Inside Television with Alan Sepinwall

Review: 'The Good Wife' - 'Ham Sandwich': What's in a name?

Did the big Kalinda surprise work for you?

By Alan Sepinwall Wednesday, Mar 23, 2011 6:20 PM

Archie Panjabi and Scott Porter on "The Good Wife."

Credit: CBS

A few quick, late-in-the-day thoughts on last night's "The Good Wife" coming up just as soon as I appeal to blue-collar white voters...

Today was largely a personal day for me, as a check-up at the doctor piled on top of school meetings and various other pieces of grown-up fun. I hadn't even been planning to have or make time for "Good Wife" until tomorrow at the earliest, but when I stopped to check Twitter over lunch, my feed was full of A)People telling me about the confluence of three "Wire" actors in one episode (including one scene in which JD "Bodie" Williams played opposite Pablo "Nicky Sobotka" Schreiber), and B)People demanding my take on the ZOMG! revelations of the final scene. So when I finally had a 40 minutes or so to breathe, I put "Ham Sandwich" on.

As for "The Wire" stuff, that's not incredibly surprising at this point. "The Good Wife," like the "Law & Order" shows, films in New York and most of the people who were on "The Wire" are based on the East Coast, which is why it's not surprising to see these shows sharing the same smaller pool of actors. Still, the Bodie/Nicky scene was kind of unintentionally amusing, even if Nick's brief career as a drug dealer involved Prop Joe's East side crew.

As for Kalinda, Blake and the big reveal... well, one of the reasons I found the last original episode so compelling was that it focused largely on the season two story arcs I feel have worked well (battle for control of the firm, the election) and didn't bother with the ones that haven't (Kalinda vs. Blake, Peter/Alicia/Will triangle). There wasn't any unrequited love here, but there was a whole lotta Panjabi/Porter tension. I think Archie Panjabi is probably giving the show's most compelling performance, but I often find Kalinda to be a less-is-more character, where she's most effective flitting in and out of other people's stories, or else when her own stories are fairly oblique. I know I often bag on showrunners who drag out different personal stories - be they will-they-or-won't-they? (see Will/Alicia) or some kind of personal mystery - but this is one case where, at least based on how they've executed the reveals so far, I would have been fine with just leaving her a mystery woman. The revelation that she slept with Peter will obviously jeopardize her new open friendship with Alicia - and we should have all seen something like this coming once those two started being so chummy - and maybe from here things will get good. But everything involving the Kalinda/Blake rivalry has (as Fienberg noted on Twitter earlier today) pretty consistently violated the "show, don't tell" rule of good dramatic writing.

Based on the Twitter reaction, I suspect I'm going to be in the minority on this one. But now that everyone's had a day and a half to ruminate on this, what did everybody else think about both the final scene (embedded below) and the episode as a whole?

Alan Sepinwall
Sr. Editor, What's Alan Watching

Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

Related Searches: The Good Wife, Alan Sepinwall, Julianna Margulies, Josh Charles, Robert King, Michelle King, Archie Panjabi, Christine Baranski

Write a comment...
March 23, 2011 at 6:27PM EST Reply to Comment
For the Record its JD Williams, no DJ.
March 23, 2011 at 6:27PM EST Reply to Comment
- sepinwall It is indeed. Thanks. Fixed. I should know that. Newark native. I interviewed him a bunch of times when he was on Oz and I was at The Star-Ledger.
  March 23, 2011 at 6:31PM EST
Adam B.

I haven't liked how they've written the Blake character that much -- too cartoonishly thuggish (but, hey, nice recovery from the beatdown!) -- but however they got to this point I'm excited to see how the Leela-Peter thing shifts things going forward.

Not a great episode because I found some of the stuff in Mr. Noodle's mediation implausible, but a good kickstart for the last third of the year.
March 23, 2011 at 6:30PM EST Reply to Comment
- Shevvi I thought this episode was just okay. I could not get past seeing Mr Noodle without Elmo or his brother Mr Noodle. I dd not like the Bishop story line at all and if it really turns out that the reveal in the last scene plays out predictably I'll be really sad. I did like Gold vs Grace although I am usually annoyed by the kids.
  March 23, 2011 at 7:00PM EST
- Fran "You kids are evil!"
  
  I totally concur, Mr. Gold. I totally concur.
  March 24, 2011 at 12:28AM EST
- webdiva Really, REALLY enjoying Alan Cumming, whose character is so unpredictable. Really not enjoying Bill Irwin, whose mediator character was all too full of syrupy platitudes that were annoying to hear (a good mediator doesn't insert him/herself too much into the situation but rather elicits from both sides the gist of the matter while finding loopholes for compromise that don't make anyone feel like he's losing; Irwin's character made the whole mediation more about him and his loony philosophy -- so wrong). That said, it was also that Irwin was just a bad choice for the part. Blame the casting director for that one.
  March 26, 2011 at 4:59PM EST
sepinwall

I should also note that it was simultaneously amusing to see Schreiber and Bill Irwin together on a show other than "Lights Out" (which also films in NY).
March 23, 2011 at 6:33PM EST Reply to Comment
- aforkosh Not only that, but on a show that is broadcast in the same time slot.
  
  Of course, we have continuing 10pm battle between the Sports Night anchors (Krause on Parenthood vs. Charles on The Good Wife). If only Desperate Housewives would move to Tuesday at 10 :), we'd really have a battle.
  March 23, 2011 at 7:20PM EST
- Fran The casting actually threw me, as in, it pulled me out of the show a little too much. Normally not a big deal, but.... Maybe 'cause they were all in the same scenes with each other? I dunno.
  March 24, 2011 at 12:31AM EST
cadfile

The show amazes me each week because they have the characters take risks and mix things up. It kind of makes the NCIS shows look lame in comparison.

I think the bigger reveal was when Will confronted Blake and we find out that Will has a skeleton in his briefcase.

There was a brief clue that Kalinda and Peter might have had something going on in a scene last season so her reveal didn't shock me.

Also loved Eli Gold's story this episode. Alan Cummings is great addition to the cast.
March 23, 2011 at 6:51PM EST Reply to Comment
- webdiva Yeah, I was already wondering last season for a moment about Peter and Kalinda, given that she worked for him and we already knew that he was a slut. But I'm with those who don't want predictable. How much more interesting it would be if Peter had had the hots for Kalinda and had gotten nowhere BUT she knew about (and perhaps helped arrange?) some of his philanderings? That would hurt Alicia just as much but would at least have a twist to it.
  March 26, 2011 at 4:54PM EST
Kendra

I thought it was beautifully acted but I'm not sure what they'll get out of the revelation is worth its existence.

I don't think it's bad that Peter and Kalinda have secrets that Alicia doesn't know about but this one seems extra salacious and scars what was one of the few beautiful "sismance" or whatever the female term for "bromance" is. Is there such a term? The fact that I don't know exposes just how rare that kind of dynamic is on prime time television.
March 23, 2011 at 7:45PM EST Reply to Comment
- Ricardo How about friendship?
  March 23, 2011 at 10:35PM EST
Ricardo

I think you and Dan are too hard on this show. I think it's one of the best series on tv right now.

The twist was great. It did everything it was supposed to: I didn't see it coming and it certainly raised the stakes. I'm anxious to see how they deal with it.

As for the "show, don't tell" rule, it's not always best. You have to ask: did it have the intended effect? I think it did. Could it be improved? I was quite shocked, so I don't think so.
March 23, 2011 at 8:31PM EST Reply to Comment
evolution1085

Last night's episode really didn't do anything for me. Grace's "rebellion" is probably the least intriguing/most annoying ongoing plotline the show has. If she actually called out her parents for their hypocrasy and it stuck, it would be a useful dramatic tool, but her rebellion is christianity and globabl warming to which Alicia basically gives her a pat on the head and a "yes dear, i won't be such a whino around you" and everybody moves on.

As for Blake/Kalinda, I've enjoyed Scott Porter's run on the show (Jason Street will always get the benefit of the doubt), but the whole execution of the "dangerous flirting" has been eye rolling. I thought Leila's husband would be waiting with Blake initially, but the reveal didn't do much for me. Peter having slept with only one woman didn't seem to make much logical sense, and manufacturing tension between Alicia and Kalinda seems to be a good way of dragging this plot along even further.

Most weeks the enjoyment I get from this show comes from Cummings, Noth, Czuchry, Baranksi, and whatever L&G associate they're using (Julius, the divorce guy)
March 23, 2011 at 9:05PM EST Reply to Comment
DAG

i'm not sure why people call this a big reveal. the only reveal is that Blake figured it out. It was quite obvious last season (especially during the visit Peter scenes) that she slept with Peter. I'm just surprised they held onto that gem this long
March 23, 2011 at 9:21PM EST Reply to Comment
- Hannah Lee Dag, I'm with you. I tuned in expecting some big reveal, saw Blake confront Kalinda at the end, and was still waiting for the big reveal.
  
  There were a couple scenes last year that pretty heavily hinted Kalinda and Peter had hooked up, so I just always assumed they had.
  
  I still enjoy the show and in the battle of the FNL alums, Czuchry has grown on me while Porter (or Blake) can't leave fast enough.
  
  March 23, 2011 at 11:36PM EST
dylanfan

I like TGW and have watched it faithfully from the beginning so I was excited about last night's episode. Fortunately it's available on line so I can watch it again (swore off the DVR as a commitment to the few shows I really like).

I have a few questions that I'd like to throw out -- tried to follow Alan's rules and read all the comments but apologies if this has been covered.

First, what was the deal with the drug dealer's wife dying of an overdose and him smiling about it the whole time? That seemed like it came out of left field. Was it supposed to imply that he had her killed? While she was at the hotel room with Blake? Well, obviously she wasn't really with Blake, but wouldn't that have come up when they went to find her because supposedly she was? And who WAS she having the affair with? We're supposed to believe that lawyer? Please. And that poor little kid. That was just all ikky to me.

And where is Big anyway? Maybe I just want to have Peter Florrick stand up because I like Noth so much, and Cummings even more, but seriously, he let's Eli take over like that and has nothing to say? No.

I agree with whoever said above that the bigger reveal was Will's indiscretion that Blake has on him.

And Kalinda didn't admit anything happened with Peter so I suspect a twist there.

Thanks for writing about the show, Alan. I read almost everything you write and it's always a treat when TGW and BBT get mentioned.
March 23, 2011 at 11:02PM EST Reply to Comment
- Chrissy Bishop had his wife killed because she was willing to use his child against him and keep the child from him after the divorce. There were hints throughout that she and her lawyer were underestimating how far he would go. It was implied that she was having an affair with her lawyer, and that was probably the case given his emotional reaction to her death.
  
  It's possible Blake did kill her, on Bishop's word, and that Kalinda hit upon a lucky guess at the grand jury. It's also possible he had nothing to do with it but wanted to avoid answering questions about Bishop's bad actions, or that he was afraid of Bishop; there are a few plausible reasons why that gambit worked, but I think he probably killed her. If he did it as soon as she arrived at the hotel, the lawyer might have found her. She wouldn't have arrived with whoever she was having an affair with, as that defeats the purpose of a secret rendevous.
  March 24, 2011 at 12:09AM EST
- dylanfan Wow, Chrissy, thanks! You answered a lot of my questions (that I thought I only had because I needed to watch a second time!), but I'm still confused ... the whole 'I love my wife' thing was just Bishop pretending? And I'll buy that, but is there any possibility that Blake is who she was having the affair with?
  
  In the end, it was just messy writing IMHO; the end-point was to have Kalinda break the 5th and send them there whereupon Blake would defect.
  
  The other thing that bothered me was the "I'm not the target" note which led to LG thinking it was all about them when the Florrick campaign is really the target.
  March 24, 2011 at 12:40AM EST
- Fran In the Blake/Kalinda scene, Blake states he's leaving town because he thinks Kalinda has told Bishop he was having an affair with Bishop's wife. Not that he was actually having the affair, but just that Bishop believes he was. That's what I got from it, anyway.
  March 24, 2011 at 12:40AM EST
- dylanfan So who killed Bishop's wife? And who was having an affair with her? Inquiring minds want to know ...
  March 24, 2011 at 1:01AM EST
- J We are supposed to imply that Bishop killed his wife. I just don't think the actor playing Bishop was very effective in the scene. But from what I can tell we are supposed to believe that Bishop most likely had something to do with it.
  
  Blake had nothing to do with Bishops wife. He didn't kill her or sleep with her. She was prob sleeping with the lawyer but it doesn't really matter. Earlier in the episode Kalinda followed the wife and found out she was having an affair. Kalinda needs to get rid of Blake so that his testimony against her can get thrown out. She basically perjures herself and says she saw a guy that could be Blake with an African American woman at the hotel that Bishop knew his wife was staying at. Kalindas plan is that Bishop will think that Blake was sleeping with his wife and will want to kill Blake. So now Blake is going to leave town......my only question is did Bishop know his wife was having an affair? and how would this info from Kalinda's testimony get back to him? Unless the police would also investigate Blake for Bishop's wife's murder.
  March 24, 2011 at 2:25AM EST
- Chrissy Dylan, We just have Bishop's word that he loved his wife, but I think he did. After she allowed her lawyer to question the kid about Bishop's criminal acts, he says "I'm cured of love"; knowing that she was willing to upset their boy in order to get a larger settlement changed his feelings about him. In the scene in the courthouse, he clearly is not surprised at her death, and he wants the lawyer to know it. He killed her/had her killed, rather than lose his son, his wealth, and possibly his freedom (if any of this led to further investigation of him).
  
  I thought the actor did a fine job of showing that, underneath his cool businessy exterior, he's a totally cold person to anyone who stands in his way.
  March 24, 2011 at 9:34AM EST
Chrissy

I loved this episode. I didn't see the reveal at the end as a big gotcha moment, but as a fairly logical end to Blake and Kalinda's fairly tiresome game of cat and cat that actually paid all of that off. Tying her secret into the one thing we know she cares about (her friendship with Alicia) gave the whole thing a resonance it would have lacked if Blake just revealed some details of her past life.

I also loved the moment of silence between Alicia and Cary. This show handles minor character beats so well, and I'm almost as invested in Cary's story as I am in Alicia's.

Really, this just felt like the show doing everything right, using a lot of characters well, and telling a good story. I gasped louder at Bishop's wife's death than I did at Blake's reveal, and it's because the show has lulled me into thinking he's one kind of bad guy, but he's really another. He's not some glad-handing businessman who rides horses and wears lovely suits; he is a brutal man, with few qualms about anything. I think that was dramatically good TV, but also important in terms of Alicia realizing that the firm isn't just shades of grey. Sometimes they represent evil, on purpose, and just for the money.

The campaign site was ridiculous, though, total Aryan overkill. Did they even have a brunette in that stock photo montage? I like Grace working this stuff out, though, and I like very much that Alicia doesn't just dismiss her kids.
March 24, 2011 at 12:20AM EST Reply to Comment
- dylanfan Seriously, that website remake was absurd; they would have been better off just referring to it in the dialogue than having an endless click-through.
  
  I guess I wasn't entirely happy with Alicia's reaction either, she's not paying enough attention and putting the black girlfriend out there on a whim wasn't right -- Eli had a good point there. Bless his 'you children are evil' heart :) BTW -- I wonder if we'll ever see Ugly Betty again? Sorry I don't remember her name, America something?, but I loved that interaction and thought the chemistry between them was palpable.
  March 24, 2011 at 12:53AM EST
- DGC Dylanfan: America Ferrera signed on for multiple episodes (3 or 4, I believe), and she'll be back next week.
  March 24, 2011 at 9:24AM EST
- Chrissy She wasn't putting the black girlfriend out anywhere; it was a speech at Zach's school, which Zach and Nisa were already planning to attend. It's not as if Peter has been targeted by some violent hate group; he's courting the vote of people Eli assumes to be bigoted. Alicia is definitely not going to be down with that approach, and Eli knew that.
  
  There is absolutely no reason on the planet why Zach and his girlfriend shouldn't go to the speech if they darn well please.
  March 24, 2011 at 9:38AM EST
Schnurpsischolz

I get you're complain about the "show, don't tell" aspects of the Blake/Kalinda-Storyline and the way they handled it wasn't there masterpiece. But I think, it wouldn't be much fun to watch Blake investigate Kalindas past. I think he was ment to be a character which only interfers with the other charakters and in this regard I was realy OK with the way they handled it, it was not great but OK. And for the secret, I think it was the timing which made it work. If they came up with this in season 1, it wouldn't be much of a surprise but after so much time the tension between Kalinda and Peter vanishes and so we suddenly remember. I'm intruiged because uf the implications for Alcia and I'm really ecxited for the rest of the season.
March 24, 2011 at 4:19AM EST Reply to Comment
Kmarko

I'm glad I started watching this show--consistently entertaining. Pretty much in total agreement on the various plots--like the law firm stuff & the election, care little about Alicia/Will or the Kalinda material. The daughter's behavior would usually irritate the heck out of me, but there's a sweetness about the way the actress plays it where it works.

The less of Blake & Kalinda circling each other the better, though. Yuck.
March 24, 2011 at 10:00AM EST Reply to Comment
apolonia33

Can someone please tell me the name of the attorney for the drug dealer's wife? And what else has he been in? Love this show!
March 24, 2011 at 3:52PM EST Reply to Comment
- Fran Actor is Pablo Schreiber. On season 2 of "The Wire" and currently on FX's "Lights Out". Those are the two I know of.
  March 24, 2011 at 4:01PM EST
Could you help clarify the history of Leila? I always thought Blake was being snarky and intentionally getting her name wrong. Apparently there's a story there. Were clues dropped that I (obviously) missed? Thanks!

March 24, 2011 at 5:03PM EST Reply to Comment
- Fran There doesn't seem to be much to tell. From what I gathered, Leila/Kalinda was unhappily married (for whatever reason) and decided to change her life and identity. That's about it -- for now, anyway.
  March 25, 2011 at 4:32PM EST
- webdiva I wondered if the name change came about because Kalinda/Leila didn't want to ex to find her -- not because she couldn't handle herself, but because she had better things to do than to be distracted by a little too much stalkiness/vindictiveness/whatever from the ex. So she changed her name and covered her tracks, effectively cutting him out and shutting the door. Then she moved on. Good for her. I have no problem with that. The price for Peter helping her cover her tracks, on the other hand (if indeed he really did that) might have an interesting twist to it. Just sleeping with him seems rather mundane -- but she might know about a number of his other amours and kept silent, which would be worth something to him.
  March 26, 2011 at 5:19PM EST
apolonia33

Fran-----thank you very much.
March 24, 2011 at 5:16PM EST Reply to Comment
Late to the party. Read all the comments. I loved this episode. Will watch one more time. Ready for Blake/Kalinda story to end. Loved Grace talking to Pastor Isaiah and just killing Eli. The kids are sheltered as much as the parents can make it, but not little children. Smart, interactive adolescents. Often get the comedy bits.

And yeah, I was all Bodie - you have hair. Not surprised by the dead wife, problems solved resolution on the Bishop divorce action. And Nicky did act physically proprietary with the wife, although it was using the kid that got her killed. Just loved seeing both of them again, even as new people.

The election is the weakest part of the story these days. Will's secret, potentially explosive.

March 24, 2011 at 8:56PM EST Reply to Comment
dylanfan

So where do we go from here? With a big thank you to all the folks who answered my questions, I'm content to leave unresolved the details of the secondary who killed Bishop's wife plot.

So what are the BIG story lines?

Will Florrick win the election? And will they move? (be still my heart; Alicia can go collect her olds? please)

I'm sorry, all of a sudden I'm suddenly losing interest; maybe Alan was right from the gitgo. Not that I won't watch, but gee ...
March 25, 2011 at 2:16AM EST Reply to Comment

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For the Record its JD Williams, no DJ.

sepinwall It is indeed. Thanks. Fixed. I should know that. Newark native. I interviewed him a bunch of times when he was on Oz and I was at The Star-Ledger.

Fran "You kids are evil!"I totally concur, Mr. Gold. I totally concur.

sepinwall I should also note that it was simultaneously amusing to see Schreiber and Bill Irwin together on a show other than "Lights Out" (which also films in NY).

aforkosh Not only that, but on a show that is broadcast in the same time slot. Of course, we have continuing 10pm battle between the Sports Night anchors (Krause on Parenthood vs. Charles on The Good Wife). If only Desperate Housewives would move to Tuesday at 10 :), we'd really have a battle.

Fran The casting actually threw me, as in, it pulled me out of the show a little too much. Normally not a big deal, but.... Maybe 'cause they were all in the same scenes with each other? I dunno.

Ricardo How about friendship?

DAG i'm not sure why people call this a big reveal. the only reveal is that Blake figured it out. It was quite obvious last season (especially during the visit Peter scenes) that she slept with Peter. I'm just surprised they held onto that gem this long

Fran In the Blake/Kalinda scene, Blake states he's leaving town because he thinks Kalinda has told Bishop he was having an affair with Bishop's wife. Not that he was actually having the affair, but just that Bishop believes he was. That's what I got from it, anyway.

dylanfan So who killed Bishop's wife? And who was having an affair with her? Inquiring minds want to know ...

DGC Dylanfan: America Ferrera signed on for multiple episodes (3 or 4, I believe), and she'll be back next week.

apolonia33 Can someone please tell me the name of the attorney for the drug dealer's wife? And what else has he been in? Love this show!

Fran Actor is Pablo Schreiber. On season 2 of "The Wire" and currently on FX's "Lights Out". Those are the two I know of.

Could you help clarify the history of Leila? I always thought Blake was being snarky and intentionally getting her name wrong. Apparently there's a story there. Were clues dropped that I (obviously) missed? Thanks!

Fran There doesn't seem to be much to tell. From what I gathered, Leila/Kalinda was unhappily married (for whatever reason) and decided to change her life and identity. That's about it -- for now, anyway.

apolonia33 Fran-----thank you very much.

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Fran "You kids are evil!"

I totally concur, Mr. Gold. I totally concur.

sepinwall

I should also note that it was simultaneously amusing to see Schreiber and Bill Irwin together on a show other than "Lights Out" (which also films in NY).

aforkosh Not only that, but on a show that is broadcast in the same time slot.

Of course, we have continuing 10pm battle between the Sports Night anchors (Krause on Parenthood vs. Charles on The Good Wife). If only Desperate Housewives would move to Tuesday at 10 :), we'd really have a battle.

DAG

i'm not sure why people call this a big reveal. the only reveal is that Blake figured it out. It was quite obvious last season (especially during the visit Peter scenes) that she slept with Peter. I'm just surprised they held onto that gem this long

apolonia33

Can someone please tell me the name of the attorney for the drug dealer's wife? And what else has he been in? Love this show!

apolonia33

Fran-----thank you very much.

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