‘The Good Wife’ Review: ‘Red Zone’

Alicia Florrick is not a doormat. This is what I continuously uttered throughout the course of the latest episode of The Good Wife. Safe to say, I was personally offended by the indication that she was. Focus groups; a group of persons chosen to pass judgment on an individual without knowing a damn thing about them. That’s definitely not the real definition, but it’s the truth.

In “Red Zone”, we saw Alicia deal with strangers once again throwing around their opinions of her life choices as she continues to move forward in the race for State’s Attorney. We also saw Diane preparing Cary to take the stand in his own trial with assistance from Howard Lyman and Viola Walsh. Further proving that she has finally met her match, Kalinda now has Lemond Bishop and his insistence that she use her connection to Lana Delaney to gather information for him to deal with. Let’s (briefly) discuss.

Alicia

Can we all just agree that Alicia has no idea what she’s doing? Let’s start with the fact that she’s listening to anything Finn Polmar suggests. Finn? Really, Alicia? You have, not one, but TWO campaign managers and you let this random dude talk you into…washing pots? It should have come as no surprise that it went horribly wrong (Yes, Alicia. It does say it was clean.). While Eli and Elfman prepare for damage control, Alicia took on a campus rape case as a favor to Owen; further proving (to me) that she is a kickass defense attorney who should not be running for SA and still so beautifully technologically inept. Thanks to her adorable glasses…er, I mean…her amazing team, who have arranged a proper photo opp at the soup kitchen, Alicia realizes that she needs to listen to Eli more. “Tell me what to do.” Famous last words. Maybe?

Diane

Another thing we can all agree on is that Diane Lockhart is not only the quintessential mama bear, but also queen of the epic eyeroll delivery. Her response to Viola Walsh’s comment about the use of the word ‘shoot’ to Cary was nothing short of glorious. After Cary insists that he take the stand, refusing to heed the advice of both of his partners, Diane decides they need to mock it to fully prepare him. Clearly frustrated with his seemingly indifferent attitude toward the harsh reality of his situation, Diane finally puts her foot down and demands he get his head in the game. The look of pride she wears the next time they sit in what is actually their final mock session, is infectious. Diane in mama bear mode is quite possibly my favorite.

Cary

Dude. Did you really break into Kalinda’s apartment? I agree with Diane, you need to get your head in the game. I, personally, do not care about his “relationship” with her. I do, however, care about his well-being. Cary in prison is not something I am interested in. Besides, on a shallow note, orange is really not a good color on him. Alicia’s advice to him was just what he needed (if only she could listen to herself). Their scene gave me, as all of their scenes have, major brother/sister feels. Just like his line to Diane, “You need to protect me more on the stand” sparked up my mother/son feels between them again. Come on Cary, you can do this!

Kalinda

Biggest moment from the episode? Kalinda with her hair down, more than once. I would officially like to request that Kalinda’s run end with her finally finding happiness. Oh, I would also like to add that said happiness please be with Lana. Unfortunately, it seems that Lemond Bishop may just have a different plan in mind. I want to be nervous for her safety and actually, I kind of am. Her going against Bishop to protect someone she cares about does not surprise me. It’s dangerous, for sure. But, we should remember that she was Leela before she was Kalinda. So, I remain hopeful that she will persevere, but I am incredibly eager to watch it all play out. Again, Kalinda had her hair down, literally and figuratively. All because of Lana Delaney. I sincerely hope one of them do not mess it up.

All in all, this was an incredibly well-written episode that was carried out wonderfully by all involved. If I were to nitpick at anything (and I assure you that I have quite a few things) it would be Alicia’s campaign. The fact that we still have not heard her reasons for running or have not received any dialogue between Alicia and her partners in regards to her campaign and what this could mean for their firm or how Diane and Cary feel about it is a bit troubling. How did you feel about this episode? Leave a comment with your thoughts!