Monsters of Television

“Who is she? What is she?“

One of the big draws of Law & Order is that it would strive to set up a dialectic that the characters, and then the audience, would engage in as they debated particular social norms, issues of right and wrong and ideas about justice, even if it were compromised. It’s this kind of an approach that allows procedurals to say something beyond a self-contained story: it’s their way of getting to larger social issues.

While The Good Wife certainly draws on hot-button issues (Wikileaks, for example), it doesn’t always set up a dialog for its characters to engage one another one. So “The VIP Treatment” is certainly a refreshing change in that regard (though it still draws on hot-button issues, this time Al Gore), as Will, Dianne, and Derrick play off one another in attempt to figure out Ms. White’s story (notice she only becomes Lara after they decide to take the case?). However, after playing the sides and the discussion, the episode just kind of lets it go in the final scene once the writers realize that this is an episodic procedural and character serial: can’t have a court case lasting too long.

Certainly there’s doubt as to Lara’s story. The show does an excellent job following the beats to figure it out. Dianne is suspicious, worried that someone is trying to take down someone about to win the Nobel Peace Prize; Derrick is wait-and-see cautious; and Will wants to make some money. The conversations, about how the firm will look, if they can afford to let her go, and, at the core, whether or not Lara’s lying, roll out that discussion about who to believe and why.

And the episode helps facilitate that. Lara’s story is inconsistent, imperfect and that’s because Lara is all these things as well. As the episode unfolds, we find out that she may do the occasional sexual massage for a VIP, that she has money troubles. None of this sets her up in a super-positive light, which is only compounded not only by the acknowledgment of what work Kent does in Africa, but that even his own wife is okay with it since it’ll mean he continues doing his work. Is the hypocrisy okay? the show asks. Can a man who fights for women’s rights in Africa still sexually assault a woman back at home? What line between the personal and the private is okay to cross?

In the end, the show doesn’t decide for us (Law & Order would often decide, but with a small twist or aside at the end to poke it some more) as it has to quickly wrap things up. The final scene plays a little too fast, too loose for my taste. It emphasizes the imperfections of Lara, but I think her realization isn’t fully developed (she seems fine with the investigation, even willing to bring forth evidence in the stained towel) and it makes the final scene feel like a bit of a cop out. The show can’t pursue this case through another few episodes because it’s not that kind of a show, and so, boxed into a corner, she has to go quietly, surrendering her position.

Narratively I don’t care for it, but thematically, it still works. She would be the one, as Alicia tells her, who would be under the microscope because “people” think they know Kent, but they don’t know her. She’s ultimately the one who would be most destroyed by the process, not Kent. And the question for the viewers become whether or not they could go through it, have all their dirty laundry aired out for everyone to see. Lara’s not Alicia, not someone who can survive that spotlight. The end result is that Alicia looks all the stronger since she survived when Lara couldn’t.

Peter and Eli’s stuff was good in this episode, and the intersections made sense, too, which I especially liked. Noth and Cumming really work well together. Equally rewarding was that Peter doesn’t revisit the voice mail after listening to the start of it. This won’t be the end of that little triangle, but I like the show avoided the overly melodramatic confrontation and what it tells us about Peter’s trust in Alicia.

On a whole, I found the case to be a bit “too big” for the show, but the careful telling of the story, from a thematic stand point, made it work for me. At least it was better than last week’s episode.

FINAL THOUGHTS

• Will’s fight with Kent’s lawyer was kind of silly. And not in the “Oh, they don’t know how to fight” silly, but in the “Really? Did the episode need this?” silly.
• Appreciate that Cary is still a smart, ethical man. Just a bitter one. And that he wasn’t the villain this time! Yay!
• So when do we get the debate episode between Peter, Carr, and Childs…?