The Good Wife Review: The Art of War

Admittedly, I find some of the issues from “The Art of War” to be a bit contentious. Okay, a lot of the issues, but the underlying theme in this one really poked at me. Let’s just jump on in!

It felt like the entire episode of The Good Wife was meant to paint women in a bad light. Regardless of the outcome of the stories, the beginning of them is what counts. Have you ever noticed that when someone is charged with murder news outlets are all over the story, but when they are cleared, the story is dried up and the accused is left with the stigma and no recourse?

When I think of ratings and people watching the first half of a drama and tuning out for the second half, as happens quite frequently, that’s the taste what was left in my mouth. Kalinda and her husband have been playing ugly games since he hit the canvas in the season opener. If Kalinda doesn’t understand what she wants, how can anyone else? Where she was previously a strong, confident woman, she now seems to be using not only her sex but her position at Lockhart and Gardner to drag her husband through the ringer. Even I think that’s ugly behavior, despite his own less-than-honorable intentions.

Dennis O’Hare was back as Judge Abernathy, and it annoyed me no end how he called Alicia’s opposing counsel by his first name. Bucky. Alicia was Mrs. Florrick but a slouching, overly confident Brian Dennehy was Bucky. It appeared that he didn’t take the case seriously. The case was a military woman, Captain Hellinger, accusing an employee of a military outsourcing firm of attempted rape. At stake, are they held accountable under military law or as private citizens?

Most interesting was how Bucky turned around the actions of Captain Hellinger to make her look almost complicit in the crime. The response of many females in the face of fear is to use humor. To “laugh off” the attack instead of provoke someone further. The whole thing was made uglier by Abernathy’s continual use of Bucky’s first name as he ruled against the plaintiff.

We also had Maddie Hayward who not only supported Peter but befriended Alicia, turn tail and announce her own candidacy for Governor against Peter. She did this to coincide with the trumped up charges that will be hitting the news about Peter’s affair with an intern. In her role as friend, she got information from Alicia she could easily use against Peter in the gubernatorial race. While she claimed it all came about as a complete shock to her, when you look back at her actions, they seemed pretty well planned out.

Finally, Jackie is off her rocker. Never a beloved character, with her dementia she’s become grating and offensive. Alicia’s idea to find a man to take care of her was ingenious, and his response to her was quite refreshing. Peter and Alicia do make a pretty good team when it comes right down to it.

Who would have thought when The Good Wife permiered that Peter Florrick would end up being the ray of light with regard to women? He’s truly turned over a new leaf and treats his wife and his mother with the utmost respect and caring.