him, and would hate to have to say goodbye so soon. Everybody else we could probably do without.

Oh, and did you notice we were spared Alicia’s kids this week? That was nice, wasn’t it?

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jan 09, 2012 @ 13:00 EST5EDT