The Good Wife: Season seven, episode fourteen: Monday

Backchat: Alicia and Diane

After Alicia’s super-harsh words about her offspring last week, it was a delight to have Eli’s daughter not only back but also being appreciated by her proud dad.

Marissa’s a smart cookie – quickly seeing through the charms of the undercover FBI agent who’s been sniffing around for a while and is now trying increasingly creative methods to obtain information about the Florrick camp.

I confess I still don’t know what any of this is about – the rigged voting machines from Alicia’s doomed state’s attorney bid? Red-faced angry Bond Court judge Schakowsky? The stuff involving the Republican committee with all the nepotism? Did Peter murder someone?

I found Alicia very annoying in this episode, from her weird flirting session with Jason (was she drunk?) to her “resistance to oversight” (ie, being a cheeky besom to her new – old/new – boss Diane) to her quite unnecessary bellowing in court.

The case was about ChumHum and a new tablet and a dodgy, quasi-private Silicon Valley crime-fighting squad, but ultimately didn’t really amount to much other than a chance to see some old faces back on the witness stand.

I like how the writers aren’t letting the racist attitudes at Lockhart, Agos and Lee fade into the background (remember when Peter’s preferential hiring practices at the DA’s office were exposed? No-one else seems to). I’d love to see Lucca and Monica become proper enemies as a result of everyone’s clumsy efforts to bring them together.

What are we to make of Ruth’s dramatic intervention? What does she mean by “no question Peter loves you, but he can hurt you”? If it’s about the voting machines, it surely won’t help Alicia to sever ties with Peter now, and if it’s about something else illegal he did that she didn’t know about it, then surely cutting him loose will make it look like she did know? Either way, it seems as though we could be building up for an exciting finale.

Notes

I like wee diversions like the ants in the courtroom – always a useful reminder that the judges are human beings vulnerable to distraction

Alicia’s wonky chair is the new Eli’s over-sized desk. Love how she had one last sideways slump while the dramatic music was playing