Monsters of Television

“Carob chips, anyone?”

I’ve been waiting for a Cary-centric episode all season, and “Silly Season” is as close I’ll ever probably get to one. I mean, I get why we couldn’t have a purely Cary-centric episode on the show (aside from the fact that the show it’s called The Good Cary), but I’ll take what I can get.

Overall “Silly Season” is a strong episode (aside from Blake, who just seems to bring out the pissy in everyone he meets (except Bond)), and one that rewards viewers familiar with the show’s big moments (Bishop’s relations with Lockhart-Gardner, Peter finding the condoms in the bed side drawer) while still managing to tell a pretty self-contained story and continue the season’s larger stories. Indeed, it’s a very find example of what the show does best.

Even since he went to the State’s Attorney’s office, I’ve been itching to see an episode unfurl from Cary’s perspective, how he responds to the workings of LG&B (“I’m always amazed at how conveniently this new evidence appears.”) that he knows so well and is able to use against them when the time right (as he does here).

One of the things I’ve always contended about Cary is that he seems like he was Will before Will discovered how much he truly loved money: Cary’s a moral center in the show, a guy who would do what was necessary, but would prefer it was done within his legal and moral guidelines. Indeed, while he may have missed the “fun” of being at LG, he also wasn’t put into spots that made him a little uncomfortable.

Certainly though Cary’s not all white knight-y. His own personal motivations comes into play when he uses the druglord Bishop to land a hard conviction on the client of the week Church (Bishop and Church, huh?), knowing that Alicia can’t challenge Bishop on the stand given LG’s previous (and increasingly recurring) involvement with him. It’s not about career advancement (one of his bosses is furious since it hinders the SA’s case against Bishop): it’s about demolishing LG&B in court, specifically Alicia. It’s personal, not professional.

And Childs (who is wearing a horrible toupee to perhaps seem more welcoming to the voters?) knows this. Perhaps since he’s been so busy campaigning we haven’t seen much of him this season, but he was the show’s antagonist before Cary (somewhat) entered that realm. He’s willing to use Cary as a weapon against LG&B (they are the only defense firm in all of Chicago, after all), and is even willing to re-work finances to make sure Cary stays on board. And that’s exciting. I’m eager to see how Childs intends to use Cary, and how far Cary is willing to be used. At some point, Cary’s compass and Childs’ compass will come into conflict with one another, and sparks will fly.

Childs’ appearance, of course, means some juicy campaign stuff, which I am all for, especially a story like this. In what was a classic political knife fight, Wendy, no longer the wholesome, squeaky clean spoiler in the race, decides to go for the gusto, teaming up with Childs to bankrupt Peter’s campaign: Childs knew Peter would never release the Wendy “How black is she?” flier, and I’m sure Childs was sitting on the abortion tidbit. And both of them knew that Peter would sooner tell off his PAC (damn PACs) than allow his family to be dragged through something else and appear bad in the face of a potential voting bloc.

But this plot led to lots of great small scenes, like Alicia sorting through the campaign office’s copy room (aka Eli’s unoffice), the always wonderful exchanges between Alicia and Eli (the actors bring out the best in one another, and I can’t put my finger on why), and a revisit of Eli and Becca (and now I say ‘Becca’ like Eli says ‘Becca’). Becca, however, may have been played a little too hard here. Is she so desperate for Zach’s attention that she would lie about who necessitated the abortion? Really? It niggled my suspension of belief a bit, but I’ll savor any scene where Eli lays a smackdown on her.

We also get a little movement on Alicia and Peter’s relationship, which I’m sure pleased a lot of folks. I’m not as invested in this relationship as many are, but I like when the show addresses their relationship. Given what’s happened between them and who they are, Peter and Alicia are careful with each other, occasionally falling into their old habits and other times reminding one another of how things aren’t in that old place any longer. So Peter’s desire to be same bedroom as Alicia again (still in the maid’s room, eh?) is a nice return to this tension.

I’m not sure what to make of the last shot in this regard. Alicia doesn’t close the door, but she makes no move to invite Peter in either. I suppose the interpretation we should draw, based on her not closing the door, is that it is the invitation. At the same time, my initial thought was, despite the open door, that he wasn’t invited back into the bed. It’s a small step to be sure, but their relationship is nothing but small steps at this point.

FINAL THOUGHTS

• That “previously on” had nothing to do with Alicia. So unimportant even in her own show sometimes!
• Love how Cary’s Super-Dad Investigator seems just as ruthless as Kalinda or Blake, but at least he’s ruthless for the sake of the children and not oblique, petty stuff.
• “Pretend the baby carrots are a train.”
• Blake’s smugness is officially really boring now. So tired of it.
• “Whenever I see that bitch, I know we’re in trouble.”