Monsters of Television

“We don’t share information any more?”

It’s like the Kings decided to reward me for mainling The Wire this summer with this episode. Between listening to wiretaps, dealing with drug dealers, sifting through corrupt politicians, and a J.D. Williams cameo, “On Tap” is indeed a big splashy acknowledgment of the HBO drama.

I don’t have all that much to say about this particular episode, so this will not only be brief, but more recappy than my normal pieces. But sometimes a recap is simply more fitting of an episode than an in-depth navigation of it. In my opinion.

Let’s just get it out of the way: Blake’s back this week, and the stupidity of this storyline with him and Kalinda has escalated to the point that it feels completely and utterly silly, bordering on the absurd. Assuming he spent the last episode laying low after (probably) beating up a witness, he’s back now that the fuzz would’ve had Kalinda up on charges if not for Cary’s intervention. The narrative implication is that Blake beat up the therapist using Kalinda’s own bat,  ransacked the guy’s place, and then planted Kalinda’s prints everywhere.

Blake decides, after Kalinda nudges him about the attack, that he wants a truce because they “got off on the wrong foot.” I don’t disagree, but that’s largely because the show hasn’t given these characters any foundation on which to stand on in the first place. This plot is threading water, and it needs to either drown or be rescued by something really, really impressive. This development is not the way to achieve that.

The rest of the episode works well enough, though to find Eli on the first disc seemed a little too easy, but I understand the need to get that plot kickstarted as quickly as possible. I’d like to know why Eli is under surveillance by the FBI, but that’s another question for another episode. I appreciated the nice moments of Alicia dancing around the wiretap by insisting on meeting Eli face-to-face and her smiles as Eli compliments her to other political operatives.

I admit to be finding the Alicia and Will plot a little wheezy at this point. While I think Alicia genuinely does care about Will, her decision to talk to Will about the voice mail (after hearing Will also on wiretap (it appears Dianne is the only person in Chicago not on a wire) (none of the other lawyers seemed to get narratively relevant discs)) seems more motivated by a desire to keep this plot alive rather than allowing Alicia (and the show) to move on from it. I liked that Alicia wanted a plan, and that Will really didn’t have one. How does this voice mail change things? I’m not convinced it does.

Finally, Dianne is opening up her own firm with David, and attempts to poach Eli. It makes sense, especially since Dianne is a bit more politically sensitive than Will is, and would want a Democratic powerhouse like Eli on board with the move. I do appreciate them setting up Eli’s quasi-loyalty to Alicia (I don’t even think it’s motivated by him working for Peter; I think he may actually respect her more) with the wiretap so that his hesitancy plays out with real significance.

I’m intrigued about how this storyline will play out, though I do feel like it may be a little soon for it to be happening (maybe closer to the end of the season?). I’ll be especially interested in how this affect Alicia, and where she goes. No doubt everyone will want her, but it’ll be interested what happens when Alicia is forced to make another very difficult choice.

Okay, kind of lied about this being brief. Sorry.

FINAL THOUGHTS

• More prat falls! Two in this episode no less! Excellent!
• Alicia leaves Julius hanging like the ice queen she is.
• I love Eli talking to his daughter. I am now dying to meet his family.
• Anyone else find the scene of Kalinda and Alicia watching Blake and Will kind of gross and awkward? Just me? Okay.